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My very first load development #5942470 09/23/15 02:31 PM
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Bear with me as I'm a noob to reloading and this was my very first batch of anything.

I swapped some scopes around over the summer and it was slightly windy the day I zeroed it, resulting in the bullets hitting to the left slightly. I didn't touch the scope yesterday while out shooting, as I only wanted the best grouping.

I loaded up 5 different powder charges with 5 bullets each, and 1 more powder charge with 4 (ran out of that brand of brass). All brass was from spent factory loaded Winchester and trimmed to the same length. COAL in all were the same as well.

Gun: Remington 700 BDL 22-250 w/ Redfield 3-9x50
Bullet: Sierra 55gr. Spitzer
Powder: H380
Target: 100 yards
5 Bullets on each powder charge. 4 bullets on very last charge.

I wont go into which groups had what powder charges, unless someone wants me to.

First pic: Top left was 3 factory rounds. The rest were 5 shots each that I loaded.


Second Target. Disregard the center target. This was my 30-06 with factory. The rest were all my loads. Top Right target was the load with only 4 bullets, but is the best load I found.




4 shots and tried to center calipers

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5942496 09/23/15 02:41 PM
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Very nice - I'd say you found your load!

IMO, only way to get it any tighter would be to put a black dot in the middle of the red target center to aim at (your group is already the size of the target center!) AND a little higher power scope to see the dot (about a 12x in my experience)!

Good Job!

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5942501 09/23/15 02:44 PM
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Nice shooting up


It's hell eatin em live
Re: My very first load development [Re: oldoak2000] #5942522 09/23/15 02:56 PM
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Originally Posted By: oldoak2000
Very nice - I'd say you found your load!

IMO, only way to get it any tighter would be to put a black dot in the middle of the red target center to aim at (your group is already the size of the target center!) AND a little higher power scope to see the dot (about a 12x in my experience)!

Good Job!


Thanks guys.

It would have been nice to have a little more scope for sure. This was just an older scope I used to have on my 30-06. Once the 06 upgraded to a Viper vortex pst 4-16, this one got passed down to my wife's gun. I just picked up used Vortex viper pst 6-24 for a build, and once my big scope shows up for it, it may get put on this 22-250.

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5943149 09/23/15 09:54 PM
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Nice work, congratulations and welcome to the insanity !!! up

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5943694 09/24/15 03:12 AM
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Bottom left ain't bad either.

You should share the model of gun and all the specs of the load though.

Thanks for sharing good job!


Pass the gravy.


Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5943790 09/24/15 04:21 AM
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Welcome to the fun world of reloading. Some nice results


lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true
Mainstream news might be fun to watch
Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5944035 09/24/15 01:23 PM
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Thanks yall. GazGuzzler, the gun was posted in the first post, but here it is again.

Gun: Remington 700 BDL 22-250 1:14 twist, w/ Redfield Revolution 3-9x50 with 4-Plex reticle
Bullet: Sierra 55gr. Spitzer
Powder: H380
Target: 100 yards
5 Bullets on each powder charge. 4 bullets on very last charge.
I went in increments of .2 grains in each set of 5.

I went through some trial and error on case length and COAL to get the bolt to close, but finally ended with:
Case length- 1.904"
C.O.A.L.- 2.346"

I DO NOT have a chronograph, so MV is unknown currently. Based solely off of Sierra's manual, the MV should be:
3400 MV - 34.2
3500 MV - 35.4
3600 MV - 36.7
3700 MV - 38.0

Pic 1:
Top Left - Factory Winchester 55gr PSP
Top Right- 35.6 gr. of h380 (5 shots)
Bottom Left- 35.8 gr (5x)
Bottom Right- 36.0 (5x)
Center - 36.2 (5x)



Second Pic-
Bottom Left - 36.4 grains of H380 (5 shots)
Bottom right - 36.6 (5x)
Top Right - 36.8 grains (4x) - BEST
Center- Irrelevant to my loading. (30-06 Rem 165 gr. Core Lokt)




4 shots and tried to center calipers

[/quote]

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5944328 09/24/15 03:54 PM
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Need to be carful using book mv because a lot of times they will use really long barrels to improve numbers.

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5944384 09/24/15 04:15 PM
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Correct. Their manual says they used a 1:14 twist, 26" long barrel. Mine is a 24 incher.

