After trying about 8 different factory loads, I found Factory Federal worked the best (i.e. grouped the best). How do I go about creating hand loads to duplicate these? I'm new to reloading so please go easy and slow. Thanks.

What caliber?
What bullet in factory load?
What barrel length?
What twist in your barrel?
What game are you going to hunt?

What ya shootin'?
That's the first question. (firearm/caliber)
Second, tell us about the factory load (bullet weight/type)
That'll get the thread started. Remember you're not trying to duplicate the factory load. You're to surpass it.

Sorry..... I guess I should have started with more info.
Gun .222 Savage 340
Shells Federal 50 grain soft point bullets.
This gun really seems to like this load, 4 out of 5 shots can be covered with a nickel at 100 yards. The one seems to be a flier or just me jerking.

Sometimes it is hard to duplicate factory loads. But to start with you need to take a look at a live factory round. (1)overall length (2) bullet weight (3)type of powder (ball or stick).
I like to load with stick powder myself but I will load ball every once in a while. Ball powder works better when using a progressive press.
We need to know what caliber and what you intend to hunt. That is if you are going to hunt.

Larry

Caliber is .222 Rem. Right now I'm just target shooting, probably won't hunt with it.

quote:

Originally posted by tieoneon:
After trying about 8 different factory loads, I found Factory Federal worked the best (i.e. grouped the best). How do I go about creating hand loads to duplicate these? I'm new to reloading so please go easy and slow. Thanks.

I'm convinced that you can handload some rounds for this gun that will not match the factory loads it will beat them. Just how well are these factory loads shooting.

I've had several .222's and RL 7 has been the best most consistant performer in all three. I've tried all the best .222 powder and RL 7 did them all in.

Jay-
I shot five different factory loads tonight, two five shot groups per load. By far the Federals were best. On both groups you could cover 4 of the five holes with nickle the fifth shot in both cases was about a 1/4 inch off. Therefore, I'm trying to work up a reload to perform this well or better, I just don't know where to start.

tieoneon

If your .222 is a shooter at all. It should be shooting five shot groups that you can completely cover with a dime a one hundred yards. At any rate you should be able to match that group with no problem.

I start with a good bullet say a Nosler, Sierra or Hornady 50 Gr. and either RL-7 or BL C(2). Go to the powder manufactures web site and the'll have some loading data for you. Drop down a little from Max (10%) and slowly work up until you find a sweet spot. It sounds like for now you just going to be punching paper so I wouldn't worry at all about velocity just find the one that looks good on paper.

Allaint Powder

Hodgdon

I forgot to ask do you have a reloading press, scale, dies etc?

Hey tie one on

I don't load for the 222, but the first thing I would do is pull out the Nosler #5 manual. You do have a reloading manual? I like the Nosler #5 because it gives their opionion of the most accrurate powder tested (your gun will probably be different), the load density (I like to stick with the 85% to 95% range, and relative velocities. Make a value judgement after careful consideration and have a plan of action. You should start at the medium load and work up carefully in .3 gr increases in powder weight.

My manual lists the most accurate powder as BL-C2 (whatever that is) at 25 gr (which is Max load) with a load density of 100% (will fill the case up and might make it hard to seat the bullet) for 3212 fps.

The load that catches my eye is Viht N130 at 22 gr with a load density of 88% for 3247 fps. Again that is Max load so start a grain less and work up.

Or maybe IMR3031 (I like the IMR powders) at 23 gr with a load density of 92% for 3128 fps.

Then accuracy is mostly in shooting form, case prep and gun maintenance.

JMHO (since I don't load for that caliber)

Thanks Jay & Woods. That gives me good start. Would it make any sense to crony a few of these Federals to see what speed they produce, then take a few part to try and identify the powder and charge weight? How could I go about determining the type of powder Federal used? Thanks again for all your help and suggestions. I'm kind of new to this stuff but having fun learning. I realize I won't see same hole accuracy out of my cheap Savage, but it's what I could afford and I'm having fun.

Don't dis Savages. They are shooters.

You might be able to come close as far as same bullet type, velocity and accuracy is concerned. But since factories don't use canister powders, it is not possible to exactly duplicate a factory load (except by merest accident!)

