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Forum Index > Precision long range hunting and shooting > Effect of damaged meplat on accuracy.

Effect of damaged meplat on accuracy.

27 Aug 2013
@ 05:18 am (GMT)

Guy Mainland

Hi all. I have an ex mil swede (Husky m38) 6.5x55-First rifle-love it. My favorite factory load is 140g sst hornaday superformance with which I get about 1 1/2" groups if I do my part. I've been mulling over hand loading to tighten the groups a bit. A reloading rig is a big investment for me so I got someone (a gun shop) to make some up for me, to try them. Don't ask me what the load was except I did ask for 140g nosler partition projectiles (on Nathan's advice from the KB) and for as much velocity as they were willing to give.. They made about the same size groups as the HS (was hoping for better).
While sighting in, some rounds were ejected without being fired and I noticed that some of the lead tip meplat's on the nossler's had been bent slightly during feeding, some just a bit dented. Maybe the AOL was a touch long. Maybe this is normal.
Here's the question- what, if any, effect would this have on accuracy? Would the groups have been tighter with perfect tips? Thanks in advance from a newby shooter.

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27 Aug 2013
@ 03:45 pm (GMT)

Nathan Foster

Re: Effect of damaged meplat on accuracy.
Hi Guy, it will have some effect but the effect is not usually dramatic at 100 yards.

What you will find is that the gun store had to choose a safe load within the load manual recommendations. It is highly possible that your rifle needs full load development rather than a random test load. If the throat is worn and very long, the rifle may not be up to pressure with book max loads. There are other important variables such as bedding and barrel wear (pitting, muzzle) plus shooting technique so there is a lot to consider.

If you want to fully utilize your Swede, you will by the look of things need to handload.

Might be worth giving me a call during work hours to help you get your head around it all.
28 Aug 2013
@ 06:06 am (GMT)

Guy Mainland

Re: Effect of damaged meplat on accuracy.
Thanks Nathan. Didn't think it would matter too much at that range as you say. I had a sniff around a few forums to look into this and as usual, there was conflicting info. Some say the tail of the round is more important for accuracy than the meplat- (one post even said he'd loaded the projectile back to front and still did okay!) I reckoned you had probably seen the same thing and as usual cut to the core.
I do realise there's way more to it than just the ammo. I've restocked it, bedded it (match grade of course), done a bolt job to lower the scope onto quality rings, and the gunsmith also re-crowned the muzzle. "for looks not because it needed it" I asked him about the throat at the time he thought it looked good. This has all improved the rifle massively. But I reckon I can still get it better, with the right load, a better trigger and practise so I'll probably take you up on the phone call offer when I get a rare moment! Might take a couple weeks, thanks very much!
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