Catch-22

Treated myself last year to a bit of bling 😁 https://www.joferusa.com/?wpsc-product=338-lapua-mag-solid-billet-aluminum-reloading-tray

Superb - many many thanks! Cheers 👌

I see a .223ai in my future but I’m unsure which AICS pattern mag will be best to feed it from. Its likely I’ll be shooting 80gn - 90gn bullets, but unlikely the ultra long VLDs. From what I’ve read, the AI .223 poly mags fit well and can be easily modded to provide a good COAL with the heavies. But they’re now unavailable. The Accurate Mags and MDTs seem not to be a good option for decent COAL. Should I consider modding a standard metal .308w AICS mag? I do have a preference for metal mags anyway. Thought & experiences welcomed. Thanks! 👍

Mag arrived today. Many thanks @lapua 👍

Bump

Oh, good article detailing the differences is here; https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/06/09/g1-vs-g7-vs-custom-drag-models/

Lapua’s 6DOF and TRASOL are almost identical for me in both 6.5x47 and .338NM. Results have been pretty spot on out to 1000m. Ive recently acquired a Kestrel 5700 with AB so it’ll be interesting to see how the regular AB, and the custom DM, compares to the Lapua & TRASOL solvers.

Pm sent

The ‘CM’ in the advert title shows it’s a CM / MIL based scope, not MOA.

Bump

Do you anneal? It could be the necks are now beginning to be work hardened and lack the spingyness needed for sizing the neck properly.

I like the Asolo GTX. They can be on the narrow side for some, so consider getting their wider model. https://www.asolo.com/en/products/hiking/energy/fugitive-gtx-wool-black.html

Stick an expander mandrel down inside the neck. Rounds the neck nicely, removes dings and pushes brass neck wall inconsistencies to outside of neck, improving neck tension.

I believe Whidden offers them, as does Neil Jones. Both US though. http://www.neiljones.com/ https://www.whiddengunworks.com/

Mine is a 1-8” twist, 26” tube. I run the 123g Scenars at around 2920fps. According to both Lapua 6DOF and TRASOL apps i need about 9.8mils of elevation and, the 123g Scenar is travelling around 1246fps at 1000m, so still supersonic.

As per title. Gold/orange colour. Perfect, as brand new condition, comes with original box, instructions, hard shell case (see pics). https://r-p-r.co.uk/kestrel/2500-handheld-weather-meter.php Sold

Hi mate, That was a very good shout, I hadn’t thought of mic’ing the button. It was indeed a 7mm button. Ive had a response from Whidden who were deeply apologetic - just a small mistake when someone put the button in the box. As i don’t use the buttons anyway (my mistake the 1st time!) it doesn’t matter to me. Just one of those things. Thanks all.

Now I usually use the expander mandrel rather than the sizer button in the sizer die, but this time I forgot 🙄 & the latest brass I’ve sized has basically no neck tension...I can push a bullet into the neck with a little force. My Whidden F/L sizer is the non-bushing type, which I got as they themselves confess produces better concentricity than bushing dies. The only change in regime is the expander button, and I can only assume it’s expanding the neck too much. It’s their standard/default .264 expander button, which is weird as you can only use Lapua brass, so Whidden shouldn’t have had to grind the buttons to accommodate a wide variety of brass manufacturers and brass thickness. Clearly the expander button is going in the bin before I do it again, but has anyone else with a Whidden F/L non-bushing die had similar issues?

I’ve got some 285 ELDs...I’ll measure up tomorrow. But at nearly twice the price as the Scenars, I won’t be feeding this gun many of them. Availability is also patchy.

No I’m not pointing them...makes very little gain for a lot of effort based on what I’ve read. Measuring 5x random bullets from the same box, I got these numbers; Weight = max 0.4gn (average was 0.2gn) Length (to Ogive) = max 0.05” (most were 0.02”) Fairly consistent for such a large/heavy bullet I think, especially as they’re actually very good value for money. Sure it’s not a Berger...but it’s no where near the price of a Berger either. I’m happy sticking with the Scenars. I managed to find time to load another 100x this morning. Note the ‘fairy dust’ on the bullets. It shall be interesting to see how the barrel holds up over time. I must say that I’m well smitten with the .338NM . Before choosing the calibre I had read a lot of people found its inherently very accurate and very easy to tune. So far I’ve definitely found it is so, just dump the powder and go shoot. I’m not even going to bother altering seating depth.

My previous rifle (Tikka 595 in 6.5x47) developed some issues around the 500 round mark with piercing primers all of a sudden. The cause was the large firing pin having issues with the small rifle primers. Bushing the pin resolved the issue.

SOLD to Deadcentre, with thanks for a speedy & hassle free deal 👍

Yeah I probably will. I do remember both 93.0g and 94.5g being particularly nice recoil impulses. I dunno what it was but both those loads definitely felt very comfortable to shoot.

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All part boxes i no longer need that I’m looking to move on. 6.5mm 139g Lapua Scenars OTM (71 count). Box is a bit split in one corner. 6.5mm 120g Sierra Matchking HPBT (87 count). 6.5mm 123g Sierra Matchking HPBT (36 count). ALL SOLD!