SD is Standard Deviation; how different is the speed of 1 round different from the average of the rest in that charge weight. Lower the better.Sorry, but what is SDs.? please.
I do have load data and I'll start there. It just got me thinking about what others do when they start their initial load development. I'm sticking with 195gr EOL, Reloader 33 84-87gr, nosler brass, federal 215m... I read through hours of data and it's good to hear my process is similar to others. Just wanted to throw the question out there and see if some people had a process that was different, many ways to skin the cat!OP: If this another 28 Nosler barrel, don't you a;ready have data?!
Sorry, but what is SDs.? please.
First, what twist is your barrel ? That will dictate what bullets you can shoot, hopefully it's an 8 or 8.5
If you are shooting in CA it can get HOT here so you are going to want a heat stable powder so stay away from Reloder 26, 33, IMR 7828, etc. Go with N570, H1000, Retumbo, possibly H4350 if shooting a lighter bullet.
Take a 169 grain Hammer Hunter and seat it to the longest mag length you can get by with then start with ~70 grains of H1000(I don't have a 28Nosler so I'm just estimating, others can chime in) and run a ladder test and find where you hit pressure, then back down a little from there. I'm not sure what your reloading experience is so I don't know how much detail to go into but the first thing I would do is talk to Steve at Hammer Bullets as I am sure he has load data for a 28 Nosler and will get you taken care of.
PS; "never heard of Hammer Bullets"...... Blasphemy !!!
https://hammerbullets.com/product-tag/284-7mm/page/2/
"sort of" ..... it is very stable until it get to ~84F then it pressures up fast making it unsuitable for hot climates like me and the OP in CA summers. If you can stay below that it's a fantastic powder and gives some ridiculous speeds !RL26 isn't a temp stable powder? First I've seen that in print.
Can you define accurate? Some say 3-4" at 1k with a hunting rifle is accurate. Some think 1/2" at 100 yards is accurate.
Start by asking the builder if the gun you are buying is capable of .25 moa! Often our expectations far surpass the capabilities of our equipment. Many manufacturers will guarantee sub moa as long as you are capable of shooting sub moa....however bare in mind that .999 is sub moa to the builder.What's your quickest way to find a .5moa/ish load. From new barrel, brass,powder, bullets.... I've got another 28nosler coming and want to preserve barrel life as much as possible. What's everyones routine? I'm not looking to burn 20 different Combo's trying to find that .25 load. Long range Hunting accuracy and repeatable sd's are more important than that last 1/4in.
Sorry you said .5....same thing applies though.Start by asking the builder if the gun you are buying is capable of .25 moa! Often our expectations far surpass the capabilities of our equipment. Many manufacturers will guarantee sub moa as long as you are capable of shooting sub moa....however bare in mind that .999 is sub moa to the builder.
Yeah! It gets real nasty, real fast, after 84F!"sort of" ..... it is very stable until it get to ~84F then it pressures up fast making it unsuitable for hot climates like me and the OP in CA summers. If you can stay below that it's a fantastic powder and gives some ridiculous speeds !
Very few people can achieve that accuracy at that range even with a "bench" gun.Can you define accurate? Some say 3-4" at 1k with a hunting rifle is accurate. Some think 1/2" at 100 yards is accurate.