I just thought that I would post the particulars of a very successful load developement for my april plains game hunt in SA in 04. I had some initial problems with an out of round chamber that is its own story but were fixed by winchester for no charge. The base rifle in one of the blued laminate stock model 70's that I find quite attractive looking and the stock fits me perfectly. I had my gunsmith rework the trigger to a nice crisp 2 3/4 lbs and had the gun pillar bedded. He also mounted the scope for my which includes lapping the rings in. The scope is a Burris Fullfield II in matte with the Ballistic Plex reticle. It wears a Galco Safari Ching Sling. I had tried the regular Barnes 180 gr Flat Base X with OK results and more fouling than I cared for. I then tried the 180 gr Triple Shock BT and things started to come together I started with 62.0 grs of IMR 4350 in Win cases and Fed 210 primers and my first 5 shot group went under an inch. As I increased the charge a grain at a time to 65.0 grains it seemed to get better. Now I did not clean the rifle through the whole box of 50 bullets over 2 weeks time. the 65 grain load gives a very consistent 2905 Avg velocity and just under 1/2 MOA accuaracy through a dirty barrel on different days from 65 to 95 degrees to the very same point of impact, a perfect hunting load. A nice bonus of this combo is that it calibrates perfectly to the Ballistic Plex reticle, dead on at 100, 200 and 300 yards. I shot it at 300 yards this morning after High Power practice, using the ching sling from prone with my shooting coat on, 4 rounds fired dead on in just over 3 inches. I love it when a plan comes together. I also originally had split necks at 5 firings using Lee dies, they were significantly overworking the necks, I ended up at Redding full length busing dies with the a .335 bushing and no expander button and have had great accuracy and no split necks so far at 6 firings.

That's a great report Kevin. Let's hope that those triple shocks are the answer.

I am also impressed that your a marksman. I would say that those critters in Africa better watch out next year.

Thanks for the compliment Savage. High power sure can translate to field shooting, especialy slung sitting and prone. I find that offhand is a very different technique with a hunting rifle though, and will be sure to practice lots with and without the shooting sticks I made. I'm not flying that long to waste time missing.

I have thought about those shooting sticks and even seen movies of a hunter shooting off of a PH's shoulder. Somehow I might just shoot from the offhand position using the marksmans position with my elbow against my chest and the butt a little cross chest.

It's a matter of confidence having shot in a lot of matches.

But I would not shoot offhand if there was time and view to use a rest or the kneeling, sitting or prone position.

How much head expansion did you get with that load and the triple shocks?

Did not measure head expansion and don't have a micrometer to do so. You will notice it is not a MAX load, I figure if 2900 fps won't kill it, neither will 2970.

Just wondering if there were pressure signs as the bullet is a new design. My 7 mm WSM expands the heads somewhat but not the primer pockets with hot loads. No accounting for this so far.

I would like to try some non lead bullets again so I hope these triple shocks are successful.

We have to ask ourselves what all that match shooting is for if we cannot shoot from offhand in the field.

The triple shock should produce less pressure than the X bullet since the bearing surface for the same weight is reduced by the 3 rings in the body.

Kevin,

I have the exact rifle as you, and I too have a chamber that isn't round. BOO!

When Winchester fixed your chamber, did they rebarrel it or set the barrel back and recut the chamber?

I'm thinking about having Winchester fix mine, too. Accuracy is adequate, but not consistent, nor on the same level as all others I have heard reports of. I am hoping a correct chamber will at least help the consistency!

I looks to me that they set it back and cleaned it up. You'll hear no complaints from me on the quality of the factory barrel, Barnes makes reference to these Win. 4 groove barrels as being particularly well suited to the X bullet, they do seem to have fairly narrow lands if that has something to do with it.