162gr Amax in a 284

[ovenpaa]

The .284 and 7mm's always seems to do well with 180 grain bullets at 2850fps and 1050fps in my rifle however that was my rifle...

[Berger]

.010" was as good as it got for me.

As an aside, I cannot quickly think of a way of getting a 162 grain Amax to fly at 3300fps and manage to keep a barrel into three figures so would be interested to hear more :)

it was what I was told.i don't know how accurate that info is.........!

[Laurie]

.010" was as good as it got for me.

As an aside, I cannot quickly think of a way of getting a 162 grain Amax to fly at 3300fps and manage to keep a barrel into three figures so would be interested to hear more :)

it was what I was told.i don't know how accurate that info is.........!

Very inaccurate, I'd say. QuickLOAD predicts only three powders capable of giving the 162 more than 3,100 fps .......... and that's from a 30-inch barrel, so a 24 or 26-inch sporter won't get to that even.

Moreover, IMR-7828ssc aside, everything that is predicted to exceed 3,024 fps is a double-base or 'high-energy' powder containing nitroglycerin and therefore a high flame temperature number. OK for a purely sporting rifle, but risky for those used on the ranges involving higher round counts if barrel life is a concern. (You also say in an earlier post that you use RS60 aka Alliant Reloder 17. This is a powder famous for wringing an extra 100 fps plus out of the 284, but also notorious for being a barrel burner in this cartridge - after an enthusiastic adoption by American F-Class competitors on its introduction over there a few years ago, very few will use it today such is its reputation for killing barrels.)

[Berger]

Here is something you could compare with your quickload.
26 inch barrel
162gr amax
57grs of N165
Oal is 3.172 which is 10 off lands
Today's conditions
Temp was 42.8f
Baro 30.593
Humidity 95 percent.
I would be curious on predicted velocity.
I know 56.5grs gave 2811fps.i would be curious how close your quick load get to that.conditions were better then.i do have that info but not at hand.
I will try and find out what powder that was used in that 7 rem mag with 162gr amax.ive been told that Imr 7288ssc is good in the 284.as accurate as H4831sc but slightly faster.

[ovenpaa]

QL predicts 2767fps so quite modest at around 105% capacity, I would look at N160 or even N560 or as you say, H4831SC

[ovenpaa]

Forgot to add, that was with the default 0.5 weighting factor

[Laurie]

If 56.5gn N165 gives you 2,811 fps, then an extra half-grain will be somewhere around 2,830-2,840 fps, N165 giving around 50 fps / 1.0gn change in my rifle. But that's with a 30-inch barrel, so might get a little less increase from 26-inches.

While I only use N165 with 175-183gn bullets in the 284, it's a bit slow burning / bulky for the 162 AMAX and the slightly faster burning powders that Ovenpaa mentions are a a better match. I use 51.7gn N160 as my short-range loading with the very similar 160gn Sierra TMK for a modest 2,900 fps or so from the 30-inches. That's not too far from where pressure signs first appear, so go a fair bit down for starting loads if you try it.

Reload Swiss RS62 (the single-based type, NOT the hot RS60/Re17 grade) gave 100 fps higher MVs to this bullet without any pressure issues, but didn't group nearly as well for me.

[Berger]

I have a small amount of H4831sc but I found it even slower than n165.i did have some n160 but sold it a while back.so far n165 is the one I favour apart from my RS60 hybrid load.shot these 2 groups early today.n165 is 4 shot group.hybrids group is 3 shot.i didn't want to waste anymore of them as I just loaded them for the next 1000yds day.

[Berger]

Sorry I can't upload photo's cropping them down too.
I have more info on the 7mm rem mag. I am not 100 percent on this but it was so say 72grs of superperformance powder

[Berger]

I have a bit of RS62 but not sure if I want to do anymore load work with the 284.ive done a bit of testing with it in my 6.5x47 and 139gr scenars so to move away from the very expensive but very good h4350.i tested prone at 300yds without a rear bag using only my finger under the butt proved pretty good.somewhere in the region of grouping 1.5 inches.if the 162gr amax N165 gr 57gr load is consistantly trying to go in the same hole at 2840 fps that will do me nicely.its the 180gr hybrid load I want up near hme with superb accuracy.i found with 52grs I was getting the odd very faint shadow of the ejector inspecting with a magnifying glass so I've backed it off 0.2grs that's why a fired a 3 shot group yesterday to see if all was ok and was it just.pratically perfect