Originally Posted by
STAMarine
Gents, I don't know if it is possible to unf**k me, but I'm going to see if you all can give it a shot.
I've spent a lot of time over the last year learning the ins and outs of reloading in mostly .223, 9mm, and .45 ACP. I thought I was ready to move up to match ammo reloading, but obviously this isn't the case.
I've spent all summer doing ladder tests and working up a .308 match load. My final load was pretty close to Newberry's recommended load for finding the high node. I was getting good groups around both his low and high node recommendations, but I loaded twenty-five rounds of the hotter one for velocity.
Now, I'm a decent shooter with a good deal of precision shooting in the military and after on my own. I can shoot sub MOA consistently, and like most others, better on my good days. I can't tell you what my rifle is capable of because it shoots better than I do. I have shot sub half minute groups on those rare days when I'm on my game. It is a McMillian tac with a 24" barrel. I don't have my log book with me, but it has a little over 2,200 logged round through it. I have been shooting factory ammo also during the time I have been doing my workups and there has been no drop in accuracy. It's not the shooter or the rifle. That being said, I am not a competition or a bench shooter, and I'm not good enough to be. I'm looking for ammo that is as good or a little better than Federal GMM, cheaper that GMM, and since I have been stockpiling components, more available to me than GMM. I'm not doing neck turning and such to get bench rest accuracy because that's not my intended purpose, and I couldn't utilize that level of accuracy even if I could reload that well.
My load is Sierra 175gr Mk, LC brass once fired through my rifle only, 43gr of 4064, Federal match primers, neck sized, and bullet seated with a Forester Ultra seating die.
I was getting a little less than MOA at three hundred for my first ladder and about the same at four for my second. Not great groups, but when this happens I tend to blame myself as having an off day or out of practice. I picked the best load, and loaded up twenty five rounds for my first trip to my home range for a full shooting session. I shot my first group at 850. Nothing. I thought I had really screwed up my wind call so I shot a second group and again, nothing. I then shot a decent group with factory ammo to test my rifle. When I went to check the last group I notice two holes in the bottom and middle of my target board I hadn't noticed the first two times I checked, both perfect keyholes. Now, I was using a 8x4' political sign as my target backer. This was a three foot group of two keyholes!
No impact no idea on where I should go from here. I've researched, read, asked, and haven't been able to put what I've learned into practice.
All that I can offer is perceived recoil was lighter on my loads than the GMM ammo I used to check my rifle.
Where do I go from here?
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