Sorry to raise the dead - I figured it was better than starting a new thread on the same topic.
Anyway, I spent the weekend helping a friend do some construction on a home he's building on a piece of property he's bought, and I thought since I'm going to be 50 acres away from the next possible person, I'll do some of this plinking load testing.
Bottom line - it was way too much fun. I made and brought gongs cut from 1/4" steel plate - heavy and loud. Even with the 'lightest' loads it was using, The gongs were dancing on the chains and my friends were lining up to take a turn.
Components were 165 gr Bullet Barn flat noses, cci magnum primers, mostly winchester brass with the odd Hornady piece, and unique powder. I started minimum loads and worked up to within a grain or 2 of the prescribed max - about 7 different loads altogether. No need to detail it here unless someone wants to re-read a load that was already described. I shoot a '94 win with a heavy octagonal barrel.
Once I had a load figured out I was hitting the 100 yd gong consistantly with the irons, which I thought was awesome - the plates were about 7"x3" and spray bombed flourescent pink to make them extra visible. I was surprised at what reduced loads like this could do to heavy steel plate; not exactly a moose load, but hard hitting just the same.
Anyway, thanks to the forum (esp. Blackwater) for bringing these loads to my attention - I was ready to start reloading in this caliber with pricey projectiles and factory-like loads, but for this type of casual shooting. Now I can reload for less than 1/2 the price of that, which was already cheap compared to pre-rolled.
