Need reloading help

What did you test with your 50 fire formed brass?

As a new Reloader, I test seating depth while fire forming brass. I will also do basic powder charge weights. I then tweak powder charge with fired brass, and if needed I will play with final seating depth to shape group.

If I were you with only 2-3 range trips, I'd load at SAAMI length and do a powder charge work up in .3 grain increments. Choose the best one or two groups and verify those loads on the next trip.

Good luck,
Steve
Honestly... with a premium barrel inside of 300yds, you could probably just pick a random charge weight from the book and be accurate enough to hit vitals inside of that range. You are seriously overthinking this.

In all seriousness though, since range is short relatively speaking, just do a simple charge weight ladder centered on the Nosler book "most accurate" charge weight for the powder/bullet, load 1-2rds each in .3gr increments and shoot with the chrono on looking for velocity flat spots. This will identify the most accurate "node" for your rifle/bullet/powder combo. This may not immediately print the tightest group but should have the best SD/ES. The group can be tuned later with seating depth adjustments when you get back.

Once you have that decided, load enough to Chrono 5 and have enough leftover for zeroing the rifle and then hunting with.

When you get back and have more time, thats when you focus on fine tuning for seating depth and ultimate accuracy. Don't try and get it all done in limited time, you'll rush and be unhappy with the results.
 
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In a time crunch, I like to do at least the following.
Start at a 20 thou jump. Do a pressure workup test. I'd suggest .5 grains with the Magneto attached shooting at the same target with the same POA. Find max and the "safe max". You should see how the rounds group relative to the powder increments (at 100 yards).
For range day two, load 3 rounds at 0.3 grain increments several above and below the safe max. Shoot for best groups at 100 yards. Pick the best one and call it a day. I say this gets most of my guns shooting to 75% of their potential or better.
A third range day would be required to get drop data to confirm velocity.
 
Load in .5 increments min to max, 3 of each. Strap on the magneto speed, and shoot them at paper. Look for velocity flat spots (And ES), and group Size to a lesser extent. For all the rifles I load for, I get POI change with the MS, but group size still gives a pretty good representation. Pick the best of those, if it meets your needs, done. If not quite good enough, load .2 or .3 different in both directions. You could load enough of those at home and seat them at the long end, and only then just bring what you need to seat them deeper at the range If you need to tweak seating depth to get accuracy with your best powder charge. That should get it done in 2 trips.
 
I am mainly looking for an abbreviated method of finding a load. I highly recommend doing your research and learning as much as you can before you start loading. Ive been loading for years but being in a time crunch is a new situation for me. I am by no means an expert even after years of loading. Always learning. Good luck to you when you get started.

I had to do this once. Reviewed "most accurate loads" in several manuals and worked up three rounds at each of 12 increments of 0.2 grains. 36 total rounds. Shot for groups, monitored velocities. Shot it "round robin," one string at a time and this narrowed it down really well. Had to tweak later of course but got the job done. Good luck!
 
Start with the fastest powder in the nosler book or the most accurate.... whichever you are interested in most , shoot a ladder to look fore nodes & find a safe max so you are learning something about the load while finding max. Then load what you need for your hunt at or rite close to max , maybe even rite in the middle of your highest node and go hunting . You could take the worst load you could probably find and still get the job done just fine out to a 300 yard max . So it shoots a 3-4" group instead of 1 1/2"-2" @ 300 yards w/a 40 FPS ES , o well , dead is dead .Don't put extra pressure on yourself to fine a complete load work up by then , I don't think it's necessary, focus on getting all the other details ironed out for your hunt and spend extra time practicing with new above load . Then continue with load development and seating testing when you get home !! Good luck !
 
Ok heres the deal, I have two weeks to get a load together for a rifle that traditionally has given me fits in terms of reloading. Max range for the upcoming hunt will probably be 300 or less. Gun in question is Ruger Mk II in 257 Rob AI. It has a new quality barrel hence the AI and less than 50 rounds through it.

