Switching between powders, is accuracy affected?

Hello AKD!
Thanks for your input.
It doesnt seem to matter what kind of barrels I am shooting. It has happened to all of them that I have owned. Krieger,Hart,Gallard,King, etc. I have also built my own barrels and it happens to them as well. But if you dont notice a difference, you are lucky, and are in the minority. If your rifle shoots good and accurate all through every round of powder testing,(even when you change powders). I wish I had your fortune! LOL!

My .308's barrel is a 1:12". The 168's are just fine. This combination shoots in the .4's +/-.1 or so on average at 100yds. I may try some heavier in the future, but I am just experimenting for now. The 185 sound interesting though.
If you are actively shooting at long ranges like 600,and change powders to test the same bullet at 600,(the subject of this particular thread) it would have a huge affect on your point of aim. I personally would prove the untested, new load at a distance that I could gather the nessessary information,(velocity,S.D.,E.S. etc) and keep it on paper. Then calculate my trajectory at 600,300,200 and test it. I would test it at 100 or even 200. Once I have established that the load is indeed "Precise" then I would stretch it out to these distances and truly prove it.
Theres nothin like shooting long range and hearing that clang!
Have fun and straight shoot'in guys!
 
That's pretty neat. How did ur barrel work out?

Burger recomends 12 or faster with the 185 but unless you can get a good chunk of speed a 10 might work better.
 
I built 4 barrels for myself and helped my friend build more than 2 dozen more over a couple of years. I met my friend back in 1995. I was at his place of buisness to get him to make me a 25-06 barrel. We visited for about 2 hours and got along real great. Just before I left, he told me he wasnt going to build me a barrel. I was shocked! I thought he was offended at something I may of said. He just laughed and said, I can see that you (me that is)really love this stuff and would like to offer me a deal. If I came to visit on weekends, and helped him finish off a bunch of barrel orders, he would teach me how to build my own barrels in return! WOW!!! I was honoured to say the least! This guy was personal friends with P.O. Ackley himself!

I built my 25-06rem barrel first, then 6mmAckley inproved,7mm-08rem, then probably the first 7mm UltraMag. in the Peace country. My friend ordered the reamer from Clymer Manufacturing, and I had to order 10 boxes of 300 Ultra mag. Ammo. When it arrived, I had to pull all the bullets and neck the cases down to 7mm. It was a fun project!

My favorite is my Ackley! That is the rifle that got me into long range shooting. The barrel is 26" long, and just over an inch at the muzzel. VERY heavy! LOL! But it shoots like a house on fire. As long as I do my part. With Berger 88gr.VLD's (flat base) I have shot many groups inside 0.2" and a few inside 0.1"! This load averages about 0.5" A great shooter! I shot some nice groups at 1100yds as well. And this made me realise that I can do this long range stuff.

When I can afford it, I would like to look at getting a tac21 chassis for the Rem700 short action. May be put it on the 6mm Ackley. Take care and straight shoot'in!
 
dthunter

Once I figured out what was happening I just stayed away from mixing 748 with Varget and Re15. Now I will only use 748 in a rifle by itself and if I want to change I will clean the rifle before shooting ADI powders (Varget or Extreme powders).

However, since the fouling is so hard to remove it can really fool you into thinking the barrel is shot. I rebarreled two rifles before finding out.

BTW, Sierra does mention this fouling problem in one of their on-line reloading briefs. I forgot which one but think it is their instructions on reloading for semi-auto's.

The fouling for either Varget or 748 is not hard to remove but the fired combination seems to have a chemical reaction between them.

Steve
 
I first heard about the possibility that switching ammo loaded with different powders may cause a fouling/accuracy problem 40 years ago from a very experienced record holding short range Benchrest shooter.

Since it is so extremely easy to clean a barrel before switching to a different powder, eliminating the potential problem that may occur, I have never tested it...

I doubt Precision rifle accuracy levels would be high enough to measure such a small difference in accuracy...
 
thankyou guntech for your opinion, Was that sarcasm in it? you are intitled in that opinion. Even if it "MAY" be wrong. LOL! Not to be disrespectful or anthing. Just ribbing ya! Just having fun with it.
It is o.k. to differ in these forum discussions, because we all have different life experiences. Other guys have allot of experience to share out there shooting. Thats one big way I have learned. They pick up different things out of thier shooting experience that I MAY not. But I do have considerable experience as well. I have taught many people too shoot, and they have fun doing it. Thats my only real concern here. If I can share an observation that helps a person through a particular problem, its mission accomplished for me.

Have you read my comments, or are you generalizing on the thread? "Not a sarcastic comment just trying figure out if you read my posts or not."
Like I said on ALL of my posts this doesnt happen every time to everyone, even myself (but the majority of the time with me). But it DOES happen.

My specific comments are not related to fouling problems, but impact points on the first/and or second shot after switching powders. No different than shooting with a clean bore. The subsequent rounds on the target will be fine to the limitations of the load assembled. Do your rifles shoot accurately, to the full potential of the load being shot right from the first round on a clean barrel? I have seen it happen only a few times, and it never happened the second time with the same rifle and load. I wish I had a rifle like that! Some of mine are close, but I'm not quite that lucky!

The fouling problem that SteveB is talking about I have never heard of before. But I wont discount it for sure! Sounds like a bummer of a problem! I hope he gets things back to normal.
Anyhow Guntech,SteveB and you other gunnutz, goodnight and straight shoot'in!
 
No sarcasm, just used the word 'may' as I have not tested it and I don't know what powder fouling affects the next powder fouling... I don't believe they all do...
 
Probably means next to nothing, but I remember an occasion years ago at Mons Range at Borden. It was a practice day, and we had moved back to 1000y. Ganderite walked down the line passing out ammunition for testing - no doubt samples of his commercial target loads. I was zeroed, and my rifle was shooting my ammunition well. His loads used different cases, powder, primers and bullets. The group size didn't change, and the difference in elevation was well under a minute. This at 1000y. In a pinch, I could have changed ammunition during a match, and it would have cost only a point or two to refine the elevation.
 
AKD said:
That's pretty neat. How did ur barrel work out?

Burger recomends 12 or faster with the 185 but unless you can get a good chunk of speed a 10 might work better.
Click to expand...

Actually Brian Litz says you can even use these in a 13 twist. a 10 twist is way overkill.


As to powder changes affecting extrinsic accuracy, I don't buy into it. If you believe it, you believe it. Just like barrel break-in, 5R rifling and moly coated bullets. I have load developed hundreds of different combinations and when the right load is found, it is found. Sometimes I compare one against another when two are close. Never had reason to blame a powder residue.

The only time I found any powder influencing follow-on loads was with Norma 203B. A powder so filty, I swear it is made from old tires. It's an accurate powder, but Varget allows me to go 250+ match loads without cleaning. Norma would have to be cleaned more than once a day.

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