I am trying to do some load testing for my 6.5 Grendel.
Alexander Arms' published load data for the first powder I'm going to work with (Accurate 2520) only shows a max charge (30.7). No minimum or staring charge.
I would normally drop the charge by 10% and work up, but one thing I noticed is that for the loads that do shwo a minimum and a maximum, the differences are not anything approaching 10%. In some cases, the difference between min and max is less than 1%.
Some examples:
Lapua Scenar 123 gr
Win 748 = Min 30.0 / Max 30.5
Hodgdon BL-(C)2 = Min 31.5 / Max 31.8
Varget = Min 28.0 / Max 28.5
H4895 = Min 27.0 / Max 27.7
N540 = Min 28.0 / Max 28.6
Only one powder is more than just a few .10s difference, and that's N140 and even it is Min 26.5 / Max 27.9
I use the OCW method OCW method which dictates cutting the max by 10% and then moving up in particular increments from there.
Given this load data and the very minimal difference between min and max for virtually every powder, where might be a good place to start?
As a note, I shot 20 rounds of the max load (30.7 of Accurate 2520), and there were no signs of pressure issues at all. I wasn't happy with the consistency (though my primary reason for shooting was to check for weapon function), so I want to give other charge loads a look.
Alexander Arms' published load data for the first powder I'm going to work with (Accurate 2520) only shows a max charge (30.7). No minimum or staring charge.
I would normally drop the charge by 10% and work up, but one thing I noticed is that for the loads that do shwo a minimum and a maximum, the differences are not anything approaching 10%. In some cases, the difference between min and max is less than 1%.
Some examples:
Lapua Scenar 123 gr
Win 748 = Min 30.0 / Max 30.5
Hodgdon BL-(C)2 = Min 31.5 / Max 31.8
Varget = Min 28.0 / Max 28.5
H4895 = Min 27.0 / Max 27.7
N540 = Min 28.0 / Max 28.6
Only one powder is more than just a few .10s difference, and that's N140 and even it is Min 26.5 / Max 27.9
I use the OCW method OCW method which dictates cutting the max by 10% and then moving up in particular increments from there.
Given this load data and the very minimal difference between min and max for virtually every powder, where might be a good place to start?
As a note, I shot 20 rounds of the max load (30.7 of Accurate 2520), and there were no signs of pressure issues at all. I wasn't happy with the consistency (though my primary reason for shooting was to check for weapon function), so I want to give other charge loads a look.
