Hog!

A question for handloaders.

When you're creating a load for a new gun, what is the quickest way (fewest shots)to zero in on the best recipe (most accuracy)?

Assume you've picked the bullet for hunting.

boltman

My experience that the easiest/quickest way to tune a load for accuracy is by varying the seating depth. I've not seen that changing powders or primers has that much effect on accuracy. Changing bullets will greatly affect accuracy but I usually have a preferred bullet I want to hunt with already chosen and I'll stick with it unless I just can't get it to shoot. I usually pick several powders from the loading manual that give top listed velocity and work up the charge over my chronograph. Loading manual velocities are not known for being very accurate and usually one powder will prove to give better velocity with reasonable pressure. Once I've settled on a powder I'll start varying the bullet seating depth. Most of my rifles shoot best with the bullet almost touching the lands.

jmcd

When i get a new rifle i buy at least 3 different bullets to start looking for the one it likes. Usually have 5 or 6 different powders on hand so I start working with what I have.
I play with seating depth as much as possible except that I've found 3 of my rifles don't allow seating just off the lands as the bullets catch up in the clip. So I have to seat them deeper in the case. Seated out is good on the range as a single shot but no good for hunting.
I love to load and shoot and everytime they come out with a new bullet I gotta try it. Hornady and Nosler in March.
Now to answer your question, I don't look for the quickest way. Trying 3 or 4 different bullets and 5 or 6 different powders is what I look forward too when I get a new rifle.

Briman

Reference a few reloading manuals and pick a powder recommended for the cartridge- I use 4064 with good results for most non-magnum cases with bullets over .22 caliber. Reload each cartridge the same way- do all of each operation such as resizing, trimming, measuring powder, or seating bullets at least in the same session, so that each cartridge is done consistantly (its ok to do most of the steps on separate days, but at least do each individual step itself at once)
Start with the minimum load, and work uop in .5 gr increments to the maximum load- I load 5 for each increment. Label the differently loaded cartridges carefully and keep a notebook or folder containing all of the reloading info- such as date, powder used, primers type, bullet type, overall cartridge length, trimmed case length, wheter or not the cartridge was crimped. Take the loads to the range and shoot them at seperate targets for each load. Watch for pressure signs everytime you go up a load increment. Take yoru time so that the barrel doesn't overheat and skew the results. Once you get find a load that gives you the best grouping, you can adjust it by a few tenths of a grain either way, though this doesn't always help. I seat my bullets out so that they fit in the magazine- most sporting rifles are going to have a fairly long throat which would making seating the bullets close to the lands impractical.

If you want to switch to a different powder heres a little shortcut that should steer you in the right direction that I learned from an Army Ballistician which usually gets you pretty close using the Lyman manual. Using the listed minumim and maximum charges and velocities listed in your manual for a particular powder, plot your velocities on the vertical axis and the powder charges on the horizontal axis. Leave plenty of spaces between max and min figures. put a dot at where the axis' meet for the min vel and min charge, and the max vel and max charge. Draw a line connecting the dots. Do the same thing with the powder you want to switch to. Put an x on the line representing your first powder where you got your best accuracy, then find the powder charge to the left or right of this x that will give you the same velocity for the second powder. As long as the powder charge is within safe range given by the manual, yoiu should be able to work loads near this powder charge for the new powder and find the rifle's sweet spot pretty quickly. If you have a chronograph, the whole process becomes much more precise and easier.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?

Briman

I forgot to mention, everytime you try a different bullet you should work from the minimum range as different bullets might weigh the same but might have different sized bearing surfaces, jacket thicknesses, and hardness which can cause an unexpected increase in pressure.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?

bigcountry

I know this isn' t the way most do it. But it works for me. I like to have a baseline with a new rifle. So I shoot factory shells out of it first. Then I set the COL so I have at least on caliber of the bullet in the brass, but still fits my magizine with room for 1/100" or more. Then I play with the powder loads starting at min load working up. If that don' t work, I will change to another powder. If that don' t work, I start varying bullet depth. I usually don' t make it past changing to a second powder however.

stubblejumper

I start with two or three suitable powders and a known bullet such as the ballistic tip and try a few groups with each powder.If any of the powders shows promise I fine tune the load by playing with charge weights and then seating depths.Sometimes you get lucky with the first powder and sometimes a rifle is fussy but a little persistance usually results in finding an acceptable load.

noway

Sometimes you pick a bullet for hunting but your rifle will not shoot it well, no matter what you try.
So first is to find a bullet for hunting that your rifle likes.
I start all my loads just off the lands then work on the powder.
Next is powder and the correct amount. Most loads have a sweet spot where accuracy is best, changes of a grain can impact accuracy. I have reloaded for many mid range big game cartridges and H-4831 is a very consistent powder for accuracy. Always a good place to start, and start a few grains below published max loads and work up.
I usually stop here for hunting loads. I always use Remington Brass and Federal BR large rifle magnum primers and H-4831.
This combo has never failed me yet and I like to keep it simple.
If at this point your bullets are not showing promise go back and try another bullet.

For fine tuning a promising load then:
Tweak distance from lands.
Try other primers.
Here is where it can get really time consuming as each of these activities can affect pressures so you need to decrease powder with each change and work up.

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