New Powders - I'm Outa Date

[Flatfish]

Loaded some rounds last night. It occurred to me that I cannot list many of the new powders from the last 15 years (Varget is "newest" can in cabinet). I have not used a cup and core bullet to hunt with since Reagan was in office.

Used W760 powder. It is not temp stable. It does nothing to combat copper fouling.

Used Win WLR primers. They are not match primers. They are not small rifle, in a large rifle case.

Used Nosler Partition bullets. They do not have a plastic tip. They do not have boat tail. Nowhere on the box is "Low Drag"

Used Hornady .275 cases. I guess these are kinda new, because Hornady hasn't been making ammo/reloading for very long. So that's pretty high tech.

The rifle is blued, does not have a pic rail anywhere, it does not have a 10-30 round detatchable magazine (I've looked all over the place. Nobody makes an after market magazine for a #1-A), it has a pretty wood stock. It's pretty much factory stock (Save a trigger adjustment).

It does carry a scope. So that's pretty new age.

As I get older, performance at all costs fades away. For me, at this moment, I am pleased with my choices. There is no doubt one of the techno wonders who has the latest match rig could shoot better scores than me. I'm ok with that.

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[GOG]

It seems to me that you've found your sweet spot, that's a nice place to be.

 

[Alexx1401]

Since I don't load for rifles any more, just handguns and them only for cheap fun, I also do not change. Been using W231 since I started loading many decades ago. Have a couple others I used for projects that are so old not sure when I bought them. For some who are always trying to tweak out a little better accuracy from some rifle I can see why they would try new stuff that hits. A lot of what i see from people who are really good though is so good not sure where there is really much room to go.

 

[Stomper]

There's a bit over $2k invested in the .308 Tikka/Leupold kit pictured below...



Having top-shelf kit helps, but it's no substitute for marksmanship fundamentals... I was a little sloppy with the trigger on first shot.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Loaded some rounds last night. It occurred to me that I cannot list many of the new powders from the last 15 years (Varget is "newest" can in cabinet). I have not used a cup and core bullet to hunt with since Reagan was in office.

Used W760 powder. It is not temp stable. It does nothing to combat copper fouling.

Used Win WLR primers. They are not match primers. They are not small rifle, in a large rifle case.

Used Nosler Partition bullets. They do not have a plastic tip. They do not have boat tail. Nowhere on the box is "Low Drag"

Used Hornady .275 cases. I guess these are kinda new, because Hornady hasn't been making ammo/reloading for very long. So that's pretty high tech.

The rifle is blued, does not have a pic rail anywhere, it does not have a 10-30 round detatchable magazine (I've looked all over the place. Nobody makes an after market magazine for a #1-A), it has a pretty wood stock. It's pretty much factory stock (Save a trigger adjustment).

It does carry a scope. So that's pretty new age.

As I get older, performance at all costs fades away. For me, at this moment, I am pleased with my choices. There is no doubt one of the techno wonders who has the latest match rig could shoot better scores than me. I'm ok with that.

As long as you are ok with it, that's all that matters.

 

[41mag]

I got partial jug of 5433? 5344?? ---something left from my 1980 IHMSA 308 pistol days...every 10 or 20 years I check it out....seems stable....so I m right there too....

 

[TTSX]

You don't understand. You need custom match ammo to shoot those pop cans 50 ft away. It's just common sense

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I like me some "old school" stuff too. As long as it shoots good. Not a dang thing wrong with using Nosler partitions. I use the seconds and blemished ones though:


They make good holes in the paper and critters. And no, it doesn't have to be a Tikka to shoot good:


Heck even my old rifles made before 1964 shoot as well as my Tikka's:

Sorry, that's an old style cup and core bullet, but it sure knocks the heck out of deer and it shoots straight. The old wood stocked rifles are sexy and they shoot very well:


Heck, even my rifles made around 1917 shoot well:

That was a partition that took that buck:


My newer factory sporterized m1917 (BSA Model E) shoots well too for a rifle that was worked over in 1951:


Old school is cool and you don't have to leave much of anything on the table, even if you do shoot old style bullets:



As long as I'm "in the orange", that's all I care about...

 

[Alexx1401]

There's a bit over $2k invested in the .308 Tikka/Leupold kit pictured below...
View attachment 585661


Having top-shelf kit helps, but it's no substitute for marksmanship fundamentals... I was a little sloppy with the trigger on first shot.
View attachment 585662

Pretty hard to improve on that

 

[Member 34319]

Wood and blues steel dominated far longer than plastics.

They still do really.

Plastic is just cheaper. As is everything these days.

Manufacturers got to sell though. So new keeps people coming back for more.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Loaded some rounds last night. It occurred to me that I cannot list many of the new powders from the last 15 years (Varget is "newest" can in cabinet). I have not used a cup and core bullet to hunt with since Reagan was in office.

Used W760 powder. It is not temp stable. It does nothing to combat copper fouling.

Used Win WLR primers. They are not match primers. They are not small rifle, in a large rifle case.

Used Nosler Partition bullets. They do not have a plastic tip. They do not have boat tail. Nowhere on the box is "Low Drag"

Used Hornady .275 cases. I guess these are kinda new, because Hornady hasn't been making ammo/reloading for very long. So that's pretty high tech.

The rifle is blued, does not have a pic rail anywhere, it does not have a 10-30 round detatchable magazine (I've looked all over the place. Nobody makes an after market magazine for a #1-A), it has a pretty wood stock. It's pretty much factory stock (Save a trigger adjustment).

