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Posted: 1/16/2010 12:40:08 PM EDT
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Load Development?....
Finally figured it out... From your manual, look up your bullet & powder choice. Take all the charges from min to max & average it out. Viola, your pet load. Gonna see if my theory really works |
| Me too. Wish it was that simple. I've been doing a lot of research the last week for a pet 45acp bulls eye load. A lot of listed pet loads are 2/10ths of a grain over minimum. Some are at maximum. My son is working up a pet .308 round. He's using a load that's off the scale to get out to 1000 meters. He's working it up 2/10ths at a time and using only the best components to get there. There's a lot of work in finding a task specific round. For blasting ammo averaging will work if maximum accuracy isn't your issue. |
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Nope. Each barrel will have it's own preference for a particular load. Some will be close. Same Mg. weight, twist. etc.
I've got a M14 that would keep up with my PSS provided they were fed M118 or M852. Switch to hand loads or FED Match and they drifted away. 458 |
In my limited reloading career, I have found that there will be two "sweet spots". One close to min, and one near max. This has been my experience loading .223 Rem and light bullets 55g and lighter. I didn't see this trend in .45ACP. Just one "sweet spot" with a given bullet/powder combo. This may be due to the wide spread in min/max charges in .223. .45ACP...not so much.
ETA–– Loads near max have grouped better than the ones near min for me. |
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Quoted:
Wishfull thinking. Looking to see what kind of response I would get With rifle rounds I generally find my most accurate load around 1/2 to 1 1/2 grains below max listed charge. But that's why I shoot groups when I'm working up a load, cause you never know what your rifle will like. |
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Here's Simple Minded Load Development -
First Method: Load the minimum charge weight from the manual. Second Method, First Variation: Select a range of charge weights and load one cartridge with each charge. Shoot each cartridge in turn until either the maximum charge weight is reached or pressure signs start to look scary. Decide which load to shoot. Second Method, Second Variation: Repeat the steps above and add a chronograph. Shoot until the muzzle velocity desired or maximum pressure is reached. Choose a load. Third Method: Load the highest charge weight from all sources found and hope it works out okay. This one overlaps into Stupid Methods of Load Development. "They're just plinking loads" is usually the first excuse given, and that's pretty much the weakest reason. |
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My load development procedure has been different depending on what my goals were for that load....
My 5.56 75 gr loads I chronographed, and got to the point where I was around 2700 fps at the muzzle with my 16" M4. This was to somewhat match the Hornady 5.56 TAP. Interestingly enough it was the max charge of TAC (24.5gr) that did it. It turns out that out of my guns with me behind the trigger this load is good for 2 MOA at 100 and 200 yards. Good enough for what I want it to do... My .308 loads I wanted to match the performance of the 168 gr Federal Gold Match. Out of my gun it gets around .75 MOA from a benchrest. I loaded various weights of powder to just under max in the book (41.5 gr TAC) and I shot groups until I was happy. I've never chronographed the load, because I just use it to punch paper at 200 yards for fun. I'll probably never get to shoot it farther. 
I just picked 5 gr of Bullseye powder for my 9mm and 45 ACP loads because it was easy and I could share a Lee Pro Auto disc between the two turrets. I picked 3.0 gr for .380 ACP and .38 special for that reason as well. I only load practice ammo for pistols using lead bullets... So I guess I'm saying your load development technique depends on your goals...
-dave |
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If you have time, here are some good methods for load development
http://www.shell-central.com/Powder1.html The ladder method looks really interesting. |
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