Post by GLSHOOTER on Mar 10, 2019 14:29:33 GMT -8
After waiting a short eternity I finally received another 22-NXS barrel with the updated reamer for testing. A few minor changes from the original to make it more magazine friendly and to drop pressures slightly had been performed. This will cover two range sessions thanks to some time constraints and adjustments on the fly. The basic build remained the same with no real changes other than putting my good target lower on it for these sessions. To refresh your memory it is a 24" rifle gas 5 land polygon barrel from Ritch's Precision Guns, the sole distributor on this one, and turned by Tactical Ordnance.
First trip was on 2-27-19. I had been ready to go sooner but rain eliminated two trips I had planed earlier. Initially I tried some 55 Sierras but they were showing a bit of pressure way before they should so I shelved those for a later time. I did have a bunch of Sierra 60 grain Varminters over three different powders so decided to give them a whirl. 60 is a nice middle weight on the hot 22's as they are not ulta-light and not really straining the platform to get some speeds. They make good PD/fur bullets that are nice and explosive. If it's recycled trees I were after there are heavier more efficient pills but on this one it was just see what we would see.
First powder of choice was CFE 223. I been having great luck with it in the other barrel for sped but had no group data with this bullet. Sure enough the speeds were there topping out at the mid-3500's with no pressure but all groups were horizontal and about twice what I will accept. Shooting conditions were good so I couldn't lay it on the weather. I started thinking that a depth adjustment might be in the offing on this one.
Moving on to H4895 I once again hit the mid-3500's with no pressure. These groups while not great were definitely more rounded so the gun like this one once I got the barrel dirty from the cleaning. If I threw out the fouler I would have had four groups under an MOA easily. As it was the heaviest charge of 30.9 gave me a great 3/4 MOA batch that was with a screaming four in 0.324 after I called the first one way left and got the trigger finger reined in a bit.. Certainly a powder worth visiting again.
The third powder for the day was LT 30. This one works well in PPC sized cases and the NXS would be in that group plus a bit. I had never cracked the bottle on this one that had been on the shelf for almost two years so figured it was worth a try. Little data was out there so I decided to err on the very conservative side. The first reading on the chronograph told me I had certainly attained my desired conservative loading level as it barely cracked 3000. Slow and totally below what this one is all about. Well I had 14 more to go so what the hey. The next four formed up in a nice area that looked very good through the scope though horizontal was present. I bumped up 0.3, being conservative here you know, and picked up 46 FPS . This one looked much better than the first in group size so all was not lost. The last five for the day were at 24.2. The velocity was still way too low at 3107 but once again the group looked good. Not as round as the previous one but still good.
When I retrieved my targets the CFE said a bump or two more, the H 4895 said it wanted a tad more and the LT 30 said pour the coal to me. I'll do some more testing and go with the suggestions on the groups. The LT 30 will get bumped about two grains right out of the gate based on some more internet sleuthing I did this week and the apparent linearity on its performance.
As I said at the start this was split shooting evaluation and I got out a scant nine days later so I was happy on that. Weather was once again blue bird nice with no real breezes and I didn't have to but my below-60 degree long johns on. The goal today was to shoot the 55 Sierra HP GameKing over three powders. One I was tremendously familiar with in the NXS, one had seen some play time and the lat only very minimal experience was on record in this cartridge so far. I had shortened up the COL on these to 2.220 as a nod to the bullet shape and wanted a few thousandths off the lands as it has proven to jump well previously.
CFE 223 was the first one to go up. We have shot this powder over and over again and it has always turned out to be the speed king so far. I fired one fouler and put the next four in a nice little group of under ).5 and the clock said 3721!! This was the fastest I had ever pushed a 55 in the NXS as far as I could remember and I had two more bumps to go. AT 34.7 I was already where I had not been before. The next two levels of 35.0 and 35.3 produced groups that were three nice and close and two not so close. I was fighting concentration early on here as I'd mentioned in the A-30 thread so I don't think I've reached the potential here for small. The velocity of the top load was an ungodly 3841. Primers were flat like a good hot factory load but the slightest tinge of ejector markings told me that's all she wrote on CFE. My MAX for this one will be the 34.7 until I can shot this in the 110 heat this summer. Even the"light" load was a solid 22-250 performance level act.
Next up was some H 4895. I'd played with this a bit before and thought that maybe it would do though it is a bit fast. I was way overconfident on it and hit the jug hard based on some 22 Nosler data I had reviewed. The jug must have seceded it had aged a bit!! I fired three shots and evaluated the brass. The first shot was a bit ejector marked. The next showed a tad of ejector and extractor shine. The third shot was ejector marked and I had an extractor burr kicked up. Time to box it upon these!! I looked through the scope on the third shot and while it looked god and the speed was nice at 3639 this one won't hunt. The Quinetics will get some exercise Monday. The vagaries of uncharted waters will let you know that occasionally there be dragons and one best pay heed. No sense ruining good brass or wasting components so the bullet puller is just a tool that we have to live with. The group that looks so promising but will not be pursued at this level.
