Author: Zed
Subject: Federal Match primers, test
Posted: 12 January 2014 at 12:03pm
Gents, I have carried out my first test of the Federal Match primers today; after being advised by a very experienced shooter that they should perform more consistently than the winchester primers that I had been using. I had found the my groups were being spoiled by too many flyers.![]()
Subject: Federal Match primers, test
Posted: 12 January 2014 at 12:03pm
Gents, I have carried out my first test of the Federal Match primers today; after being advised by a very experienced shooter that they should perform more consistently than the winchester primers that I had been using. I had found the my groups were being spoiled by too many flyers.
I made up 10 rounds with 39,3 grains of Tubal 3000; which was the best load I've found so far using the winchester primers, Remington brass and 174g Sierra match kings. I also made up 10 rounds with a slightly lower load of 38,8 grains. This was partly in response to Shamu's observations of better grouping with a slightly lower speed.
So I used 4 C50 centre targets and shot 5 in each, alternating between the 2 loads to try and keep things on an even field. The results show what most of you guys already know! each rifle has it's own personality and diet!
The speed difference between the two loads was not as much as expected, only 25 feet per second difference on the mean figure, with some overlap of individual figures. But the difference in group size shows that the 39,3grain load at a around 2450ft/sec is improved by the new primers; it is also half the size of the group produced by the 38,8 grain load at an average of around 2425 ff/sec.
See the photo: The 2 left hand targets are the 39,3 grain load, the 2 right hand targets are the 38,8 grain load.
This load is close to the military spec speed of 2440 ft/sec. But the load data for this powder states 41 grains as max load; that sounds risky to me in view of the speeds produced at 39,3 grains.