Stop loading large batches of ammunition

[montana west]

good post- I live in NW montana at 3400 elevation and I hunt up to 5000. and the weather here is always changing and thus your velocity will change with the weather and elevation.. thus yes you do not need more than 50 rounds and best less.. another thing with MAX loads they will chang with elevation.. I am sure that although heat can change pressure elevation is even more critical.. I have some ammo loaded at 600 el and at 3400 el it is hot.. thinking that in Africa it is more elevation than heat..

 

[highdrum]

good post- I live in NW montana at 3400 elevation and I hunt up to 5000. and the weather here is always changing and thus your velocity will change with the weather and elevation.. thus yes you do not need more than 50 rounds and best less.. another thing with MAX loads they will chang with elevation.. I am sure that although heat can change pressure elevation is even more critical.. I have some ammo loaded at 600 el and at 3400 el it is hot.. thinking that in Africa it is more elevation than heat..

If your vo is changing with temps, you should try to use a more stable powder. Temp and elevation should have little affect on muzzle vo with H1000, N565, N570, H4350, RL23, RL16, RL26(below 80°) H4831SC, there are others as well. Testing in warm weather and freezing your ammo prior to shooting is a good way to evaluate.

 

[25WSM]

Waiting for Alex to chime in on what he does different. Yes temp is most likely to change your velocity. Do a load with rl22 and freeze it and be prepared for a wow moment. My 257wbys love rl22 but when I missed a deer in freezing temps I checked them and they were down over 100 fps. Closer to 150.
Needless to say I don't use rl22 for anything now. 25 is almost as bad.
Shep

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Most of the common tuning methods work. But I have always been very adamant you have to verify and practice at the distance you plan to shoot. Since I do that especially when getting close to hunting season, Im always tweaking for those weather conditions. I dont care how stable a powder is, they all need tweaking throughout weather changes. Its very obvious how much a load changes when you start shooting groups at longer ranges. The groups can go from good to really bad very easily.
I also do not buy into the 16" vital area so I only need a 1.5 moa load and Im good. I am not so naive to believe that I can make perfect shots, call perfect wind, and dial perfect dope, nor do I want to be clipping the edges of vitals.

 

[25WSM]

Most guys can't understand how a 1/2 moa load at 100 yards doesn't shoot 5 inches at 1000. I fully believe you can only be perfectly tuned at one distance. I know there is some self compensation going on with perfect tunes but my 1000 yard tunes are not the most accurate at 100 yards.
Shep

 

[User4302021]

I couldn't be happy with 3/4 moa. I'm not happy with 1/4 moa. To win at 1000 yard matches you need real dang good. Pretty much everybody has capable rifles but the guy that keeps his tune perfect usually wins alot.
Shep

Why do benchresters and F-class guys feel the need to compare every other type of gun or shooting to benchrest competition and equipment? When was the last time you humped your bench gun into the woods?

My field gun is a 10lb 308WIN that will put 20 shots into 3/4moa at 200 yards...day in and day out. It will hold the vertical on a full size IPSC (1.5moa) at 1200 yards at 35*F and 90*F...day in and day out...

No retuning required.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

tag

 

[highdrum]

Why do benchresters and F-class guys feel the need to compare every other type of gun or shooting to benchrest competition and equipment? When was the last time you humped your bench gun into the woods?

My field gun is a 10lb 308WIN that will put 20 shots into 3/4moa at 200 yards...day in and day out. It will hold the vertical on a full size IPSC (1.5moa) at 1200 yards at 35*F and 90*F...day in and day out...

No retuning required.

A 308 win has arguably one the best barrel life, low throat erosion out there. 5k rounds accurate sub moa life of not abused. You cab probably shoot 200 rounds and throat might grow half thou. That rifle will stay in it's seating depth node for possibly 800-1000 rounds. You can mass load for a 308, maybe have 3 dif loads for different temps to keep vo in node. You cannot do this with big overbore magnums, 28 nosler will eat 7-8 thou in 100 rounds. So unless you seat them out progressively as you load, you'll loose your tune fairly quick, ans even chasing with progressive seating depth is hoping you're close. If you can load and find your biggest seating depth node, say you find a 12 thou jump window that impacts at same vertical and has a 20es in that node you could load bunch of ammo. This is what prs shooters are starting to do with their comp guns, they use very long freebore for 6mm creed, and seat 80-100k off, then there is a 15k window of same impact. They can load 250 rounds in that node. This has been a leading practice for some shooter for the last year or two.

 

[25WSM]

My hunting rifles shoot 1/4 moa too. Like I said if my Rifles shot 3/4 moa I would not be happy and neither would most on this site. My target rifles shoot much less than 1/4 moa. If I had a rifle that shot 3/4 moa the barrel comes off and goes in the heap. That is not acceptable accuracy for long range anything. No retuning required. All I have to say is my rifles will shoot better than 3/4 all day every day till they are dead in the dirt with no tuning required. Your rifle will probably do much better than 3/4 moa if you tuned it. A tuned rifle is a happy rifle. A happy rifle makes a happy shooter.
Tune that gun up and be happier. Or just settle for 3/4 moa. A 308 would have no problem shooting 1/4 moa it is a very accurate and easy to tune cartridge.
Shep

 

[26Reload]

Chasing the lands is an issue here...
So....does putting that bullet closer to the lands create more or reduce lands wear....

 

[25WSM]

The reason that we compare br and fclass to hunting rifles is that for long range accuracy you load and tune exactly the same way. Doesn't matter what king of rifle it is.
Shep

 

[highdrum]

Chasing the lands is an issue here...
So....does putting that bullet closer to the lands create more or reduce lands wear....

Chasing lands is inevitable in larger capacity cases. I'd think the longer the freebore and further off you are, the longer they'd last. Keeping pressure down, and not running double based high temp powders(N570/RL26) def helps. Weatherby chambers pretty much all had 350+ thou freebore and long necks, bullets jumping a mile due to mag length loading restrictions, and they last a surprising long time.

 

[25WSM]

A lot to do with throat life is case design. Sharper shoulders and longer necks definitely help. Example is a 6slr compared to the 243. My 6slr gets about twice the barrel life. Yet it holds only 1.5 grains less powder and is virtually identical velocity wise. Most Ackley improved Chambers last longer even though you use more powder at higher velocity.
Shep

 

[26Reload]

Buddy on coast shooting his 65284 at 2890fps has very little wear....hairline...hundreds of rounds thru it...
My new 65284 26" carbon shows same hairline with led than 150 thru it....working on loads..but settling around 2930-50.....
I am jumping 142lrab...he is slightly jamming his 142lrab.....