How many shots?

MD

MD

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How many shots do you take with a new load to determine if they are suitable for your rifle?

Three or five?

How many groups do you shoot?

When trying a new load do you go up by full grains, say 44 grains of H4350, then 45, then 46, or by half as in 44, 44.5, 45, 45.5 etc?


I'll be loading 175 grain bullets with H4350 for my 7x57.
 
For a big game cartridge three shot groups, and at least four or five groups. For a varmint cartridge, or a target cartridge, five shot groups, and at least four or five groups. I work up in one grain increments with the larger capacity cartridges, say 40gr or more, and then sometimes I go to 1/2 grain increments. For the smaller capacity cartridges,I generally work up in 1/2gr increments, and for the very small capacity cartridges under 20gr of powder, I may use .2gr increments. I look for loads that are fairly stable with slight changes in the powder charge, if the accuracy changes dramatically with a small change in the powder charge, I abandon the load, as it will likely be unstable with changes in temperature.
 
I always do 5 shot groups gives me a better understanding of the heat in the barrel will do to performance at 200 yards. I personally go up in increments by.3 gr. but I never start at the minimum load either. I usually start 2 gr below max and work up. Lots of people will tell you not too do this but it works for me, to each their own right. Once I see 2 promising groups I go to .2 gr increments on the high side and low side of the loads I liked and try again. This usually is all I need but if I feel like tweaking them I'll do .1 gr around the favorite just to see what happens. I am not a world class shooter by far or an authority on reloading but this method works great for me, maybe not for you though.
 
Three is plenty.
And repeat to confirm.
Depends on velocity (pressure) you are seeing as to how much you vary charges. I usually go up a grain at a time initially. Watching for pressure signs. If you get a heavy handle etc, you can always pull the other two rounds.
Also consider varying seating depth. With 175 gr bullets your case will be pretty full I suspect.
Good luck!
 
Initial development of a load I just use 3 of each weight working up to max. After that while fine tuning I usually shoot a couple dozen confirming accuracy and function.
 
I look for a certain performance for hunting rounds rather than accuracy. 3 shot groups over the chrono looking for pressure signs, starting somewhere in the middle of the recommended load data and working up by 1/2 grains. If you get the performance you're looking for and it groups satisfactorily then you're done. I work up a littlle bit at a time and do it over several range days so I don't have to pull any bullets that have too much pressure. Most of us don't shoot beyond 200-300 yards, so accuracy isn't as important as terminal performance.

If you're looking for accuracy with a target gun it all changes.
 
For a hunting rifle, I am looking for ammo that will fit the magazine, feed into the chamber and eject without signs of pressure.

I want decent accuracy. If some loads show better accuracy that others, I go for accuracy, even if it means giving up some velocity.

With a new bullet, I load start to max in 0.5 gr increments, 3 of each, with lots of cooling between 3 shot groups.

When it is done, I pick the load that shot best and load 5 of those and five more 0.3 bigger and smaller. Then I choose one of those and call that good enough.
 
New load - 3 shots of incremental (about 5% differences) loads to test for pressure, accuracy, and velocity all at the same time.
- Any promising loads tested with 5 shot lots for pressure, accuracy, and velocity at the same time.
- Most primising load tested with 5 shot lots at different COL looking for any pressure (if at or close to max.) accuracy, function in magazine, and velocity.
- Best load gets 25 rounds loaded for testing for function and accuracy as it is sighted in for hunting, and just practice or playing with any left over after sighting.
Load 20 more for hunting season and I'm ready.
 
personally i always when 5 shot , by .5 for the powder , until i find a decent load or i try another powder or bullet , if the group is decent i made a few more to test again and see if i get the same result .
 
