140 RDF's

[Devildog]

Anyone else struggling to get good groups out of these new Nosler bullets? I'm using lapua brass, h4350, and CCI 450 primers. I did my OCW and 41.4 appears to be a node and 42.3 looks to be another. That seems to be very common from what I've read. I've adjusted seating depths from .020-.050 off the lands and nothing.
Best groups I'm getting are 3/4 to 1" at best.

I hired Dan Newberry to help me with load development and we are at a loss. He's suggesting I pick up another brand of 140's, I'll pick up some Bergers or Hornady's I guess and try them. The rub is I have two boxes of 500 rdf's and I'm determined to figure this out. I called Nosler and they suggested another powder, which I can do.
In case your thinking rifle or shooter I picked up a box of hornady 140 eld's and shot 4 5 round groups all right at a 1/2" moa or less. So I'm ruling out the rifle and shooter.

Im going to keep pushing forward but if you've had a similar experience and found a solution I'm all ears!

 

[the_accuser]

I started getting better groups with the 140 RDFs when I started jumping them at least 80+ thousandths. This is with a Tikka CTR in .260. I was using the same brass and powder as you but 210M primers.

 

[Ayoung1]

I've heard they like a big jump, .060 and up from the info I found. I'm currently working up some loads with them now.

 

[Silverjay]

They are shooting excellent for me with h4350 and imr4451. If memory serves, they are jumping 0.030". I am using Alpha brass and S&B primers, seeing single digit SD's.

 

[spife7980]

It's the 70 rdf so not apples to apples but I was never able to get good repeatable groups in annealed lapua brass. They got to be the best at .08 off.

I have 1k 6mm 105s I'm gonna try out because if they do shoot that's a heck of a bc.

 

[Ayoung1]

I hope I can get them to group as well as get low sd in my rifle. They are one of the cheapest bullets out there, besides maybe the Hornady ELD-m if you catch them on sale and don't have to wait 3 months to get them. I was shooting the Hybrids which work great but if I can save a little money I can shoot more or get the 223 trainer I've been wanting.

 

[Shanerbanner10]

I'm shooting factory seconds and its always shot 1/2" or so. I don't shot groups. Had a friend shoot a .2 group the other day with my rifle. My load is 6.5 Prime brass, 42.6 grains of IMR 4451, S&B primers and 140 RDF's 20 thou off at 2.190" BTO. Most people that I know shooting them are running them 50-60 thou off.
I'm loading on 3 chargemaster and getting SD's around 6-7 with 15-20 ES's.

 

[Devildog]

Looks like the overall consensus is more jump. I'll give it a try and let ya know what happens. Hope it's the fix! thanks for all the input!

 

[V-Ref]

Similar experience with 140 RDFs and a 8 twist 6.5 Creedmoor.

More jump as in .070-.110 off lands brought the groups in, but even with 4 different powders (R26/R17/I4451/H4350), this barrel liked the 140/147 ELD-Ms much more than the 140 RDFs.

Gotta listen to your rifle too.

 

[Hondo64d]

Anyone else struggling to get good groups out of these new Nosler bullets? I'm using lapua brass, h4350, and CCI 450 primers. I did my OCW and 41.4 appears to be a node and 42.3 looks to be another. That seems to be very common from what I've read. I've adjusted seating depths from .020-.050 off the lands and nothing.
Best groups I'm getting are 3/4 to 1" at best.

I hired Dan Newberry to help me with load development and we are at a loss. He's suggesting I pick up another brand of 140's, I'll pick up some Bergers or Hornady's I guess and try them. The rub is I have two boxes of 500 rdf's and I'm determined to figure this out. I called Nosler and they suggested another powder, which I can do.
In case your thinking rifle or shooter I picked up a box of hornady 140 eld's and shot 4 5 round groups all right at a 1/2" moa or less. So I'm ruling out the rifle and shooter.

Im going to keep pushing forward but if you've had a similar experience and found a solution I'm all ears!

My 6.5x47 hated the RDFs, so down the road they went. Barrel life is to short to spend it fighting with a bullet the barrel doesn't like. It loves 130 VLDs and 140gr VLDs, ELDs and Hybrids though, so life is good...

John

 

[Chevynbow]

My 260 with a 24" 1/8 twist Bartlien shoots the 140 RDF's well...@ 41.6 and 42.9 grains of H4350, 0.020 off, Lapua brass and 210M's

 

[darkhorse95]

Mine shot like crap till i got them to a .40 jump and then they went sub half. Started out at 1 inch when i was 10 thou off.

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[MTSLW]

Might also try jamming them 10 thou. Got a buddy that jams his .020 and they shoot pretty well. I'm jumping mine .060. I also am shooting the 105's in a Dasher and they shoot REALLY well with a light jam. Good luck!

