Loads for more distance

[BULLET 05]

I have read on here a few times about working loads up for long range like beyond 200 yards. So what are you trying to do? I have done very little shooting beyond 300. Mainly shooting ground hogs occasionally past 300 yards. I come up with a load with a particular bullet at 100 yards. For instance I have a 6BR and .20 Tactical that I have found great loads at 100 yards. They will shoot a 5 shot group and make a 1/2" hole or less the majority of the time. Why would I need to change? One would think I would just dial up my Ballistics to the desired distance after finding a great load at 100 yards

 

[old_heli_logger]

That's good shooting. When you start getting out there a ways extreme velocity spreads (ES) come into play...the lower, the better. Velocity differences start showing up as vertical
Good luck

 

[SBS]

Unfortunately bullets don't always group the same MOA at extended distances as they exhibit @100 yds. If you normally develop loads @100, it will help to use a chronograph to see if the loads are producing consistent velocities. Your chances are better that a good group @100 will also shoot well at longer ranges if your velocity spread is small.

 

[hoz53]

I have read on here a few times about working loads up for long range like beyond 200 yards. So what are you trying to do? I have done very little shooting beyond 300. Mainly shooting ground hogs occasionally past 300 yards. I come up with a load with a particular bullet at 100 yards. For instance I have a 6BR and .20 Tactical that I have found great loads at 100 yards. They will shoot a 5 shot group and make a 1/2" hole or less the majority of the time. Why would I need to change? One would think I would just dial up my Ballistics to the desired distance after finding a great load at 100 yardsthat

well i dont know what your question is? you ask “what are you trying to do”. there are many answers to that. i can tell you with my 6br sighted at 100 it will still be on a 8x12 sheet of paper at 200 and 300 with the 100 scope setting. do that and then you can just measure the drops to know where to adjust the scope to. but yes using a ballistics solver will getyou very close elevations at those distances.

 

[ELR LVR]

I have read on here a few times about working loads up for long range like beyond 200 yards. So what are you trying to do? I have done very little shooting beyond 300. Mainly shooting ground hogs occasionally past 300 yards. I come up with a load with a particular bullet at 100 yards. For instance I have a 6BR and .20 Tactical that I have found great loads at 100 yards. They will shoot a 5 shot group and make a 1/2" hole or less the majority of the time. Why would I need to change? One would think I would just dial up my Ballistics to the desired distance after finding a great load at 100 yards

When developing a load for long range
You want it to act consistent and predictably more than anything
because you will be preloading, you will not be loading for current conditions
plus you do not know what the temp or weather will be like on any given day you shoot
1/2 MOA throughout all distances is a realistic expectation
so if you are shooting 1/2 MOA at 100 you should theoretically be also shooting
3 inches at 600 yds.
The theoretical accuracy does not always follow this rule of a simple extrapolation.
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So you must test your load at 600 yds to ensure it will hold 1/2 MOA
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The small differences that are not easily noticed at 100 yds will show up much easier on target at 600
If your 100 yd group enlarges by .100" you may also attribute that to simple user error, or bipod shift etc. and yet not realizing it may be more of a tune issue, but will dismiss fine tuning in favor of thinking
"that must have been me"
Yet at 600, a trend should show up, whether your group is enlarging vertical or horizontal
Horizontal is usually due to the bipod being canted or the butt moving more than it should (tracking)
Which mean you must refine your technique
Vertical is usually due to inconsistent velocity in the powder or primer,
You want all your shots to hit the same waterline at distance.
Vertical or horizontal may also be due to improper seating depth
If everything is going right, your technique is solid, follow through is spot on,
velocity has Low SD, trigger squeeze is perfect...
...but you have some component of spreading or stringing, you may need to adjust seating depth due to the way the barrels harmonic are affecting
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I recently was working on a load that was holding well at 600, but I went to retest and it had horizontal spread suddenly
Which in my case meant I had to retune or change bullets
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I tried both things and ended up going to a different bullet because accuracy was instantly better at 600 with the new bullet, and it was staying consistent, with a nice round group pattern hovering around 1/3 MOA, I seem to like clustered round group patterns than a vertical or horizontal pattern
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You want to predictably be able to calculate your elevation adjustments needed.
To have them be the same every time for a given distance
so if the load produced a different result every time you go out, and you cannot get an accurate dial on elevation every time, it may be close but not good enough, requiring stepping your shot in with further follow up shots until you finally make contact
Thats not what you want to have to do every time you go shoot long range.
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So when you find a 1/2 MOA at 600 load, retest periodically in different Temps, Humidity etc
this may require trying 5 different powders to get this result.
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It is a thing of beauty when your ballistic table says
Come up 7 MOA for 600, and you do that, and make a hit right off the bat.