I do things a little different than most do............I make up 4 loads of each charge and usually 5 different charges, for a total rack of 20 test loads. I do it this way because I get 5 test racks from a box of bullets instead of 4 and most of my rifles hold 4 rounds total.
Small cases I go up in 1/2 gn increments and mid sized cases I go up in 1 gn increments and in the really big cased stuff I will go up in 2 gn increments (over 100 gn capacity).
To settle on a load the rifle and load must shoot at least 4 consecutive satisfactory groups before I call it good.........a little hint here...usually if the rifle/load gradually comes into a good group as the pressure goes up, it will be a good load, but if the rifle/load is shooting poorly and then all of a sudden shoots a 3/4" group and then goes back to 2", it is likely an unrepeatable fluke. Hence the need to be able to more or less repeat the group several times before calling it good.
Once I have a load that is grouping satisfactorily I may play with the seating depth in and out a few thou and see if there is a significant improvement and I may play with the powder charges plus and minus 0.2 gn increments to see if it gets better or not.
I closely monitor both velocity and extreme spread when working up loads as they will more often than not tell you when a good group is likely to repeat or is a fluke.
Another difference I have from most shooters is I will give up a tad of accuracy for a significant gain in velocity..........say my first test load gives 1/2" accuracy @ 2800 fps and my 5th load gives 7/8" groups at 3100 fps, I will always take the greater velocity as long as the group is still satisfactory for my intended purposes. In a hunting rifle and field conditions that 3/8" that I give up in accuracy will make zero difference in the outcome of a hunt, however that 300 fps I gain may make the difference between a successful hunt and a bust. Many will disagree with this, but I have found through my hunting experience, that time of flight and terminal energy, is more critical than being able to shoot 1/2" groups at 100 mtrs.
 
MD said:
How many shots do you take with a new load to determine if they are suitable for your rifle?

Three or five?

How many groups do you shoot?
Click to expand...

I shoot 9mm and .357mag. Never less that a 5-group and usually 10 rounds groups is my norm, with .2gr increments. For the loads I've selected for further testings because they looked promising, I'll usually shoot at least 2 x 10-rounds groups at .1gr increments and take measurements for 8/10, 9/10 and 10/10 holes. That helps compensate for operator error and change in POI because of the barrel warming up.
 
c-fbmi said:
I do things a little different than most do............I make up 4 loads of each charge and usually 5 different charges, for a total rack of 20 test loads. I do it this way because I get 5 test racks from a box of bullets instead of 4 and most of my rifles hold 4 rounds total.
Small cases I go up in 1/2 gn increments and mid sized cases I go up in 1 gn increments and in the really big cased stuff I will go up in 2 gn increments (over 100 gn capacity).
To settle on a load the rifle and load must shoot at least 4 consecutive satisfactory groups before I call it good.........a little hint here...usually if the rifle/load gradually comes into a good group as the pressure goes up, it will be a good load, but if the rifle/load is shooting poorly and then all of a sudden shoots a 3/4" group and then goes back to 2", it is likely an unrepeatable fluke. Hence the need to be able to more or less repeat the group several times before calling it good.
Once I have a load that is grouping satisfactorily I may play with the seating depth in and out a few thou and see if there is a significant improvement and I may play with the powder charges plus and minus 0.2 gn increments to see if it gets better or not.
I closely monitor both velocity and extreme spread when working up loads as they will more often than not tell you when a good group is likely to repeat or is a fluke.
Another difference I have from most shooters is I will give up a tad of accuracy for a significant gain in velocity..........say my first test load gives 1/2" accuracy @ 2800 fps and my 5th load gives 7/8" groups at 3100 fps, I will always take the greater velocity as long as the group is still satisfactory for my intended purposes. In a hunting rifle and field conditions that 3/8" that I give up in accuracy will make zero difference in the outcome of a hunt, however that 300 fps I gain may make the difference between a successful hunt and a bust. Many will disagree with this, but I have found through my hunting experience, that time of flight and terminal energy, is more critical than being able to shoot 1/2" groups at 100 mtrs.
Click to expand...

I use a similar method. I load 4 of each for testing until I find a good group, preferably one in the middle of decent groups with higher and lower charges so that I can expect it to tolerate temperature fluctuations. Once I find a load that looks promising, I load 15 rounds and shoot 5 each at 100, 200, and 300 yds to confirm the 100 yd accuracy, and to make sure it holds together at the ranges I'm likely to shoot it at. If it still looks good, I repeat the 15 rounds at those three ranges couple more times to make sure.
 
I'm another 4-banger here. One set at min, one set at max, then the other 3 sets equally spaced throughout. As said above, makes better use of the ammo box and mags.
 
This is what has worked for me. I use the min to max loads listed in reloading manuals for the round. I shoot groups of 5. Tried shooting groups of 3 or 4 but it does not give an accurate reflection of the load for me (you could shoot a bugeye group one week come back the next week and the group is not what you want).
Depending on results I may use smaller increments between min & max to see if I can improve the grouping. You can also play with bullet seating depth depending on how precise you want to be. Once you have a group/load your happy with shoot 10 round group with that load at 100yds. If I can get an inch or less out of a hunting rifle I'm happy with that.
You can then extend the ranges to see how the load performs.
 
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