Ladder tests - Page 2

hounddawg · April 24, 2018, 01:01 PM

That is some good advice Nick but the initial ladder is only the first part of my development. At that point for the mid and long range stuff I still experiment with seating depths and primer brand/types to tighten groups. I linked to Cortina's method on the first page which is the method I use now

This weeks range session is 120 SMK seating depth along with breathing/trigger control. I have already done the powder charge and primer tests to get consistent SD's and acceptable grouping. I will be doing 5 round seating depths in .003 increments from 2.265 base to ogive up 2.292 which is just kissing the lands. Cortina does the depth test then the primer so I sort of get out of order here

When I do a .223 load I will skip the chrono and just concentrate on the charge testing group size, then tweak the primer, then seating depth. Most of the time the load will still probably be a decent mid range load although without the flat SD's once it starts to stretch out the more vertical you will get

edit - my reasoning on doing primer testing second is that it allows me the chance to see how three or four groups of 15 shots perform. Sort of a verification round where I know the initial tests primer choice should perform well. This just gives me a chance to see if any primers available shoot better

Reloader270 · April 26, 2018, 01:15 PM

A friend of mine had proposed that I shoot a kind of a ladder test with 5 different loads of 5 cartridges of each load. You use a target with 5 target dots on it. You start with load one, cartridge 1 and shoot it to the dot number one. Then you let the barrel cool down. After a few minutes you shoot one of load 2 to dot number 2. Then after another cooling you shoot one of load 3 to dot number 3 and continue until they are all tested. The reason for this is that the barrel temperature is much better compared to shooting 3 or 5 cartridges at a given time. Most hunts are done with cold barrels and it seems to be more accurate when doing it this way. Your opinions is appreciated.

April 24, 2018, 01:01 PM	#26
hounddawg Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2009 Posts: 4,232	That is some good advice Nick but the initial ladder is only the first part of my development. At that point for the mid and long range stuff I still experiment with seating depths and primer brand/types to tighten groups. I linked to Cortina's method on the first page which is the method I use now This weeks range session is 120 SMK seating depth along with breathing/trigger control. I have already done the powder charge and primer tests to get consistent SD's and acceptable grouping. I will be doing 5 round seating depths in .003 increments from 2.265 base to ogive up 2.292 which is just kissing the lands. Cortina does the depth test then the primer so I sort of get out of order here When I do a .223 load I will skip the chrono and just concentrate on the charge testing group size, then tweak the primer, then seating depth. Most of the time the load will still probably be a decent mid range load although without the flat SD's once it starts to stretch out the more vertical you will get edit - my reasoning on doing primer testing second is that it allows me the chance to see how three or four groups of 15 shots perform. Sort of a verification round where I know the initial tests primer choice should perform well. This just gives me a chance to see if any primers available shoot better __________________ “How do I get to the next level?” Well, you get to the next level by being the first one on the range and the last one to leave.” – Jerry Miculek Last edited by hounddawg; April 24, 2018 at 06:29 PM.

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April 26, 2018, 01:15 PM	#27
Reloader270 Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2015 Location: South Africa Posts: 138	A friend of mine had proposed that I shoot a kind of a ladder test with 5 different loads of 5 cartridges of each load. You use a target with 5 target dots on it. You start with load one, cartridge 1 and shoot it to the dot number one. Then you let the barrel cool down. After a few minutes you shoot one of load 2 to dot number 2. Then after another cooling you shoot one of load 3 to dot number 3 and continue until they are all tested. The reason for this is that the barrel temperature is much better compared to shooting 3 or 5 cartridges at a given time. Most hunts are done with cold barrels and it seems to be more accurate when doing it this way. Your opinions is appreciated.