Loading for a match

[savageshooter86]

How long prior to a match do you load your ammo? Would pre loading a month or so in advance be bad? I usually load day before but wondering if there is any downside to loading few months before?

This is Fclass match loads

 

[watercam]

When in doubt you can load well in advance but seat your bullets a tad long. Just before the match seat what you need to their ideal length and you are good to go with no sticky bullet release.

 

[Pappy42]

I'm a slow learner; but I'm seeing the results on paper of what Watercam is saying.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I don't ever seem to have time to get that far ahead on my loading. I try to have prepped brass waiting to go, and load the week before a match.

I also believe in loading early and adjusting the seating depth immediately before use. This serves two purposes:

You can adjust the seating depth to chase the lands as needed and prevents sticky release. I don't know if the cold-fusion thing is real, but being able to make small seating depth adjustments is valuable all by itself.

 

[Down South]

I've shot ammo loaded two months in advance in matches and saw no difference in that ammo compared to loaded within the week of the match. One string was the older ammo and the other two were freshly loaded and they both shot the same as far as i could tell. With that being said, i use graphite in the necks of my cases before seating a bullet.

 

[DennisH]

When in doubt you can load well in advance but seat your bullets a tad long. Just before the match seat what you need to their ideal length and you are good to go with no sticky bullet release.

DITTO, I do the exact same as above.

 

[savageshooter86]

I tried this today for rounds I had loaded 2 weeks ago. I could definitely feel some "stickyness" when seating them deeper to my desired COAL

Thanks for the tip

 

[artbosco]

How long prior to a match do you load your ammo? Would pre loading a month or so in advance be bad? I usually load day before but wondering if there is any downside to loading few months before? This is Fclass match loads

Although written in the context of Short-Range BR competition vice F-Class competition, see if this NBRSA Hall of Famer answers your question. [Hint ... look at the last sentence]

Should You Bench Load ???

The majority of top 6PPC competitors load ammo on match day, playing with load weights to suit the charge to temperature and humidity. While this allows you to get peak velocity on a cool day, and avoid over-charges in very hot conditions, "bench loading is a huge distraction", and isn't essential.

Hall of Famer Jim Borden: "I have my ammunition already loaded for [major matches]. It's working, both rifles are Agging in the 'low Ones', with a load of about 29.0gr N133, running about 3300 fps."

"Loading to conditions on match day can kill you. All you can do is go by memory and guess-timates. If your rifle has good vibration control, you'll typically have an accuracy window of 100-125 fps."

"I set preloads for velocity in the middle of the accuracy window which lets me shoot in any conditions. Studies by Jack Jackson convinced me we could let ammo sit for as long as a year and accuracy will hold."

Typically for me, I reload for my 6PPC or 30BR a week or two before a match.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I tried this today for rounds I had loaded 2 weeks ago. I could definitely feel some "stickyness" when seating them deeper to my desired COAL

Thanks for the tip

Oh great, that's really scientific and reproducible.

Let's see, working pressures at ignition time are around 50 to 60 THOUSAND pounds per square foot, so the 'stickyness' represents a fraction of a soupcon of a smidgen of a scintilla of extra resistance.

I load my ammo to the proper length days, weeks or even a couple months in advance and have never found a difference.

But if it makes you happy to mess with loaded ammo over and over again, go for it.

 

[savageshooter86]

Never claimed it was scientific or that I tested this. I was stating what I saw on these rounds

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Yep, understood. However that is irrelevant also because I believe it is extremely difficult to detect the difference between the required push to overcome the initial resistance and whatever additional "stickiness" may be present due to the bullet being seated days or weeks earlier.

It's like anything else, once you start pushing the bullet it becomes easy. But if you stop and then start again, you still have to get to where it starts moving again.

 

[6BRinNZ]

I tried this today for rounds I had loaded 2 weeks ago. I could definitely feel some "stickyness" when seating them deeper to my desired COAL

Thanks for the tip

Oh great, that's really scientific and reproducible.

Let's see, working pressures at ignition time are around 50 to 60 THOUSAND pounds per square foot, so the 'stickyness' represents a fraction of a soupcon of a smidgen of a scintilla of extra resistance.

I load my ammo to the proper length days, weeks or even a couple months in advance and have never found a difference.

But if it makes you happy to mess with loaded ammo over and over again, go for it.

Do you have on paper results backed up with chrony numbers or an anecdotal perception?

 

[Immike]

This has always been a head scratcher. This spring one of my club members shot a personal best with last years ammo ... I have had my eye on this and hear testimonies both ways. I don't think mixing fresh with old is a good idea at all just because of components exposure. I think the old (keep your powder dry) saying should apply to loaded ammo as well.

