do you average powder loads between manuals?

darcy32171

darcy32171

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Just thought I`d throw this up here to see what you guys mostly do. I reload 22-250 with IMR 4895 and Hornady 55gr V-max bullets. I stick with the Hodgdon site only and it seems to work quite fine, no signs of pressure.
Hodgdon is: 34 up to 36.5gr.
Lee manual: 31 up to 35.5gr

I`ve been loading 34.5gr which in the Lee manual shows it being very close to the maximum, where as the Hodgdon site, its just a 1/2gr over the lowest safe limit. I`m not worried at all since there are no signs of pressure and it has worked well in over 200 shells. With the variance between the two and I`m sure Speers or other manuals will likely show something different also, do you guys just average the safe and maximum or do you stick with just one manual as the "bible".
I thought it would be good to post this since I`ve noticed alot of new people lately getting into reloading. Thanks,Darcy
 
I usually take the average of at least 4 manuals.
Using their MAX loads, I average them.
Then I drop back 6% to get my starting point.

[e.g. Average is 75 grains, 6% = 4.5 grains, my start is 70.5 grains.]
Work up from there in increments to find safe working max.
Hornet and similar cases .2 grain increments
Medium cases .5 grain increments, Large cases 1.0 grain increments.

I have used this for over 30 years.
Have yet to get into trouble with this method.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
remember each set of data was used with different bbl's, averaging sounds like a good idea, then reduce and work up. anybody have the piezoelectric bbl sensors?
 
I usually go a grain or so below Hodgdon's max and work my way up in .2gr increments till I find the most accurate load. I used .1gr increments for 17FB.
 
pageophile said:
Then review a third source (or fourth) until it makes sense :)
Click to expand...

This. I usually use the bullet company's manual or the powder company's data. I've never used data from someone that is "neither" like Lee. I may look at several sources but in the end I usually use Nosler's data for their bullets or Hornady's data for theirs.
 
I like to look thru at least 4 or 5 sources to pick a powder in the first place.
IE what are the top 3 powders in terms of density and performance overall for a given weight bullet where the manuals show a similarly made bullet.
As to charge weights, yea, the same weight bullet, throw out the high and low, see what the charge range for that powder winds up looking like.
Starting a grain or two below the max can bite you if you are on a new batch of powder or a new gun, so start at 5%, preferably 10% below max.
First batch of rounds will be shot for pressure signs, and over a chrono. Then do another batch as a ladder load run.
 
pay attention to what brand and type of primers are used in the load data.also check brass used.these variables can make quite a difference,especially the primer.does anyone know if there is a website listing brass volume and primer brisance?there is probably a bit of variation here.the biggest factor I think is how far off the lands the bullet is.set your bullet seating depth first and then start developing your load.if your cases/primers are showing pressure and you change your bullet seating depth by seating bullets closer to the lands expect higher pressure.be methodical and careful.
 
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