200 or 300 Yds

[Link]

I will be doing some load development [ a ladder] on several of my bench guns, the wind is to be 5mph tomorrow. My question is do I drive 15 minutes and shoot at 200 or drive 1 hour to shoot 300 yards? 3 rounds each. I have flags. 5O power scopes, 6ppc / 6br and 30 br. I will be taking my ammo in a heated cooler to try to keep it around 70*
TY Don.

 

[Larry Koch]

200 yards

 

[fisherman987]

200 for initial, 300 or longer for finer detail tuning

 

[jimmymac]

Ditch the cooler Don. You won't be using one at a match. Just keep it out of the sun and let it be ambient.

 

[CharlieNC]

200 for sure.

 

[K22]

Look at the wind drift numbers even at 5 mph of 200 vs. 300 yards and you will have your answer. Add in the effects of mirage and the adverse effects increase at 300 yards. Also, you're assuming a constant 5 mph wind which is unlikely. Also, shooter error is magnified the at longer distances.

For these reasons, I do all my load development at 100 yards to minimize the effects of environmental and shooter factors.

 

[Link]

Ditch the cooler Don. You won't be using one at a match. Just keep it out of the sun and let it be ambient.

50 degrees here. I want to tune for 70 to 80 degree days.
powders are vv133 / Varget and H4198

 

[Eagle Six]

It's a ladder test and 300 is going to provide better data to judge your effort.

 

[jimmymac]

50 degrees here. I want to tune for 70 to 80 degree days.
powders are vv133 / Varget and H4198

You have to do what you think is best. IMO it’s good to know where your tune is in varying temperatures. I shoot matches in the 30’s through the 90’s. Good luck.

 

[quest450]

I’m not a big fan of shooting a ladder test at anything less than 600 yards but I do tune my barrels at 300, actually I’m going up to the range later this afternoon when the mirage isn’t too bad and wind is supposedly lay down by 5pm, here’s a test target of two different barrels (about 50 rounds on each) I shot last week at 300 yd in heavy midday mirage
I wanna see if it repeats

 

[Longtrain]

I test at 100 yards, if I shoot knots there, it works at 2 or 300. If it shoots MOA at 100 it ain’t going to get better further out.

Proven it many times, if I can clean a 300 FClass target with the same load with 12 or more X’s and a tight waterline, the load works.

But there’s nothing wrong with stretching your legs, but remember environmental factors are amplified and well as shooter imposed quirks. But you do need to experience them at some point. If wind and mirage muddy the target at 300, you’re probably not going to determine the best load. Good practice for a match, but IMO not for load testing. Once you have confidence in a load with repeated success at 100, go to 200 or 300 on a good condition day and see how you do.

I hate shooting a match where the mirage is so heavy that the target just bounces around. Where should I break the shot? Pick a middle and see what happens. It’s tough in those situations, but part of the game.

BTW I agree with ambient ammo temperature, just keep it out of the sun. I cover mine during a match with a white towel. For me and the ammo.

 

[6.5 forever]

1000 yards for my purposes

 

[Longtrain]

Our first 300 Yd F Class match is this weekend.
Environments…49F, Cloudy, Possible Rain, 28-35 mph winds ESE. Not a good day to figure if a load in a keeper or not.

 

[Dimner]

Seems your getting more advice about your cooler than your real question. Re: temps. Looks like you got it covered. Tune for temps you are gonna compete in.

As for yardage. 300 is better. But also, the wind will put more variables on the target. For me it would depend on how fast I can digest the information you receive from tomorrow's range test and then get back out with new loads.

After tomorrow, If you have ample range time and sessions ahead of you, do the test at 200. Tune the loads slow and methodical move to competition distances when you feel ready. If you are short on time or range trips for tuning. Do them all at 300.

 

[Mark W]

In order to minimize environmental affects, I always work up loads at shorter distances and then fine tune at longer distances. I’ve never found a load that shot at long distance that didn’t shoot at shorter ranges, but I have had a few that shot at short distances and not at long range.