I understand, with load development, you start with the published maximum load less 10% and go up to maximum. Is it logical to start with the projectile touching the lands; find the most accurae load; then using that load start increasing the distance from the lands to find the seating depth that's most accurate?

I apologise in advance if this has already been covered elsewhere.

I like to compare touching lands to magazine length if that fits I'll back off maybe .050" and work forward. If touching land is longer than magaizne length I'll start at published length and move forward if possible. I want to make sure rds feed in the magainze.

No, it is not good to start load development touching the lands. The reason is that your load will have a completely different pressure when touching the lands and when moved off the lands and thus the barrel timing will change and the load will have to be adjusted again.

You do not want to load against the lands in a hunting rifle because the lands may grab a bullet if you are ejecting one without firing it, and you will have powder all in your mag and action. Loading to the lands and into the lands is for benchrest applications where the bullet will be fired before ejection.

Best to pick a distance at .025" or so off the lands, do your powder charge development and adjust seating depth in small increments .010" in or out to fine tune if you want to. rcmuglia may be around to disagree with this soon as he believes that you choose the seating depth first and then vary the powder, but he will probably agree that seating into the lands is not a starting place for load development.

Start with the bullets base at the neck shoulder junction. If its a boatail, the full diameter bearing surface at the shoulder/neck junction.This works for VLD bullets also.Then adjust powder charge upward. Center the round in the center of the chamber by controlling your shoulder bump.

When I'm developing a load, I begin with the seating depth given in the book. After I've reached the most accurate powder charge, I adjust seating depth to fine tune accuracy always paying attention to any pressure sign increases.
Bear in Fairbanks

I shoot Barnes bullets exclusively so my starting seating depth is .050 off the lands.

Once I get the most accurate powder type and charge, I play with seating depth in .005 increments til I find the accuracy I'm looking for.

FWIW, I wouldn't say it was logical to start at 90% of max. Rifles being what they are you could be in deep water at that. Assuming you've a modern bolt rifle, I'd start no higher than 75%.
The fellow suggesting you start hunting loads in the lands wasn't a friend was he? Loading into the lands is a specialized technique that has to take other things into consideration and starting out at 90% of a book value isn't one of them. Loading into the lands isn't something you do with hunting ammo.
All that said, I usually start off about .025 off (+/-) and work up my best load and then I may tweak it around a bit but I've never had changing the bullet jump alter the accuracy of the load in the dramatic fashion that some have posted.

Woods!

I really am at a point where I have completely abandoned my "seating depth first!" theory. You have to get lucky to tune a near max load with depth, as I have discovered.

The reason I hypothesized it, was because I had a good load that worked in a rifle, then I loaded more at the wrong depth. It shot horribly. Horribly enough to think that something else was wrong (charge weight). When I corrected the depth, it shot .5MOA. I hypothesized that depth was more important!

Your advice, as always, is right.

Sometimes you've just got to see for yourself if things work or not!

It engrains learning

Learn by "Deweying" (A phrase my phychology professor used to say referring to the psychologist, Dewey, who stated that learning by actually doing an act resulted in better learning than other methods)

quote:

Originally posted by rcamuglia:
Woods!

Your advice, as always, is right.

You hear that HC?

rc, would you kindly send HC a PM and tell him exactly that! Of course, you are incorrect in that my advice is not always right, but you don't have to tell him that!

Takes a big guy with a lot of character to back up like that, something that is lacking around here sometimes.

Thanks everyone for the valuable information. I should have posted my shooting circumstances.
a) Non-competitive benchrest (100 and 200yds).
b) 223REM Savage LRPV Single Shot (1:7 twist).
c) 55 grn to 80grn projectiles (various manufaturers).

THanks once again everyone; much appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:

quote:

Originally posted by rcamuglia:
Woods! Your advice, as always, is right.

You hear that HC? ....

You can tell a fellow(R) to stay off cheap Liquor until you are Blue in the Face and it rarely does any good.

So be honest - did you have to stomp the rear window out of the RAM to drive home because your HEAD would not fit inside the cab???