05-03-2024, 10:49 AM
(05-01-2024, 11:57 AM)alwie Wrote: Im fairly new to reloading and would like to understand the different approaches reloaders used to develop their loads. Please share your load development process?I suppose I'm the dinosaur in the group. I start by looking for a powder that will provide 100% case fill, (or as close as I can get), without going over max pressure for the projectile I want to use. Then I look at the bullet to lands using a comparator and try for .010 off the lands, or as close as I can get with the rifle/magazine involved. I'll shoot a pressure ladder starting at the bottom and going up .5 grains until a grain below max, (knowing I can stop if velocities show I'm nearing max). This provides baseline data to compare to load manual values and what QuickLoads says. If velocities are close to what I expect, I'll finish the pressure ladder up to the max load, or until the velocity that the max load should produce. Then I look at the SDs and the groups to see if anything stands out as better. If I find a node, I'll repeat that load, drop down 1 grain and do a ladder up past that node in .1 grain increments. I pick the best results from that and then do a COAL ladder working down .005 in OAL at a time. This method has worked for me for many years, in a dozen rifles ranging for .223 to 28 Nosler. It does use components and I'm interested in the OBT method as a way to save components, and barrel life, finding a load. Particularly in the 6ARC as this barrel and both the 105 Scenars and the 109 Bergers are not giving me a decisive node with the pressure ladder method so far. I have 65 rounds down the tube and so far most of it shoots consistently well. If I overlay the targets, all of the impacts for for all of the loads with both bullets used over Varget stay within 2" at 200 yards, with the last 6 groups shot all being 1-1/2 with four shots under 3/4" and one flyer. Thats both the Lapua 105at 2.240 COAL, (everything shot since I started using the Wilson seating die), and all of the Berger 109 seated at 2.3. Right now my concern is why that consistent 1 flyer out of every group of 5 shots?