Thread: sub loads, accuracy, sd goals etc

So, im loading some sub sonic rounds , 280gr peregrines into my 338Federal, I am using 15.4gr of n110 which gives me 1100fps almost bang on and once the projectile is seated, the old "shake the case" test sounds like its pretty close to full capacity.

What sort of "groups" and SD, is expected for a subsonic load, im guessing due to these only really being efficient out to 150m, im assuming about an inch @ 50M is tolerable? and again, assuming SDS arent goign to be amazing, but as long as they are at the lower end of the sound barrier then it should be good ?

Wanting to head shoot deer with the thermal gun and subs 50-150m - So just trying to work out whats good for sub loads.

additionally, Im having trouble with my frankford thrower throwing n110 being such a fine powder - anyone found a fix for this lol possibly enlarging the hole in the pickup tube ?

Lee spoons will solve powder issues.its using same method as a thrower afterall.your sd doesn't matter at all if your group size is good enough. In fact I would go so far as to say if group is good enough and your drops etc are working FFS do not go near chronograph.incase you then decide it's not good enough lol.

My 190gn Sub-x will normally shoot 1/2" at 50 yards out of the 308win. I don't have any MV data as I just worked my load down until they went quiet.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Lee spoons will solve powder issues.its using same method as a thrower afterall.your sd doesn't matter at all if your group size is good enough. In fact I would go so far as to say if group is good enough and your drops etc are working FFS do not go near chronograph.incase you then decide it's not good enough lol.

good thinking, i have some spoons here... I can just manually pour them in, damn... why didnt i think of that lol

Sounds like you're on the right track.
In mine i used 13gr of AR2205 with a dacron packer behind the lehigh 250gr for great accuracy.

The el-cheapo oft-despised Lee Perfect Powder measure is superb with fine grain powders- I use one a lot with W296 which bleeds on the bench from most anything else. It's quite ordinary with stick powders. The wipers in it can be cheaply replaced but last years. The best ones are well used ones that have had lots of powder thru them the graphite of which conditions the barrel to remove static powder adherence. The conditioning of a new one is part of Lee's manual which I suspect is oft not read. I regret selling my first one, which I bought well used and had fir plus 5 yrs. A new one came along in a bulk purchase and I thought I was upgrading lol. Took a bit to get it conditioned and throwing to the same levels of accuracy as the old one.

I used a lee powder spoon to manually load the powder out of the hop onto the scales. Was 30x faster lol. anyway all done. Looking forward to testing their grouping. Hopfully on the paper target at 50m and not too far off from my 100m super sonic load zero

Originally Posted by Shearer

My 190gn Sub-x will normally shoot 1/2" at 50 yards out of the 308win. I don't have any MV data as I just worked my load down until they went quiet.

Same as Shearer, my loads are bang on the inch for the 44mag and 308. Wasn't to worried about SD or ES etc. At the ranges they're used at, its not really relevant unless you're right on the edge of the sound barrier.