Anyone Shooting Hornady 285gr .338 Bullets?

[dogtown]

I'm finally getting around to loading up some 285gr BTHP to test out against my 250 Scenar "go to load". I plan to use ADI AR2225 (which apparently is Retumbo here in NZ) but I'm curious if anyone else has been shooting these and what load combo their using?

[Orkan]

My all time favorite bullet in the 338LM.

Lapua brass
CCI 250 primer
93gr retumbo
2.970 to ogive

Killed quite a few deer and other critters with it at range. Performs very well and is ACCURATE AS HELL, without being picky about load development. Was very easy to come up with a load. Well, part of that is due to the DTA being forgiving as hell to start with.

[ShadowPeo]

Thanks Orkan, not done any load development with the 338 yet, question, what press you using for all these loads, I have been thinking of doing up a Redding turret for these loads (high accuracy) as its simpler to have all the tools for each calibre in a single head rather than using a single. plus with the redding I can get two calibres per head, depending on the calibre

[dogtown]

Back in the States I was using an RCBS Ammomaster 2 press with a special insert from CH4D to use Hornady Lock-n-Load bushings. That press is large enough to handle anything I've ever had to load (from short action cartridges up to .338LM, .408CT and .50BMG) and using the LNL bushings makes swapping dies effortless and quick. Here in NZ I started with a Lyman Rockcrusher that I got a good deal on, but unfortunately it's cut for 7/8"-14 instead of the larger 1.5" diameter of the Ammomaster, so no quick and easy die change. I'm looking to replace it with a Redding Bigboss press, but like all reloading gear on this side of the planet, it frakin' expensive.

[ShadowPeo]

Hence why I buy it all from Brownells, explain to me how I can get a Hornady LnL AP press with plates, dies etc shipped from the US and it still come in 250 cheaper than buying it locally, and that was 200 in shipping as well IIRC

[Orkan]

I use a forster Co-Ax. I like it way better than any turret press.

[dogtown]

Hence why I buy it all from Brownells, explain to me how I can get a Hornady LnL AP press with plates, dies etc shipped from the US and it still come in 250 cheaper than buying it locally, and that was 200 in shipping as well IIRC

Agreed - it boggles the mind. Since I brought my SRS and Mk12 with me I was able to bring ammo components with me without any export paperwork. My dumbass didn't bother to bring .338LM brass (which is 3x the price here in NZ).

[Seddo]

I agree, I get all the components I can from Graf and Sons. I have tried to order some 285's but Witt the big buying spree in the states I can't be any yet

[dogtown]

Bit of an update...

Well I'm bummed to report that try as I might, I couldn't get the 285s to group for shit in my Gen 1 26" barrel. I went through well over a hundred rounds, trying different powders (AR2225, RL25 & N570), primers (CCI250 & GM215M) and seating depths (from 3.750" to 3.681") and I could never get a group that was close to acceptable. These Hornady bullets also vary in dimension and mass pretty wildly, so I went through the six boxes I bought and sorted them, culling the oddballs from my load dev.

So I gave up on those, even though so many people rave about them, but I went back and revisited the 300 Scenars that I had written off back in 2009 in favor of the 250s. Right out of the gate I had some excellent groups, particularly one on the slow end and another on the fast end. I took the faster one (92.7gr @ 2765) and have been working on refining it further and I must say I'm very impressed!

When my rifle arrived from the original batch in early 2009, I did load dev for 300SMK, 300 Scenar, 250 Scenar and 250 Lockbase to get an initial idea of how they shot. Both 250s grouped well and I kind of wrote off the 300s. Guess I was wrong but then again N570 wasn't available back then.

[Seddo]

Dogtown,

Thats not good news, i have 300 of the 285gr Hornadys sitting in customs. To date i have been using 250gr SMK's as i had a box of them doing nothing. So far i am having better results with AR2217 (H1000) than AR2225 (Retumbo), i might not worrk about AR2225 when i get the 285's. Was there a reason you havnt tried AR2217?