Ok, get that man bun back in place as I have a question. I will assume you have good bench manners, a good rifle, and test in good conditions with flags. Ok that's settled. At what 5 shot group size , back to back of course, are you satisfied and ready to compete at your test distance of 200 yards.
Well I have horrible manors but I do know my way around a bench.
That aside, I do most of my testing prone at the local range 200 yard line using a SEB mini and a SEB bigfoot loaded with heavy sand.
The rifle is a BAT action, Krieger barrel (currently), Jewell trigger set in a KRG chassis and a bag rider that I made out of solid barstock that runs back to the action via the spigot port and adds significant rigidity. The scope is a Trijicon 10-50 which I like as well as I like the Nightforce comp on the 6 BRA.
I pick days when the wind is insignificant, as in less than 3 mph when possible. We do have flags at the range but not the volume or locations you would see at a rimfire benchrest match. Enough to know what is going on at a macro level as is the case with most F Class ranges. I rely on those and the mirage when present. When I'm testing however I do not hold off for conditions. I shoot 5 shot groups of each load or seating depth at the same poa and I usually use 100 Benchrest targets at 200 yards in testing. That gives me 6 different loads for each session. My labradar is setup to provide velocities at the same time.
What I'm looking for is powder charge nodes of less than 1/2 MOA. Ideally 1/4 MOA. I have gotten consistent quarter MOA with some barrels. This Krieger seems to be shooting well. I tried a couple of different seating depths with this barrel and did not see a difference. Ran into the same thing with other barrels on this action when using this bullet. Testing seating depth with this particular bullet in this particular action has always been a waste of time. Probably won't even do seating depth tests in the next barrel. And that barrel is already teed up.
I never compete with this gun at 200 yards. I've shot it at 500 yards (in the matches that Tod runs) but mostly use it at 600 to 1000. I will be giving Tod and Praveen (and others) the opportunity spank the mighty creed at the first match of the season in a couple of weeks. I want to test the gun so I'm leaving the BRA home. Experience tells me that they are likely to do just that. Tod always has quality components and significant experience that is difficult to overcome. This is true even when he is testing different loads in his gun. If you ever shoot against him and win then you are justified in patting yourself on the back so hard that you nearly break your arm. Praveen has a new barrel that he chambered on my lathe. The first barrel he ever chambered. He actually chambered two barrels for it then took them back to the west side, screwed one of them on, went and shot a benchrest match at Kenmore and won. If you know benchrest in the Seattle area then you know that there are some of the top benchrest shooters in the nation shooting there. They are using customized benchrest calibers like 30BR and they take it very seriously. Praveen won with the first barrel he ever chambered in 6 Dasher. The mighty creed is facing an uphill battle.
P.S. I should add that I am using the Hornady gauge to measure the location of the lands. I know there are other methods some prefer but this has worked for me across multiple rifles in multiple calibers in multiple barrels.
Should also add that Tod is the one who got me pointed in the right direction and answered questions I had when I started chambering barrels. This info was passed on to Praveen who also has Tod to show him how to do it first hand and how to do it correctly. Correctly as in building guns that win at a national level.
