I'm a Mac guy so the program is not compatible.  

I'm trying to nail down a few things that recently cost my pretty good 600 yard groups to suffer miserably.  


I'll add I just switched lots of powder (varget) which netted me and additional 60-80 FPS, and also got the new pointed 80g SMKs from Sierra.  To top it off I started using Sinclair graphite neck lube for seating in an attempt to further reduce my ES/SD. <---Main contributor, in my opinion as to why it all went tango uniform.  




Just a bit of context.  I have in the past been able to print slightly under or slightly over 3" (aka .5 MOA) at 600 yards.


I just did a match today and shot pretty poorly, despite tying for 3rd, before loosing in the shoot-off.  (4th place for those paying attention.)



For the QL guys, I would like to see what pressure my load makes, load density,   And of course ask if I don't provide the info you need.






Remington 700 / Criterion 26" (1:8) 223 Remington Match Chamber (throated for 80s)

COAL=2.502


Varget-25g

WCC-11

CCI BR4

80g SMK (factory pointed now)

I'd be willing to do it, but I'll need your MV, ambient temperature, and fired brass capacity.

I played with seating depth and got between 2977-3016 average FPS.    *Old lot of powder and go to load gave me 2940 FPS.*



Conditions at beginning of match.  


9' Altitude

29.92 Hg

91* F

58% H




I appreciate this.

80SMK
fired case capacity 29.9
ambient temp 91
COAL 2.502
25.0gr Varget
26" barrel
2998fps
1.108ms barrel time
68019psi

OBT predicts node at 1.106 so you're right on it.  This is pretty hot.

The next lower node is at 1.191ms:
around 23.7gr Varget
2857fps
56929psi - still above max SAAMI pressure.  This is the node for safety.  I'm sure your Krieger barrel doesn't care, but your brass would last longer.

Thanks for the info.  This confirms I'm over pressure.  I thought I was on/over the upper end getting 2940 out of a 26", but accuracy was good.  When I hit over 3k I should have tossed in the towel.  No ridiculous pressure signs (high, but no swipes/imprints or heavy bolt lift), but 12 out of 100 primer pockets are blown out of spec and I think I may have to scrap the rest.  The few others I've tested can be deprimed by hand using my uni-decapper.  


This is by far the biggest lot variation (Varget) I've ever encountered.  I can't see the neck lube causing this much issue.






 

I wouldn't go back to the drawing board.  I'd load a few up at 23.5, 23.8, 24.1, and report back.  We'll get you right on that lower node in just a few shots.

Oddly enough, I hit exactly 2857FPS (SD 7.54 / ES 16)with 24.5g Varget in prior testing.  I'll have to try that again, but of course that was the old lot of powder.

I'm heading back to my home range and plan on loading at the range.  Hopefully I don't forget anything, it's a 4 hour drive.


 

Update






I loaded at the range as the sun was going down.

New lot of Varget (same that put me well over last lot velocity / and made accuracy got to shit)

24.5g=2920   So roughly .5g lower charge got me within 20 FPS of old lot FPS.  Pretty crazy.  I've never encounter a Varget lot velocity swing that huge before.

Moving on.

24g of Varget (new lot) gave me this: Pretty damn close to your predicted next lower node at 2857.

 

I think you're at least 1.0 whole grain over maximum. Your velocities seem over the top by at least 100 fps even when fired from a 26" barrel.

I shoot service rifle (20" barrel) and consider 2600 fps to be close to maximum. The longer tipped variety of 80 grain SMK's will drive pressures up because they take up more internal case capacity. The factory pointed bullets should shoot the same as standard 90 SMK's.

I look at 23.5 to 24.0 grains of Varget as being a good match load in most rifles when loading standard Sierra 80 grain SMK's @ 2.250" oal. I also consider this a maximum load, at least when charged with 24.0 grains.

I would drop the powder charge, looking for great accuracy between 2650 fps to no more than 2750 fps from your bolt action. You don't need to run them so fast to get good results on target.

How does the factory pointed version of the 80s take up more case capacity vs the old non-pointed 80s?  They are the same with the exception of being pointed.  I seat from the ogive, not the tip/point.  



It has the same info in my 10ish year old Sierra load manual.






 

If you will follow my numbers from QL, you will see that both loads, the high and the low node, are over SAAMI max pressure for .223.  His Krieger barrel doesn't care.  But his brass won't really tolerate the high node.

Twitchy:

You're right there with your 24.0 grain load.  I used 84* as your ambient temperature and the same capacity as you gave me before, and QL predicts 56457psi and 1.196 barrel time with your 2855 velocity.  SAAMI max is 55000, and the node is at 1.191, so you're within .005ms of the node which is really on it for all practical purposes.  If you wanted to tweak it a bit, you might try seating .010" shorter, or increasing your charge weight by .1.  But it's probably not going to make much difference.  At the same time though, feel free to play around with seating depth a bit as you may see some improvement.

I ran your 24.5 grain load, and came up with 61283psi and 1.156 barrel time.  The nodes are at 1.191 and 1.106, so I would assume the 1.156 barrel time would be on a 'scatter node'.  But your heavy Krieger barrel may not care much about that - it may not shoot poorly even when the shockwave is near the muzzle.

I first thought he was talking about Sierra's TMK, not the newer pointed 80's. He is still 100 to 150 fps faster than he should be even when taking the 26" barrel into consideration.

Yes, but more importantly he's 13kpsi over SAAMI max.

What happened?   Don't they sell Quick Load anymore?

"I'm a Mac guy so the program is not compatible."

Hey Twitchy, I think this might be a good crosspost in the Precision Reloading forum.

Yea, the 24g load kissing the lands is something I'll work with.  It's giving good ES/SD and accuracy is .25"-.5" so far.  I'm sure it will perform better when I can see the target better.  I did try 23.5 -24.2 for groups and SD/ES.  23.9 and 24 gave the best numbers and groups.  And it looks like it's back into sane pressure levels.

The 24.5g load had pretty good SD/ES, but the groups weren't as good.  I think you really nailed the sweet spot (node-time) around the 285X mark.  I'm sticking with this load and will try it out at the next comp.  


Thanks for the input, seriously, I knew that new lot of V was HOT, but when you showed the pressure .  Just glad I didn't get a kaboom.  



Just goes to show the necessity to do a work up again after switching lots of powder.  But again, this has been the most extreme fluctuation I've ever encounter with Varget.  

Not sure how to make that happen.

It would be nice though if more people with quick load would help us poor Mac users out every now and then.  In this case, colt933 confirmed my suspicion and informed me of how high my pressure was along with helping find the next lower node with halfway sane pressure.

I'm surprised you can't get QL to run in some sort of Windows mode/emulator on the MAC.  I don't have a MAC, but my wife and several of my friends do, and I don't think trying to run Windows software on a MAC really slows them down much.  I think there are at least a couple of options.

But what do I know?  I'm a Windows guy...