making the perfect recipe for you rifle?

[oops]

how do you guys go about it... I reloaded 100 rounds but fifty were the same and the other fifty were the same. I noticed my bolt gun liked the 50gr much better than the 60 but that was all I got out of it.

My main question is when testing one bullet do you make five rounds of a certain amount of powder and step up incrementally from there? and if so how much do you step up and how many rounds of the same do you test?

edit: .223 is what I'm reloading

[Mikeb]

Seems like the answer to your question is start low and work up. I like to make 10 rounds and shoot them in groups of 5. Start at "starting load" and work up 1/2 grain at a time. You will see your groups shrink as you get toward what the rifle likes. Pick the most promising range and do it again at 1/10th grain intervals. It is a very fun exercise, you get a real good idea of what a tuned load is.
take care
Mike

[brando]

Here's what works for me:

What is the Goal for the Cartrige?
100% accuracy, 100% range or some percentage of both? The reason being sometimes rifles will shoot slower rounds more accurately, but these are often too slow to go the distance. Sometimes the fastest safe velocities aren't the most accurate, so you have to take these into consideration.

I want a .308 round that will perform well to about 1000 yards. The 155 Scenar apparently does well as long as you get it up to about 2900 fps

Consult the Load Manuals
I say that plural - don't just consult one manual. These will give you an idea of what powder and what charge weights to expect. In this case I know I need to go towards the hot side since I'm aiming for about 2900 fps

Start Experimenting with Quickload
If you're pretty serious about precision shooting, you should invest in Quickload. It'll save you time and money by allowing you to experiment without actually shooting. In this case I choose .308 Win and 155 Scenar, then I plug in the velocity I'm going for and QL spits out a bunch of powders and charge weights. This combined with the data I got from the manuals led me to choose N540 as the powder.

Check Barrel Timing Node
Some people do this, some don't; your mileage may vary. Essentially there's a waveform that reverberates down the length of the barrel that causes distortions in the crown. With the right velocity the bullet can be timed to leave the muzzle at the moment of least distortion. This is all theoretical but it seems to work for me. Check the following info:

http://www.the-long-family.com/OBT_paper.htm

So I use this chart (http://www.the-long-family.com/OBT%20Table.pdf) to figure out the barrel timing node I'm looking to match closest. In QL it'll show you barrel timing and you can do things like tweak powder charges little by little to adjust the velocities to match barrel timing. This is what gives me a ballpark range to go with. In this case I started with 42.7gr of N540.

Load in Increments
I have my starting load at 42.7gr and I know from experience that things start getting hot around 45gr, so I load up strings of three in increments of 0.3 gr....42.7, 43.0, 43.3, 43.6, 43.9, and so on. It depends on the caliber really - sometimes with .308 I'll do increments of 0.5gr while in .223 I do 0.2gr. My .408 Cheytac loads were full 1gr offsets until I got into the ballpark.

Shoot Strings Through Chronograph
This isn't vital but I think it's a huge help. The chrono will give you velocities as well as help you identify variances from round to round. I use 1" stickers for each increment, fired as slowly and consistently as possible from prone or a bench. I look for two things: tightness of groups and velocity goal.

Choose the Load that Fits the Goal Parameters
In this case 46.5gr of N540 got me into the 2900fps goal and grouped the tightest. From here I did further testing by fine tuning the seating depth to see if I could squeeze more accuracy out of the load. I also tried Fed210M, CCI BR2 and Wolf primers, settling on the Fed's because they seemed the most consistent velocity wise.

* Always consult load manuals and always start lower than your target charge weight *

[oops]

thanks... I loaded my first batch without problems I just want to tighten the group up now. I haven't been to impressed with the groups I have been getting with me rem 700 but my AR groups are about half the size.. kind of annoying so I want to see if I can change that a little..

thanks

[freonr22]

Here's what works for me:

What is the Goal for the Cartrige?
100% accuracy, 100% range or some percentage of both? The reason being sometimes rifles will shoot slower rounds more accurately, but these are often too slow to go the distance. Sometimes the fastest safe velocities aren't the most accurate, so you have to take these into consideration.

