Testing loads for accuracy

crazy_davey said:
I myself dont reload to try and save on cost. I reload to get the best accuracy out of that particular rifle. I dont care how much it costs or how much of my reloading supplies I use :rolleyes:. I can always buy more, if you cant you have the wrong hobby.

If you cant afford to develope an accurate load in your particular rifle with reloading, buy factory and shoot your brains out to find what works best with your rifle and go hunting and be done with it. If all you are looking for is minute of moose or deer, there are many premium factory loads out there that will do just fine while hunting if your rifle likes them.

I myself buy quality rifles and optics to see how they will perform with different loads, cost or time does not ever enter the picture, again part of the hobby.

Reloading has never saved me a buck when shooting quality loads, but I know myself they will work when the time comes.
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Not surprising that you failed to comprehend my comments. It seems you have a habit of reading somehting and then just putting your own spin or interpretation to it, rather than actually bother to attempt to understand what the author actually wrote.:rolleyes:

Lets look at a couple of my comments. I will BOLD the important parts to help you with your comprehension:

Originally Posted by Gatehouse
Follow this advice if you want to die of old age and/or run out of powder before coming up with a suitable load!
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If you are using premium hunting bullets, you've just spent $30-$60 without actually ever really finding a proper, repeatable load.
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You need to be able to make sure that your load is consitently good before selecting it to use. SO that means shootign several groups of the same load, to check.
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I don't have an issue with spending money on components. I use premium bullets, Match grade primers, good optics and fairly expensive rifles. No penny pinching here...:rolleyes:

But there is no need to *WASTE* your money, especially if you are not able to clearly achieve your goal of getting a consitently good load, that is tested and proven.

One group of 5 means nothing. To just pick the group that is the best out of your load work up, then consult a ballistics table and go hunting is a waste of time and money, since you have no idea of the consistentcy of that load.
 
Gatehouse said:
Not surprising that you failed to comprehend my comments. It seems you have a habit of reading somehting and then just putting your own spin or interpretation to it, rather than actually bother to attempt to understand what the author actually wrote.:rolleyes:

Lets look at a couple of my comments. I will BOLD the important parts to help you with your comprehension:







I don't have an issue with spending money on components. I use premium bullets, Match grade primers, good optics and fairly expensive rifles. No penny pinching here...:rolleyes:

But there is no need to *WASTE* your money, especially if you are not able to clearly achieve your goal of getting a consitently good load, that is tested and proven.

One group of 5 means nothing. To just pick the group that is the best out of your load work up, then consult a ballistics table and go hunting is a waste of time and money, since you have no idea of the consistentcy of that load.
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What is your method of load development? And I am not asking about a minute of moose load but something you would consider accurate. Like one should expect from a 220 swift.
 
Gatehouse, I beg you to differ.

We use premium bullets, but how often do we choose the ones that shoot the best in our rifles versus the ones that caught our eye and behave just acceptable in our rifle?

How many times we have to sacrifice speed for getting the right accuracy, or vice versa?

nobody said anything about checking the seating depths...

Combination of powder type, charge, case brand, primer type, primer brand, bullet weight and brand...... lets add some more.....case sizing, neck tension, neck thickness, neck tension.... and for us hunters... how does that load behaves with the sealant....

I don't claim I do them all, and some of them are of interrest only for rail gunners, BUT....
If one wats to find the best his rifle can do, he must be prepared to shed some dough.... Imagine the guy that wants to see what his rifle will do with all the ammo available in the store..... been there, done that.
Still have a bunch of Winchester BT boxes that are missing just 3 bullets each.... :redface:

I do it like you, Gatehouse..... I pick the "right" bullet and try to get as close to the "acceptable load" as fast and economical as I can.

In one instance however, I chose to consider the load developement as being target practice , and did so with more than 60 rounds for one load.
It was fun and I've only taken into consideration as an extra cost the difference between the match bullets and the hunting ones. The rest is all the same, isn't it?

my 2c
 
Fall Guy said:
Especially when the bullet/brand you want to work, doesn't. :(

Well said.
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That seems to happen to me more often then not. ;) :D

Imagine the guy that wants to see what his rifle will do with all the ammo available in the store.....
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All part of the hobby, right. Atleast I think so. I enjoy trying to find the greatest potential a rifle can offer. If I didnt I would just buy factory and go shooting.
 
eltorro said:
Gatehouse, I beg you to differ.

