How do you start your load developement?

[ginshun]

Just wondering what everyone else does when they are developing a new load for there rifle (or pistol I suppose).

Some things are pretty self explanatory, like starting with powders and primers appropriate to your caliber. Choosing an approprite assortment of bullet weights for what you are hunting ect.

What I am wondering is what is the actual process by which you narrow things down to get the best load?

Different ways that I see that you could do it:

1. Start with a single bullet and a few powders, load them all up with minumim charges, see which one shoots best and use increasing charges until your groups are the best or you see signs of excess pressure?

2. Start with one kind of powder and a few different bullets...
3. Start with one powder and several different weights of the same bullet...

then you could play with seating depths and primers and such as well

To me its seems that the bullets and bullet weights make more of a difference than anything else. An example is I think that you could take 37 or 38 grains of H380 and almost any rifle promer and if you find the right bullet, your 22-250 will shoot good with it, but with the wrong bullet it won't. Obviously there are a lot of other factors, but I think you know what I mean.

Other opinions may be different, but I'd love to hear them.

I have done a good amount of reloading, but I am trying to streamline the process of working up a new load from scratch, and I am just wondering what you guys do? This streamlining specifically applies to my 30-06 at the moment. I am in the process of working up some loads, and their are about a gajillion possibilites with the -06. I really would like to find the absolute best groups that the rifle will shoot though, and its a bit daugnting with so many possibilites, pretty much all of which will be fine for whitetail. You know, if 125 grain bullets of some brand shoot the best thats what I want to use, likewise if 220's shoot the best. IMR4350? IMR4831? Magnum primers? Regular primers? how far off the lands? charge size? Sheesh! Its enough to make your head spin!

[hodaka]

The beauty, and pain of this sport are the number of variables to play with. I start with the bullet makers books to get an idea of a start point then start the process of changing the variables. The biggest two are the bullet and powder. OAL, primer, etc. are for fine tuning. For a 30-06, 155 gr Sierra or Nosler and 4064 and 4350 work pretty well for me.

[Wildalaska]

My rule of thumb is....start with the bullet. Some guns like some bullets. Oncve you find the best bullet, tinker from there.

WilditsallabouttheprojectileAlaska ™

[Rampant_Colt]

I look for whatever's on sale and go from there...

[ginshun]

Thats pretty much what I have seen too, I think the bullet makes the most difference.

So would the best way to test different bullets be to try a bunch of different bullets using a starting charge of one of the common powders for the caliber? See which bullet (or bullets) shoots the best and then move your charge up and play with primers and COL and whatever from there?

I have tried 4831, H380 and 4350 for the 30-06 without much difference to be seen, on a starting load anyway. I think I may just stick with the IMR4350, thats what gramps always used.

I look for whatever's on sale and go from there...

Nice.

[BigJimP]

I start with the bullet - and the powder / with the bullet usually being the most important. I look over the manuals and decide what kind of speed and impact power I want ( so it may narrow down my options ). I start with the min recipe published / load 3 - 5 rounds / then go up 0.1 grain load 3-5 rounds / etc.

With rifles - I've actually had presses set up on a portable "workmate" bench - gone to the range with the press - spent the afternoon fooling with it. If I don't want to do that / I will just load up 3 -5 rounds of each variation / mark them with permanent markers or some easy way to tell them apart ( just in case they get loose - and I mix one round up ) and just take them to the range and test them. I do the same with my pistols whenever I change my goal recipe / or whenever I change a component.

Shooting test loads in a rifle or a handgun / or patterning a shotgun takes a lot of concentration and focus ...... while I'm doing it / I'll keep good notes on the results in my ledger ...... but shooting more than 50 rounds kind of wears me out mentally and if I go beyond that the results get shaky. You have to know your own limits - and it varies by gun, caliber and how you feel that day too - and weather if you're outdoors. But regardless of how you do it - have some fun with it - bs with your buddies about it and compare notes ( especially if they're into testing their loads too ).

[ginshun]

Am I alone in not really being comfortable in testing loads by ony shooting 1 group with the load? I generally load up enough of each to shoot two or three groups.

[The Lovemaster]

One of the many things I like about the Sierra manual is they list their most accurate load for every bullet weight. Whether I can duplicate it in my rifle is unknown until I try it, but at least it's a reasonable starting point and perhaps a goal.

p.s. It's raining in Phoenix as I write this. Get your affairs in order, armageddon's coming.

[Shoney]

Before starting load development, I thoroughly review my published literature.

Rifle
Select a bullet for testing
Select one powder,
- At home, I load 5 cartridges for each load, starting at or near minimum, and then increase the charge by 0.3 to 0.5 grains (depending on the case capacity), for the next set of 5, and on until I reach max.
- At the range, I carefully shoot the loads, and record data. Since I take my press and gear to the range, I then start fine tuning the load. If I get exceptional results I end there. If I am unhappy, I then select another powder and begin testing it with that bullet. Repeat until satisfied.

Pistol
Select a bullet for testing
Select one powder,
- At home, I load 10 cartridges for each load, starting at or near minimum, and then increase the charge by 0.2 to 0.3 grains(depending on the case capacity), for the next set of 10, and on until I reach max.
- At the range, I carefully shoot the loads, and record data. Since I take my press and gear to the range, I then start fine tuning the load. If I get exceptional results I end there. If I am unhappy, I then select another powder and begin testing it with that bullet. Repeat until satisfied.

ginshun How many times you shoot the a grouping of the same load depends on your confidence in your shooting ability. However, in rifle, there is usually noticeable trend over the series of 5 shot grouping, enough to pick an area to fine tune.

