Easy way to work up a hunting load

[IOWA DON]

I think this is an easy way to come up with a good hunting load, or at least a good way. The negative point is that it requires one bring their reloading equipment to the rifle range and do their loading there, and the shooting/testing is best done with the aid of a chronograph. Most important component for a hunting load is the bullet so pick 2 or 3 bullets that you would prefer to use and decide an order of preference. Before going to the range determine the seating depth so the bullets are positioned about 0.04 inches from the rifling lands. The trend is to seat bullets much closer, which may give slightly better accuracy, but there are disadvantages. That is, any change in seating depth is more critical for accuracy and pressure, and exact seating depth will be much more important. Then find 2 or 3 powders which will give good velocities with the selected bullets.

Now go to the range and do some loading and testing. First use your favorite bullet with the powder that your loading manual indicates will give the highest velocity. Load one cartridge with a powder charge several grains less than maximum and shoot it at your target. Messure velocity with the chronograph and inspect the cartridge case for any pressure signs, and record velocity and any pressure indications. Without adjusting the scope shoot another cartridge loaded with one grain more powder if the previous cartridge showed no signs of excess pressure and the velocity was not above the velocity of the maximum load in the manual for that bullet weight and powder. And continue doing this, increasing powder charge one grain at a time. When pressure appears excessive or velocity is excessive stop, and measure the group size. Be sure shooting is done on a warm day rather than a cold day as velocity and pressure will be higher on a warm day. Also, note that this method allows the barrel to cool between shots.

If the accuracy is plenty good enough for the type of hunting the load you may already have a good load. That is, if the combination of bullet and powder is accurate with a varying powder charge, that is a bullet/powder combination which will probably give good accuracy over a wide variation in pressure (and temperature!!!). If this was a good bullet/powder combination, decide what powder charge you want to use and shoot a couple groups with it to be sure accuracy is OK while adjusting the scope for that load. If you are not satified with the performance of that bullet/powder combination, repeat the procedure using your favorite bullet with a different powder. If your favorite bullet does not give OK accuract with your favorite bullet with any powder, then try your next favorite bullet.

The last time I tried working up a hunting load I was lucky. This was for a 6mm-06 in a Thompson Center TCR-83 single shot rifle. I was hoping I could get good velocity and accuracy with the Berger 105-grain VLD bullet. Hornaday indicated that Vivavitori powder would produce the highest velocity. Accuracy was better than needed and velocity was about 3,300 fps with OK pressure. My initial testing was at 100 yards, then I got the gun sighted in and shot it at 200 yards, 330 yards and 440 yards with good results.

In the past I developed what I thought were accurate loads only to find that at a greatly different temperature the accuracy of that load was terrible. I also used one load for which the point of imact varied quite a bit with powder charge for that bullet/powder combination. After sighting that rifle at a warm temperature here in the midwest, I took it hunting to Alaska. Checking the sighting at the guides shooting range showed the rifle needed to be re-zeroed in for the lower temperature in Alaska. Anyway, this is now my standard way to work up loads. However, I am not a bench rest shooter and am satisfied with 1.0 MOA for deer hunting and .75 MOA for most varmint hunting. Also, some of my rifle are chambered for "barrel burning" cartridges and with them I especially don't want to burn out their expensive barrels trying to get just a little better accuracy when I already have a good load.

[yooper77]

To safely work up a load, please start with printed starting loads and slowing work up and avoid maximum powder charges at all costs.

All things need to be considered when working up loads, firearm type, manufacture of the brass, primer, powder & bullets.  Any changes from these can spike pressure into a unsafe level, even at low charges.  Visual pressure indicators are not an accurate means of evaluating high pressure.  Seating bullet closer to the lands than factory COL is also a dangerous practise.

I am not sure what you mean with a powder charge several grains less than maximum?  Not a safe way to start reloading.

I always achieve the best accuracy without maxing out my powder charges every time, but all have been worked up loads from starting charges for accuracy, not velocity.

Accuracy should come first over velocity, I won't fall into the faster is better velocity hype these days.

yooper77

[Graybeard]

The negative point is that it requires one bring their reloading equipment to the rifle range and do their loading there

It's about 15 yards from my reloading bench to my shooting bench.

You are operating on out dated and proven false assumptions. There are NO RELIABLE pressure indicators to look for. This old wive's tale has been beat to death but I don't think there is a current magazine writer left who has not finally admitted it's really of no value and has been proven totally unreliable. The reloading manual folks have stopped using it and gone to pressure measuring equipment as well. To continue to preach the use of these old out dated ideas is unsafe and unwise.

[stimpylu32]

Not sure I totally grasp the context of the first post , To start with a bullet .004 off the lands is just a bad thing waiting to happen , most bullet companies will tell you to start at the COL listed in their manual . I do realise that some BR shooters load at the range but for most of us that's just putting too many variables into the mix ( blowing wind , distractions , ect ) .

