Free: Contests & Raffles.
No detailed on what caliber you are shooting, but ALL the shots are low for 100 yards unless you are shooting patched round balls
30-06, 165g accubond, IMR4350, 53-57g in 0.5g increments.I have not zeroed the rifle for the given bullet weight, which is why all shots were low.There was a slight cross wind, but I have not adjusted the scope horizontal.At this point I was looking for a flat spot on three shots. 2, 3, 4 look flat. 8, 9, 6 look flat, but 7 dips down. There's always that higher charge weight that shoots lower than the previous lower charge weight e.g. shot 7 lower than 6.
Quote from: Henrydog on April 20, 2018, 12:26:47 PMNo detailed on what caliber you are shooting, but ALL the shots are low for 100 yards unless you are shooting patched round ballspoint of impact is irrelevant in this test. The target is merely a repeatable aiming point. The task is collecting data, not hitting where you are aiming.
http://www.6mmbr.com/laddertest.html
In a nutshell, and no offense implied, those results are randomly inconclusive and should not be relied upon for determining an optimum load.There are at least two approaches to "ladder testing" that seem to have merit, at least with regard to precision shooting or finding your rifle's favorite load with a particular brass/primer/powder/bullet/seating/neck tension combo.The first one basically entails shooting at a fairly distant target (400-500 yards) on a perfectly wind free day if possible while holding point of aim at the same place on the target. (This may not be possible or realistic depending upon the attributes of the rifle system and shooter ability.) Assuming constant enviro conditions from a cool barrel, the theory is that as velocity increases so too will the printing of your impacts. You are not shooting for group with this method. You're simply looking for a "node" where impacts appear to bunch together vertically. Preferably, one should perform this two to three times in order to obtain a reasonable understanding of which ranges of powder charges your rifle likes.The second, which can be done alone or after determining the range of powder charges to investigate, simply allocate 4-5 rounds per charge and shoot for group. Pick the tightest group and run with it.
I'd load it again and go .2 or .3 grain increments and shoot it over a chrono. I think you're going to be hard pressed to find a velocity flat spot when taking .5 grain increments as most nodes aren't that big. I don't even shoot my ladder tests on a target, I just strap the chrono on and shoot my ladder, then look for the velocity flat spots, and load up and hit the range for accuracy testing from there.
I stopped doing the “three rounds of each weight” thing when I realized I didn’t care about accuracy nodes at low velocity. Yes I realize that sometimes we want a light recoiling easy shooting load. That said, I believe most of us reload for high performance and consistency. In that case, why shoot all that powder for loads that wouldn’t interest the shooter ballistically regardless of accuracy.Yes accuracy is the paramount factor in precise shooting. But by playing with powders and primers and seating depth a bit, it’s rare that one can’t find a spicy load that shoots tight groups too.
Quote from: Jonathan_S on April 22, 2018, 08:33:48 PMI stopped doing the “three rounds of each weight” thing when I realized I didn’t care about accuracy nodes at low velocity. Yes I realize that sometimes we want a light recoiling easy shooting load. That said, I believe most of us reload for high performance and consistency. In that case, why shoot all that powder for loads that wouldn’t interest the shooter ballistically regardless of accuracy.Yes accuracy is the paramount factor in precise shooting. But by playing with powders and primers and seating depth a bit, it’s rare that one can’t find a spicy load that shoots tight groups too.How do you fine tune around your upper end load then? I do 3 or 4 shot groups around suspected upper node suggested by ladder test and quickload and watching for velocity plateau but maybe there is an easier way ?
Got It! I agree I just cant bring myself to search lower velocity rounds for a node either tho I know Im needlessly handicapping myself by being speed hungry.