went to the range on sunday with the new handi. had worked up 4 loads to test. temperature was 30 degrees, partly cloudy, with 5-7 mph crosswind - all in all, about the best you can hope for during january in michigan. ;-)
prior to heading out, i cleaned the barrel well. after about 1.5 hours of solvent/brush/patch, it finally started coming clean. shot 24 shots (two 3 shot groups of each load) plus a few to get it relatively centered on the paper. cleaned every 3 shots. no other prep was done to the gun besides cleaning.
best group at 50 yards measure .230". the load was as follows:
remington brass
35 grain berger
27.6 grains varget
federal 205m primer
i based this off from sierra's load information for their 32 grain spitzer. max load for the sierra bullet was around 28.7 grains of varget. i started at 25.5, which still grouped at .450", but it tightened up as i got a little hotter. still, with the 27.6 grains of varget, there was no signs of pressure problems whatsoever. (sierra's data was used for this load because they tested with varget, and berger did not.)
both sierra and berger listed the COAL at 2.240". After checking my handi, i found the lands starting at 2.385". I backed off a little, and seated to a COAL of 2.375". can probably stretch it out and get a little closer, but i want to group some at 100 yards before adjusting other things.
after reading comments here, i guess i'm lucky.. ;-) this is my fourth handi - (although i've yet to shoot the 45-70). the .223 rem easily shoots sub moa. the 204 ruger looks to be another sub moa shooter. and the 30-30 hits at 1.5" with the remington core-lokt 150 grain bullets. haven't worked a load for it yet.
cleaning is the only thing i've done with these guns. no other modifications.
they are what they are.
**** disclaimer - this load information was based off sierra/berger's data, however, it was tested in MY firearm. obviously, loads behave differently in different firearms - please consult a manual and work up from minimums prior to using. there are zero guarantees on my part that it will work safely in your firearm.