[Crazy4nitro]

p.s. It's raining in Phoenix as I write this. Get your affairs in order, Armageddon's coming.

Dang,
That means I have to HAVE an affair,Great,Here Goes.....

I start with the Bullet that shoots well or that I have access to.
then I basically follow the Above advice and Rinse and repeat as needed.

Everyone does things a little different,no real concrete answer here.

I Like CCI Primers in Nickle Cases,winchester in Brass ones.
I have a Load worked up for each gun for each weight Bullet.

'Nitro

[HOGGHEAD]

I think you have the cart in front of the horse. The first thing I start with is the case. IMO there are more variations in cases than any other component.

Volume is a major part of pressure. And for me the key to accuracy is pressure, followed closely by bullet seating(concentricity).

If you have pressure and bullet run out under control then accuracy will soon follow. As long as your chamber is straight(a big what if), I have found that seating depth is not as critical, as long as I have runout under control.

Spend your time on case preparation first. Then accuracy will be easier to attain. Tom.

[WESHOOT2]

"Goal" determines the work I wish done; work is performed by the bullet AND ITS velocity.
So I pick a bullets based on the work to be done.
I figure the velocity required to get the work done.

The rest is trial and error. Smart handloaders let the bulk of the trial and error portion get done in the many manuals we study.

Then the trial and error in OUR gun(s).

It's (way) harder if the load is to be used in OTHERS guns.
http://www.pennbullets.com/Testimoni...timonials.html (check the "1911 Forum" section...)

[wogpotter]

Having picked the bullet first, here's what I do.
Look in several reloading manuals for that bullet in that case.

See which powder(s) will give the maximum performance while staying within reccomendations.

Shorten the list by seeing which powder from this list will give me closest to 100% case capacity at the reccomended maximum charge weight.

Select 35 once fired cases, of the exact same brand/lot.
Process all these cases together as a batch. Include tumbling, primer pocket uniforming/cleaning, flash hole deburring, trimming to corect case OAL, & chamfer/deburr. These are your cases for the entire test, made as uniform, & correct as possible.

Load a set of 4 charges weighed & trickled for maximum consistency of charge weight. Do this for 4 loads, of 5 rounds each.
Start with a minimum+1 Gr weight & divide out to give the last load set at maximum -1gr powder weight.

Chronograph & shoot for accuracy at 200 yds.

Make a chart of velocity/ powder charge. This will give you a starting point for any velocity you particularly want.

Check the groups for accuracy & start a second lot based on that velocity.
Load 3 sets at -1 gr, the same weight, & +1 gr.
Shoot for accuracy.
Interpret the results of this second set & adjust as you think fit for best velocity/accuracy combination.

Fine tune this "final" load with seating depth, primer type, and so on till you get the best end result.

[snuffy]

So would the best way to test different bullets be to try a bunch of different bullets using a starting charge of one of the common powders for the caliber?

No, that's not how I do it. In the first place, that would require a huge outlay of cash, for all those different bullets. Second, the recommended starting load has NEVER shown to be the most accurate for me. I normally start in the middle, half way between rec. starting load and max.

My objective is usually centered around hunting, sometimes serious target work. Selection of an appropriate bullet then is THE most important issue. Once the selection is made, I look for one powder that 1 I have on hand and 2 that should get me to whatever velocity level is wanted. If a new powder is out there that I haven't tried, that looks like it would be a good choice, then I'll buy a pound.

Most bullets are capable of good accuracy. If the rifle/handgun has proven accuracy, most any bullet will shoot well in it. If you're starting with a new unproven gun, then the selection is wide open. Some guns just won't shoot. Small defects can prevent accuracy. A botched crowning job is most common.

Most cases made today are pretty darn uniform. Messing with flash holes, primer pocket uniformers , neck turning, weighing, are best left for $3,000.00 custom target rifles.

[WESHOOT2]

I currently have 77 different handgun bullets in Dillon blue-bins on my main bench. I stack them ten-high and eight-wide.
(I keep 'stock' in boxes on shelves).

I'd thought that since the bullet did the work, and I wasn't sure about what kind of work, and certain bullets might be better for certain work, I kept adding and testing and adding.
I gotta lotta bullets.
I need more ('cause I gotta whole lot more cases LOL).

I mean, it's not like you can have too many, right?

[res45]

When I develop a load I do lots of research first,I read as many post as I can to see what others experience has been with a particular cartridge,bullet,powder combination. I don't have lots of spare cash to spend on different bullets & powder selections,I use eight different bullets between my rifles and pistols and eight different powders,most of my powders are interchangeable between rifle & rifle and rifle & pistols which is nice.

I start somewhere in the middle of the load date and work my way up in 1/2 gr. increments,I never load MAX or found that I had to to achieve the most accurate load. Most of my loads end up being about 1Gr. off MAX in the end,the game I have shot with them didn't miss the extra 100fps MV. I don't do any fancy case prep just preclean if necessary,resize,trim,clean,reprime and load. The main thing to me is consistent powder measurement and bullet seating and crimping. Works for me.