I'll start with some numbers first, and post the images later after I've had a chance to get them sized and cropped for THL.
 
The primary goal was to shoot the new Woodleigh 450s and Northwest Custom Projectile 500s in the 50 Alaskan. However, very close behind in importance was shooting MY .338 MAI (as opposed to Ol' John's), since having mounted it in the Hogue stock and loaded some of the 180 Accubonds up for it; AND seeing if the Optimal Barrel Timing calculations helped get the Barnes TSX 100s shooting tolerably in the .257 RAI.
 
The 50 shot OK, but 'nothing to write home about'. Both the MAI and the .257 RAI were disappointing.
 
I loaded two charges for both the 450 and the 500: The OBT charge, and a charge 1% lower. I shot first at 50 yds, then at 100. The 100 yd groups are almost exactly twice the size of the 50 yd groups - no surprise - however, the 100 yd group shapes are almost exactly the same as the 50 yd group shapes.
 
(As a side note, I shot 10, 450s and 12, 500s - only used 1350 grains of powder. :cry: )
 
The 50-yd groups for the 450 were:
-1% charge - 0.395" Wide x 1.270" High (three-shot group ~ 1/2 by 3/4)
OBT charge - 0.552" Wide x 2.560" High (two-shot group ~ 1/2 by 2 & 1/2)
 
The 50-yd groups for the 500 were:
-1% charge - 0.955" Wide x 1.728" High (4-shot grp - the image is more revealing ~ 1 x 1 & 3/4)
OBT charge - 1.125" Wide x 1.072" High (three-shot group ~ 1 & 1/8 by 1)
 
The 100-yd groups for the 450 were:
-1% charge - 3.100" Wide x 2.720" High (two-shot group ~ 3 by 2 & 3/4)
OBT charge - 1.530" Wide x 2.920" High (three-shot group ~ 1 & 1/2 by 3)
 
The 100-yd groups for the 500 were:
-1% charge - 0.730" Wide x 0.470" High (two-shot group ~ 3/4 by 1/2)
OBT charge - 2.390" Wide x 1.930" High (three-shot group ~ 2 & 1/2 by 2) Note that this is almost exactly twice the size of the 50-yd group. Wait 'til you see the pictures.
 
More later this evening. I have to crunch numbers and edit pictures.
 
Paul
 
Oh yeah... it was 32 degrees F when I started, and 33 when I finished... during the "heat of the day". :)

That stinks. I'm looking forward to the pics.

OK, here's the rest of the story with pictures. For thos of you that know me, you'll know that this won't be "brief". I'm going ot organize it into groups. First the 450 Woodleighs at the -1% off the OBT load at 50 yds. Then the OBT at 50 yds. Then the -1% off the OBT at 100 yds followed by the OBT at 100 yds. The same sequence will follow for the 500s. Finally there will be a summary.
 
Here is the actual target for the 50-yard group for the -1% load in the Woodleigh.

 
Here is the "computerized" version:

 
Here are the numbers that go with that group:

 
The "computerized" image has the 95% Prediction ellipse surrounding the group. This is the area in which statistics predicts that 95 of 100 shots fired would fall based on the 3-shot sample. The area of that ellipse is 10.118 square inches. The length of the axes of the ellipse are: x=6.077 cm (2.292"), y=13.676 cm (5.38"). The widest spread of the actual holes is 1.366" - center-to-center.
 
Oh yeah, the squares on the computer image are one inch squares - the labels are in cm.
 
Paul

Here is the sequence for the Woodleigh bullet at 50 yards and the OBT charge. In this case, ther were only two shots fired. That makes the statistics very conservative - and rightly so. I'll present the actual data, then I'll present a set with just one more point added to illustrate the effect that sample size has.
 
Here's the "target".

 
Here's the computer image - note that these are two-inch squares in this graph.

 
Here are the "numbers":

 
By adding a "zero" to the data set (no chamnge in the average value or spread of the group) you can see what a difference just three shots makes.

 
Notice that in the original 2-shot data, the area of the 95% Prediction ellipse is essentially 400 square inches while the max spread is only 1.36". It would be unwise to bet large sums of money that the next shot would land inside a 1.36" circle. In the data set with three points, the area is approximately 20 square inches.
 
Paul

Here's the data for the Woodleigh at 100 yds and the OBT charge. The -1% group wasn't photographable. Even in this group, only two of the three shots are in-frame. I was adjusting the scope for 100 yds.
 
The target:

 
Here's the computer image.

 
Here are the numbers.

 
Paul

Now starts the NwCP 500 grainer. First the 50 yd groups.
 
This is the -1% charge target.

 
Here's the computer image.

 
And here are the numbers:

 
Keep the image of this group in your mind's eye. Expanded for 100 yds, the two-shot group for this charge at 100 yds is a perfect match for the lower two holes in this image.
 
Paul

Here is the data for the OBT charge at 50 yards for the 500-grainer.
 
The target:

Keep this group's shape in mind also, to compare with the 100-yd group.
 
