I need your help guys! I'm sick of trying to figure this out, it's starting to hurt my brain! haha So I am asking for the help from the wealth of knowledge that is the hide, as I only have the basic knowledge, and very little experience. This is only the second load I've ever worked up.
Here's the deal, I switched bullets from a 55gr to a 53 gr v-max for my 22-250. I started from scratch and decided to do the ladder test, so first picture here is of the ladder test, done twice on same paper (you might not be able to read the holes, they are marked 1, 2, etc) range was 425 yards. Temperature was 44 degrees Fahrenheit. By the way this is with Varget.
So from these results, I figured my node was between 34.2gr and 35.0. So next I loaded 4 each (yes, yes, "5 is best", shoot me) And went out the next day for 100 yard groups. Temperature was 47 degrees, wind 7-8 mph from the 11 o'clock. Printed these groups (If you wonder why the dot, I have the NP-2DD reticle, I just cover the dot on paper with the reticles dot). Not the best, but not bad. Of note is the circles group, 34.8 grs at .010 off the lands.
I figured I was on to something. So I went out the next day after loading some random things, and this happened. Notice the exact same load (circled. I didn't even touch my seater die) Suddenly is not so good. Temperatue was 42 degrees, wind 3-4mph from the 10 o'clock.
WTF!?
Just to add to it, I had fiddled before, and had tried these loads. All at 35.7gr, just different seating depths. Note the underlined ones...they'll come up later. It was two months ago, so I can't remember the conditions. If I had to guess, it was high 40s, wind not a factor as I was next to a berm which ran the length to the target to negate the effect. No wind was discernible.
So I thought, ok, I'll try some of those again. The underlined ones here show what happened. Same 42 degrees, 3-4mph wind.
What the hell is happening!? Why will my gun shoot the same loads differently day after day? Yes, I thought of shooter error first. Go ahead and say it! You'll have to take my word for it that this wasn't me. I am not the best shot, but when working up loads, I take extra extra care into being as precise and repeatable as I can be.
Before doing the ladder test, I lightly cleaned the barrel, then fire 15-20 rounds through to be positive it's "fouled". The rest of the tests were done without further cleaning. (with the 55gr bullets, I would clean only every 200-300 rounds, with no noticeable decrease in accuracy.) I doubt it's a scope issue as it's a Nightforce NXS. But, I suppose it is a possibility. Brass was prepped the same way every time, full length sized and trimmed to same length. It's a posibility the barrel is just shot, I do shoot it pretty hot in the prairie dog towns. But it's only at 1,800 rounds total. And on the second pic you can see the group labeled 35.7 at 2.360. That's with my old load of the 55gr vmaxs, and that load was developed before I just had a muzzle brake installed. Those were my "warm up" shots, so I was just messin around. But I would guess a worn barrel would shoot worse than that, would it not? Barrel is a Lothar-Walther 24in, 1 in 12 twist, 6 groove, stainless.
I realize sometimes you have to bite the bullet and just give in that a gun doesn't like a certain bullet. While it would be nice to get this bullet to shoot, I'm mostly just curious! WHY is this happening!?
Here's the deal, I switched bullets from a 55gr to a 53 gr v-max for my 22-250. I started from scratch and decided to do the ladder test, so first picture here is of the ladder test, done twice on same paper (you might not be able to read the holes, they are marked 1, 2, etc) range was 425 yards. Temperature was 44 degrees Fahrenheit. By the way this is with Varget.
So from these results, I figured my node was between 34.2gr and 35.0. So next I loaded 4 each (yes, yes, "5 is best", shoot me) And went out the next day for 100 yard groups. Temperature was 47 degrees, wind 7-8 mph from the 11 o'clock. Printed these groups (If you wonder why the dot, I have the NP-2DD reticle, I just cover the dot on paper with the reticles dot). Not the best, but not bad. Of note is the circles group, 34.8 grs at .010 off the lands.
I figured I was on to something. So I went out the next day after loading some random things, and this happened. Notice the exact same load (circled. I didn't even touch my seater die) Suddenly is not so good. Temperatue was 42 degrees, wind 3-4mph from the 10 o'clock.
WTF!?
Just to add to it, I had fiddled before, and had tried these loads. All at 35.7gr, just different seating depths. Note the underlined ones...they'll come up later. It was two months ago, so I can't remember the conditions. If I had to guess, it was high 40s, wind not a factor as I was next to a berm which ran the length to the target to negate the effect. No wind was discernible.
So I thought, ok, I'll try some of those again. The underlined ones here show what happened. Same 42 degrees, 3-4mph wind.
What the hell is happening!? Why will my gun shoot the same loads differently day after day? Yes, I thought of shooter error first. Go ahead and say it! You'll have to take my word for it that this wasn't me. I am not the best shot, but when working up loads, I take extra extra care into being as precise and repeatable as I can be.
Before doing the ladder test, I lightly cleaned the barrel, then fire 15-20 rounds through to be positive it's "fouled". The rest of the tests were done without further cleaning. (with the 55gr bullets, I would clean only every 200-300 rounds, with no noticeable decrease in accuracy.) I doubt it's a scope issue as it's a Nightforce NXS. But, I suppose it is a possibility. Brass was prepped the same way every time, full length sized and trimmed to same length. It's a posibility the barrel is just shot, I do shoot it pretty hot in the prairie dog towns. But it's only at 1,800 rounds total. And on the second pic you can see the group labeled 35.7 at 2.360. That's with my old load of the 55gr vmaxs, and that load was developed before I just had a muzzle brake installed. Those were my "warm up" shots, so I was just messin around. But I would guess a worn barrel would shoot worse than that, would it not? Barrel is a Lothar-Walther 24in, 1 in 12 twist, 6 groove, stainless.
I realize sometimes you have to bite the bullet and just give in that a gun doesn't like a certain bullet. While it would be nice to get this bullet to shoot, I'm mostly just curious! WHY is this happening!?
