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Posted: 1/10/2010 7:01:29 PM EDT
How do you guys build up the perfect loads It seems there are many different routes a person can go on this matter....... I was reading an article on 6mmbr.com and came across F-class record holder charles ballard and his load development technique.... It had me thinking of the true right way to buld up a load and if there was a right way
Soooooooo here we go............................ Do you start with your powder charge and work up? Then bullet seating depth? or vise versa Neck tension? Primers? and on and on and on...........
It seems to me that a shooter could get different results in every way they work up a load......thus leading to hundreds of solutions 
What are your thoughts and experiences
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There are a myriad of ways to do it. Unless you are going for benchrest accuracy most of it will be of little benefit. For semi-rifles I clean & size the brass (brass w/i length), decide on what seems to be the best powder from multiple sources for the bullet weight, irregardless of manufacture and pick a primer. Bolt and similar type actions set up for accuracy, or a real match grade semi, I may do a bit more case prep if accuracy is the major goal. Things such as primer pocket uniforming, flash hole deburring and maybe even uniforming neck thickness.
For handgun I work up from the lower (not necessarily bottom) end of the data in .2 gr. increments. For rifle I use 1 gr. from the lower end (once again not necessarily the bottom) then when I start seeing a decent pressure curve I drop down to .5 gr. increments. Anymore I load 5 rds. and shoot for group while chronographing. I look for consistency in both group and velocity and then the loads that show promise I will load 10 - 15 rds. of each and redo my testing for those loads. Anymore I look for a combination of the best accuracy with the highest velocity. I only go for extreme accuracy in a couple of my rifles which are set up for extreme accuracy. |
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Quoted:
There are a myriad of ways to do it. Unless you are going for benchrest accuracy most of it will be of little benefit. For semi-rifles I clean & size the brass (brass w/i length), decide on what seems to be the best powder from multiple sources for the bullet weight, irregardless of manufacture and pick a primer. Bolt and similar type actions set up for accuracy, or a real match grade semi, I may do a bit more case prep if accuracy is the major goal. Things such as primer pocket uniforming, flash hole deburring and maybe even uniforming neck thickness. For handgun I work up from the lower (not necessarily bottom) end of the data in .2 gr. increments. For rifle I use 1 gr. from the lower end (once again not necessarily the bottom) then when I start seeing a decent pressure curve I drop down to .5 gr. increments. Anymore I load 5 rds. and shoot for group while chronographing. I look for consistency in both group and velocity and then the loads that show promise I will load 10 - 15 rds. of each and redo my testing for those loads. Anymore I look for a combination of the best accuracy with the highest velocity. I only go for extreme accuracy in a couple of my rifles which are set up for extreme accuracy. Are you basically saying that accuracy can be determined by the data from a chronograph or consistancy I have been seeing that on the benchrest forums as well...Thanks for your advice!
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You want a chrono to see the velocity spread. It will not affect your 100 yard groups, but at 600 yards a wide velocity will open groups.
As for components you have to just pick ones that you think will work based on others experiences. Then vary the charge weight then seating depth. Really you have to decide what is good enough for you or you will be chasing the best load until you barrel is toast. ETA another method that you may have not read about is DOE I have not used it however as it is quite a bit of work. |
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