.300 Winchest Mag. grouping

[Lund4Fish]

I bought a Ruger M-77, .300 Win. Mag. a few years ago and have been trying to find load that shoots tight groups (1" or less). I reload and have been able to come up with loads for my wifes .270 and my 30.06 (both Ruger M-77's) that shoot 1/2" - 3/4" groups at 100 yards. I've been trying to come up with a load for my .300 that shoots similar, but no luck so far. I've started about 5 grains below the max recomended powder charge and then working up in .5 grain increments to the maximum loads with 165, 180 and 190 grain bullets using CCI Mag primers and both IMR-4871 and RL-22 powders, but I haven't been able to do any better than about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" groups. I know this is OK for hunting, but I'd sure like to see something a little tighter. Anyone have a similar rifle that has developed a good pet load for it?

[Gissert]

I have a Savage 111 in .338 Win Mag that gave me similar fits.

I started with my old favorite Nosler Partition (210gr IIRC) and 4350 powder. The best I could get out of that was about 2.25 inch groups at 100 yards.

Next I tried 4831 with the same bullets, and it was a tad better, but not much.

I moved on to Reloader 19, and got about 2 inch groups.

Next, I tried the various loads of the above mentioned powders with Speer bullets, anf the groups were 1.75 to 2.5 inches at 100 yards.

Finally I tried some Barnes 210 gr X bullets, and 4350 powder. I got 1.25 to 1.5 inch groups. Better, but I still wanted tighter groups. 4831 improved a bit, but the real break through was with Reloader 19 and the Barnes 210 grain X bullet. I got .75 to 1 inch groups with 70 grain powder load. It smarts a bit on the shoulder, this is what this particular gun shot well with.

Some guns shoot various loads with good accuracy, some are a bit more fussy. Have fun, mix up slower or faster powders with different bullet combos (within published data, of course) and take good bench notes.

Having been a die-hard Nosler guy, I was a tad reluctant to move to Barnes. After 3 elk and a bunch of whitetails, I have NO regrets.

[jaydog]

what bullets are u using i have browning A-bolt 300 wsm

i can get all three bullet holes to touch about 1" to 3/4" group at 100 yds using 180 sst hornady 66.5 grn imr 4350 cci large mag rifle primers

ps drop elk in tracks with one shot last year

[Wanderer]

I've done < 1" groups at 100 with my A-bolt stainless in .300 Win Mag. I tried alot of factory ammo and without a doubt the Federal Premium in 200 grain trophy bonded is IT for my gun.

Sometimes you don't have load your own to get what you want.

[WalleyeGod]

H1000 has worked for me. Inch or a little less (3/4-best) with 190 gr. bullets.

WG

[Lund4Fish]

Thanks guys for the feedback. From what I see by the comments it appears that the heavier loads shoot a little better. I had been trying to work up an accurate load using 180 grain hornady SST bullets and couldn't get any better than a 1-1/2" grouping and most were much worse than that. I've just recently tried some 190 hornady BTSP's and they shot better. I got shot 4 shot groups with those and had a load of 69.5 grains of IMR-4831 that I had 3 shots touching and 1 about an inch away from the 3 touching. Much better. I'll keep working with the heavier bullets and try a couple more powder combos.