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Am I missing something.....

TKellogg

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 25, 2011
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South West Michigan
For all the years I've been reloading I've always, during load development, started with the lowest recommended load and worked my way up to the max in .5gr for initial testing. Then when I see two loads that are close to each other I do .1gr between the two loads to narrow it down. Is there a better way for 100yd testing? I don't have any real issues but I'd like to hear some other ways of load development.
 
Not really. I may start a little above Minimum instead of Minimum, and do .3 grain increments. It works out to be the same amount of shots. If I am trying some ones loads. Like the "standard" 24 to 24.5 grains of Varget and a 77 SMK I did 23.5, 24, and 24.5 to chronograph and shoot for groups. If I had worked it up from Sierra's manual I would have started lower and done closer charges.
 
Sometimes you can get an idea of what powder charge seems to be working for others. You can take that number and drop down a few steps to start.

The step size I use is dependent on the size of the cartridge. For a .223 I would do 0.2 grain steps. For a 6.5 Creed/.308 Win size i would do 0.3 grain steps. For the .300 Win Mag I would use 0.5 grain steps.
 
... When I started shooting and loading my groups made it hard to determine a good group.

Been there, done that!

When using Newberry’s method, you can usually start with 90% of max, load 1 round at 91, 92, 93, 94%, to test for pressue, the go in the 3 round increments referenced by ShtrRdy. That typically will capture two upper nodes.
 
Not missing anything... though you generally don't 'have' to start with the minimum.

I generally make an educated guess as to where to start in between min and max, using the published velocities in the reloading manuals.

Also, maximum loads are rarely the most accurate. Maybe max loads are the most useful when shooting for 1000 yard rams. But your best accuracy will depend on a lot of factors. Maximum powder charge is almost never one of them.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Not missing anything... though you generally don't 'have' to start with the minimum.

I generally make an educated guess as to where to start in between min and max, using the published velocities in the reloading manuals.

Also, maximum loads are rarely the most accurate. Maybe max loads are the most useful when shooting for 1000 yard rams. But your best accuracy will depend on a lot of factors. Maximum powder charge is almost never one of them.

Cheers,

Sirhr

I agree. I use the lower single rounds as foulers and zero check.
 
I find max for rifle. True QL profile. Find OBT in QL around 1.5 grains below max and shoot across that. Done that last 4 rifles and found load in less than 25 total rounds.
 
I find max for rifle. True QL profile. Find OBT in QL around 1.5 grains below max and shoot across that. Done that last 4 rifles and found load in less than 25 total rounds.
And that is a good point...

Max for your rifle is the max powder charge that delivers best repeatability. It is generally well below the published pressure max. But it is going to give you the best performance AND the best accuracy.

Keep laddering up your charges until your groups and accuracy drop off. Then back off to where the accuracy and repeatability are back to being consistent.

That is the max for YOUR rifle. And it will be different, by a bit, for virtally every gun.

So nicely put, Gwain!

Also, this will change over time. Once your throat starts eroding and the barrel starts to get some wear... things will change. The load that was perfect when new may not be perfect after 5K rounds. Check it every 2K rounds or so.

Just a couple more thoughts...

Cheers,

SIrhr
 
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If it’s a pretty common cartridge/powder/bullet weight combination, I just look at commonly posted loads around the speed I’d like for barrel length.

Then I load up and down from that 1 grain each way in .2 increments. I just look at chrono data for velocity and/or ES flat spots for powder node. Then load in the middle of that and adjust via seating depth and/or tuner.

I try to never run the high/fast node as I don’t want to ever worry about pressure and I’ll take the consistency of lower node over the fairly negligible dope difference with higher speed.

With so much data online, unless you’re running a new/wildcat or rare powder/cartridge combo, there’s not much reason to start from scratch looking for nodes (unless you just enjoy finding them). You can get pretty close from data online and narrow down from there with your particular barrel.
 
Thanks for all the helpful advise. I got out of the game for a few years and wanted to make sure the method I was using was still sound. Looks like I have a few new things to try as well.