first reloads, looking for some advice

dastt

dastt

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so i have my reloader all set up, and i have 150 prepped brass ready to go (tumbled,sized,trimmed, deprimed, reamed necks and primer pockets and flash holes)

i have a remington 700 in .223 with a 1in12 twist barrel. as far as factory ammo, 53gr superformance gave me the best results.

for bullets i have 40,45,50,52,53,55,60 gr and powder i have h322 and benchmark (the only 2 available thanks to the US)

now i'm thinking i want to try with the 53gr first. they are seirra matchking 53gr. so whats the best way to go about developing a load for this? i dont know where to start? i know you load several at 1gr incrimints untill sign of high pressure shows then stop there?

any advice would help. i have 3 reloading books, but they are just generalized (i'm trying to get the best accuracy)

also whats the trick for seating the bullets off the lands? i've heard of a few different methods about a sharpie or soot from a candle?


thanks alot
 
Mystic precision has some good tips on ladder testing.

I just shoot 2 groups of each load starting at min, and going up to max at .5 grain increments.

Find the best loads and test at .1 grain increments to see if they can get any better.

Then you can play with seating depth, and crimp, etc.
 
For length, you can size a case, and cut a line in the case neck so a bullet can be set into the case easily, and slide in and out.

Put that bullet slightly into the case, and push it into the chamber carefully, then close the bolt. Extract it slowly and carefully and you will have your OAL to the lands.

Do it a few times, and take the average length, and you have a starting point for finding the OAL your gun likes.

Again, don't worry about all this till you find your load first though. Too many variables changing all. At once will give you a headache. ;)
 
Ok, so where would a good place to start the ladder test be? And should I only load 1 of each untill I determine my max?
 
In a small case like the .223 going up .3 gr increments would be better. Most factory rifles have long throats. So you could find that once you reach the lands with those short little 53 gr bullets, the bullet will already be out of the case. Start the the book spec OAL with the starting load and work up from there.
 
Buddy of mine gave me a great tip for setting depth.
Load a bullet as far out of a case as possible then place in the chamber and close the bolt gently just to make sure the bullet is touching the lands but don't push it into the lands. Then put a dowel or cleaning rod with a jag in from the muzzle and mark the rod at the muzzle then remove the cartridge and close the bolt and measure to the bolt face with the same rod. The difference is your maximum COL and you just knock ten thou off that and start there. Once you find a good load you can start adjusting the length to see if you can get any better results.
Good luck

Plus what maynard said.
 
Using a Dremel and cutoff disk, make one of these: it'll hold the bullet just firmly enough to chamber it, but it'll move back into the case when it contacts the lands. As mlehtovaara said, do it a few times and average the results.

 
stevebc said:
Using a Dremel and cutoff disk, make one of these: it'll hold the bullet just firmly enough to chamber it, but it'll move back into the case when it contacts the lands. As mlehtovaara said, do it a few times and average the results.

Click to expand...

good idea never thought of that
 
If you have a bullet comparator set (Hornady for example), you can measure the length to the land diameter instead of the bullet tip, you'll get a better indication of the length needed....
 
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