Testing loads - Am I doing it wrong?

[Jayjay1]

Hello guys,
finding "the right bullet" for a new rifle.

I´m buying 3 or 4 bullets which fullfill my needs, and then I´m loading and testing them side by side.
That means I shoot 4-round groups with every bullet, one after the other, waiting around 1 minute to let the barrel cool down a bit after every shot.

Do you think that "mixing" the bullets is a bad thing, because of the different materials in the bullet jackets?
Will it cause worse precision and would it be better, to test only one bullet in a row, when finished clean the barrel, and than testing the next bullet?

 

[vh20]

I would not do it that way. I have seen fouling conditions affect impact point of a new bullet when fired from a barrel previously fouled with a different bullet.

 

[Maurygold]

Just buy Berger hybrid in your caliber and call it a day. You don’t need to test bullets

 

[OREGUN]

That seems like a lot of wasted components and time. Just pick a bullet, buy 100, do whatever load development you do and if you have a decent barrel and are using reasonably good reloading techniques, it will work. Doing small samples size tests side by side is likely not showing you anything anyways.

 

[Tugboater]

For me my brain doesn’t work that way. There is just too much going on there to stay focused on one thing. I research the bullet I’m wanting to load, then get after it. Unless the bullet I choose is obviously not going to work,, I don’t normally switch. I may try something later down the road that I want to tinker with, but would never try a bunch of different bullets at the same time.

 

[vh20]

Just buy Berger hybrid in your caliber and call it a day. You don’t need to test bullets

That’s a better answer than mine, and actually what I do as well. I load for only 3 cartridges. In each case I just picked a Berger and ran it: 300PRC (230gr), 300 Norma (245gr), and 338 Norma (300gr). My comment above about differences in impact from a barrel previously fouled with a different bullet comes mostly from when I might shoot some factory ammo occasionally and switch back to my loads. The first round with the new bullet (going either way) will usually impact somewhere a little off from the next rounds of the same bullet (usually low in my case).

 

[3rdfocal]

I gotta keep it simple when doing load development. I pick the bullet and powder I want to shoot, measure chamber and seat the bullet .010 off the lands (or max mag length if I can't reach the lands). Then shoot a ladder over a chrono, 3-5 round groups at increasing charge weights, usually in .3 grain increments (starting safe and moving up through where I expect to see too much pressure), usually around 10-15 total groups. I'm watching for a velocity node, group size, and pressure when doing this. I always find a velocity node or 2 when doing this, typically I will also see group size open and tighten as charge weight changes. I'd bet that 90% of the time, I find a load that I'm happy with at this point. If not, I'll generally go with the best velocity node and test powder charges around that velocity again. If I need to, once I've determined the best powder charge, I'll do a seating depth test and shoot groups working away from the lands in .010 increments. I rarely end up doing seating depth tests though. Not a great method if you're trying to shoot BR records, but finding a 1/2" load isn't very difficult with the quality of rifles and components we have and this quick method gets me there reliably. I will play with a load after I've been shooting it for a little while and am confident in what to expect, I'll load a few rounds to shoot a seating depth test or test charge weights around my node to see if I'm leaving something easy on the table.

With a good bullet, brass, and barrel, it should not be hard to find a load. A good barrel will seem like it just wants to shoot everything well. Research pays off when deciding what caliber/bullet/powder to go with, there are so many good "known loads" that we really don't need to go reinventing the wheel. I would only recommend changing and testing 1 thing at a time. I'd get confused if shooting different bullets at the same time.

 

[Rocketmandb]

In each case I just picked a Berger and ran it:

Exactly this. Trying to load dev against multiple bullets at the same time is an exercise in futility. If you really want to try multiple bullets, then pick one first, find the best load you can with it, then do the same thing with the next bullet. Compare them and you're done.

 

[Aftermath]

^^^This is the way.

Choose a bullet and do all of the load development necessary to create the most bestest shooting combination that you can. Write that shit down.

Choose your next bullet you think you want to shoot and do the same thing. Do all of the load development necessary to create the most bestest shooting combination that you can. Write that shit down.

Repeat all you care to.

Then, look at all of the data and decide which is working best for your rifle.

Or...just do like a bunch of us do...choose the heavy for caliber Berger you want to shoot, develop that one and don't look back.