We’re kicking this week off with a 300 PRC load development that went extremely well! For the load development we are using an absolutely incredible Kelbly’s Atlas Tactical long action fitted with a 5×5 Precision Bartlein 1-9 twist, 30” 4 groove barrel. The barreled action is mated to a long action ARC XYLO chassis which is a premium setup along with the trusty Nightforce ATAC-R 5-25 MRAD scope.
Moving into the more in depth components, we opted to run Lapua brass, which is a certified easy button for us. We decided on running H1000 powder as it is well suited and proven to be a winner for this cartridge. For the primers, we’re using CCI military 7.62×51 NATO and Hornady 208 grain ELDM bullets.
L.E. WILSON DIES ARE THE WAY TO GO…
One new toy for us is the HAYDON arbor press which we acquired from FULL SEND PRECISION RIFLES. For the sizer die, we decided to run our “go-to” which is a L.E. WILSON bushing die fitted with a .334 titanium Redding Bushing to allow us to control neck tension at .003”. This has proven to be really consistent across all calibers. For the seater die, we’re running the L.E. WILSON arbor press die. These dies are of the highest quality and our #1 favorite. http://Fullsendfirearmsandammo.com
ARBOR PRESS SEATER DIES OFFER THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ACCURACY
This is the first time we started off a load development with an arbor press die. It will more than likely be the only way we make match ammo from now on because of how ridiculously consistent the seat depth was. Needless to say, it was dead on every time. The results speak for themselves. SEE THE 300PRC LOAD DEVELOPMENT RESULTS BELOW! These dies take a minute to get into a rhythm with, but roughly the same time to load a cartridge. H1000 powder has proven to serve well as a magnum powder and did really well with the velocity ladder. We found low pressure throughout the ladder test and chose a nice flat spot in velocity to do a final match load.
300 PRC H1000 LADDER RESULTS
After examining the LABRADAR and the velocities, we made a graph to see where the flat spots were, if any. 77.5-78.0 grains showed real promise which we settled at 2985 FPS with the 208s. This spot produced a wide node, and great accuracy. It allows for inaccuracies with powder drops with little speed changes. There was also another spot that shot amazing group size wise, but seemed to close to the edge of a node. Generally were searching for a flat spot in a ladder test. Looking at the results, you can see hitting the 3000 fps mark was easy. There might be another trip to the range to go a little higher to see if there was anything missing seeing as how we never saw pressure. 3000 FPS was the goal for us with the 208GR projectiles. Luckily we made it there with no hiccups.
300 PRC LOAD DEVELOPMENT
Talk about precision! This load here did phenomenal. Group measured at .169” at 2990 fps. Generally running your projectile jammed is a really bad idea. But after experimenting with seat depth, it required . 070 or so before the projectile started getting relatively stuck with dummy rounds. This is good for us because the forgiving ogive shape gave us the ability to touch the rifling without worrying about seat depth being changed. Anytime you are jamming, you run the chance of having inconsistent seat depth which will affect accuracy. We could safely touch the rifling while chambering rounds and yet still allowed for safe extraction. This bullet has been a favorite of ours with the .308 family of bullets. There was enough collective data from previous load workups to confidently touch the rifling and not get anything stuck. Another thing to consider, the more neck tension you run, the less chances you have of extracting a loaded cartridge and leaving a bullet in the chamber. This is one of the reasons you generally don’t need to run really low neck tension.All together, this has been a really awesome load development. We found amazing results with this setup and it took almost no time to get dialed in. I believe the dies play a huge role in all this, along with the refined loading techniques that have proven to work in almost every caliber. Another thing to note is how the quality components such as the Brass or the barrel brand will at some point make a pretty significant difference. You can get away with a lot which cheaper components, but when you are looking for the absolute top notch performance, you have to unfortunately pay for it. GOAT VALLEY PRECISION LLC
ROUND TWO LOAD DEV UPDATE…
After spending another short range day to reverify the powder charges and possible seat depth, we decided to go with the upper node. This load was very repeatable and is where we are going to stay. Nothing like some small ragged holes! This is why you revisit your two best velocity nodes and verify seat depth choice. Sometimes the data does not end up being the winner right off the bat. All together this was a very easy load development and can honestly say that 300 PRC is one of the easiest calibers to work with so far.
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