FOR THE LAST THREE MONTHS I'VE BEEN WRINGING OUT A REMINGTON M-700 BDL WIT A LEUPOLD VARI-X III 3x-9x
SCOPE ON IT. THIS RIFLE HAS A 22" BARREL. I TESTED H-4350--H-4831--H-4831SC-IMR-4350 AND IMR4831 POWDERS. PRIMERS TESTED WERE THE CCI#200--250s AND BR2s. ALL BULLETS TESTED WERE 130 GRAINS IN WEIGHT. I USED WINCHESTER .280 REM. NICKLE PLATED CASES. THESE CASES WERE RESIZED AND TRIMMED TO THE SPECIFICATIONS OF MY RIFLE CHAMBER. PRIMER POCKETS WERE UNIFORMED. FLASH HOLES WERE DRILLED WITH A .081" BIT. ANY FLASH HOLES THAT WOULD ACCEPT A .086" BIT WERE REJECTED. INTERNAL FLASH HOLE WERE DEBURRED. THEN CASES WERE CULLED BY WEIGHT. CASES WEIGHING 180.6 GRAINS +/- .4 GRAINS WERE SELECTED. ALL CASES WERE THEN FIRE FORMED. ALTHOUGH THE EARLY HOURS OF MARCH MORNINGS WERE NOT EXCESSIVLY COLD, I FOUND THE VELOCITY VARIANCY FROM 37 DEGREES TO 94 DEGRESS CAUSED THE IMR POWDERS TO EXHIBIT AS MUCH AS A 96 FPS DIFFERENCES. WHILE THE IMR POWDERS SEEMED TO HAVE A SLIGHTLY HIGHER VELOCITY OVER HODGDON POWDERS FOR THE SAME CHARGE WITH THE SAME BULLETS, THEY ALSO DISPLAYED A BROADER SPREAD OF VELOCITIES. USUALLY NEAR 30 FPS.

BULLETS TESTED WERE SIERRA SPT AND SBT. REMINGTON PSPCL, HORNADY INTERLOCKS AND SSTs. NOSLER PARTITION AND BALLISTIC TIPS. THE ACCURACY OF THE REMINGTON PSPCL WERE PRETTY POOR AND I STOPPED USING THEM EARLY IN THE TEST. THEIR WEIGHT DIFFERENCES WAS NOT VERY GOOD AND LEFT A LOT TO BE DESIRED. FROM GOOD TO POOR, THE WEIGHT SPREAD WAS NOSLER AND HORNADY WITH SIERRA COMING IN THIRD. WITH THE HORNADY BULLETS, THE SSTs SEEMED TO GIVE THE BETTER ACCURACY THAN THE INTERLOCKS. BOTH GROUPED NEAR THE ONE INCH MARK.
NOSLER PROVIDED THE BEST ACCURACY WITH THE BALLIISTIC TIP WINNING FIRST PLACE.
ACROSS THE BOARD, THE CCI BR2s GAVE THE MOST CONSISTENT VELOCITIES AND ACCURACY. THE POWDER THAT FURNISHED THE BEST, MOST CONSTANT, ACCURACY WAS H-4350. HOT OR COLD, VELOCITIES WERE THE CLOSEST WITH THE HODGDON POWDERS. THE WINNER OF THE TEST WAS 56.5 GRAINS OF H-4350, CCI BR2 PRIMERS AND THE 130 GRAIN NOSLER BALLISTIC YIP. VELOCITY 3081FPS, AN AVERAGE OF FIVE SHOTS. STANDARD DEVIATION WAS 9.8 FPS. THE AVERAGE OF FIVE FIVE SHOT GROUPS MEASURED .350". IF I GET A PERMIT, I'LL SEE HOW IT DOES ON ANTELOPE THIS FALL.
DOES THIS MEAN THIS WILL BE THE BEST LOAD FOR ALL .270s? NO! BUT IT WAS A LOT OF FUN DOING THE TESTING. AN UNUSAL SIDE NOTE, THIS IS THE BEST LOAD IN MY WIFES .270 WITH THE 130 GRAIN PARTITION. I'M STILL TESTING A .30-06. HAVE FUN ALL!!

IF you get a chance try out some IMR7828...performed very well with me and the 130 grain Partitions. I ended up with an average of 3050 fps, and 1" groups. You might do better.

5 5 shot groups .350! That's outstanding, the velocity isn't great, but I have a 24" barrel.

I think the 3081 fps velocity is very good, considering barrel length especially. I'm using 60 grains of H4831 and getting around 3100 from a 24" barrel.

I think ya done good!

And with accuracy like that, you'll want to try it on some groundhogs at 300 to 400 yards. I shot one yesterday at 385 yards with a Hornady 130 grain Interlock, pushed by the 60 grain H4831 charge. Tore him in half at that range. Much more humane than the anemic little .22's I'd been used to using...

Congratulations on work well done...

Dan Newberry
green 788

God Bless you... and your patience!