So yesterday I got out and shot the swift for a bit. I worked up 3 different loads, all with the same components but I varied the powder charge by 1 grain in each 5 round group. They were all pretty good but not one-holers by any means. I think the best 3 shot group measured .430ish and the best 5 shot was .9 something. My question is when you find a load that looks promising, what process do you use to start tweaking it to try to improve it? Do you start with the powder charge and go up or down there, do you start with the OAL length and adjust there or what? For what its worth, the loads were all with H 414 and I adjusted the charge by one grain each.Bullets were 50 grain Hornandy V-max. The OAL's were all the same as were the case lengths and primers.

I do not think you have enough data to conclude that any of the loads are superior. Probability, conditions and shooter performance could easily account for the small differences you are seeing.

If I was in your shoes I'd a) Give thanks to the rifle goddess (Yeah, they're female) and, b) Repeat the test, paying full attention to the bench set-up, conditions, etc.

.430 for 3 and .9 for 5 are more than acceptable, One rifle in a thousand will do that..There is so much BS out there on accurate rifles that it's astounding. Your approaching Bench rest quality.

If I wanted to improve I would probably change powders and bullets but that's a long process and I seriously doubt that you will be able to improve your accuracy and if you do it will only be in millimeters.

1 grain increments in a Swift seems on the large size. Given that you want to play with this a little, start by varying the charge by a smaller increment like .3 or .2gr up and down to see if you get any improvement (although I agree with Ray, with that kind of accuracy you are nit picking). Once you have settled on a powder/charge combination you can try varying the seating depth but again the incremental gains are going to be very hard to quantify given all of the other factors.

I agree with brice, you need more data. First off, you need to see if these groups are repeatsble.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
.430 for 3 and .9 for 5 are more than acceptable, One rifle in a thousand will do that..There is so much BS out there on accurate rifles that it's astounding. Your approaching Bench rest quality.

If I wanted to improve I would probably change powders and bullets but that's a long process and I seriously doubt that you will be able to improve your accuracy and if you do it will only be in millimeters.

I agree. There is so much exaggeration about how accurate people's rifles are, that I often say to them that they should take that rifle to a benchrest rifle match - they would win everytime. Of course, they never do, and when I see the groups they actually shoot, I often advise them to get their rifle rebarreled.

The groups you're getting are just fine..be proud.

Well I will probably load up 5 more of two of the best loads and see how it shoots this time. I did work on my bench today, it was a little wobbly but now its quite a bit better. Think I'll also try a new powder and see what happens. If nothing else, I get to shoot my 77 and thats a good thing!!

IMO you should be happy.
Having loaded over 25 cartridges and shot a whole butt load, I would be !
If you can repeat the first groups, call it good.
IF you must, play w/ your col/seating depth.

Had another nice calm morning so I got the ol swift out again and burned some powder. I had 3 loads that I had worked up some time ago so I gave it a go. Glad I did. All were H 380 and 55 grain Sierra Spitzer BT's with CCI 200 primers. Best 5 shot group was 38 grains that measured .734 and 4 of those shots were .261!! Next best was 40 grains of H380 and 5 shots were under an inch. I think working on the bench and getting it more solid might have helped a bit, didn't realize how wobbly it was.

CJ,

try the Ladder Method. Get a big piece of thin white cardboard and draw a vertical line about 24" long. Zero the rifle with a load, and make a crosshair about 2" from the bottom of the line.

Three shot loads, spacing the charges in .3gr increments. At some point two of the groups will shoot almost on top of each other. That is right at the best load, if velocity is acceptable.