[schnyd112]

Deer season opens oct 5 in nevada. Got my 25-06 back from being rebarreled, action bedded, and a tuned trigger. Was shooting Remington 120g core-lokts at 100 yards Thursday in light winds and was getting consistent .75-1 inch 5 shot groups through 20 rounds. Basically same conditions today, but at 200 and 300 yards. At 200 it was 6" groups, with flyers in all directions. At 300 we couldn't hit a 12" plate.

Switched to Hornady 117 sst's (only had 5) and made one 3 shot group at 200 yards at about 1.5-1.7". Adjusted scope and put the last 2 within an inch. Most of my larger rifle experience is with a .270 that has been deadly with core-lokts out to 300 yards.

My question is does the uneven profile of the core-lokts affect the flight that much more when they are moving 3000fps instead of 2650? Right now I am loading the 117 sst's over 4831. Also looking at accubond 110's over the same powder.

 

[fredj338]

It's odd tha a bullet hat shoots Moa @ 100 woud hoot that badly @ 300. Rifles can be finicky litte bitches. You old try another powder or tweaking the charge wt, but a diff bullet may be needed for your rifle.

 

[taylorjr]

The only thing that I ca think of is that your gun isn't actually stabilizing your bullet correctly. I'd run your load data through a bullet stability calculator and see if it's actually stable. 100yds may not be enough to show if the rounds are actually stable, and that may be why you see such bad results at 200+

 

[schnyd112]

Well, I tried a few ballistic calculators. I don't know the exact length of the bullet (can't find it published and they are factory loads) but I do know they chrono at 2850-2880 fps. Eoth my estimate length, Each calculator showed marginal-bad stability with this bullet. If they were going 2990-3000 it would be better, but I can't make them go faster.

Tonight I am putting together 2 strings from 48-52 grains 4831. One string will be topped with 117g Hornady sst, the other with 110 g nosler accubond.

I will share my results. Thanks for the input.

 

[taylorjr]

I believe the "length" that the calculator asks for is the actual length of the bullet. Grab your calipers and measure the 117gr SST and the 110gr Accubond actual length from base to meplat.

you can then calculate your stability for the 117gr and the 110gr from there. I can tell you that both the SST and the Accubond both have significantly higher BC's than the CoreLokt

 

[schnyd112]

Yeah I measured both the sst and the accubond and they are well into the green. The core lokt I had to guess, so I went with about the same length as the sst. They are maybe a little smaller but the bearing surface is probably very similar. The core lokts are rough and inconsistent with the pointed soft point. Shooting my first strings tomorrow with the new bullets.

I am looking for good precision and killing velocities to 400 yards, which is what the .270 does easily. It's not uncommon to have 300-350 yard shots up where we are hunting and I want the confidence I had with dads .270.

 

[schnyd112]

Good results.

110 g accubond at 115 yards .47" 2 shot group with 49 g imr4831.
110 g accubond at 285 yards 3.35" 3 shot group with 51 g imr4831


No signs of high pressure so I will test the lighter load at 300 with 5 shots and push a little hotter to see if I can get tighter long range groups. So far I am within killing accuracy, now just to see if it can get better.

Ran out of time to shoot the Hornady loads. Hope to get out once more Friday before season opens.

 

[57K]

I would continue on with the 117 gr, SSTs. The 110 gr. Accu-bonds look great but at 285 yards they are getting above MOA. Since they cost less and perform well on all deer species, if the SSTs hold MOA or less from 100 - 300 yards, the decision would be made for me. I really like them because Hornady uses the Inter-Lock ring that holds them together. Just don't think I'd have a need for bonded or solid copper bullets for whitetail.