Ronald W Schaefer
Well-Known Member
I go about this a little differently--after 40 years of personal experience I adopted this technique from a gunsmith who is a also a competition bench rest shooter and LR shooter...builds some great custom rifles too. The primary assumption of this technique is that bullet selection is the key factor in load development.
1. Pick the bullets you want to try best suited to your purpose and weight you want to shoot. If I'm working up a hunting load, I include, Barnes TTSX, Barnes LRX, Sierra Game Changer, Nosler Accubond/Nos ABLR, Nos Partition, Swift A Frame and Federal Trophy Bonded. If the focus is on LR, then Im sure to add those LR/X prospects with highest BC and known good terminal performance on game. A lot of guys on this site would also throw in Berger and Hammer bullets.
2. Pick a powder load out of an agnostic manual that features the bullet style and weight you are testing (Lyman, Modern Metallic Cartridge's) or Quick Load or Load From a Disc software. Choose a powder that gives the highest velocity of those listed in about a 92% loading density. Caveat, I avoid compressed loads a this point because you need to keep it safe for the various bullets you are gonna try.
3. Use the best new or once fired brass you have (all the same brand) and a good quality primer (I always use CCI BR-2). I'm lazy--I usually just splash out for new ADG, Lapua, Nosler Custom etc., depending on what I can get in the cartridge and be done with it.
4. Load five of each of the bullets seated to SAAMI max OAL (or what functions in your magazine) using the selected powder & LD combo. Shoot the bullets over a chrony and select the one with the best group. This will also *usually* be accompanied by lowest ES and SD but not always.
5. Then load 10 cartridges using that powder, brass, bullet, primer combo for a Satterlee ladder test, beginning at 5% below max and working up to max in .2 gr increments to find accuracy nodes. Of course you can go over max with no pressure sign but that is a personal choice. By the way if you want to work over max without another trip to the range, there is no requirement to limit you ladder test to 10 rounds.
6. Load five in the middle of the accuracy node using your selected components and you should be pretty close.
7. If further adjustments are needed, then adjust seating depth last since that is bullet dependent and you have to select that bullet before you can figure best seating depth.
1. Pick the bullets you want to try best suited to your purpose and weight you want to shoot. If I'm working up a hunting load, I include, Barnes TTSX, Barnes LRX, Sierra Game Changer, Nosler Accubond/Nos ABLR, Nos Partition, Swift A Frame and Federal Trophy Bonded. If the focus is on LR, then Im sure to add those LR/X prospects with highest BC and known good terminal performance on game. A lot of guys on this site would also throw in Berger and Hammer bullets.
2. Pick a powder load out of an agnostic manual that features the bullet style and weight you are testing (Lyman, Modern Metallic Cartridge's) or Quick Load or Load From a Disc software. Choose a powder that gives the highest velocity of those listed in about a 92% loading density. Caveat, I avoid compressed loads a this point because you need to keep it safe for the various bullets you are gonna try.
3. Use the best new or once fired brass you have (all the same brand) and a good quality primer (I always use CCI BR-2). I'm lazy--I usually just splash out for new ADG, Lapua, Nosler Custom etc., depending on what I can get in the cartridge and be done with it.
4. Load five of each of the bullets seated to SAAMI max OAL (or what functions in your magazine) using the selected powder & LD combo. Shoot the bullets over a chrony and select the one with the best group. This will also *usually* be accompanied by lowest ES and SD but not always.
5. Then load 10 cartridges using that powder, brass, bullet, primer combo for a Satterlee ladder test, beginning at 5% below max and working up to max in .2 gr increments to find accuracy nodes. Of course you can go over max with no pressure sign but that is a personal choice. By the way if you want to work over max without another trip to the range, there is no requirement to limit you ladder test to 10 rounds.
6. Load five in the middle of the accuracy node using your selected components and you should be pretty close.
7. If further adjustments are needed, then adjust seating depth last since that is bullet dependent and you have to select that bullet before you can figure best seating depth.