reloading at the range?

[cjmac]

So im thinking of taking my press and measure with sized and primed cases to the range. Never loaded at the range before. Im guessing BR shooters do this to work up a load for that day ? So i have a load that shoots great 'most of the time' i assume i would start with that load, if it didnt group good i should work a grain above and below ? Iv found some days my loads group great and other days thay go to 1 inch.

 

[stool]

it is more complicated than just loading at the range.
what gun what components ?
how are you shooting ?
do you log date time temp humidity and wind ??
do you use wind flags ?

 

[DMC]

Just my own experience, but i used to load at home and drive 1.5 hours to range, worked just ok, spent a lot of time revisiting range to confirm/test loads etc. I now size and prime at home, i take a arbour press and a wilson seating die, as well as a RCBS Chargemaster and load at the range, until you do it, you wont believe how much more better use of time it is! able to load/shot much less and achieve so so much more, You dont have to have a chargemaster, you could use powder thrower and scales if you could find a nice quite windless are to load, load dev at the range has so many benefits,

DMC

 

[BoydAllen]

If you mean should you try increasing loads by an entire grain above and below your current load, let me suggest that that is too big of an increment. Depending on the size of the case, I recommend testing in .3 to .5 grain increments. Another thing, sizing at the range is really no big deal. I have a specific sequence that I use to work up loads, that has worked well for several of my friends. I wold also suggest firing all tests over a chronograph and putting out some sticks with surveyors' tape tied to their tops (hanging down to just above the ground) so that you can see what the wind is doing. Try to shoot all shots for a group in the same condition. I have a scale wind box, for balance scales, that has a sliding glass front, in which I place a scale and trickler, with the handle of the latter sticking through the side of the box, so that loads may be thrown light and trickled up, even if the wind is blowing. Since you mentioned inconsistent results, has your rifle's action been bedded? Also, if the temperature that you shot in varied quite a bit, that alone can require load adjustment to keep a rifle in tune.

 

[cjmac]

We have wind flags, i log everything i can. I only shoot 223 and 308. And use mostly RL15 and imr 4064. Im now trying a new load with Norma 200 in my 223. I do live in florida so the weather changes drastically. It sucks, my 223 is bedded if i could keep my group half inch or under with darn gun id be happy for now

 

[BoydAllen]

I edited my previous post to reflect what I actually do. The .4 figure was an error, and I should also say that if I were tuning a Hornet that it would be considerably less than the .3 that I changed it to. What have you done with seating depth? My experience has been that minor changes in seating depth can be very important when tuning. For the usual run of bullets that I used to shoot in my .22 caliber varmint rifles, I got decent results loading .006 to .010 longer than touching. Of course I would do a workup starting with bullets seated into the rifling because if you were jumping the pressure would be significantly different. You said that your .223 was bedded....pillar bedded? Have you checked your bedding with a dial indicator? It can look really good and not be. How are you cleaning?

 

[cjmac]

Its pillar bedded ill have to really check it. Iv played with bullet jump its 10 thousands off. The best i can think is that i find a good load, then the weather changes to much and kills it. To me it would be worth the trouble of loading a few rounds to find the load so i could shoot a few good groups.

 

[cjmac]

I will clean every 20 .probable not the best thing to do lol

 

[bheadboy]

what gun, what rig, is irrelevant, the situation is not a matter of press or brass presized, the problem is the powder measure and scale!!!!

you have got to have an area where you are out of the elements, wind etc. as the scales and thus powder loads will not be consistent with your intent.

if you do not have a place at the range where you can go inside or have a camper, etc. where you can eliminate the elements effect on the scale, then do not try it.

it works great if you have these conditions under control

Bob

 

[BoydAllen]

I found the picture. This is what I use to weigh charges at the range. It has leveling screws (3) built into the base, and when the glass is down (I found that plastic had a static problem that affected the scale by about a tenth.) you can finish by trickling without any wind problem. Feel free to copy.

 

[cjmac]

Now thats cool, to bad im a welder and not a carpenter. So how good of a group can you get from a measure. ....im starting to think some of the problem is neck tension being inconsistent. Anyone have thoughts on good neck sizing die

 

[stool]

shall we jump right to annealing ?? how many times has the brass been sized ?

 

[BoydAllen]

Find a carpenter that needs some welding done.
On the neck tension thing, try sizing them without using an expander ball, and then expanding (lubricated) with an expander die, like one uses to prep necks for turning. They will be straighter. Also when you do, pause at the top of your stroke for couple of seconds. Another approach that works well is to neck size with a collet die, and do the body with a body die. If you have a suitable ball powder and practice with a scale a bit, and calibrate your measure settings with it, you can throw just fine for hundred yard accuracy testing.

 

[seymour fish]

CJMAC, How good are your 100 yd groups on the good days?

 

[cjmac]

On a good day. I get well under a inch with 5 shot groups a 100. Most holes touching each other think ill try a collet neck die . Iv been reading some collet dies tend to bind up not sure why

 

[cjmac]

Ramshot TAC runs really good in my measure. What are some good ball powders for 223?

 

[seymour fish]

2520 has produced wonderful accuracy with 55 ballistic tips and 77 SMKs. Different rigs, different twists. Meters like water. somewhat temp-sensitive. Others may have more data on that. Decent node width. Huge variety of powders for this one to choose from. 8208 xbr for the heavier end. meters very well for stick, say .3 grain total variance over 20 throws.

 

[stool]

accurate has a powder called 2230..i wonder why ??
it, 2520 and 2200 all work well.
844 and 846 milsurplus work well

Ramshot TAC runs really good in my measure. What are some good ball powders for 223?

 

[stool]

with a name brand br powder measure you can get that down to plus or minus 0.1..or a little better....which is twice as bad as the original oem8208, which will do plus or minus 0.05 ....one reason why it shot so well...it metered well.

2520 has produced wonderful accuracy with 55 ballistic tips and 77 SMKs. Different rigs, different twists. Meters like water. somewhat temp-sensitive. Others may have more data on that. Decent node width. Huge variety of powders for this one to choose from. 8208 xbr for the heavier end. meters very well for stick, say .3 grain total variance over 20 throws.

 

[seymour fish]

Splitting hairs. 0.3 total spread, plus or minus 0.1. Sample size ? Slight variation in technique day to day, humidity change, etc. None of which should matter a whit if the OP is loading to the center of a node and running at short range, and desirous of 1/2 MOA. Seymour