Load Development 375ct has me stumped

EROCK4814

Private
Minuteman
Oct 14, 2020
8
4
So trying to do some load development today and now I'm even more confused
Peterson brass
CEB 350gr lazer
N570 powder
Federal 215m primers
Cadex defense cdx40 shadow 32" bbl 1:7 twist
All bullets seated .020 off the lands and did a 7 shot ladder test from 130-136gr of powder at 100yds in a dead sled
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Was there a question in there somewhere?
If you were implying that you couldn't gleam anything from a ladder test at 100 yds, yup, that's about right. Either need to shoot them over a chronograph or re-try the ladder at 500+ yards. Most people have gotten away from the ladder test for determining optimum charge weight.
 
Question was looking for the charge node and, so if not the ladder test then what should I use to determine charge?only have 300 yards available on a regular basis and I was trying to shoot through chrono but it kept acting up today
 
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you can’t be serious... you have a .375 CT and your doing a ladder test at 100 yards??? You need to start over on a .22 and learn some things.

And you need to start in this thread and read it a few times.

 
You can do all you need at 100yds with the correct method.

However with a .375, you’re gonna want to stretch it out and check the BC consistency of your bullets. As I’m assuming you’re going to want to shoot ELR. Things matter a lot more at distance. So you’re gonna want to really educate yourself on loading. Otherwise you won’t hit shit at distance.

I’d suggest getting something like a 6br or .308 that is easy to load for. Learn on that and move your way up.
 
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Question was looking for the charge node and, so if not the ladder test then what should I use to determine charge?only have 300 yards available on a regular basis and I was trying to shoot through chrono but it kept acting up today

For that big mofo and assuming your goal is to use it for ELR, you should really be trying to find a good stable muzzle velocity node that will produce the most consistent velocities (low extreme spread and low std deviations). As far as groupings/harmonics, a lot of that can be dialed in with seating depth and, again just my opinion, shouldn't be the primary focus.

You need to find yourself a chrono that works reliably and come up with a game plan to find that MV node in as few shots as possible so you don't burn that barrel up just in load development. A lot of that is avoiding the temptation to tinker, hence @Dthomas3523 saying something along the lines of the 6BR's/308's, that are more forgiving and longer lived, so you can learn what methods/procedures to prioritize for relatively cheap.

I know what you're thinking, 375CT can be done cheap(er) when you reload, and you're right. BUT, trust these guys. When you throw in barrel life, you're still looking at ~$4.50/shot, be mindful of that. And assuming you have a 308 or 6.5 kicking around and didn't jump in both feet with a Cadex 375 right off the rip, you could pick up dies and get a good method nailed down with that for, like, 20 shots worth of 375.
 
I used the Erik cortina method, I do have a 6.5 and dies just can't find primers right now so I guess I could wait and learn load development on that, jut kinda wondering what to do, thought I should find the charge node first so should I use the ladder method with 5 shot groups instead of single shot? And I can move the target out to 300 and get the chronograph working better it was just on and off cloudy and rainy yesterday when we did testing
 
Step 1: Establish the max charge weight. Did the 136gr load show pressure signs? Find max when the bullet is touching the lands, as you seat deeper the pressure will go down.

Step 2: Having established max, load three rounds each of 5% under max, then in 1 grain increments over a 6 grain spread.

Step 3: Setup the chrono and a target at (ideally) 300-500 yards. Round robin through the test rounds, leaving time for cooling. Either have a separate target dot for each group, or use a camera to track each shot location. You can also use white paper and color the bullets with felt tip markers.

Step 4: Examine results. You can reject a load that has an ES > 30fps over 3 shots, the SD is too high to be useful. You'd like an ES of 15 or less. Look for two groups to be on the same vertical point, that's the sweet spot for charge weight. Box each group, find MPI, draw horizontal lines across the target though each MPI and find the two lines closest together, or measure from the aiming point center to MPI center and find the two numbers that have the least difference. Those two charges should have a fairly consistent MV, avg over 3 shots likely within 20fps of each other. In an ideal world, the groups themselves show little vertical spread ( < 3/4 MOA vertical)

Step 5. Split the difference in the charge weights and test some seating depths to tune for precision. Don't seat so deep as to compress the load, ideally seat the bullet so the bearing surface does not extend below the neck and the boat tail does not go below the shoulder.