When do you pull the plug?

[SippyCup]

At what point in the process do you guys finally come to the conclusion that a certain combo isn’t going to work?

Here’s what I got going on. Newer 22 arc barreled action dropped in a chassis. All the factory loads I’ve fed it have been less than 1”. I have one solid hand load that give me consistent 3/4” at 100 yards. The guns accurate.
I just gave up on a combo with 62gr. ELD-VT over a bed of Varget. I tried different brass, different primers, after doing ladder loads that’s showed little to no potential. I eventually found a combo that gave me 1.5” group but it was all vertical spacing. Leading up to this point the groups were 2-3 inches with no consistency. I took the 1.5” vertical group combo and tried a seating depth test doing .010” increments from mag length all the way to .100” jump. My starting point was .040” jump.
After the seating depth test I decided to give up on this combo. I’ve never not struck gold with Varget but there’s a first time for everything.

 

[Luked]

Did you try a different powder with the same bullet?
Nothing wrong with Varget as I use quite a bit of it too. But could just be something that your combo doesn't like much.

 

[SippyCup]

Did you try a different powder with the same bullet?
Nothing wrong with Varget as I use quite a bit of it too. But could just be something that your combo doesn't like much.

I’m going to try staball match next. I was really hoping to find something with Varget cuz it temp stable and I have a few pounds on hand

 

[Billogna]

Thread 'Painless load development (mine)'

Oct 25, 2021

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 LITE barrel. So by conventional “wisdom” it should be more picky and less accurate than a heavy barrel. His work is shoddy (), but I bet I can overcome it.

The rifle-


First was @Unknown Munitions factory load with 105gr Berger Hybrids. 5 rounds to zero, 5 for a...

• Formidilosus
• Replies: 1,261
• Forum: Reloading

• 
• 

This thread has saved me SO much time and money chasing my tail, and wasting components. It's definitely worth a read!

 

[khart_6882]

If you have one solid hand load that gives you 3/4” groups then why are you still experimenting?

 

[Schmo]

I’m going to try staball match next. I was really hoping to find something with Varget cuz it temp stable and I have a few pounds on hand

Try a VV powder in the same burn rate as Varget.

 

[Luked]

Forms write up on how he does his development is really interesting.
I was skeptical. but it 100% works.
The thing that got me as Form says. if he knows what powder and bullet he wants to use thats what he uses. If it dosent work he changes.
If I were in your shoes I would try a different powder if that bullet is what you are set on using.

And also, as said above. If you have one load that works great. What bullet and powder are you using for it?
Is the bullet much different than the 62 ELD-VT that you are having issues with?

 

[Judd]

As soon as you think that thought...cut bait. I wasted a bunch of components on a 6.5x47 barrel once and the important lesson it taught me was to cut bait sooner and not attempt to force feed stuff.

 

[SippyCup]

Try a VV powder in the same burn rate as Varget.

Should I go with the n100 series of the n500 series?

 

[SippyCup]

As soon as you think that thought...cut bait. I wasted a bunch of components on a 6.5x47 barrel once and the important lesson it taught me was to cut bait sooner and not attempt to force feed stuff.

That’s what this is teaching me. Generally I’ll have a sub moa grouping with just the ladder loads

 

[SippyCup]

If you have one solid hand load that gives you 3/4” groups then why are you still experimenting?

The solid one is with a 68gr bthp match bullet. I’m trying to develop a load with a varmint bullet. Sierra just released a 69 gr tvk that’s got me really interested. I might wait until those are available since 100 bullets is cheaper than a pound of powder

 

[SippyCup]

Forms write up on how he does his development is really interesting.
I was skeptical. but it 100% works.
The thing that got me as Form says. if he knows what powder and bullet he wants to use thats what he uses. If it dosent work he changes.
If I were in your shoes I would try a different powder if that bullet is what you are set on using.

And also, as said above. If you have one load that works great. What bullet and powder are you using for it?
Is the bullet much different than the 62 ELD-VT that you are having issues with?

My proven load is with a 68gr bthp. I’m setting these .030 off as and had

Forms write up on how he does his development is really interesting.
I was skeptical. but it 100% works.
The thing that got me as Form says. if he knows what powder and bullet he wants to use thats what he uses. If it dosent work he changes.
If I were in your shoes I would try a different powder if that bullet is what you are set on using.

And also, as said above. If you have one load that works great. What bullet and powder are you using for it?
Is the bullet much different than the 62 ELD-VT that you are having issues with?

The trusted load is a Hornady 68gr bthp with Varget. Ive done very limited experimenting with an 88gr eldm over Varget as well and had great results too. I only go about 10 of those so it’s still too small of a sample size to say anything about.

