Help with load dev, Where's my node?

[mskochinski]

all cases look fine. primers are fine. no craters, no flattening, no leaks, no seperation.
taking out 1 flier on #4, brings it down to .9

I like the 43.8-44 set I would load at 43.9, that way you can use any dropper with a .1 tolerance and be in good shape.

Now you must get a bullet comparator to make more advanced decisions. COAL isn't going to help you now as bullets aren't always the same length and when you load it isn't pushing the tip in but rather it's against the ogive. It's about $30 from Hornady, or take any other brands, but will be a life saver and money saver on guessing [emoji12].

Good luck man I'm about two years in and load for my M1A, ar-10 and my remmy 700 and love it.

If you already get a reloading notebook too, nothing more frustrating that forgetting you load data! As each rifle is completely different.



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[sheshotme]

already ahead of you. Purchase the comparator last week. I just seated 6 catridges to lands into my 700 action. poor man's method. I'll be measuring base-ogive later this week when I get my comparator back.

[mskochinski]

already ahead of you. Purchase the comparator last week. I just seated 6 catridges to lands into my 700 action. poor man's method. I'll be measuring base-ogive later this week when I get my comparator back.

Good man! There are many other methods to do that as well, but I fee this is the easiest and quickest to get results. But that is me.

Good luck, we look forward to seeing your results.


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[LynnJr]

all cases look fine. primers are fine. no craters, no flattening, no leaks, no seperation.
taking out 1 flier on #4, brings it down to .9

One more time when your looking for your best powder charge you are not looking at group size you are looking at vertical stringing.
Once you find the correct powder charge with the least amount of vertical you then go to your seating depth to shrink your groups size.

[sheshotme]

I heard you. #2,3,4 seems to have the smallest vertical string, does it not?

[Whiterabbit]

1 2 and 3. Assuming #1 has a flyer. If we assume 2 and 3 have one flyer, and what Lynn said about topping out on the node, you are looking at #3. Which was his recommendation.

Then there was the idea someone gave you about repeating the test which sounds excellent. See if those flyers were really flyers.

[LynnJr]

I heard you. #2,3,4 seems to have the smallest vertical string, does it not?

That is correct.
Now vary your seating depth in 0.005 increments until your groups shrink.
Once that is done you can leave the seating alone and re-run the powder charge again.
You only want to make one change at a time.

[sheshotme]

got it. But I have a question about seating depth then. I took sample size of 6.
Results (not subtracting the comparator body):
3.475
3.379
3.385
3.382
3.433
3.433
Should I take the mean, the average, the lowest?

[LynnJr]

When your using a comparator you need to let the casehead float on the caliper until you get the shortest reading. Once that is done any variation you see is in the bullet.
Custom bullets are made using one die and are very uniform.
Bulk bullets like Berger and Sierra are made on multiple dies and all get thrown in one tub.
If your lucky you get good bullets if your not you don't.

With a comparator I load all my rounds 0.015 too long and then after measuring them I reseat them deeper in small groups of like lengths so the seater stem doesn't have to be backed off.that means you start with your shortest rounds first because they need the smallest change in length.
Seating depth is the second biggest you can make in regards to accuracy so it pays to get it right.

[bsumoba]

Custom bullets are made using one die and are very uniform.
Bulk bullets like Berger and Sierra are made on multiple dies and all get thrown in one tub.
If your lucky you get good bullets if your not you don't.

Isn't that why you want to buy bullets in particular lots?

I test lot #'s to make sure they work well at short range for groups and long range for other things like vertical as well as groups.

[SixPointEight]

I am lost. Someone answer me.
This is normal old-school load testing.
I was taught that OCW or ladder-testing was to fire one shot at each charge weight at a distance of at least 300 yards, note the charge weights where shots clustered, and the mid-charge of that cluster would be close to the optimum charge weight.

This is how I've done it. Once you do that you vary the bullet jump to find any remaining accuracy. The problem being that you really need the distance to do OCW. At 100 yards and accurate rifle will tear a continuous 1.5" vertical hole in the target.

I think if you're limited to 100 yards for development, the old school way is probably the way to go.

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[sheshotme]

not understanding. my bullet seating die is accurate. OAL measurements to lands were not.

[LynnJr]

Sheshotme
If your bullet seating die has a sliding sleeve in it the die will contact the bullet at a diameter of around 0.218 inches and not by the tip.
Bullet seating dies that have a cup that makes contact with the bullets tip or meplat or useless unless you are shooting bullets with tips or ones that have been trimmed and repointed.
You measure your OAL with your comparator not by the bullets tip because meplats vary too much.
Let me know exactly what your struggling with and I will try and explain it better.

[sheshotme]

I was trying to find my maximum OAL to lands of my action. I created 6 dummy cartridges (no powder) with a mild neck resize. Just enough for the bullet to be able to slide in and out of the neck with force. I inserted/removed the 6 cartridges into my rifle's action carefully. then measured with a caliper and comparator. I wasn't expecting such variance in length (ogive to base). i fear I may have to plunk down for those $40 hornady OAL gauges.

[mskochinski]

There are other methods on how to do it. Google is your friend.


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