 

[ridgeway]

What I started doing is weighing my powder and storing them in test tubes with a cap. Picked up 100 tubes on eBay for like $20. Found an old loading block that fit the tubes. Pre weighing powder when I have time is a real time saver when i need to load for a match or load testing. These tubes fit perfectly in MTM large rifle cases.

 

[Cakes]

++ on pre-weighing powder. I've been doing this for several years now. Fill up several hundred medical glass vials for the .284 and really speeds up the process. Nice winter project. Shot my personal best; one x off the nat'l record @ 1000 with 1 yr. old ammo so that's where I sit on that subject...just got tired of long nights before a match. It basically boils down, just like a lot of this stuff to doing whatever makes you comfortable IMO. Eric in DL

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

[quote author=Little Old Me ]
I load my ammo to the proper length days, weeks or even a couple months in advance and have never found a difference.

But if it makes you happy to mess with loaded ammo over and over again, go for it.

Do you have on paper results backed up with chrony numbers or an anecdotal perception?
[/quote]

The hypothesis is: "If you seat your bullets too many (hours/days/weeks/fortnights/month/years/lustra/decades, etc but undefined) your bullet will 'stick' to the case and that's 'a bad thing. (tm)' I know this to be true because I seated my bullets long (by how much is not specified) and then later (undefined) I pushed them in and I thought I saw 'stickyness'."

My retort was " how much 'stickyness' and how can you measure the difference between additional 'stickyness' and intertia in pushing the bullet.?'

My final comment was "I load when I can and never found a difference."

Now, I am asked to prove how I never found a difference. I think you have it backwards. You cannot prove a negative; that's basic science. I would say that it is up to the person who formulated the hypothesis to prove it and to also come up with the parameters that would disprove it.

But as I said, if you think that hypothesis is true and that there are measurable effects on the target, I'm not preventing you from coming up with all manners of additional steps in your loading workflow.

Wow, I can just see it now; trying to cross into Canada for the 2017 worlds, with 500 vials of measured powder in the trunk.

 

[Lbart]

Andrew,
I see no down side to preloading. It never ceases to amaze me how anal we competitive shooters tend to get when it comes to loading ammo. Notice I said 'we' since I include myself in that statement. I have never done any experimentation in this regard but will relate my experiences over the years with major matches. In 2005, 2009 and 20011 I went overseas to South Africa, England and Ireland. In all cases I preloaded my ammo months ahead of time since it was being shipped over. I long seated the bullets and reseated them using Lee tong tool before shooting them. I could hear/feel a small pop when reseating. No problem with the ammo.

I have fired/won many F-Class matches with months old ammo. I can notice no differences when compared to fresh loaded rounds. This year I shot the Berger SWN's with ammo I had loaded for the 2013 FCN's 6/7 months earlier. I did not reseat the bullets since they were not long seated. The ammo shot quite well. I still have some of that ammo left (I always take a lot of extra ammo) and will most likely use it during the AZ L-R regional in October. BTW, that ammo (all the same) was used in 3 different barrels for the FCN, FCWC and SWN's.

 

[6BRinNZ]

[quote author=Little Old Me ]
I load my ammo to the proper length days, weeks or even a couple months in advance and have never found a difference.

But if it makes you happy to mess with loaded ammo over and over again, go for it.

Do you have on paper results backed up with chrony numbers or an anecdotal perception?

The hypothesis is: "If you seat your bullets too many (hours/days/weeks/fortnights/month/years/lustra/decades, etc but undefined) your bullet will 'stick' to the case and that's 'a bad thing. (tm)' I know this to be true because I seated my bullets long (by how much is not specified) and then later (undefined) I pushed them in and I thought I saw 'stickyness'."

My retort was " how much 'stickyness' and how can you measure the difference between additional 'stickyness' and intertia in pushing the bullet.?'

My final comment was "I load when I can and never found a difference."

Now, I am asked to prove how I never found a difference. I think you have it backwards. You cannot prove a negative; that's basic science. I would say that it is up to the person who formulated the hypothesis to prove it and to also come up with the parameters that would disprove it.

But as I said, if you think that hypothesis is true and that there are measurable effects on the target, I'm not preventing you from coming up with all manners of additional steps in your loading workflow.

Wow, I can just see it now; trying to cross into Canada for the 2017 worlds, with 500 vials of measured powder in the trunk.
[/quote]

IMO your retort was in the lack of scientific evidence or approach, implying you had such.
This is an area that debate continues. You made a strong statement, by saying there was no merit to the question and in general implying foolishness in considering the possibility and instead of answering the question continue to ridicule.

It is unfortunate that you choose to respond this way. A simple "I have no hard data" can sometimes suffice, simply because over the internet "I haven't noticed a difference" has no meaning - noticed a difference against what and in what context exactly...do you use bullet coatings..heck for all we know you soft seat...hence the question.

 

[savageshooter86]

Seems like this may be a non issue and my OCD kicking in

 

[A j shooter]

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