Bullets question

[AZkiller]

Wow...I learned something today

[Upland81]

Twist is hardly ever the issue with any .30 cal rifle they're extremely forgiving but issues with seating depth are more than likely the problem. I am sure any of the bullets you listed will be good choices. Even though you have a good load at 180 with a primer I still would pick a bullet and work with different powder primer combos and seating depth. If you compare the nosler book to steves page which is pretty much the sierra book one lists federals the other lists winchester with the 200gr bullet. The fun part of loading is test loads.

[maximus]

the berger manuals ask you to try different seating dephts,

for hunting loads:

0.010 off lands

0.050 off lands

0.090 off lands

0.130 off lands

but they don't tell you if is at lowest powder load or somewhere in between, at what powder loads would you start?

at the minimum and see what groups best and work from there?

thanks for the help.

[firstcoueswas80]

Easiest way would be a ladder test for powder charge only. Start at minimum ads with up to max in half grain increments. Where you have clusters of where you will find the accuracy.

[lancetkenyon]

Make sure you shoot a ladder test at a minimum of 400 yards though. MUCH easier to see distinct nodes. You should have 2-3 that are the same elevation high on the target, and 2-3 that are low on the target. That means the bullets are leaving at the top or bottom of the barrel flex.

 

When I do my ladder tests, I load one round for each charge weight starting about +25% between min and max loads, and work up to about 2 grains ABOVE max. (Only YOUR gun can tell you what its max is, and books are notoriously light on loads due to morons who load way too hot and blow up a gun, CYA you know) I always use my COAL with the bullet jammed .0010". That way, no matter what I do later on in load development, I will never have higher pressures than during my ladder test as long as I don't load hotter than my determined max load. Start my shooting with the low rounds, and work my way up slowly. At the first sign of pressure, I stop and do not shoot any loads that are hotter.