seating depth or charge weight first?

[31incher]

Ok... so I spent the day at the range. I tried 5 different primers testing the ES. The best one I came up with was winchester large rifle primers. The es was 20 but the groups opened up to a little over a inch at a 100 yards. The velocity was a little lower than expected. At 70.0 grains it's going about 2920 to 2900 fps. What would be your next step? I'm think about trying some more powder test and seeing if I can get my ES a little lower . What do ya think?

 

[Hognuts]

Ok... so I spent the day at the range. I tried 5 different primers testing the ES. The best one I came up with was winchester large rifle primers. The es was 20 but the groups opened up to a little over a inch at a 100 yards. The velocity was a little lower than expected. At 70.0 grains it's going about 2920 to 2900 fps. What would be your next step? I'm think about trying some more powder test and seeing if I can get my ES a little lower . What do ya think?

This is a procedure that I got from a technician at Benchmark Barrels for load development:

1.)Load up several different charge weights going up in .2 grain increments starting at a safe point for your rifle.

2.)Shoot groups with these different charge weights, ignoring group sizes just watching how the groups are clustering. Go until you see "horizontal stringing" which is an indicator of pressure.

3.)Back off the load 1.5 - 2 grains and use that as a starting point and load up several at each charge weight in .2 grain increments. Shoot groups with that, through a chrono, again not paying attention to group size, and find the load with the smallest muzzle velocity deviation.

4.)adjust OAL to get your group size where you want it.

Again that is from a reputable source and admittedly I have never followed that from a-z, but its definitely seemed to make sense. (maybe some day when I have a house where I can shoot in the back yard and go back inside to load up the next batch, I will revisit.)

I usually just find a load powder wise that doesn't show pressure signs and gives me an acceptable velocity for the round that I'm shooting and then adjust OAL to help with group size. Only one rifle has really given me fits trying to find a load, my 6.5 SAUM was a picky SOB, I ended up with .063" of jump before it would shoot like I expected it to. (finally found it with Berger's jump test) Running the 130 HVLD's at 3250 fps in that bad boy.... Good luck on your quest!!!

Here is a joke I heard awhile back that sums up my situation at home when I am working on load development on a rifle:

Her Diary:

Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing.' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed.

About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.

His Diary:

Rifle not shooting sub-minute, wonder what the hell is wrong.

 

[31incher]

Thanks for the reply hog. It definitely makes sense. I think I'm gonna start from square one. That way I don't waste anymore components. I'm gonna start with .01 off the lands then load some up from 69 to 71 grains every half grain or so while checking es. Hopefully one has a es below 10 then adjust seating depth from there. I'm gonna stick with the wlr primers as they are ones that showed the most promise today.

 

[rsnell]

Check the Berger web page. I determine the powder charge first. Since you are using Berger bullets, start with the bullet seated about 0 .10 inch to 0.15 inches of the lands. Berger VLD bullets require a long jump for the best accuracy.

Bob

 

[Mikecr]

rsnell, you should read this thread by Berger:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...accuracy-berger-vld-bullets-your-rifle-40204/