It would be much better to do your loading at your loading bench were your in a controlled environment . Just the idea of having more that one powder sitting in front of me would be a RED FLAG to something could go very wrong .

stimpy

[hoggunner]

I also think that by increasing loads 1 grain at a time is very dangerous. small calibers need to be tweak at much smaller intervals I tweak my 204 round by .2 grains. also changing bullets even of the same weight can change pressure cast vs. jacket. As always refer to manuals and stay within their printed boundary's. be carfull and watchout for the experts on the net.
hoggunner

[B. Miville]

Now go to the range and do some loading and testing. First use your favorite bullet with the powder that your loading manual indicates will give the highest velocity. Load one cartridge with a powder charge several grains less than maximum and shoot it at your target. Messure velocity with the chronograph and inspect the cartridge case for any pressure signs, and record velocity and any pressure indications. Without adjusting the scope shoot another cartridge loaded with one grain more powder if the previous cartridge showed no signs of excess pressure and the velocity was not above the velocity of the maximum load in the manual for that bullet weight and powder. And continue doing this, increasing powder charge one grain at a time. When pressure appears excessive or velocity is excessive stop, and measure the group size. Be sure shooting is done on a warm day rather than a cold day as velocity and pressure will be higher on a warm day. Also, note that this method allows the barrel to cool between shots.

And did anyone else notice the flaw in this paragraph too?  Reloading manuals state the barrel length (and action type) for a reason.  If you have a 16" barreled rifle when the reloading data was tested with a 24" barrel...your going to get higher velocity (and one wonders exactly what "excessive velocity" would constitute....sounds to vauge to me.)

I am by far any kind of reloading guru.  But even I would never start a load at anything but the suggested minimum, and I always work up in .5 grain increments for rifle rounds.  And I always do a MINIMUM of 10 (but prefer 20) rounds of any givin charge weight since one round can not give you a good enough picture of that charges overll charachteristics.

Brian

[Lone Star]

I feel sorry for the OP since he is getting hammered for trying to be helpful - but in the interest of safety for the lurkers on the site the issues must be pointed out.  My topic - loading at the range is highly dangerous for several reasons.  Even my digital scales are very wind-sensitive, and even a slight breeze can add or subtract a 1/2 grain to the pan.  Hardly the way to get accurate charges - and I've tried cardboard wind walls to little effect.  Yes, BR shooters used to load at the range, but apparently fewer and fewer do it now due to the distraction factor.  The availability of more cases has helped too.  But even when they do load at the range they use a powder measure, not a scale.  They usually only use a single powder and they know what their measure's reading means in grains of that powder. 

Pressure signs are simply not reliable, and while many still use them there is a very good possibility that finding that maximum load could get them to excessive pressures - well above 70,000 psi.  "Excessive velocity" would be what most handloaders would be delighted to have, if it came at reasonable pressures. 


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[IOWA DON]

Wow! Guess I shold have been a little more carefull and detaialed in the thread. I should have said to not start below minimum published starting loads and that I've found 1.0 grain increments to be OK for this method with larger deer cartridges. Smaller cartridges call for smaller increments, especialy ones like my .17 Hornet where 0.2 grains is a lot. As far as velocity versus accuracy, I would not lose 300 fps or even a lot less to get 1/2 MOA compared to a faster 1.0 MOA load for a typical deer rifle, because 1.0 MOA is way better than required for most deer hunting, even at 400 yards (just my opinion). I agree that there are no reliable pressure inditators, but would figure something is wrong if primers started failing, but also said that if maximum velocity for the cartridge is exceeded that probably so is maximum pressure. An example of this is that my 7MM STW gives maximum velocity with 3.0 grains less powder than shown in the published data I have. I am not going to experiment with 3.0 grains more powder. Of course one should consider that if published data is with a 24-inch barrel, one could reasonably expect more velocity with a longer barrel and less with a shorter barrel. On then one would have to have a little data on velocity losses or gains with the type cartridge used. I would certainly agree that a strain gage pressure indicator would ba a good thing to have. I said 0.04-inch not 0.004-inch for jump to rifling and that was for the reason stated. I think Jack O'Conner recommended 1/16th-inch for jump to the rifling for better accuracy when factory loads were generally 1/8th-inch. He said that a shorter jump could tend to be unreliably consistant because bullets varied in length from the tip of the point to the loction where they would begin engraving on the rifling. I use 0.04 since modern bullets seem to be more consistant than the ones back in the 1960's, especially the plastic tipped ones. Of course magazine legth sometimes governs cartridge overall length. I certainly agree that wind can be a problem when weighing out powder charges and a windy day is not a good time to do this, nor do I think a windy day is a good time for accuracy testing. I put the scale in an open fronted cardboard box and one still needs a calm day. I only have one can of open powder at a time whether at home or at the range so there is no confusion which can to pour the powder back in. I used to load up lots of variations of bullets and powders and powder charges and drive to the range 40 miles away. I found some loads were very slow, some too fast, some not accurate, and that I had to go home and pull bullets and usually make another trip or two to the range before getting good results. And then I got surprised a couple times when the load I developed in warm weather gave poor accuracy in the cold. My thread needed more details, but it seemed to be getting longer than expected without more  detail. Anyway, I was just suggesting that load development at the range has saved me a lot of time. I like shooting when hunting or plinking, but testing loads, sighting in guns, and reloading are not all that exciting for me.