Does it makes any difference whatsoever?

[searcher]

Yep, thats a big reason I don't like ARs for prairie dogs.

I do the same in my bolt guns, just out of habit. In the A/R's, the round is never in the chamber long enough to cause issues if the shooting is good. Conversely, if the shooting is slow - the chamber never gets hot enough to cause those issues either. At least one can launch another pill within a few seconds to remedy.

 

[KMW 1954]

Round robin makes no sense at all to me. IMHO to shoot the best groups you should be trying to not even lift your head off the gun between the 3 shots.

Waiting for rifles to cool is part of shooting. Bring a second gun or a lawn chair and some music while you wait.

Here I thought the idea was to develop loads, not shoot groups. I want to know that a load is repeatable. To shoot groups I can do that with any load. Just a matter of staying on the target as you suggest.

 

[jelenko]

Here I thought the idea was to develop loads, not shoot groups. I want to know that a load is repeatable. To shoot groups I can do that with any load. Just a matter of staying on the target as you suggest.

How do you know what your load is doing if you don't shoot make mistakes in shooting the groups?

 

[KMW 1954]

How do you know what your load is doing if you don't shoot make mistakes in shooting the groups?

If you are developing loads and don't by now know a mistake when you shoot one then you should start over.

If you don't want or feel the need to shoot in round robin fashion then don't. Just as if another want to what difference does it make to you?

 

[rlporter507]

Yep, thats a big reason I don't like ARs for prairie dogs.

this is my solution to that very problem. I load up 30rds, and while Im waiting i just flip the loaded round out, and lock the bolt. this gadget works really neat. every mag, i just dump it out and pick out any loaded rounds.

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[boltfluter]

Just shoot the sets of 3 starting from lowest to highest. Thats your easiest and quickest way to do it. Leave about a minute between shots so the barrel wont get hot.

Never did understand why people do the whole round robin thing anyway. It makes no difference on target, but you're having to readjust the rests every time. No thanks.

Round robin is a great way to ruin all the groups! No way would I even remotely consider this option.
Paul

 

[kyotekiller25]

Round robin is a great way to ruin all the groups! No way would I even remotely consider this option.
Paul

Me either. It makes absolutely zero sense to me.
The environmental conditions don't change that much in the hour it takes to shoot 10 loads...

Most guys should know when they break a bad shot anyway, if not, then they have other problems to address with proper bench, breathing, trigger, and follow through technique...

 

[BondJamesBond]

Almost ready for my first proper load developpement. Loaded 24.5 to 27.5 in .2gr increments, three cartridges each.

Is there any difference/advantage to shooting all three 24.5, then all three 24.7, etc. or fire each string (24.5-24.7-24.9-etc.) in order?

OP...yes it absolutely makes a difference. What discipline do you shoot? Coyotes, prairie dogs, short or mid range competition? Comments above are hinting at learning and shooting in a condition which is 180 degrees from round robin. Hoping conditions average out...THEY DON'T
In early load development I rip out a 3 shot group as quick as conditions allow, when fine tunning I do the same but with 5 shots...take a few minutes to re-seat bullets or whatever to let the barrel cool a little then get back to it AS conditions allow. In Heavy Gun we run 10 shots in as little as 40-50 seconds
Watch trees, grass... flags or what not but if its blowin yer stuff all over don't test that day. You will have better data and save components in the long run.
All of this is to get benchrest size groups like <1/4" moa out to 600 yds.
Hope this helps
Larry W

 

[Kevin1990]

I've done it both ways, and I saw little difference. The thing I didn't like about round robin is when I'd have 2 in the same hole, and instead of finishing off that group, I'd move on to the next one and not be focused, because I wanted to finish off that one good group and see what happened.

I like a lot of the thinking on here. The round robin especially with that amount of shooting, will not be fun having to readjust between targets.

One last thing. When I did load development for my AR and bolt .223 I did a pressure test.

Started out at like 23gr and worked my way up. I started getting pressure signs at about 24.4 and stopped the test at 25gr. Every rifle is different, but I'd do that first. If you hit pressure signs at, let's say 25.4 you now have 24 rounds that I wouldn't shoot.

Good luck, don't over think it, stay cool along with your barrel and you'll be good.

 

[Webster]

Almost ready for my first proper load developpement. Loaded 24.5 to 27.5 in .2gr increments, three cartridges each.

Is there any difference/advantage to shooting all three 24.5, then all three 24.7, etc. or fire each string (24.5-24.7-24.9-etc.) in order?

I don't know if there is a correct way. I shoot 5 shot groups alike one after another. Your results depend not only on the load but your bench setup, bench manners and the quality of your rifle. If you are not capable of shooting consistant small groups your wasting your time.

 

[MikeRu]

You are talking about 60 total rounds, there is no way I would try and shoot all those at the same time while conditions are changing.
You could break that down to one or two rounds of each increment or shoot a low node then high node with three each.
Depending on the distance your testing at can make a difference in format. For example at 100 yard one might want to use a horizontal format of multiple aiming points to avoid a cluster of shots that are difficult to interpret. Another example of testing is to use a greater distance to create separation of shots while using one point of aim in a round robin or increments of charge, I have used one, two and three shots per increment and been successful at each style whether group or round robin sharing wind conditions.
Best of luck to you.
Jim

Agree that’s maybe too many rounds. I only shoot 3 if I have high hopes that it’ll group based on a previous trip. Lately I’ve had good results shooting 1 shot per load in 0.1 gn increments, so here that would be only 25 or so rounds. You’d be looking for nodes with consistent POI across several adjacent loads and ideally a flat MV. Reasonable to look for a good seating depth before ever trying the ladder, but I’ve been guessing and getting lucky on seating depth to save a trip.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[gunslinger II]

I was taught to test in a round robin fashion to eliminate fowling and temps from scueing the test. shoot 3 to 5 fowlers to pre-fowl the bbl before the load test so there the fisrts rounds will not be from a clean bore{slower} which will throw off the results. Jf this is just a powder charge test dont bother waisting the targets.

 

[CJ6]

When I start a new load I usually load 8 rounds at the starting load Foulers + group. When I approach max book I normally shoot 1 shot to check pressures (though I may load 5 of that particular charge) and go up from there 1 shot at a time checking pressures. If pressures are OK I'll load 5 for group.

 

[Webster]

Almost ready for my first proper load developpement. Loaded 24.5 to 27.5 in .2gr increments, three cartridges each.

Is there any difference/advantage to shooting all three 24.5, then all three 24.7, etc. or fire each string (24.5-24.7-24.9-etc.) in order?

I shoot all the same charge. Shooting skills are a big factor in group size. I have never measured group size as the biggest spread. For some reason I have always measured and recorded vertical and horizontal size for each group. After collecting years of data it was obvious that my groups were usualy 0.100" wider than vertical. I have to assume that's the wind affect at 100 yards. I never held off a little to account for the wind. That's way beyond my skills.