howa 20 prac

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crackers17
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by crackers17 »

It might be fire wood soon mick. .lol
Its a Richards stock. .

Haven't played with seating to much yet..

I think the neck tension is ok .. sized case is .227 loaded is .228 fired .230 barrel neck is .2345
mistit
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by mistit »

Very nice stock
Teepee
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by Teepee »

Hi crackers,
Did you say the action had been bedded, or just the front.
Has it been piller bedded?
What weight pull are you using on your trigger?

You say you've tried various powders.
What have you used and what has been your loading and result for each one.
Also seating depth will make a difference. How have you obtained this measurement, bearing in mind each make of bullet will be different.

I think you are trying to many variable all at once.
Go back to the projectile that has given the best results so far with the powder that you used.
Try varying the seating depth with that load before swapping to another powder.
It could be just a case of trial and error.
Good luck with it.
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crackers17
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by crackers17 »

Thanks teepee
The action has been bedded with pillers..
The trigger would be .8
Started off using 8208 and gone 2206h
Starting from 25.5 26 and 26.5..
Started just off the lands the last lot tested set .020 off
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trevort
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by trevort »

I think someone might already have suggested 10x :wink: :idea:
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crackers17
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by crackers17 »

How much would you start at Trevor
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trevort
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by trevort »

My load is 24.1 in the Win brass i formed first and 24.3 in the IMI brass (which seems tougher) there were no major pressure signs or sticky bolt lift but the Win brass with 24.3 had loose primer pockets when reloading so that was definetely past max and 24.1 is probably right at max.

Starting loads are usually 10% below max.

The JAB 20 has the shoulder pushed back 30 thou but the steeper 204 shoulder angle, Case capacity is going to be very similar to your Prac I would reckon.

When I was researching powder for the JAB I checked recommendations for the 20TAC as it is very similar (Ol 55 showed me one of his rounds, you couldnt tell them apart but they didnt chamber in the other rifle), The US forums were saying that in 223 cases pushing 20 cals that 10x was giving about 200fps more than any other powder. You will find out if going faster spins those pills fast enough to group and if it doesnt you can sell me the rest of the tub!
Branxhunter
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by Branxhunter »

The recalcitrant Prac 20 is with me at the moment as Crackers is down in Melbourne with his family. I have marked up the photos of the groups I shot over the weekend (those already posted by Crackers)

These were loaded by Crackers and I shot them on Saturday. Groups 1 and 3 were a mix of Rem and Win brass, while group 2 was Rem brass only:
20 Prac - 40gn v-max groups.JPG

Then I loaded these Saturday night and shot on Sunday - all Rem brass with primer pockets cleaned up with a K&M tool:
20 Prac - 32gn v-max groups#1.JPG
20 Prac - 32gn v-max groups#2.JPG
Crackers tells me that all shooting has been done with the second hand scope he bought around the time the rifle returned from the gun plumber - I have a Sightron Big Sky I bought from Missed that I might try on the problem child to see if that makes a difference.

Marcus
Last edited by Branxhunter on Mon May 12, 2014 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MISSED
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by MISSED »

The 32 V-max at 27 grn looks good .

Have you tried seating the 32`s with no jump.
Branxhunter
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by Branxhunter »

I thought the 25.5gn load with the 32gn v-max showed some elusive promise as well - two shots cutting, but one wayyy wide.

Marcus
Teepee
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by Teepee »

Hi branxhunter,
What sort of speed are you getting.
Just a thought, if the standard deviation is high, could explain some variations in groups.
Teepee
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stinkitup
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by stinkitup »

There is a few promising groups I would also go the 26.0 for the 32's again as pretty good vertical, any wind about?

Ryan
Branxhunter
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by Branxhunter »

Teepee wrote:Hi branxhunter,
What sort of speed are you getting.
Just a thought, if the standard deviation is high, could explain some variations in groups.
Teepee

Dunno - I don't have a chrony

Marcus
Brad Y
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by Brad Y »

Straight away I would stick to one type of brass. I cant remember who I sold it to, but if thats the reamer I used to own then its made for rem/winchester brass and anything else wouldnt work very well. That reamer cut 3 chambers for me in 2 different barrels and all of them liked similar loads. I never had much luck with 32gr bullets, but 39gr sierras and 40gr vmax used to sing from my rifles. I used 23.7gr RL10x and the 39gr sierra jumped 40 thou in remington cases and CCI450 primers. Got me around 3750fps from a 24 inch lothar walther 12 twist barrel. I only used those primers because I always have lots of them. I would work the load again with federal golds or BR4's next time, probably around the 24.2gr area would be about right with the cooler primers. 8208 worked well but in the end I always went back to RL10x. Most groups were a cloverleaf in that rifle. Definitely dont have any bedding forward of the recoil lug- let that barrel free float. I hope the action got trued up a little when fitting the aftermarket barrel! Lapping the recoil lugs isnt a hard job to get them bearing even. I cant see quite all the flash marks on the crown but it looks ok. Definitely concentrate on the heavier projectiles with the faster twist barrel. 40gr vmax are great pills. Good luck!
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crackers17
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Re: howa 20 prac

Post by crackers17 »

Ok thanks brad
Some very good info in that post.
I don't think it is your old reamer. .
I would be happy to run 40vmax all day long..
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