I could use help with a plan!

[joshb]

Would you mind linking JoshB. Iam not finding him. Thanks!
Just as a disclaimer iam all about learning and I don’t have any expectations. I will say that Chevy is better than ford but everyone allready knows that. Lol

Oh, c’mon! Don’t start a Ford/Chevy fight! Besides…Toyota RULES!!
Look back in the thread a few posts. You’ll see my post.

Quote: “Just researching case prep center now lol!“
Bah! You don’t need no stinkin case prep machine. I do all mine by hand.
Honestly and seriously, get what makes you happy. I like fondling my brass.

 

[D Coots]

Didn't read whole thread.

Time out.

Until you find a mentor near you.

Later

Dave

 

[ajfpa]

Saying that you are learning handloading, do you understand the concept of measuring OAL properly.
You state that you are trying to hold .020 off. With out knowing how to measure to the lands of your own rifle properly, you will not know where .020 is. There are so many variables involved in developing an accurate load for your rifle. I wouldn't want to see you get frustrated and give, up when you are not getting the results you are aiming for. Patience is something you need when reloading. Rushing and trying to find a quick way, can result in bad things happening.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

Absolutely make sure you are adjusting the parallax correctly. That can be cause for a lot of problems

Don't know of this guy but here's a decent quick video on adjusting the parallax.

 

[Charles McDonald]

Sorry man I thought the “joshB practice round” was like some exercise on the internet lol! Sorry man. Yahaha!

I have big bags I just thought cool kids used bipods. I actually think my biggest shooting challenge is anticipating the trigger break. I can have a dead quiet sight picture and be totally relaxed . I breath out and envision a hydraulic ram pushing straight back . It never fails though that my mind is saying,” break allready, come on break .” Then I need another breath and it’s not zen it’s stupid lol!

 

[Charles McDonald]

Yeah the parallax is a challenge for me. Thanks for that!

I have a base ogive tool thingy for my calipers. I did the Erik cortina jam a dummy cartridge (lol) and I also bought a hornaday tool . So i did try to figure it out. I won’t lie my calipers still can vary but iam getting a bit better.

I was following Erik’s video about “shoulder bump” and his video on off the lands. .020 was supposed to be my start for powder charge and then I was supposed to experiment with that measurement.

Oh bother lol! ….

 

[Charles McDonald]

Time out?! What?
No way!
Damn the torpedos full speed ahead!

If you guys know anyone in the gallatin valley willing I’d obviously be very appreciative.

 

[ELR LVR]

26.0 grns of W-748 with 50-55 grain quality bullets like Sierra
has always been a great combo in every 223
-
Use Rem 7-1/2 primers
-
Your 16 inch barrel is hurting ya

 

[gdbleb]

I'll second the recommendation to lose the bipod for load development. Bipod "bounce" will frustrate you at this stage. Try sandbags, a sack of kitty litter, or just a half full backpack. You can master bipod bounce later with lots of practice.

 

[joshb]

Time out?! What?
No way!
Damn the torpedos full speed ahead!

If you guys know anyone in the gallatin valley willing I’d obviously be very appreciative.

It can be mysterious and overwhelming. You’ll read guys saying “this such and such bullet likes to jump” while another guy likes them jammed. Eric Cortina knows of what he speaks. He’s one of the few.
There are a lot of basic practices to learn. Then you have to remember that your gun is unique. Bringing it all together is a challenge. It’s what I find to be fun.
Your friend will probably help you a lot with shooting technique. Finding a reloading mentor may be harder.

 

[ELR LVR]

Slow down. Rome wasn't built in 1 day. Practice practice practice. It will come around.

That's like readin instructions

 

[Charles McDonald]

I did not want the 16 inch barrel. It was an ordering snafu. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to return the rifle as it was a sale item and some other yada yada. I actually wanted and ordered a stainless steel 24 inch barrel lol!

After the smoke cleared I decided I’d just “run what you brung” untill i “need” another barrel or rifle or both.

When you start shooting and liking guns it’s really bad because then you start to want all of them.

I actually wanted a 22 creedmore or a 6mm creedmore after my friend killed a really good buck with a 220 swift at 330 yards.

