load development test at 50 yds?

[aiyadude]

there is an indoor range locally but only out to 50 yds. i would like to eliminate the effects of wind and temperature changes during the test to get consistent results. so would 50 yards be sufficient or should i do it at 100 yds?

i recently purchased the rcbs comp seater die for my .308. now that i have this, i decided to do a load dev test to see which seating length suits my gun best. i have tried doing this before and have my OAL to the lands and everything, but i stopped because adjusting on a regular Lee die was a pain having to go back and forth to get the exact OAL i wanted, and this comp die was the solution for it.

 

[dlxcupid]

Re: load development test at 50 yds?

I'm not too sure 50 yards would cut it. 100yds is barely sufficient. When I was loading 223s for my AR, I shot indoors at 25yds, loading from .5gr below minimum to .5gr past maximum loads, I ended up with 1 big hole for the most part. No strings whatsoever. YMMV.

 

[aiyadude]

Re: load development test at 50 yds?

the last time i did a load test, i did notice a variance in group sizes. but that was before I got a new stock and bedded it and torqued everything to spec. my groups have been really good with just 2.800" oal but i was just thinking maybe i can squeeze more out of my gun before it comes down to human error.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: load development test at 50 yds?

Well, shooting groups at 50 yards will tell you if you are way off the charge or seating nodes but tweaking for best performance won't be informative at that range. Many bullets don't settle into smooth flight until they get passed 100 yards.

I hope your new costly RCBS die does you some good but you may find the new seater is no better for OAL consistancy or accuracy then the old one; consistancy of seated length is a lot more involved than just the die. Anyway, an exact OAL, as such, is much less valuable than a lot of people seem to understand; no rifle really cares where the nose of our bullets hang in space.

Proper load development usually finds a moderately wide window that shoots well and small variations in charge and OAL inside that range won't have any significant effect. But precisely assembled rounds that are outside the good window won't shoot well no matter how consistant they are.

 

[JoshcBoucher]

Re: load development test at 50 yds?

I'm "in the works", with my 308 load development. COL isn't the "big" factor , so far. I've tried 2.8000 to 2.960, on the same charge,[168gr. BTHP}, and haven't seen much change in accuracy. The powder, and weight, seem to be more of a factor.But I'm just getting started. Varget, at 44.7gr. is the best, so far, at 2.815 COL, for my 700 5R.{ thanks to the Hide for that load} I'm waiting for guages as we speak so I can "work" with more info. This is fun, and also frustrating, at the same time.

 

[aiyadude]

Re: load development test at 50 yds?

the die was for a super cheap price, like half the cost so i jumped on it. it was also bundled with an rcbs f/l die and good quality dies are definitely important for consistency. stuff like that. but ive been sticking with 2.800 and it hits my targets out there, no complaints at all. its just that now that i have precise control over adjustability, i figured might as well use it for what it is. but ok, 50 yds is not advisable. thanks for the input