It does carry a scope. So that's pretty new age.

As I get older, performance at all costs fades away. For me, at this moment, I am pleased with my choices. There is no doubt one of the techno wonders who has the latest match rig could shoot better scores than me. I'm ok with that.

And how do you think this can feels?

 

[bsa1917hunter]

There's a bit over $2k invested in the .308 Tikka/Leupold kit pictured below...
View attachment 585661


Having top-shelf kit helps, but it's no substitute for marksmanship fundamentals... I was a little sloppy with the trigger on first shot.
View attachment 585662

Its ok, we all get a little "sloppy" sometimes. I don't know what that has to do with the OP though? ha ha.. That is a good shooting Tikka. I'd like to see how she does with 10 shot groups. Your target is "out of date", I suppose. Also, it doesn't take a brand spanking new $2000.00 plus plastic rifle/Leupold combo to shoot good. Sometimes an old $300.00 Stevens 200 is all it takes. This rifle is over 10 years old, but still shoots just as good as your Tikka, maybe even better:


Yes, that's even a super old Weaver 4-16x44 on top of that rifle, that I purchased used for $100.00... Go figure....
Post a new not so out of date pic of some 10 shot groups buddy.... When we have shoots at our club, we shoot 10 round groups for score. Only seems fitting if we are talking about how your rifle really shoots... Youre "out of date target" requires a new one. Please....

 

[Certaindeaf]

Loaded some rounds last night. It occurred to me that I cannot list many of the new powders from the last 15 years (Varget is "newest" can in cabinet). I have not used a cup and core bullet to hunt with since Reagan was in office.

Used W760 powder. It is not temp stable. It does nothing to combat copper fouling.

Used Win WLR primers. They are not match primers. They are not small rifle, in a large rifle case.

Used Nosler Partition bullets. They do not have a plastic tip. They do not have boat tail. Nowhere on the box is "Low Drag"

Used Hornady .275 cases. I guess these are kinda new, because Hornady hasn't been making ammo/reloading for very long. So that's pretty high tech.

The rifle is blued, does not have a pic rail anywhere, it does not have a 10-30 round detatchable magazine (I've looked all over the place. Nobody makes an after market magazine for a #1-A), it has a pretty wood stock. It's pretty much factory stock (Save a trigger adjustment).

It does carry a scope. So that's pretty new age.

As I get older, performance at all costs fades away. For me, at this moment, I am pleased with my choices. There is no doubt one of the techno wonders who has the latest match rig could shoot better scores than me. I'm ok with that.

Dont worty, no one can even spell Vihahatori.
I'd just spell it $$ if I ever used it.

 

[DuneHopper]

There's a bit over $2k invested in the .308 Tikka/Leupold kit pictured below...
View attachment 585661


Having top-shelf kit helps, but it's no substitute for marksmanship fundamentals... I was a little sloppy with the trigger on first shot.
View attachment 585662

Thats a sweet setup.

 

[WillametteWill]

I've been using 700x in my trap loads since the late 70's. There are no doubt better powders but my recipe does not seem to be broken. What you use was modern at some point in time. Go with that and keep it up!

 

[Flatfish]

I am not unaware enough to think that plastic/stainless does not have merit. The last couple rifles I bought (Both for wife. ) were a heavy barrel Tikka in 223 (Replete with NF scope....dials and all), and a Tikka in 270 (Leupold with dials).

The 270 shoots half minute with X bullets (See what I did there? I didn't call the "TTSX BT"...I called em "X", because when I first started using them in the early 90s, that's what they called them). The 223 shoots in the twos for the most part with Hornady match slugs.

It's kinda funny that I pay close attention to the bullet, either for terminal performance on the animal reasons. Or for accuracy without effort and trajectory. I choose bullets that penetrate well, because the first 25 years of my elk career were on the coast where ranges were short and angles were bad. Had I spent the same time hunting open country where animals would stand broadside at 250+ yards, my thoughts on bullets may well be different.

I pay close attention to cases. Because you can have everything correct, and have the wrong cases and spin your wheels for a long time without ever seeing the true return of your efforts. All because your cases vary way too much out of the box. Laupa is always good IMO. Nosler has been damn spiffy lately too.

Mostly working on the boxes of primers I hoarded during Great Primer Scare back in the 90s. Maybe the 223 would shoot in the ones if I bought a new rack of 205M's? I dunno if it matters for what our goals with it are.

So I do not shun technology entirely. I also have followed the history of arms development in the last 150 years to understand that the rifle, high BC ammo and accuracy are nothing new. I giggle at the folks today who think an Ultra Mag and high BC slugs are some sort of new discovery.

The new tech (Rangefinders that actually work at longer range and scope dials that are repeatable) interests me greatly. I will likely shoot at 1000 yards this summer with the 223.

 

[The Heretic]

Back when I still reloaded, it was considered an accomplishment to get MOA accuracy from a rifle. It took tweaking of the rifle, sometimes serious tweaking, and handloading or expensive custom ammo.

Today, if a rifle doesn't do MOA out of the box with off the shelf ammo, something is wrong either with the rifle or the ammo.

 

[Kruel J]

Back when I still reloaded, it was considered an accomplishment to get MOA accuracy from a rifle. It took tweaking of the rifle, sometimes serious tweaking, and handloading or expensive custom ammo.

Today, if a rifle doesn't do MOA out of the box with off the shelf ammo, something is wrong either with the rifle or the ammo.

Or the shooter.

 

[The Heretic]

Or the shooter.

It's never the shooter - always something wrong with the gun or the ammo!