Last powder for the day was Benchmark. I've used a bit of t but I knew it might be a bit fast but nothing ventured no knowledge gained. The first group fired at 31.0 gave me a solid 3597 and I was happy with the speed. The group was tad spread out but often that next bump will suck them up nicely. The brass looked to show just the tiniest bit of ejector marking so I figured that one more step up might be doable. 35.3 gave me only an extra 7 FPS so that made me think I was close to max on this one. The case heads verified it as I was getting the ejector signs and the extractor was starting to want to eat up the case head. I stopped at three shots as I knew that I was at MAX here and two more wouldn't do any more than verify it. I knew they certainly wouldn't change my mind. Often a plateau is seen as you work through a powder sequence and if this had not started showing pressure issues I would have comfortably gone up another level or possibly two. The vagaries and differences between AR loading and bolt gun loading are substantial;. I'm running the heaviest constructed 6.8 bolt that I can find made by Young Manufacturing so II was not concerned about the pressure hurting anything but Hagar brass is only done once a year and I don't want to burn through my 1,000 pieces at $00.60 a pop. If I had been shooting this in my Savage I would have seen some flattening and gone at least one more. Below is the group that makes you want to pause and reflect on.
To sum up what I accomplished today I'll give a few random thoughts and attempt to add some method in my madness in my goal seeking and future endeavors. Previously I had decided when I loaded these for the new chamber I wanted to push a bit and see what shook out on MAX stuff. This one is capable of 3600 + with a 55 without breathing hard so today I wanted to taste the pudding. I was successful with all three powders. Two of them told me to back they truck up and put it in park. The third told me that you can run me hard but why? I hurt a few cases but didn't destroy them. I now have a couple ceilings to use for the future with three powders.
My data compilation on the 22-NXS chamber is started and I will reshoot some of my previous loadings from the first proof of concept barrel and see what shows up. I was happy with both days of shooting the rifle and determined that I need more bench time. These sub-0.4 groups are popping up more and more for me but putting them back to back is what I need. This is one of those things where load development and skill set polishing while they can be simultaneous at times you have to step back and do either or. My first step will be hitting the Giselle trigger with some good action cleaner and redo my settings. It just seems like I'm fighting it more than I should so that will be the first area to address. On my next trip out I'll be slinging more 22-NXS and A-30 lead but I'll also take along one of my guns that is a solid 0.5 gun and work on some more basics. I may well spend the first hour just drilling dots with it getting that edge a bit sharper. Both rifles deserve the best effort that I can put forth.. I can accept adequate in some guns but these two are not going to be relegated to the god enough batch.
Greg
First trip was on 2-27-19. I had been ready to go sooner but rain eliminated two trips I had planed earlier. Initially I tried some 55 Sierras but they were showing a bit of pressure way before they should so I shelved those for a later time. I did have a bunch of Sierra 60 grain Varminters over three different powders so decided to give them a whirl. 60 is a nice middle weight on the hot 22's as they are not ulta-light and not really straining the platform to get some speeds. They make good PD/fur bullets that are nice and explosive. If it's recycled trees I were after there are heavier more efficient pills but on this one it was just see what we would see.
First powder of choice was CFE 223. I been having great luck with it in the other barrel for sped but had no group data with this bullet. Sure enough the speeds were there topping out at the mid-3500's with no pressure but all groups were horizontal and about twice what I will accept. Shooting conditions were good so I couldn't lay it on the weather. I started thinking that a depth adjustment might be in the offing on this one.
Moving on to H4895 I once again hit the mid-3500's with no pressure. These groups while not great were definitely more rounded so the gun like this one once I got the barrel dirty from the cleaning. If I threw out the fouler I would have had four groups under an MOA easily. As it was the heaviest charge of 30.9 gave me a great 3/4 MOA batch that was with a screaming four in 0.324 after I called the first one way left and got the trigger finger reined in a bit.. Certainly a powder worth visiting again.
The third powder for the day was LT 30. This one works well in PPC sized cases and the NXS would be in that group plus a bit. I had never cracked the bottle on this one that had been on the shelf for almost two years so figured it was worth a try. Little data was out there so I decided to err on the very conservative side. The first reading on the chronograph told me I had certainly attained my desired conservative loading level as it barely cracked 3000. Slow and totally below what this one is all about. Well I had 14 more to go so what the hey. The next four formed up in a nice area that looked very good through the scope though horizontal was present. I bumped up 0.3, being conservative here you know, and picked up 46 FPS . This one looked much better than the first in group size so all was not lost. The last five for the day were at 24.2. The velocity was still way too low at 3107 but once again the group looked good. Not as round as the previous one but still good.
