Bolt action specific subsonic loads.

[0uTkAsT]

Great thread guys, making me wish I had my can already!

I've been trying to stock up on supplies but can't find Trail Boss anywhere. The $28 hazmat charge for buying online is a dealbreaker too

[30Whisper]

N2130N,
Hey whats your altitude? We are at 600 ft above sea level here in Tennessee 6 gr of Unique only produced 580 to 680 FPS temp 48 with the 194 Leigh. 2.20 OCL in Rem 16in 700. That is the only thing I can think of that would give me such slow FPS
I'm thinking I'm going to have to go to 10, 11 gr to get 1040 FPS.
Your thoughts on this,
30 whisper

[IMGrunt]

Generally speaking, altitude not a factor. Temperature has greatest affect. 400fps difference in your load...something else going on and it's not due to altitude.

[idaho.jon]

I would make sure it's not your chronograph, scale, or caliper to make sure you are getting the correct readings, just to be safe. I would advise against upping the charge by much at all before figuring out the issue. Just my 2 cents.

[N2130N]

The tracers lit! Haha if there is such a thing as too much fun, this might be getting close!

I loaded them over 6 grains of trailboss, which according to the book should have been around 1000 fps but they were easily super. Don't know the velocity 'cause I was firing them into a muddy bank about 300 meters away & there was no way to set up the chrony.

They were bright as shit though! Like a magnum roman candle, lol! I was happy that they lit over such a light charge. I'm either going to get heavier tracers from 7.62x51 or pull a grain from behind the M27s.

Although I need to find a way to pull them without destroying an impact puller.

I've noticed that the Lehigh controlled fracturing loads actually strike lower than the heavier bullets. I find this very curious. So I'm also working on a lighter practice load with 168 Amaxs since the Lehigh fracturings are in the same wieght range. A 175 SMK could probably be substituted but I have a lot of the Amaxs. These will be loaded over Bullseye to be more economical & for the ease of metering. I'm hoping to come up with something that has at least a very similar point of impact as the Lehigh fracturing.

N2130N,
Hey whats your altitude? We are at 600 ft above sea level here in Tennessee 6 gr of Unique only produced 580 to 680 FPS temp 48 with the 194 Leigh. 2.20 OCL in Rem 16in 700. That is the only thing I can think of that would give me such slow FPS
I'm thinking I'm going to have to go to 10, 11 gr to get 1040 FPS.
Your thoughts on this,
30 whisper

Wow umm..

Okay I'm at 1500 feet, give or take.

But something is amiss here.

First off please PLEASE don't go up to 10 or 11 grains of Unique! In larger milsurp cases like 8mm Mauser & the like 10 grains of Unique is known to be a pretty healthy load for cast boolits going well over the speed of sound. I doubt 10 grains would even fit.

Are you 100% sure that you're dropping 6 grains?

I calibrate my scale each time I load & especially on powders that meter as crappy as Unique, I measure every charge. Every one.

I also fire a 'control shot' over my chrony before testing. A load I know that's proven & will instantly show me if the chrony is reading right. It also serves as my fouling shot but anyways.

Look over your entire operation, components & report back. Something is quite far off.

[N2130N]

Oh 30whisper, check these out:

http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosler-p ... 100ct.html

Those would get you close without burning up those $$$ Lehigh's if you're having difficulties.

[30Whisper]

I used two different chronographs BC I thought mine was broken same results. I calibrated and zeroed my RCBS scale. I think I have a bunch of 200 gr or 190s Nosler's I can try. I was stumped too.... I haven't had time to try again so no worry's on overfilling the case.
I pretty sure they were in the 600 fps range because I was impacting about 9 to 12 in low from my other Nosler factory sub loads loads.
I will try again with cheaper bullets close to the same weight and let you know.

[N2130N]

I used two different chronographs BC I thought mine was broken same results. I calibrated and zeroed my RCBS scale. I think I have a bunch of 200 gr or 190s Nosler's I can try. I was stumped too.... I haven't had time to try again so no worry's on overfilling the case.
I pretty sure they were in the 600 fps range because I was impacting about 9 to 12 in low from my other Nosler factory sub loads loads.
I will try again with cheaper bullets close to the same weight and let you know.

Okie dokie.

The only other thing I can think of is inconsistant ignition. Is there a lot of powder residue left in the barrel?

I'm surprised a jacketed bullet would exit the barrel reliably at that speed!

[N2130N]

Okie dokie! I got my duplicate load for the Lehigh little pricks dialed in today..

Remington factory case, 1.360 +/-.001"
CCI 400 primer
Hornady 168 Amax
4.6 grains Hercules Bullseye
2.050" OAL

1035 average FPS

Over 15 shots extreme spread was 30 FPS. Not terrible, from my previous experiments. Par for course, Bullseye burns SUPER clean & meters wonderfully so these will be great for practice ammo & small game without having to re-zero my rifle when I want to use my Lehigh loads. Win win! Using only 4.6 grains of powder per shot nets a guy just over 1500 loads per pound of powder! A local shop here just fixed me up with two more pounds of Bullseye so I'm good for awhile! Now I just need to find a bulk deal on 168 Amaxs..

I went ahead & chronied the Hornady 208 factory Whisper round while I was at it today:

1068
1064
1057
1055
1070

1063 average FPS

As usual, great performance from Hornady. There's cheaper subs out there, but none I've found to be as consistent.

[Dolomite_Supafly]

I have been using 5 grains of VVN320 for any bullet 200 grains or heavier. Works great with any of my single shots and is quieter than HS-6 or Longshot at the same velocity.

I was told I could use 45 ACP load data for 300 Blackout with bullets of similar weights. I do use the load data but I start out 10% reduced.

And while working on single shot loads I happened upon an AMAZING AR load. It works great in my 8.5" AR and would likely go supersonic with anything with a longer barrel. That load is 7.5 grains of VVN105 with 230-245 grain cast, and coated, bullets. It should work well with 220 grain SMKs as well. I recommend starting at 7 grains and it should cycle any AR at 7 grains. It was cycling my AR at 5 grains but would not lock back.