When do you pull the plug?

[SippyCup]

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.

I’ve never changed primers in load development before. Internet reading showed some chance of hope so I tried it. Not a giant sample size but enough to know it wasn’t the fix. And for the brass it was the same thing. I was using hornady brass from the fired factory offerings. I tired a small sample with the Petersen brass I have to know that wasn’t a solution either.
I’m going use a different bullet. The eld-vt are looking like they’re giving a lot of people headaches.

 

[SippyCup]

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


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Sierra has a 69 gr SVK that’s they just announced. I’m going to try those when they hit the shelves. In the mean time maybe try a different powder

 

[Billogna]

It seems like you know very very quick if it’s gonna work or no

This is the beauty of this particular method. A bullet/powder combo either shoots or it doesn't.

 

[mtnbound]

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.

I don’t chase seating depth to get a load to work.
I pick a powder, a bullet, and load to listed COAL or max magazine allowed length. I typically load just below listed max using different sets of reloading data for reference and load 3, drop down .4-.5gr and load 3, drop .4-.5gr again and load 3. I shoot from low to high looking for signs of pressure, velocity and group size.
If I find one load I like, I load 20 and shoot for a group.
If I do not like what I am seeing then I change powder and repeat. If I can’t get a bullet to do what I want with 2 different powders I pick a new bullet.
You can can waste a lot of time chasing BS, if a load is going to work it’s gonna work.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I would of quit when I had the factory ammo that shot under 1”

 

[SippyCup]

I would of quit when I had the factory ammo that shot under 1

I probably should have but my ego was telling me I could makeup something better

 

[SippyCup]

I don’t chase seating depth to get a load to work.
I pick a powder, a bullet, and load to listed COAL or max magazine allowed length. I typically load just below listed max using different sets of reloading data for reference and load 3, drop down .4-.5gr and load 3, drop .4-.5gr again and load 3. I shoot from low to high looking for signs of pressure, velocity and group size.
If I find one load I like, I load 20 and shoot for a group.
If I do not like what I am seeing then I change powder and repeat. If I can’t get a bullet to do what I want with 2 different powders I pick a new bullet.
You can can waste a lot of time chasing BS, if a load is going to work it’s gonna work.

I’ve only been into reloading for about 5-6 years. Now that I’m thinking of it most of my trusted load are about 1- .5 grains below book max. There’s only been one occasion where playing with seating depth made an actual difference. That’s one time in 20-25 loads that I feel confident in. I might be time to give that experiment up.
I have found my best accuracy at .020- .040 jump so moving forward I’m going to try loading .030” jump or mag length and no mess with it anymore.

 

[nuffgun]

We tried like hell to get that 62 eldvt to shoot out of a buddies Howa mini in 22arc…. No dice. We tried multiple seating depths and powder charges with leverrevolution, cfe 223, H335 and accurate 2520. It simply would not shoot. We then moved on to the 75 ELDM with basically the same lackluster results. Tried the 88 eldm as a last ditch effort and viola, MOA 10 shot groups. We were able to step on the gas a little bit (alpha brass) and ended up right at 3000 fps. That load is a deadly combo that is nipping at the heels of a 22 creedmoor with the 88 eldm and same length barrel.

 

[mtnbound]

I’ve only been into reloading for about 5-6 years. Now that I’m thinking of it most of my trusted load are about 1- .5 grains below book max. There’s only been one occasion where playing with seating depth made an actual difference. That’s one time in 20-25 loads that I feel confident in. I might be time to give that experiment up.
I have found my best accuracy at .020- .040 jump so moving forward I’m going to try loading .030” jump or mag length and no mess with it anymore.

I have spent too much time and components trying to get a bullet to work; it just pissed me off, and I didn't want to give up. I got it to work, but then I realized I had 3 other loads that took 10 rounds to develop, and the light bulb went off in my head, and I was pissed again, but I learned an important lesson.

If I were a high-level shooting competitor going against other high-level shooters, I might spend a bit more time on seating depths, because at that level, anything that might give me an advantage might be worth it, but that's not me. I want to spend less time playing with reloading and more time shooting.

 

[MT762]

Just piling on here, but swap powders before you do anything else.

You can often tell how much a bullet likes a powder (in one particular rifle) by the overall dispersion as you're working up the load. When a bullet loves a powder, even with charges that vary by several grains, the bullets are often landing in the same place on the target. Ie you're shooting an "okay" group even with hugely differing powder charges.

When a bullet doesn't love the powder you're using, impacts tend to be all over when you're working up the load. You get one or two "okay" loads, but all the other loads suck. Once I see this, if I really love the powder, I'll give it one more try radically changing seating depth

 

[JFK]

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 If you download the Hornady reloading app and buy the 22 Arc bolt gun data for 99 cents it gives you more bullet/powder combinations than the pdf they publish online.

I’ve had good luck Varget and Staball Match. This was with heavier bullets.

The Hornady reloading app lets you buy 22ARC bolt gun data for 99 cents and it has more info than the pdf they publish online. More bullet/powder combinations.

Have you checked the freebore in your rifle? I normally don’t tinker with seating depth but my 22 arc bolt gun had freebore to load a lot longer. Book col had me at .080-.120 off lands so I never even messed with book
length. Everything has shot good to great at .020-.050 off lands and both loads I’ve worked up are longer than book length.

 

[SippyCup]

We tried like hell to get that 62 eldvt to shoot out of a buddies Howa mini in 22arc…. No dice. We tried multiple seating depths and powder charges with leverrevolution, cfe 223, H335 and accurate 2520. It simply would not shoot. We then moved on to the 75 ELDM with basically the same lackluster results. Tried the 88 eldm as a last ditch effort and viola, MOA 10 shot groups. We were able to step on the gas a little bit (alpha brass) and ended up right at 3000 fps. That load is a deadly combo that is nipping at the heels of a 22 creedmoor with the 88 eldm and same length barrel.

If the 88 gr is the only load you have give the 68gr bthp a look. Those over Varget was an effortless load development. Thanks for the insight in the fast powders for the 62eldvts. From what I’m seeing on here and a couple other places guys are having a hard time in general with that bullet. I’d like to use it but I’d rather not chase my tail trying 3-4 different powders to find a decent load.
I have Petersen brass that I’m saving for my 88gr eldms. What powder annd primers are you using to get you those speeds?

 

[SippyCup]

I’ve had good luck Varget and Staball Match. This was with heavier bullets.

The Hornady reloading app lets you buy 22ARC bolt gun data for 99 cents and it has more info than the pdf they publish online. More bullet/powder combinations.

Have you checked the freebore in your rifle? I normally don’t tinker with seating depth but my 22 arc bolt gun had freebore to load a lot longer. Book col had me at .080-.120 off lands so I never even messed with book
length. Everything has shot good to great at .020-.050 off lands and both loads I’ve worked up are longer than book length.

All I have is their free pdf. Sierra has a pretty decent downloadable file as well.
My freebore is pretty long as well. The closest I could get the eldvts while still being able to use the factory mag was about .050” off. At that length it was real tight in the mag and could have had issues if the gun got rattled around a bit. I never did try closer cuz I have no interest in single feeding. My book coal was right around .100” off.
How temp stable have you found staball match to be? I sounds like it meters a hell of a lot better than the Varget does and it’s a little cheaper too.