Help develop a new load. How do YOU do it?

[TommyD11730]

Hey guys perhaps a little help. Next week my new Criterion 1-7T 223 barrel will arrive. So, I'm going to have to work up a brand new load. I'm interested in hearing how others go about doing this.
My thought was to first call Sierra and ask them if the bullet I intend to shoot prefers a particular jump. Once I have the jump determined load multiple rounds with the same CBTO length but different powder loads.
Monitor the FPS of the loads. Watch for a load that does not increase in speed and watch the ES. Once the powder drop is determined fine tune the load with changes in seating depth and or neck tension.
Would love to hear how you guys go about developing a new load for a new barrel.

 

[spife7980]

Optimal charge weight of a 2 grain spread in .2 increments at .020 from touch

Then seating depths

Then fine tune to the tenth of a grain charge weight

It’s multiple trips from the bench to the range but it’s also how I ensure it’s not a fluke.

 

[Matt_3479]

I generally spend the first 100 rounds of the barrel getting to know the rifle, breaking in, getting comfortable and forming brass to chamber. After the 100 and once fired brass I begin load development. I always start with a pressure ladder at 300 yards(this should be fired as far as your comfortable or range allows to easily read nodes). In 223 I’d do it in .3 gr increments. Pick a powder you have or is known to work well with a particular bullet weight. I work up to max pressure to know where I have to be under and shoot all these at either .005 thou off lands or .005-.010 off mag length depending on the rifles particular use. Generally this tells me two things. It will show me where to focus my development on, and it tells me where my max pressure point is plus generally my peak velocity will be. If nothing seems to have a flat spot in groups and/or velocity’s I switch powders and try again or switch bullets and try again.

Now that I know roughly where my loads need to be focused on I shoot an ocw test at 100 yards, In the range of powder where the node seemed to be. Biggest mistake is taking the single best group with a different POI. Look for consistent POI with decent groups. Should be +/- .003. If im happy I load in the Center of that node and test again at 300 to double check. If im 100% satisfied I’ll move to seating depth testing.

 

[Doom]

Optimal charge weight of a 2 grain spread in .2 increments at .020 from touch

Then seating depths

Then fine tune to the tenth of a grain charge weight

It’s multiple trips from the bench to the range but it’s also how I ensure it’s not a fluke.

Pretty much the same. I would put 50 rounds through the barrel before I started.

 

[Darkside-Six]

First I look at where others have had success as far as powder charges and such.

Then I will load the first 100 on the lower end of that and use those 100 to get the rifle zeroed and get some positional practice in while in letting the barrel speed up.

Then based on what spread it is running I’ll load up 3 round groups every .2 tenths and look for a speed I want.

Once I find the speed I want I’ll load up a couple 5 round groups from -.1 to +.1 from where that area is. So if I’m looking for 2850fps and let’s say 32.4 gives me 2845 and 32.6 gives me 2859 then my loads will be 32.2, 32.3, and 32.4. These 5 round groups is to see mainly my chrono numbers and get a gauge for how the SD will be.

From there I’ll play with seating depth if I need to, to tighten up groups and I’m done.

My personal approach is I don’t chase “nodes” or “flat spots” in velocity. I feel like with the technology and equipment we have available to us now, there shouldn’t be any issue loading consistent charges so more or less I find a speed o want and as long as the SD is low I run with it.

 

[alamo5000]

Would love to hear how you guys go about developing a new load for a new barrel.

There is a lot more nuance in what I am about to say but I don't want to write an essay. None the less you can get the drift. This is simply MY way (for now) and is subject to change at any time.

For a somewhat precision minded load (not like a plinking load using mixed brass out of an AR) I will start with all the exact same brass. In fact I buy like 500 or 1000 cases so that once I get the load set I have some backup brass to mess with. Note that I might only start with say 100 bullets or something like that. If they work only THEN do I start stacking them up.

Prep the brass and prime it. This includes setting neck tension and so forth and taking out any neck dings or whatever.

