Which Load to chase

[kcstott]

I'd leave it at 34 and fiddle with OAL a bit but the 34 grain load looks darned good to me.

If this was my rifle and I was using it for squirrels and prairie dogs, I'd be done. The way I double check loads for hunting is to shoot at a 3" gong at 100 yards from a field rest (tripod or sticks). If I can hit it consistently, I can kill what I'm shooting at and that's good enough.

I realize competitive shooting is different.

depends on the competition but yeah a little.

Benchrest, Obviously you want as near a single hole single diameter group you can get. I don't shoot bench rest.

F class you need a <.5 MOA rifle and load in reality you want .3 MOA. out X ring is .5 MOA and if you rifle can barley hold that you are barley competitive.

Then you have PRS and depending on the course you can have 6" steel plates at 300 yards or you can have half, 3/4 and full size ipsc silhouettes, thats 10"x20", 15"X30" and 20"x 40" and a PRS match is setup at various ranges, usually no further than 800 meters, so in this type of match where only hits matter not the location of hits, a 1 MOA rifle is fine. the focus on PRS is speed and accuracy, F Class is precision and accuracy with plenty of time for each shot.

We had a PRS clinic wth a course set up but no course of fire, so after I drilled 90% of the plates on the range I got bored, Now if a PRS guy is reading this and about to go nuts, hold on, I was under no time constraints, I was prone, and I had already noted the distance of all my targets, so it was not PRS format at all what so ever, which is the reason i got bored, If I'm going to plink at steel I'm going to use iron sights an make it a challenge, or i need a time limit or a greater distance , but just casually ringing steel, Yeah i'm a far better shooter than that.

[waveslayer]

Those loads seem promising but you are missing vital information . You need to chrono those loads and get you average MV for each, ES, and SD.

Then you can go from there. 34 gr. Looks to be the middle of that node you are seeing from 32.5 and up. Just because you shot a tight 3 shot group means little.

When doing load development you need to Chrono. I would advise against trying to hit above max.. this is why, temperature swings. What was the temp when you developed those loads? I have a rifle that noise 2 loads because when it hits above 80 I have to switch to my reduced loads. Otherwise I'm over pressured. Plus the extra wear and tear on a .22-250 why burn your barrel out faster?

If you need further help just PM me. But chrono that stuff, that will show you nodes, and signs of pressure. If you see that , for example, 33.5 comes in at 3500 fps, then 34 comes in at 3450 fps you are over pressured . The velocity will start to drop and get crazy when you are over pressured , that's why you want a chrono as well

My wife thinks I only have 3 guns

[JTROKS]

It’s been a while since I set up my old Pro-Chrono. Been lazy to carry all that gear. When I figure out what’s up with my Remmy 700 in 300 WSM and the loads it likes I’ll do all that.

[JackEllis]

Plus the extra wear and tear on a .22-250 why burn your barrel out faster?

Given a choice between two loads that are pretty close accuracy-wise, I'll generally take the lighter one because it's easier on the barrel and it's also a bit less expensive. Especially for .223. But then again I'm not a long-range shooter.

[LynnJr]

When your working up a load you leave the seating depth constant and find the powders sweet spot.
After that you vary the seating depth.
In your case 32.5 and 33.0 show the least amount of vertical stringing so that would be where I would look.
Now very the seating depth to get the group as small as possible.
If this was just a fluke you can always revisit the powder weights.

[longrange1]

for you guys that think 3 shot groups dont matter you may want to read this and read the entire thing before making a judgement about 3 shot groups...

http://www.texasprc.club/preidloaddev/

when developing loads for an over bore rifle why would you shoot 5 or ten shot groups to start with? wouldnt you want to find a charge weight that is showing promise first? i would...barrels are not cheap.

also for most ppl shooting 5 and 10 shot groups is more a test of the shooter not the equipment...i can shoot 10 shot groups in the .2s one day and the next day they are in the 1/2-1" range...NOT the rifle or load its the SHOOTER...but then im not a group shooter.

next with the groups on the target the OP has posted the only one that shows ANY promise to me is the 34g charge and the reason i say this is because every time the charge weight is increased the groups get smaller...so like i said increase the charge in .2g increments for 2 or 3 more groups...i bet 34.2 will shoot a little tighter if it dont then play with seating depth....lets keep in mind he is shooting a factory rifle not a $10k benchrest rifle.

the OP corrects his self and says hes not near max in post 14 so why would he not increase the charge? like lynn says find the charge then adjust.
using the load development i posted above over the last few years i have found loads in 40 or less rounds and the only adjustments made has been charge weight.

and for you guys that worry so much about pressure...when you see flat primers or get sticky bolts trust me at that point you are already WAY over pressure.
and im not saying ignore those signs im just say that without pressure trace equipment you have no idea where your pressures really are and most of you would be shocked to actually see where your pressures are with your hand loads.

[tonyjr]

For me , A 3 shot group is not enought . even a 5 shot - same .
Now if the 2nd and 3 targets showed the same - maybe . It takes me more than 15-20 shots for my butt to find a nice place[ yes I use a cushion ]
Just getting the barrel to find it's place in sand bag .

[smoothy8500]

I'm no expert, but found that 3 shot groups with a chrono quickly weeded out the loads that don't work.

[LynnJr]

Longrange1
3 shot groups verify the rifle 5 shot groups verify the shooter.
I can't remember the last time I shot a 5-10 shot group for load development but I am thinking 15+ years ago.
And that's when barrels sold for $225 and shipping was thrown in. Now they are running $700 for a big blank and shipping is $35 minimum plus we are only getting 500-700 rounds before they get setback or tossed.

And yes if your groups are shrinking and your not seeing pressure I would always keep going until they start opening back up.

What a chronograph does is it lets you know when your primers aren't right or are right for your combination and it lets you know about pressure.

If your using nice even increments on your powder charge and your not changing the seating depth the velocity will look just like a sine wave. Best accuracy will generally be near a trough but if the extreme spread is high the first thing to look at is the primers. Go hotter and colder and your extreme spreads will change 20-35 FPS.
Next as you go up in charge weight your velocity will go up in a pretty linear fashion until you reach pressure.
Your bullets placement on the target will do the same thing.
As you go up incrementally the bullets impact will go up from 1/8 to 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch then it will shrink back down. This pattern will keep repeating itself until you reach pressure.
When you reach pressure it will in a very few shots jump from 1/4 to 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch and the brass will become like toothpaste at that point flowing into everything.

Luckily most modern rifles are spec'ed to handle way more pressure than normal brass used in reloading can handle so very few people actually hurt themselves.
If Proof brass was readily available to handloaders our sport would not survive for very long.

[JTROKS]

I’d like to thank everyone’s input on this.

LynnJr, I’m planning to go up in .2 increments past 34 grains for the accuracy. Thanks for clearing up the 3 vs 5 vs 10 shot groups. My rifle barrels usually don’t get too hot to the touch unless my kids are tagging along. I have to keep telling them to slow down.

My main concern when shooting rifles is the cold bore shot. It’s mainly for hunting or varminting that I use my bolt guns for.

[kcstott]