Newbie reloading question(s)...270WSM

Rocks

Rocks

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Grande Cache, Alberta
I ran off my first batch of handloads this afternoon, then went and shot them. Loading for my 270WSM, I made 3 each starting at 2 grains under max and worked up in 0.5 grain increments to max, loading 140gr accubonds. My best group (1/2 inch, all touching) was was at 1.5grs under max, second best (3/4 inch, 2 touching) was at max. Do I load 1.5 grains under, or at max?...or should I load a few more at these 2 loads and try them again? Can it cause problems shooting at max? There were no pressure signs while shooting any loads tonight.
 
Tod is right, 3 is not enough to tell much. I myself would do 9 rounds of each load, 3 targets, 3 different 3 shot groups and then fine tune from there..

The load and the way you are shooting have to be consistent, that is why 3 is not enough to tell. Somedays I will even reload 12 rounds of each load and do 4 sets of 3 just to be really sure.
 
Thanks guys... I made 9 more of each load and shot 3 shot groups, the 59 gr load shot very slightly better than the max load. Groups weren't quite as good today, may be partly due to I seated the bullets shallower for these, so I am going back to where I had them seated yesterday. (Note to self - 1 variable at a time!!)

I guess I just have to decide if I want that extra 100 or so fps for a very slight trade off in accuracy.

So back to making some more and continue the testing :dancingbanana:
 
On a side note I tore apart one of the factory Winchester 140 Accubonds I've been using, it had 71 grains of powder in it... I don't know what kind of powder they're using but the max load for any powder in my Nosler book is 63 grains... anyone see this before?
 
Ya I was going through some reference material this aft and saw some loads up to 71 or 72 grs with different powders.

I decided to go with accuracy and loaded 50 at 1.5 grains under max, I'm sure I'll fiddle around with it some more in the future, thanks guys.
 
Rocks said:
Ya I was going through some reference material this aft and saw some loads up to 71 or 72 grs with different powders.

I decided to go with accuracy and loaded 50 at 1.5 grains under max, I'm sure I'll fiddle around with it some more in the future, thanks guys.
Click to expand...

Good choice on choosing accuracy before velocity. Deer don't care how fast you miss them.
If you're getting .5 MOA leave everything alone and go hunting.;)

A-accuracy
P-Penetration
E-Energy

Cheers!!
 
A 2MOA gun has long been the historic standard as a 'keeper' sporting rifle. With modern rifles, it's downright difficult to find any load that's worse than 2MOA :)
 
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