MarkCh
Well-Known Fanatic
I have been reloading .223 and 9mm all year with good results, and finally got around to loading some ammo for my deer rifles. I worked up a good load for my .270 that I'm pleased wth, and have given up on my daughter's .243 until I can get a different powder since what I was using didn't produce as good of results as the factory ammo she has been shooting. Yesterday I finally got to the range with some ammo I loaded for my Kimber Model 84 in .260 Rem. I loaded up some test loads using 125-grain Nosler Partitions and H 380 powder. I followed the Nosler recommendations for the bullet with a starting load of 38 grains (2643 fps), intermediate load of 40 (2710 fps), and max load of 42 (2831). The Kimber has always been a great shooting rifle, and it didin't disappoint me this time. 3-shot groups at 100 yards were .75-inch with the 38-grain load, 1-inch with the 40-grain load and about 1.25-inch with the heavier loading. My questions is this, obviously the 38-grain loading was most accurate, but the others were really close. How much real-word differrence does that nearly 200 fps make in a deer cartridge if I were to go with the little hotter load to get the extra speed? At this point I'm leaning toward just loading up enough for the season of the 38-grain load and calling it good. But since I'm new to this loading for high-powered rifle I thought I'd ask the experts. Thanks.