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5944644 09/24/15 06:42 PM
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Those are really good groups, the 36.6 should of been close to the 36.8 in groups how long before each set of loads did you let the barrel cool...congrats think you found your load. The looks of some of those groups stringing Rt to Lt can tighten up running out or in off your lands..How far off your Lands are you running, just curious.

Last edited by Branden; 09/24/15 06:46 PM.
Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5947183 09/26/15 03:20 AM
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I want to thank you this post - you have just ruined my life...

I too have just started re-loading - 250 savage and 300 savage...

I just did not want to believe that 0.2gn could really make that much difference in accuracy !

Seeing is believing - back to the drawing board - Thanks a bunch - LOL

Last edited by Chris & Zale; 09/26/15 03:21 AM.

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Re: My very first load development [Re: Chris & Zale] #5947200 09/26/15 03:37 AM
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Originally Posted By: Chris & Zale
I want to thank you this post - you have just ruined my life...

I too have just started re-loading - 250 savage and 300 savage...

I just did not want to believe that 0.2gn could really make that much difference in accuracy !

Seeing is believing - back to the drawing board - Thanks a bunch - LOL


.2 won't matter in medium to large straight wall pistol so Find a Ruger .357 or .44 and load away.


Pass the gravy.


Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5947621 09/26/15 03:20 PM
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Only interested in loading 250 savage and 300 savage !


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Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5947656 09/26/15 03:53 PM
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I never would have thought such an incremental amount of the same powder would make such a big difference in accuracy, with a given cartridge and bullet. Nice work.

Last edited by Regular Guy; 09/26/15 04:03 PM.
Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5952176 09/29/15 02:13 PM
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It wasn't really on purpose with the .2 gn increments. I was looking at the different powder amounts for the different safe MVs in the book. I picked a fairly middle of the road powder amount, then looked at what max amount, and the .2 increments just fit with the amount of brass I had.

I have learned that I don't like the RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure that came with my RCBS reloading kit. It wasn't very accurate with releasing the same amount of powder each time.

As for the question about measuring off the lands...don't shoot me as I should know this, but I don't know that measurement. I tried a bullet at the recommended coal without primer and powder, and the bolt wouldn't close. Seat it slightly deeper, same result. I did this until the bolt would close without having to jamb it down, measured the coal, and used that length for the rest. A bit of trial and error until I found what would work. All brass was trimmed to the same length, all bullets were seated the same depth, and I made sure each bullet would chamber.

Re: My very first load development [Re: GasGuzzler] #5952364 09/29/15 03:36 PM
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Originally Posted By: GasGuzzler
.2 won't matter in medium to large straight wall pistol so Find a Ruger .357 or .44 and load away.


That is correct, as you won't hit anything at all at 200 or 300 yards ; cartridge might as well be empty roflmao

Re: My very first load development [Re: oldoak2000] #5953288 09/30/15 12:23 AM
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Originally Posted By: oldoak2000
Originally Posted By: GasGuzzler
.2 won't matter in medium to large straight wall pistol so Find a Ruger .357 or .44 and load away.


That is correct, as you won't hit anything at all at 200 or 300 yards ; cartridge might as well be empty roflmao


You can't hit ANYTHING from 200 yds with a .357? Surely you can hit the ground. banana

I don't have a 200 yd range but I can get to 150 and should be able to hit a milk jug or an elephant.....with cast lead.

My Uniflow has way less than .2 variance as far as I can tell. I don't check every one, just every tenth so maybe it's goofing up in between checks. banana2


Pass the gravy.


Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5953510 09/30/15 01:52 AM
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Originally Posted By: ZK-315


I have learned that I don't like the RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure that came with my RCBS reloading kit. It wasn't very accurate with releasing the same amount of powder each time.



You might want to look into this.

Powders like H380 generally meter very well through most measures, and the UniFlow is no exception. If yours is not that new-fangled quick-change UniFlow, you should be able to get a baffle for it and that will eliminate the variations commonly seen as the hopper is depleted. It's also possible that you're not operating the tool correctly, or it's possible that it's working fine and you just *think* it's not for whatever reason. Whatever the deal is, I am confident that you can get it straightened out with a little help from this board.

BTW...good job on your first loads, and nice shooting.


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Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5954033 09/30/15 01:32 PM
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You may be right, RiverRider. It may just take me messing around with it some more and getting the hang of it, but unlike most things, I did actually read the instructions. lol

Re: My very first load development [Re: ZK-315] #5954241 09/30/15 03:15 PM
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Chargmaster ftw

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