Duplicating a factory load

[Justice1327]

Here is the beginning of my testing for a friend who would like to shoot the 80g VT.
Hornady uses 39.1 grains of powder, it is a stick powder with a slightly green tent that measures .030 in diameter. The closest powder I have that matches that is H4895.
I called Hornady and they have not used H4895 to test that bullet in a 6 mm Creedmoor. So I tried H4350 because that was what was in the hopper and that's what I was using to load his 103 grain ELDX. Hornady advertises 3300 ft./s in a 24 inch barrel w/ the 80g and I was getting more or less 3180 ft./s out of a 22 inch barrel, but it only has about 50 to 60 rounds on it thus far. Today I'm going to try H380 , Varget, RL 16 and maybe superperformance . we want the fastest velocity we can and still shoot under 1 inch.

 

[azarcher10x]

I tried matching velocity on a factory Barnes load for my 300 RUM, to no avail. I couldn't get within 150 fps without pressure signs. When i called them to see if they'd give me some info on the powder, they just said it's nothing you or I can buy. I gave up and went with a load that grouped. I'm in the process of rebarreling as we speak, so I get to start over!

 

[std7mag]

First off, the purpose of hand loading is completely opposite of factory ammo.

They are a business. Their ammo is made to fit every gun, at safe pressure levels, and make money doing it.
Hence, they have and will blend powders.
If they can save .3gr of powder per cartridge, over tens of thousands of cartridges, they will do it.

Handloader is looking to make ammo for single firearm. We aim to cater a specific performance.
Be it most accurate, or terminal performance.

I wouldn't try to duplicate any factory ammo when handloading.
I don't care about factory ammo performance. I only care about making the best ammo for my firearm.

Get your friend involved in the process. Go over the manuals with him. Let him pick the components. (with guidance) Show him the process of finding the COAL on his rifle, and the process of load development.
Let him do the process of making the ammo.

My neighbor was one of those "oh, you reload, can you make me some ammo for X?"
He had no understanding of the process. Looked at me funny when I told him that I needed his rifle to do it.
Walking him through it, he now understands and is looking to get into it himself.

 

[1varmint]

I'll save you time, money and frustration…
You will never stumble upon a load that duplicates factory ammo.
Here's why:
Factories use methods that handloaders don't have access to. Such as powders fast enough to utilise a start pressure that is uniform and strong with a crimp. Strong start pressure is what makes factory ammo work across many firearms.
Without pressure testing equipment, you won't come close to the curve necessary for matching factory ammo.

Cheers.

This!
You can get the same velocity but dont think that the pressure curve is the same.
Also…I have never shot a factory load that impressed me.
Every rifle needs a fine tuned load but we all have our acceptable accuracy, Reloading is just as enjoyable as shooting for me.
I'll shut up now im an old fug

 

[PApa Black]

Yes, you can…but it doesn't mean it will work. This morning I pulled a 6 mm Creedmoor match bullet and looked at the powder and how much it was loaded with and I did the same thing to the Precision Hunter load. Both are the same powder. The match has 41 grains and the Precision Hunter has 42 grains, the best I can tell by looking under a high-powered magnifier is using something similar to stay ball 6.5 I believe on a Hornady podcast they said that they use stable powders in the Precision Hunter. I'm currently out testing stable 6.5 right now but I'm using Alpha Brass and small Rifle primer so the powder charge will not be correct, but once I get enough, Brass, I'm gonna try that with the exact same powder charge. bottom line is I've had success with super performance and with H4350 and a 6.5 Creedmoor

In the 6.5 CM I need to add +1 grain of StaBal6.5 to match the velocity of H4350. The 2 to loads preformed the same.