copper bullets seating depth must

[ADAM]

hello fellows this might be old news to some but new to me i have been having some problems with accuracy loading 243 win 62 gr varmint grnades, 85 gr hornady gmx, nosler etip 90gr this copper bullets like to jump setting them 0.050 off the lands is a must from what i was told by nosler tech.what is your take on this let me know.

[ADAM]

come on most of us hunt in condor zone.no one had this problem?

[bruce_ventura]

What problem? I use Barnes VG and TSX in .223 and .243, and either TSX or TTSX in .270 Win, .340 Wby and .358 Win. Yes, I set them back 0.050. They all group just fine.

I can't comment on the Hornady or Nosler non-lead stuff, since I haven't used them. Is your bore really clean? If not scrub it really well with the appropriate product, depending on what type of fouling you have.

How did you develop your load? Maybe you need to back off on the charge up to a grain.

[ADAM]

starting loads all of them i set the bullet 0.010 off the lands,i clean the barrel real good what happens is after fouling shot i will shoot 5 shot groups 3 out of 5 will touch the 4 th and the 5 th will open 1 inch.

[bruce_ventura]

Hmm. My thoughts:

I think you're good to go for big game hunting. If your first or even second shot is placed well, you won't need to fire four shots. Effectively, you've got a <0.5" rifle. All my big game rifles shoot 1-1.5" 5-shot groups. Without a really good rest, that's better than I can shoot in the field.

Even an inch 5 shot group at 100 yds isn't terrible. I would expect better dispersion for ground squirrels, though. My experience with VGs is that I can get <0.5" 5-shot groups in no wind conditions from a good rifle (heavy barrel contour, free-floated, bedded stock, good trigger, etc.).

I assume you did not see this effect with quality copper swaged lead bullets. Is that correct? Otherwise it could just be barrel heating causing a POI shift. Is your barrel free-floated?

Starting loads do not necessarily have the lowest dispersion. Find the max load for your rifle and then check dispersion, decreasing 0.2-0.5 grains at a time. I typically do this in just two range trips using less than 50 rounds total for an initial survey of three different powders.

[Fjold]

Is it always the fifth shot that opens up the group?

[CSACANNONEER]

Are you really shooting copper bullets and not brass ones? I've only seen copper bullets once and I have a few hundred of them. But, they were custom made by Lynn McMurdo back in the 90's.

[ADAM]

no its not the fifth shot it its always 2 out of 5.shooting off the bench no wind.this is varmint rifle so far hornady and barns bullets i got some nosler 90 gr etips that i will try next

[ADAM]

copper only

[CSACANNONEER]

2 out of 5? Are you consistently getting two distinct groups? If so, you may have something wrong with your optics.

copper only

You're right!

http://www.nosler.com/Bullets/E-Tip-Lead-Free.aspx

Brass is a copper alloy. I'm really not sure what it is but, Nosler just calls it a "copper alloy". So, we'll have to go with that for now.

Thanks, I learned something else today!

[ADAM]

no 1 will be 1 inch to the right 2nd will be to the top or left

[CSACANNONEER]

What kind of rest system are you using? I might be dropping by Angeles tomorrow and could let you use my front and rear rests if you want stable rests.

[ADAM]

using led sled