I want a .308 round that will perform well to about 1000 yards. The 155 Scenar apparently does well as long as you get it up to about 2900 fps

Consult the Load Manuals
I say that plural - don't just consult one manual. These will give you an idea of what powder and what charge weights to expect. In this case I know I need to go towards the hot side since I'm aiming for about 2900 fps

Start Experimenting with Quickload
If you're pretty serious about precision shooting, you should invest in Quickload. It'll save you time and money by allowing you to experiment without actually shooting. In this case I choose .308 Win and 155 Scenar, then I plug in the velocity I'm going for and QL spits out a bunch of powders and charge weights. This combined with the data I got from the manuals led me to choose N540 as the powder.

Check Barrel Timing Node
Some people do this, some don't; your mileage may vary. Essentially there's a waveform that reverberates down the length of the barrel that causes distortions in the crown. With the right velocity the bullet can be timed to leave the muzzle at the moment of least distortion. This is all theoretical but it seems to work for me. Check the following info:

http://www.the-long-family.com/OBT_paper.htm

So I use this chart (http://www.the-long-family.com/OBT%20Table.pdf) to figure out the barrel timing node I'm looking to match closest. In QL it'll show you barrel timing and you can do things like tweak powder charges little by little to adjust the velocities to match barrel timing. This is what gives me a ballpark range to go with. In this case I started with 42.7gr of N540.

Load in Increments
I have my starting load at 42.7gr and I know from experience that things start getting hot around 45gr, so I load up strings of three in increments of 0.3 gr....42.7, 43.0, 43.3, 43.6, 43.9, and so on. It depends on the caliber really - sometimes with .308 I'll do increments of 0.5gr while in .223 I do 0.2gr. My .408 Cheytac loads were full 1gr offsets until I got into the ballpark.

Shoot Strings Through Chronograph
This isn't vital but I think it's a huge help. The chrono will give you velocities as well as help you identify variances from round to round. I use 1" stickers for each increment, fired as slowly and consistently as possible from prone or a bench. I look for two things: tightness of groups and velocity goal.

Choose the Load that Fits the Goal Parameters
In this case 46.5gr of N540 got me into the 2900fps goal and grouped the tightest. From here I did further testing by fine tuning the seating depth to see if I could squeeze more accuracy out of the load. I also tried Fed210M, CCI BR2 and Wolf primers, settling on the Fed's because they seemed the most consistent velocity wise.

* Always consult load manuals and always start lower than your target charge weight *


wow!
What a caring and thoughtful effort to post.!

[topgun7]

I have experimented for about 1 1/2 years to find the perfect load for my M-1A match rifle. I used about 5 different cartridge cases, maby 7 different bullets, several powders, several primers, powder weights and seating depth....on and on. I found THE one. I spent most of the weekends at the range during that time. My wife was net very happy about it.

[Ugly Dwarf]

With the exception of using quickload, Brando's system is much like mine... only written MUCH better than I would have.

I tend to take a box of 100 bullets and test 50 of them with two different powders, 5 different charge weights each. I try to do this with at least three different bullet styles and / weights.

Once I find something that shows promise, I go back to that bullet / powder combo and test further.

Digest Brando's post and have fun.

[jwest]

Going to Metcalf tomorrow AM - will let you know how my .223 reloads go.

[oops]

Going to Metcalf tomorrow AM - will let you know how my .223 reloads go.

I would appreciate it. I just loaded 50 rounds with two different types of bullets and every five rounds with a different charge. This was all I could put together (limited recources)... thanks for all your responses

[CSACANNONEER]

A few things to remember is that throughout the life of your barrel, the optimum load is constantly changing. Normally, you will just have to increase your powder charge as the barrel wears. Also, you should find that the best load for your gun will also vary depending on elevation, air temperature, ammo temperature, air pressure, humidity, etc.