reloading qustions

[kickinneon]

I am about to start reloading for my .300wm. Ill be using berger 210gn vld bullets and h1000 powder. I called berger for some reloading data. here is the info that he give me.
min load (72.5) max (76.2)

He said to start with the min load and load 5 that's touching the rifling's and then do 5 more that is .010 off then 5 more that is .040 off then 5 more that's .080 off then 5 more that's .120 off. shoot them and find out which group shoots the best then start moving my powder weight up in .5gn's until i get 2 gr's from max and move up in .2 gr's.


The way that i did my loads for my .308 was use oal that my reloading book give me and load 5 bullets at the min and work my way up in .5gr increment's until till to the max and then find the best 2 groups and change powder weights in between them.


Which way above would be better to do.

Also i will be installing a muzzle brake on my .300 will it change my load after i get it were i wont it.

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: reloading qustions

My 300 WinMag had a Vias brake on it. The groups wouldn't open up when I took it off or on. But at 200 yards the Point Of Impact would shift 3/4" to 10 o-clock (slightly left and high) when I took the brake off.

Good luck. Keep us posted with your progress.

 

[kickinneon]

Re: reloading qustions

What is the better way to do it of the two ways listed above

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: reloading qustions

You're looking at two different things. Setting the Over All Length is one step. Finding the correct powder charge is a different thing all together. If I understand what you have written, he says find the best length first. Then work on the powder charge.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: reloading qustions

Agreed, work on one or the other, and then you'll be able to see a difference. Try for example the minimum load, with 5 rnds at different seating depths .05, .10,.15,ect. off the lands, find the one that shoots best, and then work up a charge weight. or you could go the other way, find the most accurate charge weight and then do the seating. I'm not positive if one way is better than the other, I choose the second process. You also can throw another wrench in the works, and that is a different powder. I usually start with a couple or three good known powders for the caliber in question and try them in the same procedure.

 

[kickinneon]

Re: reloading qustions

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Victor N TN</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You're looking at two different things. Setting the Over All Length is one step. Finding the correct powder charge is a different thing all together. If I understand what you have written, he says find the best length first. Then work on the powder charge. </div></div>

correct. He said to find out what length the bullet/gun likes. and then find out what powder weight the bullet/gun likes.

The way i have always done it is (Example on my .308)
Start out with the oal the book gives me which is 2.810 oal. then i start with the min grain's of powder and work my way up to the max grains of powder in .5 grain increments.I load 5 of each. Then i go shoot them and choose the best to groups and change the powder weight's. if have a group that has 43.5 grains and a group that has 44 grains of powder. i will load 5 thats 43.7 and go shoot and see how it does.

What would be the better way to do this. the way he said or the way i do it.

 

[kickinneon]

Re: reloading qustions

Bump it up

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: reloading qustions

<span style="font-style: italic">"Which way above would be better to do."</span>

The way you are most comfortable with.


<span style="font-style: italic">"Also i will be installing a muzzle brake on my .300 will it change my load after i get it were i wont it."</span>

Almost certainly.

 

[doc76251]

Re: reloading qustions

I'm partial to finding one answer at a time. I start about .010" off the lands and leave it there until I find a powder charge that gives me a solid ES and is in the barrel node. From there I futz with the length of the boolet. If I did my job on the powder weight I have more than enough of a window that the depth of the boolet just rounds out the group and has no major impact on velocity or pressure. Even on Bergers I have found sweet spots out of the lands as I cannot afford to have an action full of powder because I had to down load the round. Read that, I will not cram it into the lands. My 300WM and my 30-06 both live happily and accurately .020" INTO the lands or .025" OUT of the lands. On my 06 I was also happy to find that 208 AMAX's like the same place.

Cheers,

Doc

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: reloading qustions

Do like Doc and other have said. Find some kind of length that works first. Then go to the powder charge. To work the other way can court severe problems. Having a warm or hot load then cramming the bullet into the lands can cause a failure you DON'T want. It doesn't take too much of a pressure spike to start causing problems.

Stay safe.