 

[Sheldon N]

Might also try jamming them 10 thou. Got a buddy that jams his .020 and they shoot pretty well. I'm jumping mine .060. I also am shooting the 105's in a Dasher and they shoot REALLY well with a light jam. Good luck!

What load/velocity/barrel length? Looking at working up a 105 rdf load for my Dasher as well.

 

[MTSLW]

What load/velocity/barrel length? Looking at working up a 105 rdf load for my Dasher as well.

Posted info on the Dasher 105 RDF thread to keep this one on topic.

 

[Devildog]

Looks like more jump is all I needed. I set back .080 off the lands and I think I'm done.
Im not much of a group shooter but I shot one group of 5 and I think it's a winner.
Thanks for all the advice.

 

[sig2009]

I had good luck .030 off lands but I have loaded some more to .040/.060/.080/.100/,110 off lands. Will report back this week with results.

 

[pitdog85]

hey guys can someone please correct me if iam wrong, I did a calculation with the .330G7 these 140RDF's work out to be a form factor of .869!!!!!! Is this right? this is so far ahead of all the competition its not funny, how are they doing this? Anyone know if they are bringing out a larger range in these RDFS?

 

[M47Patton]

My rifle favored .020 from the lands and 42grs of RL-16. IMR 4451 which works well with 140 bergers, 140 elds and 147 elds did not like the RDFs too much.

 

[Ayoung1]

Mine shoots best .060 off he lands. That's as far as I've tested but I'm going to go a bit further tomorrow. I have a feeling it will be better than less than .060 jump.

 

[sig2009]

This is what I found today doing my ladder test with the Nosler 140gn RDF with 42.0gn H4350

The first thing I noticed is that the Federal Match primers have a higher SD than the standard S&B large rifle primers. The S&B gave me better SD and spread than the Federal Match primers

5 shots with varying depths.

.050 off lands
SD 12.2
Spread 29
Velocity 2522

.060 off lands
SD 12.3
Spread 30
Velocity 2537

.080 off lands
SD 8.8
Spread 23
Velocity 2522

.100 off lands
SD 8.9
Spread 21
Velocity 2511

.110 off lands
SD 8.7
Spread 21
Velocity 2519

I'm going to load some to .120 and .130 off lands but it appears in my Tikka T3X CTR the shorter I go the better the results with the 140gn Nosler RDF.

 

[mattp8893]

I went down this road a few months ago when my elds ran out and I was determined to not pay for Bergers. Long story short I ended up going to Bergers. I'd have one group shoot .25 inch and the next 1.5 I began thinking it was me and finally loaded up some of the last box of elds I was clinging to and 3 different 5 shot groups all well under .5 inches. My dads 260 loves them though you can't hardly make it shoot a bad group with them. I'm using prime brass and cci br2s with 42.6 grains of h4350 this is the exact same load as the elds 139 scenars and 140 Berger hybrids love maybe I should have tried something else in them but I just wasn't willing to go through load development again


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[shootist2004]

has Bryan litz done a bc check on the 243 eld and rdf bullets? I never believe what the manufacturer says.........

 

[spife7980]

He hasnt but everyone reports that they are pretty close to the manufactures specs.

 

[JLR]

Glad you got it sorted out. I ran them at 0.035" jump at 2800fps and they shot sub 1/4moa. I think a lot has to do with chamber/throat/bore geometry with these, but they do seem to shoot better when jumped. Also, I've found the .330g7 to be spot on, no reason to wait for Litz to make up another set of numbers.

 

[dleeds]

I recently did some testing at different seating depths. My overall conclusion was that the load shot best at 2.80", mag length. FYI, the load was 41.4g Reloader 17, federal nickel primed brass, from a 26"BHW barrel. Velocity was 2825 FPS, group at 2.8" was 1/2MOA, with 0.157" height dispersion. Wind was 0-10mph, so I am pretty psyched.

 

[ChipSawdust]

Zombie thread here I know, but I just started down this trail with Dan Newberry for my 6.5CM RPR. I have two Nosler bullets in 140, the RDF and the Custom Competition (what I call the CCs). He said the RDFs are jump sensitive and wants me to work with the CCs for the OCW test. I'm guessing he's basing this on experiences like this and with others, although his son shoots the RDFs in competition and does great. Find your node with the CCs then you at least know the node for 140 gr bullets and can start working with the RDFs if you still have a bunch sitting there (I will).

Sharp guy, knows his stuff. I haven't done any of his OCW shooting yet but I have a great starting point, also for the Berger 130 VLD Target bullets in my Hornady brass. I've ordered some Peterson brass and he can tell you the difference in loading for those as well. Highly recommended you talk to him if you're trying to find your load node. Heard the guys on Modern Day Sniper podcast (#14) talking about him so I looked him up. Now I find him here, too (of course).