..Got the l'il Noveske 8" Diplomat back out to the range for 6 or so hours of load development today. It was "150 grainer" day. Tried Sierra Spitzers (#2130), Hornady FBSP Interlocks (#3031) and some M1's. The Sierras and Hornady's performed well, the M1's performed like pulled bullets will, but definitely "huntable plinkers".
..Tried H110 and ran'em up to the mid 19's before deciding better. All groups with H110 were kindof big and beat the crap outta the brass on the upper end.
..A1680 was the powder of the day. A little pokey, but I ain't after speed. Final load ended up around 1735ish with ES's in the teens and respectable groupings from an 8" AR on a less-than-optimal setup. Considering gear, setup and intended use, load work is pretty much only done at 50 yards for this project. Neat thing was all the 150's shared pretty much the same basic POI. Handy. Shooting them suppressed shifted POI about 2" right, but I still don't know what use suppressed supers would be.
..I've been working with 178gr AMax's for subs and thus far they've been a real winner. While not exactly what I'd call "proven", the only time I've had a FTF or lock was with the very first weak load I tried that more or less farted-and-fell-outta-the-barrel.
Did it bass ackwards and started low. Old habits, ya know. Outside of that they have functioned flawlessly with acceptable accuracy for the intended use. Current load is ~12ish grains of 1680 seated to a comparator length of 2.475".
..On a side note, I installed and zeroed the new Leupy VXR HOG today. Beautiful resolution, love the reticle. As I understand it they come from the mfg centered. I used a LaRue QD104 for a mount. Stuck it on the Noveske and first shot was dead center about 6" high. Hot damn I love nice gear.!!
..The pic is of my "proof target". Shoot, break down the setup, step away for a bit, setup. Repeat. Shot 3 Sierras, marked the group, then for shits-n-grins shot the Hornadys over top of'em. Got the flyer on the second Hornady and I'm pretty sure that was user-error cause I wasn't getting any wild flyers like that earlier. Shot a similar target with M1's in the mix and chewed the diamond pretty good. YMMV..
Pigs are gonna hate this thing very shortly.
d:^) Schneeks..