Free: Contests & Raffles.
My load development changes slightly depending on bullet and powder choice. I usually start loading .5 grain increments, over a chrono, looking for a node and pressure. Once I find pressure signs, I pick the node that is well within the safe range. I always start 0.020 off the lands / jam. Depending on the node I found in the .5 grain increments, I may go back and load .3 grain increments......though that is rare. I load 5 rounds and see how they group at 200 or 300 yards (never at 100). If I am sub 1 MOA, I figure I have found the load. I will do some minor tweaking with seating depth, maybe other primers, ect., if I feel I can squeak out a little better grouping. Most of my higher end barrels and rifles will shoot 1/2 to 3/4 MOA with this process. Some have shot 1/4 to 1/2...those rifles are keepers. Some just won't shoot. When I'm working a load, I always shoot the same target and map my shots. If the .5 grain increments of powder shoots 1 MOA, I know we have a great load / rifle. If I see a 3-4 MOA with with the .5 grain increments....I start thinking this is not gonna work and change my thought process sooner than later. Maybe change powder or bullet earlier. Sometimes you see nodes group well and other times you don't...if the node does not group well, I am hesitant to work with it. Seating depth can change groups....but usually not by 2MOA...in my experience. What has tightened my groups more than anything over the years is brass prep and annealing. Uniform flash holes, annealing, quality brass, etc.
Quote from: jrebel on March 18, 2023, 05:13:47 PMMy load development changes slightly depending on bullet and powder choice. I usually start loading .5 grain increments, over a chrono, looking for a node and pressure. Once I find pressure signs, I pick the node that is well within the safe range. I always start 0.020 off the lands / jam. Depending on the node I found in the .5 grain increments, I may go back and load .3 grain increments......though that is rare. I load 5 rounds and see how they group at 200 or 300 yards (never at 100). If I am sub 1 MOA, I figure I have found the load. I will do some minor tweaking with seating depth, maybe other primers, ect., if I feel I can squeak out a little better grouping. Most of my higher end barrels and rifles will shoot 1/2 to 3/4 MOA with this process. Some have shot 1/4 to 1/2...those rifles are keepers. Some just won't shoot. When I'm working a load, I always shoot the same target and map my shots. If the .5 grain increments of powder shoots 1 MOA, I know we have a great load / rifle. If I see a 3-4 MOA with with the .5 grain increments....I start thinking this is not gonna work and change my thought process sooner than later. Maybe change powder or bullet earlier. Sometimes you see nodes group well and other times you don't...if the node does not group well, I am hesitant to work with it. Seating depth can change groups....but usually not by 2MOA...in my experience. What has tightened my groups more than anything over the years is brass prep and annealing. Uniform flash holes, annealing, quality brass, etc. Thanks for sharing. Yes, I agree with you on the brass prep. I've been able to get a low teen to single-digit ESs with proper brass prep. What's your average round count to get to where you're satisfied with it?
I usually have pretty good luck with loading sort of a ladder of charges moving up in .5 of a grain(I work with mostly .308 and .30-06 size cases for most of my rifles) .020" or so off the lands, then looking for "flat spots" in velocity (where the velocity doesn't move much between powder charges). I'm fortunate that I can shoot about 75 yards in my back yard if I need to, so I can cut down on trips to the range. I'll check velocity and get a rough idea of accuracy, then I'll usually load 5 or 10 rounds each of one of those flat spot charge groups (for example 59.5, 60, 60.5) and head out to the woods to check accuracy.Usually I can find something workable with this process, if i need to tune further I'll pick the most accurate and mess with seating depth. With the scarcity of components these days I try not to go through more ammo than I need to. I'll also add that I'm loading for typical hunting ranges, I'm not exactly a long range precision target shooter, so I don't get too hung up ES or SD or anything like that. My ultimate goal is acceptable accuracy with ammo that isn't going to blow up my gun.
Have a friend who set a record at an NBRSA using scrounged brass, bullets, and powder using a credit card to level off his powder charge in the case, after loosing his ammo e route to the competition. Not normal procedure, but it worked that day!🤪
Quote from: mountainman on April 07, 2023, 02:51:12 PMHave a friend who set a record at an NBRSA using scrounged brass, bullets, and powder using a credit card to level off his powder charge in the case, after loosing his ammo e route to the competition. Not normal procedure, but it worked that day!🤪A great Barrel and a great shooter go a long way......... especially when the wind picks up and becomes the great equalizer.
I do 3 shots per seating depth trying from .005 to .030 at .005 intervals using a moderate load while getting rounds on the barrel and shoot an 8 shot ladder to see where my pressure starts.Then shoot a ladder at 1000 yards starting 3 or 4 grains below pressure, 3 shots per load in .3 gr increments covering a couple grains. I'm looking for softball size group at 1000 so I figure on 200 rounds total before rifle and loads are all settled and dialed in. Thats for 1000 yards, for 300 yards and under I can develop a load in under 10 shots.
