shooting 101 seating depth question

[group therapy]

I went out today and did a seating test. it was at 100yrds, 6brai, only 62 rounds on the barrel before the test began, 105 hybrids and varget powder. this is the first time for me to test like this ( I have always shot short range and just kissed the rifling with the bullet of choice and it worked perfect for me) so my question is: is the 3rd picture ( .000 seating depth) the ideal seating depth for this load? the reason I am asking is because I have seen powder charge test and what appeared to me to be the obvious choice was not the right choice. any input is appreciated and thanks to all. bryant.

 

[R.Morehouse]

Personally i don't like...0...as a place to be. I like being in the lands so with that being said, i would go 1/10g on either side of your 30.6 at 10jam through the chrono and see what the #'s are and how it groups. I would take the best of that and go 1k jumps in seating 5up & 5down. Take the best of that and check out a few primers always shooting everything through the chrono. Neck tension plays a roll as well...... I only change 1 thing at a time and shoot 3 shot groups till i think i'm there then a few 5 shot to confirm......I know this sounds like a lot of powder, bullets and barrel and your right it is. Personally i have as much fun at the range doing load development with a good cigar as i do in comp.
I have been playing with my BRA and RL-15 every day this week and have found a happy place from 33.2 at 3108ave 8es to 31.5 at 2964 9es it also shoots at 31.7,31.9,32.3........All these work between 7-15 jam. I hear this round agg's best in that 2960ish range......Back to the range today at 100 ( that is all i have close to home ) to play some more. I think for kicks i will do some 5 shot groups at the 33.2 and the 31.5 and see how they stack up against each other.
I know this is a bit long winded........But it's early and the Java has definitely kicked it...........Have fun with it,,,,,,,,I do.

Regards
Rick

 

[NorCalMikie]

I load everything except my gas guns "into the lands" by about .010. That way, you can change only the powder charge, the bullet seated depth stays the same.
I like top row #3. Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Change ONLY one thing at a time!!

Where's your node? High? Low? You load high and you've left yourself NO wiggle room. You load at 70*/ 75* and shoot at 100*+. You just pushed yourself into a corner with no way out. Leave a back door open.

 

[Richard Coody]

well my experience is that one person's 0.00 could be another person's jam or jump. it is all in how you find the.lands.

also if it is a narrow node it won't last long as the throat erodes.

for a bench gun i would try finding a jam it likes. for repeaters find a jump.

 

[DHuffman]

Here's my 6 BRAI seating depth test at 1000 yards 2 nights ago. 105 HVLDs, 450s, and 30.6 H4895

Mine obviously likes -.005

The red bulls are 2", center bull is 2 sighters low and left, upper right (-.014) is 3 shots 2 in with the third high and left.

Upper left to right -.005, -.008, -.011, -.014
Lower left to right -.017, skipped next dot because of sighters then -.020

Savage Target Action F class stock, 28" Krieger Heavy palma 1:8

 

[Gilbert Garza]

Well I’ll give you my .02. I prefer my ammo to be off the lands. Preferably more then .005” cause in the type of Shooting I do, you’ll often run into a scenario where you can’t shoot the last round and need to pull out. If you haven’t stuck a bullet at a match, it sucks, makes a damn mess.

Ok back to your target, I prefer to do .003” in seating depth test and you’ll see a clear better group. I prefer to do round robin style to eliminate conditions and shooter from the equation. I’d start at .000 off and work to .024”. But your .010 & 000 look almost identical. I’d try .005 to see where it sits then from those 2 I’d chose the “closer” so as your throat grows it’ll still be in tune.

 

[savageshooter86]

I may be oddball here but none of the above targets look solid. One depth shows potential but seating on either side opens way up. I personally keep going until I have at least two seating depths that shoot very similar group size. A seating node of you want to call it that. I want some forgiveness if throat moves so I’m still in the node until I can adjust for the movement

My 2 cents

 

[rammac]

Regardless of how you measure the seating depth, your .000" group looks to be the best. The group is the tightest of the bunch, it is repeated in the second test below it, and the center of all your groups looks to be the same so the .000" isn't moving the center of your impacts away from the other loads.

 

[OmegaRed]

How'd you arrive at that powder charge?

 

[urbanrifleman]

One set of data points does not make a data set. If you did the test more than once you would see the trend.

Its best to does powder charge and seating all at one time. But if I had to isolate I would do seating depth first at a low charge

 

[ballisticdaddy]

I went out today and did a seating test. it was at 100yrds, 6brai, only 62 rounds on the barrel before the test began, 105 hybrids and varget powder. this is the first time for me to test like this ( I have always shot short range and just kissed the rifling with the bullet of choice and it worked perfect for me) so my question is: is the 3rd picture ( .000 seating depth) the ideal seating depth for this load? the reason I am asking is because I have seen powder charge test and what appeared to me to be the obvious choice was not the right choice. any input is appreciated and thanks to all. bryant.

According to Berger the hybrid bullets are not only jump tolerant but seem to like the jump more than the jam. I have a few rifles where the jump is closer to .060 but each barrel is different IMO. Just for fun I would do just as Berger suggests and try .000 / .040 / .080 and .120 to see what it actually likes for seating depth

 

[group therapy]

How'd you arrive at that powder charge?

A lot of people were using 31.6 gr so I just dropped it 1 gr. I’m not going to fool with the powder till the Barrel quits speeding up. I can however work on the seating depth. Bryant

 

[group therapy]

According to Berger the hybrid bullets are not only jump tolerant but seem to like the jump more than the jam. I have a few rifles where the jump is closer to .060 but each barrel is different IMO. Just for fun I would do just as Berger suggests and try .000 / .040 / .080 and .120 to see what it actually likes for seating depth

I actually plan on doing that. Also gonna do some seating depth test with.003 variations instead of .010 variations. This was really a rough in and it surprised me with the .000 depth. More testing is on the horizon