34 grain Dogtowns and RL10x

[HoundofSC]

found about 400 34 grain Dogtowns in the back of my bullet drawer. I used them for barrel break in last year with TAC and Varget but could never get them to shoot all that tight, could only get around 1MOA while I could get the Sierras consistently below .5 and even down into the bugholes so I never worked up a load with RL10.

In hese times I can't see just letting them sit but the Alliant site does not list any loads for RL10x and 34 grain bullets. The Sierra load guide give a RL 10starting load of 22.8 for the 32 grain and a starting load of 21.6 for the 39 grain bullet. Does a starting load of around 22.0 sound reasonable for a 26 inch barrel?

[vmaster59]

Been thinking about trying them.

Clint

[HoundofSC]

I will post my range results next week sometime, probably head to the range either Thursday or Friday. Pics of groups, chrono data etc. Might even carry some Varget and Tac along for the ride. The only thing I have in my notebook are is the old chrono data and I only tried 3 loads with the Varget and 4 with the TAC. My memory ain't the best so all I can remember were the groups were about 1 MOA, then I went to the Sierra's and quit with the Dogtowns. It's all about just turning money into noise for me anyway

[vmaster59]

Cool,what rifle do you have? And how long is the bbl.?

Clint

[HoundofSC]

it's a garage gun. Pawnshop Stevens ( Savage 10) action, 26 inch Criterion 1 in 11 inch twist heavy barrel , Rifle Basix trigger, Bell and Carlson Medalist varmint tactical rifle stock. Average groups with 39's is around 3/8 to 1/2, best was a .19. Mostly the indian not the arrow I think, a better shooter behind the trigger could probably get consistent .2's out of the gun

[vmaster59]

Sounds like a cool gun. You got any pics of it?

Clint

[Valar]

Should be safe to use data for 35 g Berger with 10x My book shows start 21.5 g Max 23.8 G This is a touch heavyer bullet but should be relativly safe data to use even though coefficents vary. Both are flat base bullets.

[HoundofSC]

Pic of gun- click thumbnail for full size image



did 5 workup rounds at 22.0, 22.5, 23.0, 23.2, 23.4, 23.6, 23.8,24.0,24.2,and 24.4. will stop if I see and pressure signs. I shoot the 39 Sierra with 23.7 and was shooting them @24.4 but backed off when I found the 23.7 node.

[vmaster59]

Good looking rig.

Clint

[Carolinablue]

I'm shooting 25 gr. 10X, 39 gr sierra bk., .25 to .5 group. T/C Venture. Got a few dogtowns but haven't been able to find a good load yet, using benchmark, varget and 10X. Best group I have got is 1 to 2 inches at 100 yds.

[wirelessguy2005]

The dogtown reviews seem to be hit and miss. I had a 20 caliber rifle that would shoot them in a 1/2" group. Others seem to have a wide range of results, anything from 1/2" to 2" groups at a 100 yards. You have to keep in mind that they are a very budget bullet, if you have a rifle that shoots them well they are a great deal. The only way to know for sure is to test them in your particular rifle. If you want to save some money buy the Varmint nightmare bullets from Midsouth shooters supply, they are the exact same bullet as the Dogtowns and sell for less money.

Brad

[HoundofSC]

here is today's range report. All in all they shot pretty well, find the sweet spot for your barrel and they will make a great plinking/hunting bullet. The 23.0 node and the 24.0 node looked real promising and I want to seriously play around with the 23.0 node. Next time at range I am just going to take primed cases and load as I go playing with bullet jump on the dogtowns. The 34 dogtowns are in the lands at 2.35. The ogive is really strange on this one, but I measured it half a dozen time with a Hornady gage and it always comes out as 2.30 to 2.35

I reset the headspace on this rifle recently and my old favorite loads were giving me pressure signs so I had to start over with new brass doing ladder tests I did notice at a lot of charge weights the SD was wacky, normally the SD on my handloads is below 25 FPS. I am wondering if my neck sizer is acting up? All brass is Winchester on it's second firing. Will post pics tomorrow, too tired to bother tonight

There is some 39 SBK data here also since I am just going a cut and paste from my range log.


Range report Jan 01 2013 60F 0 wind

All Groups measured Center to Center rounded to nearest tenth

Target A all 39 Gr Sierra's continued testing distance from lands. 3.32 OAL to lands on 39 Sierra

1) 3 fowlers
2) 23.7 RL10x 2.280 OAL 3650 FPS SD 29 FPS .5 group
2A) 23.7 RL10x 2.275 OAL 3650 FPS SD 17 FPS 3 shots .3 group
3) 23.7 RL10x 2.275 OAL 3650 FPS SD 15 FPS .5 group

Target B

1) 5 cold bore shot 39 Sierra 23.7 2.260 OAL
2) 39 gr 23.7 RL10x 2.260 OAL 3650 FPS SD26 FPS .7 group

cleaned rifle

4) 5 cold bore clean bore shot 39 Sierra .75 group

34 grain dogtowns seated to 2.00 OAL which is .35 off lands

5) 22.0 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3637 FPS SD 65 FPS .6 group
6) 22.5 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3721 FPS SD 18FPS 2 inch group with one a inch to the right and another 2 inches low
7) 22.7 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3735 FPS SD 22 FPS .5 group
9) 23.0 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3754 FPS SD 34 FPS .5 group 4 were in .2 range with one flyer


Target C

1) cold bore shot
2) 23.2 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3757 FPS SD 88 FPS .8 group
3) 23.4 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3764 FPS SD 94 FPS .9 group
4) 23.6 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3774 FPS SD22 FPS .7 group
5) 23.8 RL10X 2.00 OAL 3842 FPS SD85 FPS 1.0 group
6) 24.0 RL10x 2.00 OAL 3875 FPS SD 22 FPS .3 group
7) 24.2 RL10z 2.00 OAL 3878 FPS SD 22 FPS .8 FPS


bolt seemed sticky around 23.6 and up but no pressure signs on primers. All primers were CCI 450 small rifle magnums. Gun seems to like jump of .35 off lands

Best groups since headspace was reset was with 39 gr Sierra BK 23.7 gr RL10x CCI 450 primer .35 off lands at 2.30 to 2.305 OAL where I got .4 groups of which 4 shots were in the .1 range. Dead in the lands shot well also. 2.80 and 2.85 OAL with 23.6 grains RL10x shot well also .5 and .3 groups with some wiggle room for 23.6 to 23.8 grains of powder.

[HoundofSC]

Pics as promised, a bit later than I expected though since it turned out my tiredness was one of those 24 hour flu things



I went ahead and posted target A even though that is bullet jump tests for 39 SBK's

[vmaster59]

Thanks that's cool. Hope you get better. I'll post pics on mine when done.

Clint

[HoundofSC]

thanks, was just one of those 1 day stomach flus. Next week I will move the jump out to .040 and load 10 each between 22.7 to 23.1 in .1 increments . Measured my cases and found several over 1.850 and wondering if that wasn't the cause of the bolt stiffness

If I can get a good consistent >1/2 MOA load at 100/200 going for them then I will move them on out to 600 and 800 for some el cheapo F class practice