Sequence of working up a load

[fatelvis]

The lowdown is pretty much the same for any rifle though. Find a seating, powder node and tension it doesn't hate. Then fine tune all.

I agree with tinkering with those variables, but I was wondering if most guys focus on them in that order.

 

[Richard Coody]

Regnar & Rebel
I can’t speak for retired, but for one thing, I have never had a piece of steel or paper starve to death due to a bad shot. So I tend to be more critical of my hunting loads, than target.

I’m not good enough to be paid to shoot, so it’s much more important to me, that the loads that actually put food in the freezer, are the most predictable and repeatable that I can assemble for any type of shooting condition.

It might be just my experience, but it seems like the biggest time saver is quality control and uniformity of each step in the process and materials.

What this led me to believe is that if I apply my hunting load techniques and tolerances, for a one shot kill at various distances and conditions to my target loads, my target groups shrink considerably.

I guess good technique and practices outweigh labels.

Just my opinion.

well do you start with a jam on your hunting rounds? Many target shooters do.

do you want a mag length round in your hunting rifle or are you willing to make it a single shot where you can seat your bullets long.

do you use target bullets in your hunting rifle or a bullet designed for proper expansion on game?

the chicken or the egg question for load devopment. powder charge first or seating depth first.

to me it really doesn't matter because by the time you are done both will be refined several times. with target rifles i start with a jam and find the powder charge then test seating depth then refine powder charge
with hunting rifles i start mag length and find the powder charge the test seating depth then refine powder charge.

 

[rebel]

Well, as commercial loads are someone else's data, does that mean we should not shoot them in our rifles?

Or should we pull their bullets, reduce their powder charge 10 to 15 percent then reseat bullets working up in small increments?

In some rifle matches, you must shoot someone else's loads. You're issued your share of the same lot.

Bart, all due respect, you have answered this as if everyone here is a match shooter - or aspires to be one. What Regnar is saying is put some caveat to your posts. Not all of us "run the local circuit". I have gleaned a ton of info from benchrest loading techniques for years, a new reloader that happened upon this site could get himself in trouble quick. Think of that.
It seems if you ain't a match shooter you ain't chit - I assure you sir, I shoot pretty good. Not Sauter good, but the the local varmint population started a protest last year - VLM and the groups I shoot are fair middlin to most. ( southern, proud, and smart ) Get off the high horse, I agree that a group of guys all shooting custom rifles with not a .0005 difference in the reamer can start with a buddies load. I have and will. You transfer that statement to factory rifles and you can get metal in your face. So post smart - not everyone that comes here is on the IBS circuit.
See? I was polite as if Bart was sitting at my kitchen table

 

[dellet]

well do you start with a jam on your hunting rounds? Many target shooters do.

do you want a mag length round in your hunting rifle or are you willing to make it a single shot where you can seat your bullets long.

do you use target bullets in your hunting rifle or a bullet designed for proper expansion on game?

the chicken or the egg question for load devopment. powder charge first or seating depth first.

to me it really doesn't matter because by the time you are done both will be refined several times. with target rifles i start with a jam and find the powder charge then test seating depth then refine powder charge
with hunting rifles i start mag length and find the powder charge the test seating depth then refine powder charge.

Is this like a trick question or something?

If a bullet is Breech seated, or soft seated in the neck so that chambering the round sets the seating depth, does that also qualify for a jam?

If the rifle is a single shot like an 1885 Winchester, a Stevens or a Sharps, and the cartridge is chamber length, is that also magazine length since that’s the only place to carry the cartridge?

Sometimes my target bullets are my hunting bullets, because sometimes I hunt my targets. So for the most part I depend on shot placement. That would be both hunting and target shooting.

So it does not matter to me, any cartridge I load gets the same attention to detail, but often the details change.

For instance I thought about neck turning a straight wall cartridge, but I wasn’t sure where to start and stop. So I skip that step.

Then there is the issue of truing the primer pocket of a rimfire, I skip that step also. I am still working out a way to anneal the necks tho.

So since I shoot and load for a wide variety of cartridges, that require a different set of steps, I let the rifle and cartridge combination dictate the order of the process. I’m responsible for quality control and consistency.

Why would I drop powder any different, I always use a drop tube. The length varies, but not the process.

I don’t care if I seat the bullet in the neck of a cartridge, or in the barrel from the Breech end. I do it as precisely as I can.

Care and attention to detail produce the best loads. How and where you apply that care and attention will vary for many reasons.

 

[JFrank]

Guys
The original poster left the room went to a different page got his answer and moved on.
Just saying
J

 

[fatelvis]

Guys
The original poster left the room went to a different page got his answer and moved on.
Just saying
J

Lol, never! I'm always hungry for more input! I can tell you that I've settled on starting at a light jam and working with powder charges, and then back off and experiment with seating depth. Thanks for all that contributed to this convo! I love this site.

 

[KenOath]

Yes if you can start of with a known seating depth then do, otherwise light jam or slight jump is fine, find a powder charge that holds the tightest and most consistent elevation at your intended distance if not your intended distance then I believe the further the better, then adjust seating depth to improve groups, then try different primer then different neck tensions with the powder and seating depth that is working. As always start low with powder and work up looking for signs of pressure...heavy bolt lift etc