process for load development
- Thread starter Jody Ward
- Start date
Gonna start a fight..... again. What game are you playing?
The OCW test worked real Easy for, Me,.. Started the Bullet's, "Shank portion" .040 to .050 Off ( above ) the "Doughnut Area" Looked at, Sierra, Nosler and Hogdon's Load Data ( Started at, Sierra Accuracy Load ) and found Good accuracy at, that Load and again at, a Tiny Bit Higher than, the Nosler Accuracy Load.
At a 1/2 grain Under, the Hogdon Max Load, I Had, Harder Bolt Lift and light "Swipes" on Brass and Poor Accuracy ( 1 MOA ). I will Re-Test Both "Good" ( Sub 1/2 MOA Loads, w /10 -12, shots of Each at, 200 Yds Next, to see which is, the "Keeper", Load.
I Probably will NOT need to, "Tune" the Bullet's as, .050 above Doughnut, is .050 Off, the Lands, in this Rifle and Tangent Ogive Bullets, "Jump" very, WELL.
I might Try moving them closer, to the Lands in .010 increments to See If,.. much Difference, in accuracy.
Rifle is, a New, 22"bbl. Tikka, 1-8 Twist, in .22-250 Rem. with, 69 grain SMK's and IMR 4350, CCI Pr's and .003 Neck Tension.
Good Luck and Welcome to, Accurate Shooter !
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Some say seat depth first and powder second. The older school says reverse it. One of the all-time winning S R bench rest shooters says do both at the same time with a matrix of powder charges across the page vs. seat depth down the page at equal intervals. Some S R bench rest shooters still do that with great results. I find however I approach it some sort of ladder needs to be done.
You may find that going back to re-visit in-between those .010 increments will give you best results.
If hunting is your game, presumably big game given the caliber listed, and presumably at reasonable ranges given the 20" barrel, then you don't need to expand a lot of money and time on load development for an ultra-precision load unless you want to.
In my opinion, the terminal performance of the bullet you select and your ability to shoot within the vitals under field conditions are the keys to success. The time and money spend on load development can be used to perfect your field shooting skills and might be a lot more fun if you like a challenge.
The 7mm-08 is an excellent deer cartridge and if it is capable of 1 to 1 1/2 moa you will be well within the capability of the vitals of a deer out to 300 yards.
In my opinion, the terminal performance of the bullet you select and your ability to shoot within the vitals under field conditions are the keys to success. The time and money spend on load development can be used to perfect your field shooting skills and might be a lot more fun if you like a challenge.
The 7mm-08 is an excellent deer cartridge and if it is capable of 1 to 1 1/2 moa you will be well within the capability of the vitals of a deer out to 300 yards.
Here’s a super simple load work up style that may help.
sierrabullets.wordpress.com
load tuning – Sierra Bullets
Posts about load tuning written by Sierra Bullets
sierrabullets.wordpress.com
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It's just that there are no two people on this forum that will agree on everything. Things get interesting. Me - I'd research what powder(s) are said to work really well for the cartridge after choosing your bullet type and weight that are most suited for your intended use and barrel twist. In that sized cartridge, I think your choice of powder (Rel 15) is exactly what I'd be trying first. Being a hunting cartridge, I'd use recommended book cartridge seating depth (COL) and whatever large rifle primer and brass you have. The "perfect load" can mean different things to different people - usually due to what the use will be. For my big game rifles, I'm happy with a load that will shoot under 1/2" MOA - and those Barnes TTSX 140's are certainly capable of that or better. I think you have already chosen a fantastic combo of powder and bullet - and hopefully they do well in your rig. I'd do a ladder test 3/10th grain apart. If you don't get anything good, switch powders. In my experience with those TTSX's in many calibers, they are either liked or not by a powder. I don't even try to tune bad loads anymore with those bullets unless I see something good- I just switch powders to see what improves.
(edit): The reason for this is that these bullets like to jump - or conversely, they mostly don't like to be near or at jam. The adjustment of depth over a .020" range doesn't usually make a bad load good, so messing with depth settings is less productive than many other types of bullets. I found this to be true in my .204, .223, .243, 6.5 Grendel, 7mm Mag and .375 H&H - so I feel pretty confident with that statement from my own experiences. Of course, nothing is universally true in this game. Sometimes, I'll try three or four powders and end up back with the one I started with.
One good thing about the Barnes bullets is that I believe they do considerably more testing on various firearms before they arrive at published loads. Barnes tends to not list 20 different powders in a given caliber and one of those on the short list in their manual will nearly always prove to be a winner. If Rel. 15 failed, I'd go to H380, being their "accuracy load", then on to W748, IMR4064 or IMR4895 as others they show. There is a fairly wide burn rate between these powders and Barnes found the H380 (the slow burner of the bunch) to be most accurate in their test guns.
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I'll add since it's for hunting, know your mag length tolerance first. Pick a
charge weight, then back off .010" at a time.
I shoot barnes in all my hunting rifles. All but one prefers .050 off the lands, so i start there and do my ladder test. Once i find the load, i run a seating depth test if needed. Most of my rifles dont need it as they usually shoot .2 - .5” with a couple about .1. Just my experience.
I have a rifle limited by mag length and even jumping .25 it shoots a bit under .5
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