quote:

Originally posted by sep:
The Barnes reloading manual #3 has an excellent article called Quick and Easy Hunting Loads by Ken Kempa. I've used the approach several times most recently a few weeks ago with a new 30-06.

It would be best to find and read the article but I'll give you a few major points.

1. Pick one bullet and 3-5 powders you want to try.

2. Load up a pressure series of 3 rounds for each powder you want to try. For example, if the max charge weight of xyz powder is 50 grains, load up one round with 48 grains, one round with 49 grains and one round with 50 grains. Do this with each powder you want to try. Seat all bullets to the same depth.

3. Go to the range and shoot each round starting with the lowest charge weight and working your way up to the max charge weight. Watch for pressure signs and stop if you see any. I use a chronograph and compare the velocity to what the book says I should be getting.

4. Assuming you picked three powders and each of the max loads were safe in your rifle, go home and load up six more rounds of each max load with each powder. You now have 18 rounds loaded up all to the same seating depth.

5. Go back to the range and shoot three shot groups (in this case six groups) and see which powder shoots the best. Once you pick a winner, load up six more of that load and shoot two more groups to verify its performance.

Kempa's viewpoint is you will see a bigger difference in group size between different powders than by varying xyz powder by 1/4 or 1/2 grain etc.

You can tweak your chosen load ever further by adjusting seating depth if you want and can even adjust the powder charge but I haven't had to do so yet. I've been able to achieve submoa groups with three rifles using this approach. I chronograph the loads again to make sure I know what they are doing and always prudently watch for pressure signs until I'm confident the load is safe. You can (and I have) make this a lot more time consuming if you want to. I could easily spend an hour telling you about tricks and tips I've tried but I now believe most of it is bunk and unnecessary for a hunting rifle. (Long range and competition shooters would have a very different view)

This approach allows me to find a suitable accurate and powerful hunting load in the shortest amount of time and with the fewest number of bullets and least amount of powder expended. If you decide to shoot Barnes bullets. Seat them 50 thousandths from the lands. That has been the optimum seating depth for 4 of my rifles. (Barnes recommends starting at 50 thousandths but acknowledges you may have to seat from 40-70 thousandths from the lands) Good shootin!