1st Reloads with "New" Setup

[sodaksooner]

Finally, after a few years of owning this press, got a few test rounds for my 300WM loaded up this weekend. With all the pandemic related shortages of primers, powder, bullets, etc, I finally horse traded and cobbled together enough supplies to get some loads ready.

It's been 20 years since I have reloaded anything personally, normally just relying on my dad to load up what I needed.

Couple of observations.

1. First time using a polisher. Don't mix the cleaner with the media, at least not as much as I did. Much better results and easier cleanup without.
2. Plenty of lube on sizing die. Wrecked a case as I got in a hurry and didn't lube it properly.
3. Digital scales are much nicer than the beam balance scales!
4. WW cases suck. Primer pocket holes were misaligned on almost all of the 40 cases I had available. Hornady cases were much better. Saving those better cases for later.

Just loaded up 15 test rounds with 69, 71, and 73 grains of IMR4831. 178 grain ELDX. Will see how they shoot and adjust from there.

Overall, I was happy with the results. Will see what the range holds! Time to try out the new chrono with a rifle (works well with bow)

 

[TxLite]

Just loaded up 15 test rounds with 69, 71, and 73 grains of IMR4831. 178 grain ELDX. Will see how they shoot and adjust from there.

Welcome back to the world of reloading.

2 grains between groups is a substantial jump. Seems like a good way to miss a node or find pressure way too quickly. I’d probably load 1gr difference at most. I generally do .5gr on magnums when doing initial development.

 

[sodaksooner]

Welcome back to the world of reloading.

2 grains between groups is a substantial jump. Seems like a good way to miss a node or find pressure way too quickly. I’d probably load 1gr difference at most. I generally do .5gr on magnums when doing initial development.

I was kind of on the fence on this. I went with trying to bracket it a little bit, then going in between. IDK. 73 is listed as max, so will see what the first one looks like pressure wise. Best thing is I can still jump back and load some more up in between. Have plenty of primed cases ready. Might do that actually. You convinced me!

 

[TxLite]

I was kind of on the fence on this. I went with trying to bracket it a little bit, then going in between. IDK. 73 is listed as max, so will see what the first one looks like pressure wise. Best thing is I can still jump back and load some more up in between. Have plenty of primed cases ready. Might do that actually. You convinced me!

That would be the route I would go. Your node may end up being somewhere in between your current set up. Good luck. Looking forward to see how it goes.

 

[sodaksooner]

Yeah, it's really my first time doing any kind of true load development. Dad always just went off the book and as long as it grouped reasonably well he went with it. Figure its a decent rifle. Need to do all i can to do it justice.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

nodes are not real. they're just small sample size noise. safety is a good argument against 2 gr powder charge changes though.

best load development process you'll find is this:

Painless load development (mine)

I have had multiple people ask me to lay out how I do load development being that what I do is different. Since Shaen @Shooter71 just rebarreled a Tikka 595 in 6XC I thought it would be easy to show how I do it. It’s a Master Sporter with a T3 lite profiled 20” barrel- keep in mind it is a T3...

rokslide.com

 

[nobody]

nodes are not real. they're just small sample size noise. safety is a good argument against 2 gr powder charge changes though.

best load development process you'll find is this:

Painless load development (mine)

I have had multiple people ask me to lay out how I do load development being that what I do is different. Since Shaen @Shooter71 just rebarreled a Tikka 595 in 6XC I thought it would be easy to show how I do it. It’s a Master Sporter with a T3 lite profiled 20” barrel- keep in mind it is a T3...

rokslide.com

As supporting evidence, even Hornady will tell you the same thing:

 

[TxLite]

best load development process you'll find is this:

Painless load development (mine)

I have had multiple people ask me to lay out how I do load development being that what I do is different. Since Shaen @Shooter71 just rebarreled a Tikka 595 in 6XC I thought it would be easy to show how I do it. It’s a Master Sporter with a T3 lite profiled 20” barrel- keep in mind it is a T3...

rokslide.com

I guess the concern I’d have with that practice is jumping straight into a max load and hoping for the best. Especially considering the wild load data I’ve had come from Berger for 300prc. That’s generally why I work up.

Form also states that if it doesn’t shoot well he’ll drop it by a grain and try again. Is he not trying to find a node/better shooting charge?

Painless load development (mine)

I have had multiple people ask me to lay out how I do load development being that what I do is different. Since Shaen @Shooter71 just rebarreled a Tikka 595 in 6XC I thought it would be easy to show how I do it. It’s a Master Sporter with a T3 lite profiled 20” barrel- keep in mind it is a T3...

rokslide.com

 

[SDHNTR]

Nodes aside, personally I’m on the fence, I don’t like that big of a leap in powder charge to 73 gr for safety reasons. Good luck with that.

