Accuracy nodes

[urbanrifleman]

In working with the 243 in my new DPMS AR10 with a Bartlein 5r 1-8 I am starting to think the node one below the peak node would be better for my brass. the 243 with the Berger 108 has more than enough velocity for just about any kind of shooting , there really is no advantage to getting to the top speed node.

So as I find the top node I am going back down 1.5-2 grains and look for the lower one. Anyone else do this?

 

[hunter686]

You will have a higher node and a lower node. If you don't need the speed then why cut down barrel life by loading hot. If you shoot serious competition then the higher node would be beneficial. But if you are hunting then the animal isn't going to know the difference unless your require a certain energy at a certain range.

 

[Shynloco]

urbanrifleman,
Strictly as an aside of attempting to find your "sweet" node, consider this since you are testing a Gun Gun.....are you seating the bullet to magazine OAL or the rifle barrel's best capable seating depth when loading one round at a time using your hand to place the cartridge in the chamber?. The only reason I mention that is I've found there is a discernable accuracy difference between the two method of seating in terms of finding the rifle's utmost accuracy capability. When I load to my rifle's "sweet" node by hand, my groups area noticeably tighter, whereas when I load to magazine OAL, the groups open up more. Just thought I'd, mention that in case you want to see what your rifle's best load is.

Also, don't get too conservative or too low in your load as it could affect the cycling on your rifle. In other words, you could start experiencing jams because there are enough gases generated to make the weapon cycle correctly. I learned that through personal experience when I started testing loads for my son's new AR10 as it wouldn't cycle properly if my loads were too light. My Gunsmith also experienced similar problems when he didn't adjust his gas controller for the loads that were also too light for his custom built AR. Info only.

Alex

Alex