 

[SippyCup]

Thread 'Painless load development (mine)'

Oct 25, 2021

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 LITE barrel. So by conventional “wisdom” it should be more picky and less accurate than a heavy barrel. His work is shoddy (), but I bet I can overcome it.

The rifle-


First was @Unknown Munitions factory load with 105gr Berger Hybrids. 5 rounds to zero, 5 for a...

• Formidilosus
• Replies: 1,261
• Forum: Reloading

• 
• 

This thread has saved me SO much time and money chasing my tail, and wasting components. It's definitely worth a read!

Very interesting. Keeping it simple is the easiest sometimes. I thought that somehow I’d be able to squeeze out a decent load with tweaking seating depths. It’s not always a sure fire method but I have seen loads tighten up significantly doing so. Back to this article. It seems like you know very very quick if it’s gonna work or no

 

[Schmo]

Should I go with the n100 series of the n500 series?

Either.

Very interesting. Keeping it simple is the easiest sometimes. I thought that somehow I’d be able to squeeze out a decent load with tweaking seating depths. It’s not always a sure fire method but I have seen loads tighten up significantly doing so. Back to this article. It seems like you know very very quick if it’s gonna work or no

Yeah, if preliminary loads don’t shoot well, change bullet/powder and try again. Changing primers, seating depth, powder charge by .1 or .3 grs at a time, etc, typically doesn’t change much.

 

[SippyCup]

Either.

Yeah, if preliminary loads don’t shoot well, change bullet/powder and try again. Changing primers, seating depth, powder charge by .1 or .3 grs at a time, etc, typically doesn’t change much.

My issue with the 22arc is there’s not a tremendous amount of published load data on it. Between Hornady, sierra and hogdens I had varying data points for max load. It’s was nothing like the 6.5 or 308.
I went to Cabela’s a couple weeks ago to grab some n530 or n540. Online it said it was in stock, but those bastards we’re lying

 

[Luked]

There are quite a few different places to get some examples on load details for 22 Arc.
I have looked at quite a few as I keep trying to talk myself into or out of building one on an AR platform for predators.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I've had very little luck getting the ELD-VT bullets to shoot across multiple calibers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Fireflyfishing]

I tried different brass, different primers,

I rarely change these two components when developing loads.

For me primers have had very little difference in variances of loads. I like stick to the same box I’ve been rock’n and not think twice. This includes all major brands.

Usually, I can find premium brass for the cartridge I’m working and I stick with that brass. And really, load development shouldn’t occur until you’ve fired it in your chamber a couple times. This is a good way to season your barrel as well.

I do alter my bullet or powder selection to make a good combo. First, I pick a known winner combo and try that. If that doesn’t yield great results, I’ll try a different powder first…this usually fixes the problem. Depending on the chamber and throat, I may mess with seating depth. Then I’m done.

It’s easier to fix problems when you mess with one variable at a time.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

It's been a long time since I had components that just didn't work together, it was with Berger bullets. By the time I got them shooting well I was getting pressure signs so I ditched them.

I've streamlined things over the years an dI only load stuff that I know and I only buy products that I actually know work. H4831sc, H4350, IMR 4831, Varget, Reloader 15

-30-06 (180g AB, 180g PT)
-308 (130g TTSX, 165g AB/PT)
-6.5cm (130g ttsx, 140g ELDM)
-375Hh (260g AB)

 

[Hondo64d]

At what point in the process do you guys finally come to the conclusion that a certain combo isn’t going to work?

Here’s what I got going on. Newer 22 arc barreled action dropped in a chassis. All the factory loads I’ve fed it have been less than 1”. I have one solid hand load that give me consistent 3/4” at 100 yards. The guns accurate.
I just gave up on a combo with 62gr. ELD-VT over a bed of Varget. I tried different brass, different primers, after doing ladder loads that’s showed little to no potential. I eventually found a combo that gave me 1.5” group but it was all vertical spacing. Leading up to this point the groups were 2-3 inches with no consistency. I took the 1.5” vertical group combo and tried a seating depth test doing .010” increments from mag length all the way to .100” jump. My starting point was .040” jump.
After the seating depth test I decided to give up on this combo. I’ve never not struck gold with Varget but there’s a first time for everything.

Nowadays, if one of my rifles doesn’t like a certain bullet/powder combo, I try a different bullet. If that doesn’t work I’ll try a different powder. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try a bullet/powder combo that are known to be universally good shooters in that particular chambering, for example, Varget behind a 168gr SMK IN .308. If it still won’t come around, I try a different barrel. Life is too short to put up with a fussy barrel.

John