And if you think Hornady brass is good, ADG or Lapua would probably blow your mind.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I guess the concern I’d have with that practice is jumping straight into a max load and hoping for the best. Especially considering the wild load data I’ve had come from Berger for 300prc. That’s generally why I work up.

Form also states that if it doesn’t shoot well he’ll drop it by a grain and try again. Is he not trying to find a node/better shooting charge?

Painless load development (mine)

I have had multiple people ask me to lay out how I do load development being that what I do is different. Since Shaen @Shooter71 just rebarreled a Tikka 595 in 6XC I thought it would be easy to show how I do it. It’s a Master Sporter with a T3 lite profiled 20” barrel- keep in mind it is a T3...

rokslide.com

some experimentation is always needed to find what max is, my deviation from Form's practice is to load up 10 powder charges from for sure safe to over published and shoot in ascending order until pressure shows up. then load a bunch a little below max and get shooting.

considering he says repeatedly he's not a believer in nodes, i'd say no, he's not looking for a node, but a better shooting load. Hornady stated that in their testing as powder charge goes up dispersion increases, and either their external or internal ballistics podcast explained that the likely cause was unburned pieces of powder impacting the base of the bullet after it leaves the barrel.

 

[TxLite]

some experimentation is always needed to find what max is, my deviation from Form's practice is to load up 10 powder charges from for sure safe to over published and shoot in ascending order until pressure shows up. then load a bunch a little below max and get shooting.

considering he says repeatedly he's not a believer in nodes, i'd say no, he's not looking for a node, but a better shooting load. Hornady stated that in their testing as powder charge goes up dispersion increases, and either their external or internal ballistics podcast explained that the likely cause was unburned pieces of powder impacting the base of the bullet after it leaves the barrel.

I might have to give this method a shot and see how it goes. I usually just seat to the bt junction like he mentioned and then load in .5gr increments and shoot groups. Then I’ll reshoot the best charge weight and typically it holds about the same size. I don’t play with seating depth or varying .1gr, so it’s not very extensive but it has given me good results. I’m interested to see how form’s method plays out in my rifles.

 

[Thinkingman]

Funny....I was dipping powder from an identical can of IMR4831 this weekend.
Also, I had never realized primer holes offcenter but learned using the handprimer, small rotations of the case helped me find the primer pocket with less resistance.

 

[sodaksooner]

Nodes aside, personally I’m on the fence, I don’t like that big of a leap in powder charge to 73 gr for safety reasons. Good luck with that.

And if you think Hornady brass is good, ADG or Lapua would probably blow your mind.

So hard to find though. At least the primer holes in the hornady lined up and were consistent.

 

[sodaksooner]

Funny....I was dipping powder from an identical can of IMR4831 this weekend.
Also, I had never realized primer holes offcenter but learned using the handprimer, small rotations of the case helped me find the primer pocket with less resistance.

I stole it from my brother before it was back on the shelves, well we horsetraded for it. Then I found another 1 lb container later. I like the cans better than the plastic they have now. Old school I guess.

I don't know if the off center holes make that much difference, but with my background, there was a lot of variation which can't be great!

 

[TxLite]

So hard to find though

ADG 300 Win Mag Brass

Product Information: Cartridge: 300 Winchester Magnum, 300 Win Mag Finish: Brass (Standard) Condition: New Quantity: 50 Primed: No Primer Size: Large Primer Pocket *This is not loaded ammunition.

www.bluecollarreloading.com

In stock and ready to go

Edit to add- when I went from Hornady to ADG in my 7 rem mag, my load data remained the same and my velocity went from 2856fps to 2970fps with a 168 Berger.

 

[SDHNTR]

ADG 300 Win Mag Brass

Product Information: Cartridge: 300 Winchester Magnum, 300 Win Mag Finish: Brass (Standard) Condition: New Quantity: 50 Primed: No Primer Size: Large Primer Pocket *This is not loaded ammunition.

www.bluecollarreloading.com

In stock and ready to go

Edit to add- when I went from Hornady to ADG in my 7 rem mag, my load data remained the same and my velocity went from 2856fps to 2970fps with a 168 Berger.

ADG is a lot thicker walled. Less capacity. Do not just switch brass. This could have caused a very dangerous situation as there was obviously a large increase in pressure. Start low and work back up. When I changed from Hornady to ADG in my .300 wsm I dropped one whole grain of powder and kept the same velocity.

 

[TxLite]

ADG is a lot thicker walled. Less capacity. Do not just switch brass. This could have caused a very dangerous situation as there was obviously a large increase in pressure. Start low and work back up. When I changed from Hornady to ADG in my .300 wsm I dropped one whole grain of powder and kept the same velocity.

I guess I should’ve mentioned that. I did work up but ended up at the same spot.