We use premium bullets, but how often do we choose the ones that shoot the best in our rifles versus the ones that caught our eye and behave just acceptable in our rifle?

How many times we have to sacrifice speed for getting the right accuracy, or vice versa?

nobody said anything about checking the seating depths...

Combination of powder type, charge, case brand, primer type, primer brand, bullet weight and brand...... lets add some more.....case sizing, neck tension, neck thickness, neck tension.... and for us hunters... how does that load behaves with the sealant....

I don't claim I do them all, and some of them are of interrest only for rail gunners, BUT....
If one wats to find the best his rifle can do, he must be prepared to shed some dough.... Imagine the guy that wants to see what his rifle will do with all the ammo available in the store..... been there, done that.
Still have a bunch of Winchester BT boxes that are missing just 3 bullets each.... :redface:

I do it like you, Gatehouse..... I pick the "right" bullet and try to get as close to the "acceptable load" as fast and economical as I can.

In one instance however, I chose to consider the load developement as being target practice , and did so with more than 60 rounds for one load.
It was fun and I've only taken into consideration as an extra cost the difference between the match bullets and the hunting ones. The rest is all the same, isn't it?

my 2c
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You guys are completely missing my point. You seem to think that I am against spending abit of money. Nothign could be further from the truth.

I have no issue spending money on compnents and time.But there has to be a result.

I am against WASTING money, like when you have loaded 50 rounds and came up wiht no more data than "I shot a good group wiht this load ONCE."

And *that* is the issue I had with the suggested technique. You ended without a load that you knew was consistent and repeatable.

Sunrays suggestion basically said "Load 5 each of 10 different charges. Pick the charge that gave you the best group. Load that up and go hunting."

If you want to call your load development practice, fine- because shooting 10groups of differing charge weights, and ending it there, sure isn't load development.;)
 
Gatehouse said:
If you want to call your load development practice, fine- because shooting 10groups of differing charge weights, and ending it there, sure isn't load development.;)
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I usually do three or four targets of three shots each and then move on to my next load. 9 or 12 rounds of each load. When I find something I start to like, I start to fine tune that load. Sooo many variables :eek:

Loading at the range can cut back on amount loaded and time and money.

Load development never ends when looking for accuracy and consistancy ;) :)
 
"I shot a good group wiht this load ONCE."
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Thats one reason I like the OCW in the inital stages the groups size is not particularaly important your identifying a range of weights that give similar poi's then you fine tune the load after you find that sweet spot.

In theory it's probably the best method for hunters because if you are in the middle of the zone you can maintain accuracy over varried conditions. I could use the same gun on a september antelop hunt at 25c or a november whitetail hunt at -25 and not worry as much abot POI change or the dreaded "flyer"
 
I load 3 rounds for each half grain increment and shoot them. I have a chrony all the time checking for MV. If a particular load looks promising (accurate and acceptable MV), I'll load 6 and fire those to confirm. If it looks good, load 9 more, and fire them. Usually, I bring another rifle with me to use up some time waiting for the rifle to cool, etc. This can get frustrating if the powder/primer isn't a match. I switch powders once or twice depending on how much I really want a specific bullet if I don't get the results I want and repeat. If that doesn't work, I conclude the bullet is not a match to the rifle and drop it for another - start the process all over again! In the meantime, you might find that a certain powder load had soem promise and a bullet switch really brings it together. I find that rifles tend to like a certain powder and won't be picky about bullet (sometimes) and then tinker with primers for more accuracy. Then there is neck turning, etc. Primer tinkering has been the edge for me in bringing slightly over MOA to under MOA.

That's my process!;)
 
Same here as with most others. I will load up 9 rounds. 3 of each on the "most accurate load tested", then 3 for the load under it, then the last 3 for the load above it. But that comes after figuring out which length of seating my gun prefers. As which most guns, is as long as the magazine allows. And in between those 3 shot groupings is usually a 15 minute or so cooling and cleansing of the barrel.
 
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