Load work up

[Hover Sniper]

I just got my first "target rifle", a Savage 12 BR in 6mm BR Norma (1:8 29 inch barrel). I am very excited about getting into mid-range open F-Class competitions. I am getting ready to start hand loading with new Lapua brass, Varget powder, Berger 105 Target VLD and Remingtion BR primers. I'm going to start with 29.0 gr and work up in .1 increments, and seat the bullets to .015 to the lands.

I have three questions to start with:
1) Is this a good load for barrel break-in?
2) Will my group sizes change much between the first round out to the 20th? I will be following a shoot 1 and clean process.
3) Should I just pick one load while I'm breaking in the barrel, and sighting in my scope? Or is it ok to work the loads during the process?

Thanks

 

[savageshooter86]

Why load in 0.1 increments? You will be blowing through a lot of components to get a load worked up. Maybe work in 0.3 increments. May also want to start a little lower in start charge. That way you can see accuracy node when developing load

When breaking in barrel might as well be trying to find a load and assess accuracy potential of the gun.

This is just what I would do

 

[Hover Sniper]

Thanks Savageshooter. That makes sense. What do you recommend as a start point?

 

[Lapua40X]

"I'm going to start with 29.0 gr and work up in .1 increments, and seat the bullets to .015 to the lands."

Been there; done that - and I don't recommend it.
IMO, 29.0 grains is far too high for a starting point.
Check the Hodgdon's load data and start low. A couple of rounds at each load level will tell you what you need to know.

 

[Hover Sniper]

Thanks Lapua, I'll do some more research.

 

[lrgoodger]

We just put a new Savage 6BR 8 twist in service a month ago. I had to back off a full grain on my varget/105 hybrid load for that gun from what I use in my custom 6BRs. Don't know why, but it does have some rough, rough lands. Still shoots amazingly accurate, though.

 

[CZ550]

Here's what I have been doing lately and works pretty well for me, your situation might not allow it but.

I load one round at starting charge weight and fire it in the dirt out my back door. Check for pressure, clean ect then add .2 - .5 and fire another. I keep increasing the charge until I find pressure and by then the barrel is broke in and I have pretty good idea of what's going on. Now I can load a small quantity and go test and tune. Loading 3-5 rounds of 10 different charge weights only to find that 10 of them are too hot sucks.

 

[Hover Sniper]

Here's what I have been doing lately and works pretty well for me, your situation might not allow it but.

I load one round at starting charge weight and fire it in the dirt out my back door. Check for pressure, clean ect then add .2 - .5 and fire another. I keep increasing the charge until I find pressure and by then the barrel is broke in and I have pretty good idea of what's going on. Now I can load a small quantity and go test and tune. Loading 3-5 rounds of 10 different charge weights only to find that 10 of them are too hot sucks.

That actually makes sense, but I have a feeling Sheriff Joe (Arpaio) might not think shooting out my back door would be such a good idea.

 

[mattlewis]

check out eric cortina's 100yd load development method over in the main/general forum. just one of many ways, but it's a good one.

find max charge slowly and safely as a previous poster mentioned and go from there. good luck!

 

[coford]

I have the exact same rifle. I was unhappy with the consistency of the Accu-trigger so I replaced it with a Rifle Baisics 2 and am very happy with it. I worked up to a load of 30.2 grains of Varget, 107 Sierra Match King, 450 CCI primer, and Lapua brass. Velocity runs 2810 and the load easily shoots in the .2's. My rifle shoots better at .015 to .020 off the lands. The only complaint I have with the rifle is that it is still copper fouling pretty bad and I have over 700 rounds down the tube. It is a delight to shoot but a pain to clean. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Hover Sniper]

check out eric cortina's 100yd load development method over in the main/general forum. just one of many ways, but it's a good one.

find max charge slowly and safely as a previous poster mentioned and go from there. good luck!

Thanks Matt, I'll do that.

 

[Hover Sniper]

I have the exact same rifle. I was unhappy with the consistency of the Accu-trigger so I replaced it with a Rifle Baisics 2 and am very happy with it. I worked up to a load of 30.2 grains of Varget, 107 Sierra Match King, 450 CCI primer, and Lapua brass. Velocity runs 2810 and the load easily shoots in the .2's. My rifle shoots better at .015 to .020 off the lands. The only complaint I have with the rifle is that it is still copper fouling pretty bad and I have over 700 rounds down the tube. It is a delight to shoot but a pain to clean. Your mileage may vary.

I have heard that about the Accu-trigger, but I'm going to give it a fair try to start. Hoping next week my scope will be here, so I can actually get to put this baby into action.

 

[Shynloco]

WELL........Hover,
For whatever this may be worth, I have and shoot the same rifle you have. IMHO, 26.5 grs is a good starting point for those 105's. But since you are also seeking to "break in the rifle", what I've done and still do is to first, fireform your brass to the rifle. That means while you are fireforming, you are also "BREAKING IN THE BARREL," as 40 rds is plenty to "season the barrel" and get those minut whatevers out of the barrel as I do not believe that barrel was handlapped as a Match Grade barrel would be. BTW, Butch's Bore Shine and using JB's Bore Paste (every third shooting) cleans the barrel easily and leaves no copper build up and is actually pretty easy to clean the barrel. What's great about Butch's is that it also will tell you if there is still copper in the barrel as your patches will have a blue color until the copper is gone and they then run to white when wet patching the barrel.

As for the loads, I always shoot 6 groups of 5 shots each. My observation of my Savage Model 12 Benchrest rifle is that she needs a good fouling before she'll perform. But when she does, she does an excellent job and shoots better than I'm capable. Now I shoot strictly 100 yds anymore and thus I shoot 68 gr Bart's FB being pushed by 30 grs of VVN133. For my Bart's 68's HPBT's, I use 31 grs of Varget and in both case seat the bullets .005 off the lands where I've found this rifle performs the best. I have tried jam as well as .010 off, but .005 worked best in THIS PARTICULAR RIFLE. In terms of increments of powder change, I usually start at .05 increments and when she shows improvement in groups, I go down to .02 increments and find where she'll do best.


And as was suggested and according to my Sierra Manual, for 105- 107 bullets, 29 grs is the max load, although we all know you COULD go a bit higher if necessary, But I'd drop down to the 26.5 gr area to both save on gunpowder while fireforming as well as to keep a constant observation for any signs of pressure. BTW, once you've finished the fireforming and run your casings through two cycles, you might want to take a look at your reloading manual and check out what veloscity they show in their "accuracy load." That might give you some idea of where the true best load might be found.

Good luck and have fun with that new baby. Those Savage shoot great when we do our part.
Alex