What is the quickest most efficient way to iron out a load in your opinion? I am open to suggestions because in the past I have never been under time constraints to find a load and needless to say it wasn't done in a timely fashion. For what its worth, I have some fire formed winchester brass, 1x fired, and non fire formed Nosler brass. Only have access to a 200 yard range for the next two weeks and a limited time to be at it, maybe 2-3 trips max. I have a magnetospeed for data collection as well.

What would be your methodology if you were in my position?
Shoot an Audette ladder, don't worry about the crony until you find your load.
 
Honestly... with a premium barrel inside of 300yds, you could probably just pick a random charge weight from the book and be accurate enough to hit vitals inside of that range. You are seriously overthinking this.

In all seriousness though, since range is short relatively speaking, just do a simple charge weight ladder centered on the Nosler book "most accurate" charge weight for the powder/bullet, load 1-2rds each in .3gr increments and shoot with the chrono on looking for velocity flat spots. This will identify the most accurate "node" for your rifle/bullet/powder combo. This may not immediately print the tightest group but should have the best SD/ES. The group can be tuned later with seating depth adjustments when you get back.

Once you have that decided, load enough to Chrono 5 and have enough leftover for zeroing the rifle and then hunting with.

When you get back and have more time, thats when you focus on fine tuning for seating depth and ultimate accuracy. Don't try and get it all done in limited time, you'll rush and be unhappy with the results.
Agree with this ^^^100% unless the OP has unlimited time to dedicate over the next 2 weeks. I've always gotten very frustrated with trying to do a load development on a time crunch. Reloading and rushing just don't mix well. Stay safe and good luck.
 
I can try and help with Quick Load. Give me the following :-
1. Propellant and proposed charge
2. Bullet to be used
3. Barrel measured from muzzle to cocked bolt - cleaning rod works great - mm or inches.
4. Case capacity measured with water - weigh empty case and then fill with water to level with case mouth. Weight in grains and do about five to get average.
5. Planned COL and jump to the lands - with cup and core I suggest 1mm = 0.04inch. This ensures that the cartridge will chamber. With that COL will there be 0,8x.257 of the bullet touching the case neck and the third proviso is will it fit in the magazine.

Give me that info and I will propose a load. That needs to be shot over a chrony (5m from muzzle if normal light chrony). Speed and charge can then be used to calculate a node speed. That will mean another visit to the range to verify the new charge and speed.
 
IMHO, there is much good advice on this site. my preference is:
  1. I would establish 20 thou off of the lands
  2. Use Magneto speed to establish nodes with lowest ES-SD
    1. especially if you can find three loads with low and close ES-SD's, chose the middle one.
    2. this should give you stability in varying temps.
  3. once you find your load node
  4. tune with seating depth in .002-.003 increments.
    1. if you find three depths with groups you are pleased with,
    2. chose the closest depth closest to the lands
    3. the theory here is that if / as you realize throat erosion the next longer depths will still be accurate, or
    4. to retune you only have to re-seat to fine tune the accuracy seating depth.
    5. your powder load is still low ES-SD and that should not change.
good luck,
 
Ok heres the deal, I have two weeks to get a load together for a rifle that traditionally has given me fits in terms of reloading. Max range for the upcoming hunt will probably be 300 or less. Gun in question is Ruger Mk II in 257 Rob AI. It has a new quality barrel hence the AI and less than 50 rounds through it.

What is the quickest most efficient way to iron out a load in your opinion? I am open to suggestions because in the past I have never been under time constraints to find a load and needless to say it wasn't done in a timely fashion. For what its worth, I have some fire formed winchester brass, 1x fired, and non fire formed Nosler brass. Only have access to a 200 yard range for the next two weeks and a limited time to be at it, maybe 2-3 trips max. I have a magnetospeed for data collection as well.

What would be your methodology if you were in my position?

Lots of good advise, but many are time consuming, which you have a limit on. To me, simple is best when under a time constraint.

If it were me, I'd find me the best Hornady factory load I could find (or two) and start there. Most Hornady factory loads I've tried are at least 1" MOA or sometimes better.

For example...my 243 shoots a Hornady factory round less than 1/4"...(.1796" is the average from the last 3 groups) So why bother to reload this caliber, I said. I reload other calibers to order to get my goal of a 1/4" average, but not my 243.
 
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