I will then use a reloading manual and determine the low and high charges (often through multiple sources). I then will say pick a load in the middle of the road and load up as little as 3-5 rounds only and go shoot them to see what things look/feel like. I load them to a middle of the road seating depth. Please note I load at the house and shoot in the backyard so this kind of system is possible. I try to log everything including targets. This sometimes is as easy is going to the target and snapping a picture with my phone.

Based on what I see, I keep pushing upward in charge weight until I start to determine I am not going to be blowing primers or whatever come summer (or whatever other symptoms the weather tells me). Usually I don't do max loads (ever). I personally prefer precision over pure velocity.

Once I get in a decent spot for velocity and pressure I do a seating test using the same 3-5 rounds. Typically I will start long and work my way in. Once again I am logging everything on the target and velocity wise. When I get to a depth that seems to work better I will use that specific depth but alter my charge weights up or down slightly once again noting everything.

After that I take it to the longer term testing. I will shoot that load and over time I might make a few alterations here or there.

Typically by the time I am somewhat settled on a load I am not even halfway through a box of 100 bullets. Sometimes even less than that. That said, I have had times when I had bullets that simply did not shoot so I had to start over using something else.

 

[NiteQwill]

Find a speed I want with 0.2 gr between charges and 0.020 jump.

Tune groups with tuner.

Generally, I'm done within 10-30 rounds.

I hate load development and personally think chasing the perfect group/whatever is waste of components and shooting. I rather shoot.

 

[TX_Diver]

Find a speed I want with 0.2 gr between charges and 0.020 jump.

Tune groups with tuner.

Generally, I'm done within 10-30 rounds.

I hate load development and personally think chasing the perfect group/whatever is waste of components and shooting. I rather shoot.

There's a running thread on rokslide with some guys just finding pressure, backing off, and then shooting a 10 round group to see what they get. I think I'm gonna try that for my 30-06 and see what I get for comparison. I'm not a benchrest shooter so if I can get 10 round groups that are around 1" to 1.5" at 100 and a reasonable velocity then I think I'll gain more by shooting more vs squeezing an extra 1/4" out of load development.

I'm guessing that kinda load development is sacrilege on here but I'm interested in simple and not burning a lot of components up so figure it's worth 20 rounds to try...

 

[acudaowner]

are you just looking for new idea's on powders to try new for you , or something totally new that's never been done . while not positive I am pretty sure all combinations of powder / primer have been tried for the 223 by now by someone . best of luck finding your load of choice for your gun .

 

[NiteQwill]

There's a running thread on rokslide with some guys just finding pressure, backing off, and then shooting a 10 round group to see what they get. I think I'm gonna try that for my 30-06 and see what I get for comparison. I'm not a benchrest shooter so if I can get 10 round groups that are around 1" to 1.5" at 100 and a reasonable velocity then I think I'll gain more by shooting more vs squeezing an extra 1/4" out of load development.

I'm guessing that kinda load development is sacrilege on here but I'm interested in simple and not burning a lot of components up so figure it's worth 20 rounds to try...

The problems with "finding pressure" is external factors like environment can drastically change that... And it becomes a safety issue. I rather shoot for a velocity that I am achieving far away from pressure signs. I travel a lot for matches so I need to make sure my rounds are okay in all types of weather.

 

[straightshooter1]

Hey guys perhaps a little help. Next week my new Criterion 1-7T 223 barrel will arrive. So, I'm going to have to work up a brand new load. I'm interested in hearing how others go about doing this.
My thought was to first call Sierra and ask them if the bullet I intend to shoot prefers a particular jump. Once I have the jump determined load multiple rounds with the same CBTO length but different powder loads.
Monitor the FPS of the loads. Watch for a load that does not increase in speed and watch the ES. Once the powder drop is determined fine tune the load with changes in seating depth and or neck tension.
Would love to hear how you guys go about developing a new load for a new barrel.

Just a heads up about "a particular jump . . .