(If you have a VAGE 340 that is shooting nickle-sized groupsh fatory ammo, I recommend that you go to the same store you got that ammo from and buy as many boxes of THAT SAME LOT NUMBER OF AMMO they have!)

my 700 likes Viht N130 (21.3 gr) and 40 gr Vmax.

quote:

Originally posted by tieoneon:
Thanks Jay & Woods. That gives me good start. Would it make any sense to crony a few of these Federals to see what speed they produce, then take a few part to try and identify the powder and charge weight? How could I go about determining the type of powder Federal used? Thanks again for all your help and suggestions. I'm kind of new to this stuff but having fun learning. I realize I won't see same hole accuracy out of my cheap Savage, but it's what I could afford and I'm having fun.

I'm not sure that taking the Federals apart would gain you much. Lots of powders look alike; ball powders in particular. So I don’t see that as something that would be worth while. The companies use a lot of sophisticated equipment and base a lot of their loading on unique lots of powder they test figure out the burn rate and then load appropriately to get a given MV, pressure etc. Sometimes they use powders that are available to you and I and sometimes not. So I don’t think there is much point going there.

On the chronographing of loads that would be great if you have access to a chronograph. Perhaps a buddy has one? But I wouldn’t go to the expense of getting one until you get a lot more serious about shooting. I was into loading for about 13 years before I got one. On occasion I got lucky and someone had one at the range and would do a few rounds for me.

As far as accuracy goes I’ve found over the years that my hand loads a rule of thumb have shot groups about half that of factory ammo. It will take you a little time to develop as a reloader. It will take a lot less time if you get some material to read on the subject. Sierra has a video available the covers the subject and most reloading manuals has a section that covers the subject. If you don’t have any manuals you should be able to go to the web and pick up some used manuals at a very good price. That is where I’ve picked up a lot of mine and they are like new for less than 50% at times. I’d stick with the major ones like Hornady, Nosler, Sierra and Hodgdon’s. There’s also a lot of data available on line. Good luck I hope you enjoy your new hobby as much as I have over the years.

Thanks again Jay, my uncle left me a crony. A couple quick questions if I may? The box reads 50 grain soft points. I think many manufactures produce 50 gr soft point. Will they pretty much function the same? Or will I have to buy a box from each mfg and try them? Secondly, I think the overall length of these Federals would be the overall length I should try to reload to. It seems to me they may "fit" the rifle's chamber best because of the accuracy achieved. Finally, I would look for load formulas that give me about the same velocity as the Fedrals and adjust from there. Is the the best way to approach this? Is there a better way? Thanks again for helping try to figure all this "stuff" out.
Man I'm not so sure getting "bit" by this accuracy bug is so good. I'll admit it is FUN.

tieoneon

I can't think of a bullet maker that doesn't make a 50 Gr. bullet. It sounds from you post the box does not have the bullet maker on it. I'd just use them. If they shoot good great if not it's still practice in reloading. For starters making them the same length as the Federals makes some sense. You may want to play with the seating length a little later.

Great you have that little Crony. Be careful don't shoot that thing. Take some time aligning it to the barrel of your rifle and the target. To do this I usually take out my bolt and place the rifle on my rest and bore site it to the bull on the target. Then I setup my Chronograph aligning it with the gun. Then double check it’s position from behind the rifle looking through the bore again. Always shoot you rifle off a rest when using it. Sandbags should work just fine if you don't have a rest. This can make guys a little nervous so I always talk to the range master and shooters about what I’m going to do. The bolt stays out of the gun during the whole process and I explain that to them. Guys down range don’t feel good about someone fooling with a gun on the bench understandably. The bolt doesn’t go back into the gun until the range master has given the ready on the firing line commence firing.

As for bullets it seems that a lot of guns seem to have their own favorite to one degree or another. So when your present supply runs out I just pick say Hornady one hundred and see how the shoot. Since you’re not shooting varmints at this time I’d pick maybe something like the SPSX (Spire Point Super Explosive). They have shot very well for me and are about as reasonably priced as you’re going to find. If per chance one of you buddy’s invites you on a varmint hunt they will also work very well. I would stay away from the poly tip bullets not that they are not good but at 2 or 3 dollars a box more for targets they just aren’t going to do much for you in my opinion.

Good luck and have fun reloading and always opt on the side of safety ask when in doubt.

Jay, THANKS AGAIN for all your help and suggestions. I'm glad someone with your experience and knowledge is willing to share it with people like me who are just learning the fun of reloading & accuracy. I'll keep you posted with my progress and will most likely have more questions.