When I retrieved my targets the CFE said a bump or two more, the H 4895 said it wanted a tad more and the LT 30 said pour the coal to me. I'll do some more testing and go with the suggestions on the groups. The LT 30 will get bumped about two grains right out of the gate based on some more internet sleuthing I did this week and the apparent linearity on its performance.
As I said at the start this was split shooting evaluation and I got out a scant nine days later so I was happy on that. Weather was once again blue bird nice with no real breezes and I didn't have to but my below-60 degree long johns on. The goal today was to shoot the 55 Sierra HP GameKing over three powders. One I was tremendously familiar with in the NXS, one had seen some play time and the lat only very minimal experience was on record in this cartridge so far. I had shortened up the COL on these to 2.220 as a nod to the bullet shape and wanted a few thousandths off the lands as it has proven to jump well previously.
CFE 223 was the first one to go up. We have shot this powder over and over again and it has always turned out to be the speed king so far. I fired one fouler and put the next four in a nice little group of under ).5 and the clock said 3721!! This was the fastest I had ever pushed a 55 in the NXS as far as I could remember and I had two more bumps to go. AT 34.7 I was already where I had not been before. The next two levels of 35.0 and 35.3 produced groups that were three nice and close and two not so close. I was fighting concentration early on here as I'd mentioned in the A-30 thread so I don't think I've reached the potential here for small. The velocity of the top load was an ungodly 3841. Primers were flat like a good hot factory load but the slightest tinge of ejector markings told me that's all she wrote on CFE. My MAX for this one will be the 34.7 until I can shot this in the 110 heat this summer. Even the"light" load was a solid 22-250 performance level act.
Next up was some H 4895. I'd played with this a bit before and thought that maybe it would do though it is a bit fast. I was way overconfident on it and hit the jug hard based on some 22 Nosler data I had reviewed. The jug must have seceded it had aged a bit!! I fired three shots and evaluated the brass. The first shot was a bit ejector marked. The next showed a tad of ejector and extractor shine. The third shot was ejector marked and I had an extractor burr kicked up. Time to box it upon these!! I looked through the scope on the third shot and while it looked god and the speed was nice at 3639 this one won't hunt. The Quinetics will get some exercise Monday. The vagaries of uncharted waters will let you know that occasionally there be dragons and one best pay heed. No sense ruining good brass or wasting components so the bullet puller is just a tool that we have to live with. The group that looks so promising but will not be pursued at this level.
Last powder for the day was Benchmark. I've used a bit of t but I knew it might be a bit fast but nothing ventured no knowledge gained. The first group fired at 31.0 gave me a solid 3597 and I was happy with the speed. The group was tad spread out but often that next bump will suck them up nicely. The brass looked to show just the tiniest bit of ejector marking so I figured that one more step up might be doable. 35.3 gave me only an extra 7 FPS so that made me think I was close to max on this one. The case heads verified it as I was getting the ejector signs and the extractor was starting to want to eat up the case head. I stopped at three shots as I knew that I was at MAX here and two more wouldn't do any more than verify it. I knew they certainly wouldn't change my mind. Often a plateau is seen as you work through a powder sequence and if this had not started showing pressure issues I would have comfortably gone up another level or possibly two. The vagaries and differences between AR loading and bolt gun loading are substantial;. I'm running the heaviest constructed 6.8 bolt that I can find made by Young Manufacturing so II was not concerned about the pressure hurting anything but Hagar brass is only done once a year and I don't want to burn through my 1,000 pieces at $00.60 a pop. If I had been shooting this in my Savage I would have seen some flattening and gone at least one more. Below is the group that makes you want to pause and reflect on.
To sum up what I accomplished today I'll give a few random thoughts and attempt to add some method in my madness in my goal seeking and future endeavors. Previously I had decided when I loaded these for the new chamber I wanted to push a bit and see what shook out on MAX stuff. This one is capable of 3600 + with a 55 without breathing hard so today I wanted to taste the pudding. I was successful with all three powders. Two of them told me to back they truck up and put it in park. The third told me that you can run me hard but why? I hurt a few cases but didn't destroy them. I now have a couple ceilings to use for the future with three powders.
My data compilation on the 22-NXS chamber is started and I will reshoot some of my previous loadings from the first proof of concept barrel and see what shows up. I was happy with both days of shooting the rifle and determined that I need more bench time. These sub-0.4 groups are popping up more and more for me but putting them back to back is what I need. This is one of those things where load development and skill set polishing while they can be simultaneous at times you have to step back and do either or. My first step will be hitting the Giselle trigger with some good action cleaner and redo my settings. It just seems like I'm fighting it more than I should so that will be the first area to address. On my next trip out I'll be slinging more 22-NXS and A-30 lead but I'll also take along one of my guns that is a solid 0.5 gun and work on some more basics. I may well spend the first hour just drilling dots with it getting that edge a bit sharper. Both rifles deserve the best effort that I can put forth.. I can accept adequate in some guns but these two are not going to be relegated to the god enough batch.
Greg