The computer image:

 
And the numbers:

 
Paul

Now the 500-grain -1% of OBT load at 100 yds.
 
The target:

 
The computer image:

 
And the numbers:

 
See how similar to the lower two-shot group at 50 yards this two-shot group is at 100 yds.
 
Here's another example of "adding zero" to the data set to illustrate the effect of sample size:

 
Paul

And here is the data for the OBT charge for the 500-grainer at 100 yds.
 
The target:

Notice it's similarity in shape, and almost exactly twice as big.
 
The computer image:

 
The numbers:

 
Paul

Now, through the magic of computers, I can combine the shots from 50 and 100 yds for each bullet. Here's the combined group for the Woodleigh.
 
The computer image:

 
And the numbers:

 
Here's the image for the NwCP 500:

 
And it's numbers:

 
The max spread for the 450 is 5.6" with a 95% Prediction ellipse area of 19.6 square inches.
The max spread for the 500 is 4.1" with a 95% Prediction ellipse area of 15.8 square inches.
 
The numbers are pretty similar given the paucity of data. However, I'm as interested in trends as I am in absolutes - more so with sparse data sets. The difference in trend that I see in the above two groups is that the 450 wants to string vertically. The 500 has only a little vertical and no horizonal trend. The 450 seems to put them closer together horizontally, but horizontal stringing is usually "operator error" - namely "pulling" the trigger. While vertical stringing can be operator error - flinching - is far less common. OE is clearly not the case here as it doesn't show up in the 500. No, vertical stringing is usually due to bbl heat or bullet/load issues. In this case, it most certainly was not barrel heat. Still, in my opinion, there's no clear "winner" between the two.
 
Based on a range session two weeks ago, I increased these charges to the next faster OBT node. The cases didn't appear to be sealing sufficiently for my tastes. These groups yesterday were better than those of two weeks ago, but I feel strongly that this rifle can shoot better than this. Again, after this session, I noticed 'smoking' down about half to three-quarters of an inch on the fired cases. The reason I have been keeping the pressure down is because I don't want to get 'beat up' while I practice, and a fifty caliber hole behind 2000 ft-lbs of delivered energy is plenty for anything in North America so there's no need to beat oneself up. Still, I think this rifle may shoot better at higher velocities.
 
When this rifle was chambered in .22/.30-30, I had a 45 grain bullet doing 4500 f/s. To do that, I had the chamber pressure up well over 60,000 PSI. However, an important part of the units on that number is the word PER. The pressure is not 60,000 lbs, it's 60,000 pounds PER SQUARE INCH. The force exerted on the rifle by a 60,000 PSI chamber pressure .22/.30-30 is not the same as the force exerted on the rifle by a 60,000 PSI 50 ALaskan cartridge. So I decided to calculate what the bolt thrust from the 60,000+ PSI .22/.30-30 was, and compare it to the bolt thrust of a 40,000 PSI chamber pressure in a 50 Alaskan.
 
The rim on a .30-30 is almost exactly 0.500 inch in diameter. That calculates to an area of 0.196 square inches. Multiplying 60,000 pounds per square inch by 0.196 inches, yields a bolt thrust of 11,781 lbs. Doing the same for the 50 Alaskan, with a rim diameter of 0.605", yields a head area of 0.285 square inches. Multiplying by 40,000 PSI yields a bolt thrust of 11,385 lbs. Almost identical. So... the action should have no trouble with 40,000 PSI in the 50 Alaskan. However, action strength and not getting beat up are not the only reasons I kept the pressure low.
 
The original .22 bbl had a screw installed to hold the forearm on. The screw was threaded into the bbl. No problem when the bore is .22". However, when the barrel was re-bored to 0.510, that became a area of some concern to me. The barrel re-borer (Dan Pedersen) told me that the remaining thickness was fine "if I didn't get crazy" with chamber pressures. Well... one man's "crazy" is another man's "sane". However, I do have the pressure curves for the rifle, so I can calculate the pressure at the point in the bullet's travel as it passes the screw hole. The screw hole is 10" from the breech. The case is 2.1" long. Therefore, the bullet must travel 7.9 inches before the screw hole will be subject to the pressure in the bore. At a chamber pressure of 40,000 PSI, the pressure at 7.9 inches down the bore will only be 17,300 PSI. More importantly, I'm not going to a 40,000 PSI chamber pressure. That simply represents a worst case scenario based on wildly fluctuating burn characteristic between lots of the same powder. (See comments regarding MAI loads on elk hunt with HB.) Instead, I will be using a load that produces a chamber pressure of 35,000 PSI, only 5,000 higher than the OBT loads I used for the Woodleigh and NwCP bullets in this range session. With a chamber pressure of 35,000 PSI the pressure at 7.9" down the barrel is only 15,800 PSI. That's 'fine' for the screw hole. Still, the 35,000 PSI load behind the 500-gran bullet produces a muzzle energy of almost 4500 ft-lbs. That's about 30% higher than I like to be for pleasant shooting's sake. We'll see...
 
Paul