If I recall correctly Bart tunes at one hundred as well so your in great company Bro’
I’m always in the minority…
Test at 100 or 300
- Thread starter Okumacaptain
- Start date
I’m always in the minority…
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
This topic will never be settled. The fact is there are successful shooters in both camps. Short range vs long range tuning. Myself, I will always tune as far out as I can. But I have been doing it that way for 15 years, and have shot a lot and learned how to do it. 100 may be a better place to start. Tuning at longer ranges will give you some data you cant get at short range, but its a little trickier to do.
Ccrider
Gold $$ Contributor
You really have to figure out why it did not work at 200. Was it the load/tune or something else? How were the groups at 200 different than those at 100?
The guys that tune at 100 have a system that they use. It would pay you to go back and read some of the old threads. The load they select is not a random good load. Instead they are tracking how the load develops and becomes stable and then unstable. Of course, that’s my read on it.
Bronsin
Silver $$ Contributor
I bought a 6PPC this year and developed loads at 100. 3 shot groups identified a powder node, and 2 shot groups revealed the seating depth node. It will shoot better than anything else I own by a mile, and it's not bad according to the group sizes I hear others talk about. It will put 5 shots in the .1's, but there's always an outlier that makes it bigger. The problem with it is that the stock won't track straight. The buttstock is wider at the rear, and as soon as it sees recoil it has a mind of it's own if I try to shoot it free recoil. So I have to put my thumb on the back of the trigger, or just touch it with my shoulder. If I hold it, it can shoot decent. It won't shoot like that at 200 because any difference in pressure changes it, and it sprays.
Now if I only shot at 100 yards, I might just be happy with it, but since my range and the matches I go to are out to 200, I'm not, and just extrapolating group size at increasing range doesn't cut it. The load was tuned at 100, and it will shoot. Trying it at 200 shows the problems with gun handling and tracking under recoil that barely moves the needle at 100.
Now if I only shot at 100 yards, I might just be happy with it, but since my range and the matches I go to are out to 200, I'm not, and just extrapolating group size at increasing range doesn't cut it. The load was tuned at 100, and it will shoot. Trying it at 200 shows the problems with gun handling and tracking under recoil that barely moves the needle at 100.
Ok ! Went to test and wind wasn’t bad so I said screw it and I tested at 300 with wind flag . Here’s the groups starting at 30.3 and ending at 31.6 of Reloder 15 with 90 Berger BT .01 in the lands . Opinions and schooling wanted but please be easy on me ! Lol . I am not using a $2K Seb , I’m using a bipod . 
For some reason 30.9 had the best ES , but only 2 shots . FPS was within 1 . All others were 10-15 different .
CharlieNC
Gold $$ Contributor
Forget the Chrono, believe the target grasshopper!
Gotcha !
This little wind cheat sheet was given to me by Rick Graham, (SR WR holder) it helps me understand basic single point wind direction V and impact O
Attachments
Longtrain
Gold $$ Contributor
There’s a lot to be said about what distance testing should done.
I test initially at 100 yds on a calm day (if it doesn’t shoot at 100, it won’t further out), I’m looking for bug hole groups. If it’s calm, I do the same at 200. I need to know that the gun and load shoots, sans wind, as much as I can. I want a NO wind zero.
So, now I have a load that shoots, queue the wind, shooting out to at least 200 yards, 300 is better. Setup a spotting scope, focus on the target then back off a bit until you can see the mirage, watch which way it moves. Check the wind speed, either through environmentals or with a meter. Make a correlation between the mirage, enviromentals and the actual wind speed. With your known accurate load, hold and shoot dead center. Where did you hit? Three o’clock in the nine ring? Don’t reach for the dial, hold off half the distance on the other side of the bull. Same conditions, same mirage, shoot, where did it go…10 ring right side. Hold further left in the same condition, shoot, bingo center X.
Now you’ve got that one condition figured out, apply what you know to different directions and velocities. Every time you shoot you add info to your wind database in your head.
It takes a while, but when you’re in a match and you can hit Center X holding off near the eight ring or more, confidently, you have arrived.
I test initially at 100 yds on a calm day (if it doesn’t shoot at 100, it won’t further out), I’m looking for bug hole groups. If it’s calm, I do the same at 200. I need to know that the gun and load shoots, sans wind, as much as I can. I want a NO wind zero.
So, now I have a load that shoots, queue the wind, shooting out to at least 200 yards, 300 is better. Setup a spotting scope, focus on the target then back off a bit until you can see the mirage, watch which way it moves. Check the wind speed, either through environmentals or with a meter. Make a correlation between the mirage, enviromentals and the actual wind speed. With your known accurate load, hold and shoot dead center. Where did you hit? Three o’clock in the nine ring? Don’t reach for the dial, hold off half the distance on the other side of the bull. Same conditions, same mirage, shoot, where did it go…10 ring right side. Hold further left in the same condition, shoot, bingo center X.
Now you’ve got that one condition figured out, apply what you know to different directions and velocities. Every time you shoot you add info to your wind database in your head.
It takes a while, but when you’re in a match and you can hit Center X holding off near the eight ring or more, confidently, you have arrived.
100 yards.
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
I'll add to this that if you're shooting in a wind condition that is beyond your ability to read accurately, even with wind flags, the results will likely be unsatisfactory (i.e. uninterpretable). Always use wind flags, and be prepared to pack up and go home if the conditions are sufficiently strong to interfere with clear interpretation of the results. I've ignored this notion on several occasions this year, which has been particularly windy where I live, and the result has been wasted rounds, meaningless targets, and having to repeat load development tests. It's hard to do when you've spent lots of time and effort loading rounds and traveling to the range, but sometimes knowing when the conditions aren't amenable to load development and going home is the best approach.
No doubt, every day is not good for load development. Some days you just need to turn around, go home, and weigh primers,lol.
After being able to shoot into a 100 yd. hole in the woods where wind don't seem to bother I have learned sometimes it's not just the wind that contributes to the non-favorable conditions. Other atmospheric conditions can hamper load development.
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