Unless you intend on loading your cartridge's so they touch or jam the lands, the only real concern should be to know where that touch point is so you're not doing that. My chamber's freebore could be much longer than your and if you were to use the jump that I do, the length of my cartridge could very well not fit in your chamber. The same issue could be with any jump that Sierra might tell you they're using. Now, if you want to know what might be a good "seating depth", the best way is to find out what COAL is working for a particular bullet. Then you can figure out about how much jump that might be in your particular chamber. So, try not to think in terms of what jump works best, but in what seating depth works best. Seating depth is way more important than jump, which one can tell by maintaining a good producing seating depth as the throat erodes making the jump longer.

 

[TX_Diver]

The problems with "finding pressure" is external factors like environment can drastically change that... And it becomes a safety issue. I rather shoot for a velocity that I am achieving far away from pressure signs. I travel a lot for matches so I need to make sure my rounds are okay in all types of weather.

Wouldn’t pressure and velocity somewhat correlate? I was going to run a chrono for those too. It may not work but for 20 rounds I was curious to at least experiment.

Also I’m far from an experienced reloaded so my results may not be good to take as a data point anyways. Just went to dump the brass from today and noticed primers looked flatter than I remember from last time…

77gr Smk. 22gr N140 on left and 24gr on right 2 rows…. VV max is 24.6 I think.

For some reason it added the pic to your quote…

 

[MarshallDodge]

Hey guys perhaps a little help. Next week my new Criterion 1-7T 223 barrel will arrive. So, I'm going to have to work up a brand new load. I'm interested in hearing how others go about doing this.
My thought was to first call Sierra and ask them if the bullet I intend to shoot prefers a particular jump. Once I have the jump determined load multiple rounds with the same CBTO length but different powder loads.
Monitor the FPS of the loads. Watch for a load that does not increase in speed and watch the ES. Once the powder drop is determined fine tune the load with changes in seating depth and or neck tension.
Would love to hear how you guys go about developing a new load for a new barrel.

This is for a bolt gun or semi auto?

For semi- I load to a reliable mag length and then make some loads in 1/2 grain increments, then go shoot them.

For the bolt rifle, I make several batches of 5. Just off the lands, .020 off, and .030 off. Then I shoot them with a mild charge. If I don't like what I see then I will turn up the charge weight until I see improvements.

 

[Hickswr]

Very informative and quite simple actually.

Start at the 15 min mark.

 

[ubet]

Ocw then a ladder test. It’s quick, simple and uses the least amount of components.

 

[kthomas]

First, use quality components (Lapua brass, Berger projectiles) and reload on quality reloading equipment. Perform your reloading steps in a repeatable and consistent manner.

When you are first breaking in your barrel, you can play with seating depth testing to get an idea of what jump the projectile like. There should be lots of information posted on the internet in regards to jump characteristics for common projectiles, test tried and true jump "windows". For example, Berger hybrids like 10-40 thou of jump (some people even have success jumping them a lot further). At 100 yards, changes in velocity do not change your POI as much as you may think, so you can jump test.

Once the barrel has sped up and the velocity has stabilized, then you can test different powder charges. Again, no need to reinvent the wheel, see what velocities are working for others and test within those windows. Perform a velocity ladder, to see what approximate velocities arise from different powder charges. Establish where pressure is, and stay away from that (for reliability and safety reasons). Once you have an idea of what charge weights will give you what velocities, load up 5+ rounds of each charge and identify powder charges that give the most stable velocities (ES/SD).

Honestly, I find that with good quality components its hard to not make good reloads. I've done lots of testing with my 6BRA, and it shoots most anything very accurately. Most loads I've tested have similar SD and ES (SD ~3-5, ES of ~15 fps), and shoot similarly well. The more testing I've done, the more I realize that there isn't one "unicorn" recipe out there that's much more precise with lower ES/SD's then others. What matters most is using quality components, loaded on quality equipment using a concise and repeatable method. I also don't chase lands. So keep things simple and don't overthink it.