Everyone said learn with something cheap then move up later. I paid 530 dollars for the tikka lol! And 900 for the scope lol! I got the stock and bipod on Black Friday for 179 bucks. So iam cheap af!

I COULD buy a prefit for around 500?
I’ll just keep having fun. It’s a bit annoying to not actually get how to develop a load and it’s kinda expensive but like o said it’s way better than tv!

I really want to learn USPSA style pistol !
I kinda got all fun stupid and after a lifetime of not owning guns I’ve been buying ALOT of them …luckily my wife doesn’t care and I was lucky in life and able to save allmost 5k dollars in my lifetime lol’

I actually just got another rifle and now need to find a para-military forum to join so I know which flashlight to put on my m-lok rail …Yahaha!

 

[ELR LVR]

Y

I did not want the 16 inch barrel. It was an ordering snafu. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to return the rifle as it was a sale item and some other yada yada. I actually wanted and ordered a stainless steel 24 inch barrel lol!

After the smoke cleared I decided I’d just “run what you brung” untill i “need” another barrel or rifle or both.

When you start shooting and liking guns it’s really bad because then you start to want all of them.

I actually wanted a 22 creedmore or a 6mm creedmore after my friend killed a really good buck with a 220 swift at 330 yards.

Everyone said learn with something cheap then move up later. I paid 530 dollars for the tikka lol! And 900 for the scope lol! I got the stock and bipod on Black Friday for 179 bucks. So iam cheap af!

I COULD buy a prefit for around 500?
I’ll just keep having fun. It’s a bit annoying to not actually get how to develop a load and it’s kinda expensive but like o said it’s way better than tv!

I really want to learn USPSA style pistol !
I kinda got all fun stupid and after a lifetime of not owning guns I’ve been buying ALOT of them …luckily my wife doesn’t care and I was lucky in life and able to save allmost 5k dollars in my lifetime lol’

I actually just got another rifle and now need to find a para-military forum to join so I know which flashlight to put on my m-lok rail …Yahaha!

you could have your current barrel rechamberd for a 22 Creed
I've taken several of my current barrels and rechambered them into something else just for fun
cuz I get bored with one certain cartridge after awhile
If there is still barrel life, why not use it
I love my 220 Sw Ackley
---
edit: noticed you have an 8 Twist, I highly suggest trying 69 gr SMK or TMK's

 

[Webster]

As fast as I can
Newer shooter/hunter
Built a “training rifle” to have less recoil , to try and learn to shoot properly, accurately and out to 600 accurately and learn to use a scope properly

Goals are to be able to build a more capable rifle for hunting and hopefully nrl hunter events (MAYBE) and be an accurate shooter at longer distances

Rifle-Tikka t3x .223 1:8 twist 16 inch bbl in a mdt field stock with a luepold vx5 hd 4x18x44 and a dead air suppressor (this is my very first kinda built gun) only thing I changed in the action was the trigger spring and it may actually be to light.

Learning handloading
Since it’s a .223 there’s a ton of recipes online but most are AR platform

Long story short I am trying to do my very first load development and iam a bit lost

My rifle has shot really poorly with a lot of store bought ammo. I mean bad . But iam bad so it’s challenging to even know shinola.

I’ve fired around 300 rounds now . Finally federal gold premium medal w/ sierra mk shot good enough for 1 inch moa . I know iam bad. I know. The white target was a random 5 rounds of federal I found today. That’s the best 5 shot group I’ve done ever

Need a rip off hand load recipe for it please!

Here is my hand load test I did today. I went .2 over max and down 10cartridges and made 5 rounds per increment.

Some things that could cause problems-
I had trouble making my oal uniform
I tried for .020 off but was not allways on.
Trusted my powder measure (forgot to check with beam scale)
Do not know what iam doing
Got tired shooting and had like a bad back nine golfing . The second half of both targets I was making mistakes I could feel and see.

So if you have any advice i could use it. Iam just pulling it out of my arse with help from reading and internet and you know it can’t be on the internet if it isn’t true!
Anyway here ya go

Check out the loading data. Lot of info. The chart are way at the bottom.

