On my quest to find the perfect round for consistency, accuracy, and stability at long range, I am really eyeballing these new Sierra bullets in 200 gr for their BC and possible performance (I have yet to see any testing, so I leave it at "possible"). Out of my current 27 inch AXMC 300 win with 1:8 twist, im pushing 225 ELDs to 2930 fps safely with about 16.4 mils average dial to 1 mile (2975 max, but due to RL26 being affected by temp, I dialed down a full grain from max tested). My previous rifle, a Remington 5R 24 inch win mag, was propelling the 208 ELDs to 3,000 FPS and requiring about 17.5 mils for 1 mile. Using both of those as a guide, and selecting the 4 bullets I was looking at, I made a guestimate table for my AXMC and was hoping someone with more experience than myself would chime in about long range performance (past 1,000m as below that, I cant imagine the 300 win has problems shooting any bullet) and which bullet might be "better" against wind. My spot being in a canyon, the wind at the end is often significantly different than the wind at the shooting position, so a good string of hits is usually killed by a gusting headwind, or crosswind, requiring heavy adjustment, only to go back another direction after a few good hits and minutes later.
Here is the data I guestimated on, with the only firm data on my AXMC being the 225 ELD as I have not tested the others for velocity. I grabbed numbers yesterday as we had a VERY high wind day, and all 4 rounds had nearly identical dial of 4 mils, and on low wind days, they are generally 1 mil tops. the SMK rounds are Sierras new high BC rounds, not the older versions.
208 ELD - 3050 fps at muzzle, 1220 fps at 1 mile with 687 lbs of energy, 16.5 mils elevation dial
225 ELD - 2930 fps at muzzle, 1295 fps at 1 mile with 838 lbs of energy, 16.3 mils elevation dial
200 SMK - 3100 fps at muzzle, 1272 fps at 1 mile with 719 lbs of energy, 15.3 mils elevation dial
230 SMK - 2900 fps at muzzle, 1303 fps at 1 mile with 867 lbs of energy, 16.4 mils elevation dial
What im still trying to learn as well, is what is "too heavy" for this caliber with regards to pressure multiplication, if that is a factor at all. Looking at the 225 vs 230, which have nearly identical BCs (798 vs 800), am I trying to push too heavy of a bullet to these higher velocities? Ive read some stuff Frank posted in the past about higher BC and heavier bullet not always being the best, and personally I love velocity, but with limited life on a very expensive barrel, I also don't want to spend the entire life of the barrel just testing rounds. Between changing powders, brass, primers and OAL, ive shot 400 rounds through this rifle already and I am just now finally mass producing a load to put on steel at distance with the 225 ELDs.
Thoughts? Am I nuts for trying to chase the perfect long range round and should just roll with what ive made work?
Here is the data I guestimated on, with the only firm data on my AXMC being the 225 ELD as I have not tested the others for velocity. I grabbed numbers yesterday as we had a VERY high wind day, and all 4 rounds had nearly identical dial of 4 mils, and on low wind days, they are generally 1 mil tops. the SMK rounds are Sierras new high BC rounds, not the older versions.
208 ELD - 3050 fps at muzzle, 1220 fps at 1 mile with 687 lbs of energy, 16.5 mils elevation dial
225 ELD - 2930 fps at muzzle, 1295 fps at 1 mile with 838 lbs of energy, 16.3 mils elevation dial
200 SMK - 3100 fps at muzzle, 1272 fps at 1 mile with 719 lbs of energy, 15.3 mils elevation dial
230 SMK - 2900 fps at muzzle, 1303 fps at 1 mile with 867 lbs of energy, 16.4 mils elevation dial
What im still trying to learn as well, is what is "too heavy" for this caliber with regards to pressure multiplication, if that is a factor at all. Looking at the 225 vs 230, which have nearly identical BCs (798 vs 800), am I trying to push too heavy of a bullet to these higher velocities? Ive read some stuff Frank posted in the past about higher BC and heavier bullet not always being the best, and personally I love velocity, but with limited life on a very expensive barrel, I also don't want to spend the entire life of the barrel just testing rounds. Between changing powders, brass, primers and OAL, ive shot 400 rounds through this rifle already and I am just now finally mass producing a load to put on steel at distance with the 225 ELDs.
Thoughts? Am I nuts for trying to chase the perfect long range round and should just roll with what ive made work?
