(05-30-2023, 02:06 AM)grayfox Wrote: There are reasons why I was saying use a 0.3 gr spread between loads, but it's your loading game so your choice. For anyone except a precision shooter, loading at << 1% capacity (ie, 0.1 in this case) will yield more noise than results, as the load spread is too tight to be of statistical relevance - ie, with an SD of 10, your 0.1 gr is within 1 SD of the previous load so what did you learn from it? In a perfect world the load vs MV for a well-behaved rifle system should show a straight-line, linear increase in MV as load increases, thus it is unnecessary to use 0.1 increments, and also unnecessary to "duplicate" hornady load spreads. The 1% delta (0.3 in this case) allows for enough MV difference to be more than just standard deviations, ie, "noise", and allow you to see what is actually happening with your powder/bullet load combo's performance. So unless there is some compression or some other non-powder issue, your real-world results can be put into a graph and the linear "best fit" is probably the load curve for your powder/bullet/rifle combo.
Going at 0.1 will spend lots of bullets for little useful info.
Your 24" barrel probably has a node somewhere close to 3000 but it might be 2960, maybe 3045, bet you a dunkin donut it's not exactly 3000. Possible but you have to let the barrel tell you where its node is, you can't specify/force fit it by yourself. Such is the nature of reloading: to find the natural loads that a barrel likes, with small groups and small SD, not the load you tell it to do.
Well said! I'll add that if Hornady is listing 3050 as a max velocity with a particular bullet & powder charge; Pay respect to the max velocity, despite powder charge may be short of listed max. If you are working with that exact bullet, when you reach max velocity listed, It is most likely prudent to accept enough is enough.
If you have additional loads at higher charge weight, Pulling the bullet may be your best option for the loads with the ,higher weight charges.
Number of good bullet pulling options to choose from. Give Hornady cam over collet system a look. Choose your vendor, though here is an example.
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i...let-puller
You will require a caliber specific collet as well if you choose this route.
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i...r-and-6mm)
Inertia pullers are a less expensive option & more universal with no need for the collets. Still I prefer the collet system.