Win 88 in 284

[dk17hmr]

My grandad, "borrowed" this rifle to me, meaning he gave it to me until he wants it back (which is never). But I have been just started loading for it not with cast but with Hornady 139gr J-Bullets. My dad bought 50 rounds of new Winchester Brass which is what I have been using. I cant get it to shoot better then 1" no matter what load 1" exactly.

The rifle has a nice 4x Redfield my grandad mounted on it when he got it in the 70's. This rifle is a deer rifle plain and simple . With my other rifles 1" isnt good enough with J-bullets but I figure it should do.
Those 139's are close to 3000fps with the load I settled on. Should work well for the Whitetails we get.

[onceabull]

If you are getting 1" group consistently with any model 88,consider yourself skilled and a master of that trigger(the weakest feature of the rifle..:) Onceabull

[versifier]

Try some Sierra 140gr Game Kings and IMR 3031. If there is any way to get the groups smaller, that will do it. You might also have some luck with Nosler BT's, but I'd try the Sierras first.

[StarMetal]

I have not seen a finer bullet for testing 7mm general hunting rifle accuracy then the 139 gr Hornady.

Joe

[versifier]

Except in a rifle that doesn't like them, which, in truth, is most of mine. There's a reason why so many records are set and matches are won with Sierras. Since it is already obvious Joe from his post that his rifle doesn't shoot them as well as he would like, it only makes sense to find out what the rifle is really capable of with the most accurate bullet available. Maybe it won't shoot them any better that it does the Hornadys, but I bet it will. The m88 should be capable of better than what he has found so far - at least the six I have owned/shot/loaded for in different chamberings have all been capable of .5 to .75 MOA, including one .284. That one preferred Sierras (.75" 10shot groups) and shot Noslers almost as well, (1" 10shot groups) but did not like either Speers or Hornadys (they were "hunting accurate", shooting 10shot 100yd groups in the 2.5 - 3" range, but were not up to the rifle's capabilities). Not to say that the results will be the same in the rifle in question, as every rifle is a universe unto itself, but he is looking for constructive suggestions, not a closed door.

[NickSS]

I have owned three M 88s over the years including a 284, 308 and a 358 they all shot acceptably for hunting meaning somewhere between 1 and 1.5 inches at 100 yards. Frankly groups that small were hard to comeby in those rifles due to the poor triggers and the fact that they were ment for hunting rifles. My experience is that very few rifle right out of the box will shoot under one minute of angle and I have tried quite a few in my life. The few that do are treasures that I hold onto for a long time. One model 70 feather weight I had years ago in 270 would not get smaller groups than around 2.5 inches out of the box. I was to use it for anilope hunting and wanted better accuracy. I sent it to my brouthers brouther in law who was a noted bench rest rifle builder. He recrowned the muzzle, laped in the bolt, pillar bedded the action and did a trigger job on it. When I got it back I would shoot Remington factory ammo into one inch groups and my handloads got down to as small as 3/4 inch. For a light barreled rifle this was good. I also have a custom match rifle in 308 winchester barreded with a hart stainless steel barrel of heavy contour and it is betted in an aluminum bed that is epoxied into the stock. This rifle will shoot groups as small as .25 inch center to center for 10 shots from a bench rest but I would not like to carry this 14 pound rifle out hunting.

[stardate2010]

Just read an article in ammoguide about the Win 284. Excellent cartridge, bad PR on Winchesters part. Seems like it has the capability of 1.5" @ 1000 yds in some contests, according to the article. But probably not in the M88.
I have the 7mm Rem Mag and it shoots good out to the 500yd mark or better.
Try the 162gr BTHP Matchking bullets. I use IMR 4831. But I also load for the 7Mag.
A good hunting round is the Nosler Partition 175gr. It'll take just about anything with the right shot placement. Just my opinion...

[dk17hmr]

Probably with heavier bullets is this is a box magazine rifle and with powder charges starting at 50.0 and ending at close to 60.0 the case is filled. With larger bullets 150+ it compress the powder so much you can seat them deep enough into the case to feed relieable through the rifle.

[versifier]

Long drop tubes can help with compressed charges and IMR Powders. A factory crimp die in a second press used immediately after seating can also help keep the bullets from trying to come back out of the case. For deer though, 140gr is all you really need and shoots pretty flat. If you're going to use a heavy cast boolit, you'll have better luck with more modest charges anyway.