39gr SBK's and twist rate

[Savage250]

I have loaded some of these and I am wondering if anyone has had any luck with these bullets and a 1 and 12 twist. I can't get my 35gr Bergers to group at all at 100yds. 25yds, the bergs will make one hole. Move passed that and they start flying all over. Any help would be great....

Thanks,
Savage250

[Savage250]

After looking at Berger's site, they recommend a 14 twist for their 35gr bullets. Dang, I wish I hadn't loaded so many of these up. Now I may have to pull them and slow em down.

[WrzWaldo]

What twist is your barrel? The 1:14 that Berger recommends is the minimum twist, you can twist them faster. My XR-100 is a 1:12 and it loves them.

http://www.rugerhunting.com/forum/viewt ... it=#p26817


Note: The 35 Berger's shoot equally well out of this rifle.

[jo191145]

Savage 250

I've have four Savage 204 barrels and every one of them prefers the 35 Berger except for #4. My newest tube likes the 40 Berg and does not shoot the 35's to well. It did seem to like Hawkeye Joes infamous Top Dog Benchmark load in a quick five shot group test. Haven't followed up on retesting that though.

Wrzwaldo is absolutely correct about Bergers minimum twist recommendations.
Whats your load?

[Savage250]

My twist is 1:12. Dan Carey is the one who built this rifle and he told me that 28gr of H4895 would put a big smile on my face. Well, it hasn't happened yet, the smile that is. I have loaded mostly 28gr of H4895. I've got some Nosler Ballistic tip 40's loaded. Also some 39SBK's, some with H4895 at 27.5gr. And some 39's with 26.5gr of Benchmark. I haven't shot any of the SBK's yet though. Sometime around March, I will spend a day at the range and try to see if the Sierra's will come in. My OAL is 2.25". I have been reading a lot about the 39SBK's and was just wondering what twist Sierra recommends for that bullet. I looked on thier site and can't find any info on what they recommend.

Thanks guys,

P.S.- I only have around 50 or so rounds through this rifle. Do you think that it will settle out once I get some more through it??

[jo191145]

Sav250

26.5gns of Benchmark under a 39bk is over book max. I'm not gonna tell you book max can never be exceeded cause that would be hypocrisy on my part. You shouldn't be starting there though. In my experience with BM and 40 Bergs 25.3-25.4gns is a small but very accurate and usually fairly stable node. To roughly equate that to 39's that same node would probably be somewhere between 25.4-25.8. Just a guess. I don't shoot bk's. Start at 25.3 and work up in .1 gn increments. I did say it was a small node didn't I. If you were shooting light pills with the BM the nodes might be larger.

40gn Noslers can be a tough nut to crack.

[Savage250]

Jo,
Thanks. I apologize for the typo. What I have loaded right now in the 39SBK's is 27.5gr of H4895 with CCI-BR4 primers and win brass. I looked and my Benchmark is 26.6gr with the 35Berger. The 26.6gr of Benchmark with the 35Berger is directly out of Hodgdon's book. I should have been more clear, sorry about that. Anyway, I still don't know what's happening with this rifle. Maybe it's a combination of me and it not being broken in real good.

[jo191145]

No prob. just don't want to see you brazing a new rifles bolt right out of the gate If 26.6gns of BM and a 35 Berger can't make you smile its time to try the 39's/40's.
You said this rifles built. What kind of tube. Factory tubes can take quite awhile to settle down. Custom handlapped should start shooting after the first cleaning. Or so we hope

[Savage250]

I was told it's a Shilen. But, when I received it, the crown hadn't been touched at all. It was supposed to have an 11 degree target crown on it but he hadn't touched and told me that he didn't know how it left his shop like that. From just what I have shot this gun, it doesn't shoot very good at 100yds. I will, however, get a vise and shoot it with a bunch of different loads and see what happens. But from shooting it at 100 and its groups are above 2.5 inches, it's just not going to work.

I've got a Savage 22-250 that hit right out of the box. I took it and shot some moly bullets through it. Then took it and cleaded all of that moly mess out of it, and it still shoots under 1/2groups at 100yds with 50gr bullets.

Anyway, I am hoping that this AR will straighten up. I'm like you, I would think that it should have been shooting excellent from the 1st round. I've had my Savage for 4 years now and I've only cleanded it once.

[Glen]

No crown?? Could be a problem there.

[Savage250]

Well, let me clarify the crown deal. When it first arrived at my FFL, I opened it and the end of the barrel had damage. It looked like it had been dropped and it had a pretty deep dent right on the edge of the end of the barrel. I sent it back to him and he called and said that it wasn't supposed to have that particular crown on it. It looked like a factory crown with a raised ring around the outer edge. Which I wouldn't think that a SHILEN blank would have a crown on it at all, you know? Anyway, when he received it back he took it and put an 11 degree crown on it and just pulled it down until the damage was gone. Either that or he cut it and then put the crown on it. I can't remember for sure.

[WrzWaldo]

Hey Savage250,

I was looking for some specifics on you rifle but can't find any.

Is it a custom? What is the barrel length?

[Sask Boy]

Hey Savage250, I am shooting a Savage FLV in the 204 and I started with 32gr Vmax and could not get anything going with them. I switched to the 39gr BKs and everything tighten right up. I have had the rifle for just about a year and I am getting under .5 @ 100yards when I can shoot straight.The load I am using is 26.5 grs of H4895 with BR4 primers and mostly win brass, I have just over 150 rounds through the rifle. This past fall I had the rifle with me during bird season and I shot 7 coyotes from 75 yards to over 400 yards. The only thing I was a little concerned with is that I only had 2 one shot kills. The other thing is I wish Savage would have supplied a wagon as it is one heavy rifle for a old guy to carry around.
I will be spending February & March down at my sister's place during calving and I should be able to get out quite abit. I hope to make a dent in the Coyote population in south east Saskatchewan during that time.

[Savage250]

Hey Savage250,

I was looking for some specifics on you rifle but can't find any.

Is it a custom? What is the barrel length?

Yes Waldo, It is a custom. Sierra told me that they tested in a 26" barrel and they worked fine. Mine is a 24" so I hoping I will be fine too. We'll see what happens with these 39's.

Thanks,

A little update: Robert at Sierra told me today that in order to make up the difference of the two inches, I would have to push the bullet faster to make up that difference. So, I may have to drop down to a 32grain bullet. Time will tell I guess.

[OldTurtle]

S-250, If Dan Carey built your upper, I'm really surprised there is any problem with it... He has a reputation for building quality items.

My .204 upper was built long before there were any commercial uppers on the market and it has been shooting consistently good groups since day one.

I have a Douglas XX Match 22" barrel in a 1/12 twist and mine prefers 26.3gr (almost 1 gr under max.) of W748 with CCI 450 primers for the 39gr SBKs and will usually give me under .25" groups @100 under normal MO conditions.