Good start with the NOE 180 gr. Hunter

[35 shooter]

Now that deer season is over for me here in Ms., i got back to the fun part of cast bullets.....range time.

I just shot 4 shot groups looking for accuracy nodes with 40, 41, and 42 gr. of imr4350 and the NOE 180 gr. Hunter bullet.
The groups were fired @ 108 yds. today.
The 42 gr. load showed a bit more vert. than the 40 gr. load, and was about 2" but plenty of powder space to move on up on the charge.

Looks like i may be on to good load with 41 gr.....Thanks Ben, you cast great bullets.
These groups were fired in "Ol Ben"....my .308 Zastava.

 

[Ian]

Looking good. Try for the next node. If it falls apart, heat treat the alloy enough for 2-3 more BHN points.

 

[Ben]

That is some fine shooting !

 

[35 shooter]

Ian, these bullets were straight ww ht'd to 27 bhn, but i can get about another 10* more heat on them before slump if neccesary...we'll see .
They're wearing Ben's homeade al. checks.

Ben, i'm starting to love these mauser triggers.....just take up the slack and make sure your on target.
It breaks if you even think about it after that lol. It makes for a very easy to shoot rifle.

 

[Rally Hess]

Thanks 35shooter. I just bought the same mould for a Rem. 700 SS/composite 06. Happen to have 8 lbs of 4350 also. Haven't even cleaned the mould yet been too busy working. I want to test some before it gets too warm. I like to test deer loads in deer hunting temps.

 

[35 shooter]

I'm jealous of the 8 pounds of 4350 lol....i'm down to 2 pounds.

 

[freebullet]

Nice! Good shooting.

 

[Ian]

Love those two-stage triggers. Nothing better on a bolt-action. The Accu-Trigger on the Savages are close, but not quite.

 

[35 shooter]

I'm getting there. I even like it for moving targets. It worked perfectly on the deer i shot the other day, and i didn't even think about it till after the shot.
Just kind of natural...track him through the scope in the brush, take up the slack on the trigger, and when he's in the open, your ready.

 

[Ben]

It breaks if you even think about it after that lol. It makes for a very easy to shoot rifle.

Yes, I have a few rifles with nice two stage triggers in them also.
If it breaks cleanly and repeatably the 2 stage is fine with me.

Ben

 

[35 shooter]

I noticed something about those targets this morning. Both the 40 and 41 gr. load hit the same poi. I didn't chrono, but evidently things are very stable in that range.

If fired at the same target, all 8 shots would have been in the 1.2" 40 gr. group, with the .89" group tucked neatly inside of it.
I just thought that was kind of neat...looks like i could use a lee dipper to weigh charges at the 40 gr. range without making much difference if one dip was packed a bit tighter than the next.

 

[waco]

My Hunter is a plain base. In my 788 .308 it shoots pretty well with 10.5gr Red Dot.
Very nice shooting!

 

[35 shooter]

Thanks waco, i was wondering how this one would do as a plain base. It sure seems to be an accurate bullet.

 

[KHornet]

Have the mold in PB and GC, but have yet to give either a decent work up.

Paul

 

[quicksylver]

Those bullets are great shooters..sub moa ...both plain base and checked..in all the 30 cal I own ..30-30, 308 and '06...plus they don't take much work to get there and get along just fine with a wide range of powders....

 

[35 shooter]

Got my brass primed and ready for another go with the Hunter bullet. It will probably be Sunday before i get another chance to shoot.
I'm anxious to ring this one out a bit more.

 

[jaysouth]

Is this the 188 hunter cataloged by NOE? I don't see a reference to a 180 "hunter".

This is a 1:12 barrell? Good shooting.

Thanks

 

[35 shooter]

Yeah, it's the NOE 188 Hunter...sorry for the mental lapse.
Zastava mauser 1/12 twist with a 23.5" sporter weight bbl. Seems to be a very easy bullet to work with, but nothing is verified yet....those are just the first groups fired with it so far.

I've seen a lot of good reports on it though.

 

[35 shooter]

Took another range trip today with the NOE 188 gr. hunter bullet.
Again, just 4 shot groups with 42.5 gr. through 43.5" in 1/2 gr. increments of imr 4350 @ 108 yds.
I left off at 42 gr. on the last trip.

Everything was pretty much a carbon copy of the 42 gr. load, but a bit more vertical spread at 2.5" to 3" with each group fired.
At 43.5 gr. i got about a 10" random buckshot pattern, so next trip will be to re shoot 40, 40.5, and 41 gr. of imr 4350 and chrono.

I found it interesting that my NOE 311299 bullet is shooting it's best with 40.5 gr. imr 4350 (just over moa avg.)....so right about where the 188 gr. hunter likes to shoot so far.
The only difference being i'm using hornady copper checks with the 299 bullet so far, al. on the 188 gr. seems pretty much tit for tat on the checks as far as accuracy.

 

[Josh]

Funny thing about copper vs aluminum gas checks. Over the years I have had a few guys that would try aluminum checks and then report that they are not doing as well as copper. Most times a .1-.2 gr lower charge brings the group right back to former glory.

Guess my point is, if you do go aluminum on the 299, you may need to wiggle the charge a hair to get back in the node.