You are being redirected...

 

[Charles McDonald]

Is there any remedy to static cling and gun powder? My ocd is off the richter lol.

 

[JSH]

If there was a magic load, no one would be here.
Every rig is different. I don’t care if they were built the same day by same machine and operator and consecutive serial numbers on every thing.
Rifles are like women no two alike. Knew to twin sisters, one nice as pie the other meaner than rattlesnake spit.

I have had surprisingly good luck with Sierras load recommendations in years past. Tweak seating depths seemed to have tightened things up. This is is in dealing with at least a dozen cartridges.

 

[K22]

In my opinion you are putting the "cart before the horse".

The first thing you need to learn is the fundamentals of precision rifle shooting. The best way is using a mentor. If that is not possible, get a copy of the Army Marksmanship Manual or something similar. Practice is a waste resources and time unless you are using the proper fundamentals.

I would not start with a bipod. Too many variables. Start off the bench with a quality front and rear rest learning the fundamentals of breath control, cheek weld, trigger control, follow through, etc. Once you can consistently shoot sub 1 moa groups then move to your desire style of shooting. Do not try to shoot to many rounds in one range session. Do not shoot sustained fire sequences resulting in overheating the barrel. Learn to call your shots and diagnose what when right / wrong.

On reloading, it doesn't have to be complicated. The 223 is one of the easiest calibers to reload for. Keep is simple. You may want to try the 60 Vmax with Varget or H4895 / IMR 4895 or H335. I have had excellent results with 8" twist Tikka's. This bullet in relatively inexpensive and usually readily available which will afford economical practice. Here again, a mentor would be the best way to go. If that isn't possible, get a copy of the Lyman Reloading Handbook and thoroughly digest it. Then use this Forum to ask questions.

Cleaning is also an element is precision shooting. I will leave that for another time, or you can PM me and I'll share my simplified method which has worked for me for 50+ years. I just don't want to start a peeing contest on here because this topic is so controversial.

There are no short cuts to becoming an expert shooter. Master one element at a time.

 

[Charles McDonald]

i could use help with my load planning if anyone wants to share their perspective on load development. Right now iam testing powder charges.

I appreciate all the “wisdom” shared here and I hear you. I will continue to try and follow it.

Iam actively perusing all of everyone’s advice and I will try and find a mentor and o will attend some Appleseed clinics. I have several of the recommended books and iam trying to follow the instructions in said books lol.

I have been shooting mostly prone. Don’t know why you guys are bipod haters but in hunting they seem more respected lol!

Going shooting cause it’s 60 degrees in Montana in February so better get ready to fight for water soon. .

 

[joshb]

On the bipod thing:
I have and use bipods AFTER I find my guns good load off a stable rest. Bipods can slide, hop and exhibit other bad behavior.
Before I bought my first front rest, I used sandbags. They’re cheap and very stable. They’re not easy to adjust. I used a small sand bag for the butt and moved it under my gun butt to get the right elevations.

 

[Charles McDonald]

Yeah I get it . I shot your loads today and did terrible lol. I finally just got frustrated with stupid accuracy and went to the long range section for the first time.

The steel targets looked like barns compared to inch dots lol. Had a lot of fun out to 500. I hit 3,4 and 500 but it took me a few try’s.

Good news! I could easily see the splash/miss! So that was good!

I actually loaded two new try’s but I will be honest. When I got there I realized that o had completely ruined the case shoulders by adjusting my seater wrong. So I ruined some brass and got to experience the joy of bullett pulling.

Bad news is , I shot really well with my 22 and my .270. So Iam kinda afraid that I may have accidentally damaged my .223 or got a lemon. I think I’ll clean it and take it to a gunsmith for a bore scope double check.

I only did a few groups with it because my chrono $hit the bed and the iPad ran out of battery and i suck at shooting lol. Anyway here’s your load .

The chrono was really good it seems like it’s really consistent in the 2660 range? I’d tell you but the iPads dead lol!

Anyway it was really realy cool to hit the long targets and actually see it. Cool man! lol. Can’t hit an inch dot at ten yard with a pistol though so o will die in the zombie apocalypse lol!