I'm doing load development on my 30-378 and need a little direction on where to go from here. I'm using RL33 powder and 196 grain hammer bullets. I'm only shooting at 100 yards because it cold and snowy and that's as far as I can shoot off my back porch. So far, I've done a ladder to find velocity nodes as well as pressure. Here is what I came up with on my velocity test.
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Looks like a velocity node down around 109-109.5 and another at 110.5-11.5. I was really hoping to find a higher node, but ran into pressure, so I stopped. Based on this information, I loaded up 5 rounds at 111 grains with a COAL just short of magazine length. Here is the resulting group.
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I guess with that group, it would be an ok short range Texas deer gun, but I was really hoping to be .5 moa or better. My question is, will playing with seating depth shrink this group to acceptable levels or should I try a different powder? If seating depth is the culprit, which way do I move it, shorter or longer? I prefer to be shorter than magazine length as this will be a hunting rifle, but if longer is necessary, I'm ok with that. I just want to figure out the best course of action in order to use up the least amount of my supplies possible. Any advice?