There are a number of ways to work up a load for any given rifle. Question: When working up a load do you go to max by the book figures or do you stop when you get certain pressure signs or do you go until there is a pierced primer or a split case neck or hard extraction?
What limits do you set for yourself when working up loads for a given rifle? I like to find the limits of the rifle (right or wrong) and a lot of times I like to see what the brass will take. What say you?

I spent a lot of years trying to find that load JUST below problems.That would turn the 280 into a 7mag the 06 into a 300mag. Now I work up a load for accuracy that gives me velocity in the range for the round I'm loading for. What I hunt never knows the difference if the load is 50fps slower. If I really need that extra velocity I just grab a gun with a bigger case.

I generally look at data from a bunch of different sources (reloading manuals, on-line published data from manufacturers) to get an idea of what the velocity range for a given round is. I then use data from the manufacturer of either the bullet or powder I am using and try and match the components. I then load up and use my chronograph and to a lesser degree, pressure signs to judge pressure. If I am getting close to book velocity, say within 100 fps (adjusted for barrel length), then I am pretty happy. Like a lot of guys, I used to fret over getting the absolute max velocity I can from a round, but now I would rather just buy a round with more powder capacity if it bothers me that much.

-Lou

I have found that a rifle which is accurate will hold my atention and respect, and one which is not... sell it! Speed is best found through cartridge selection, and barrel length. I don't expect an 18" 300 WM to beat a 28" .30-06! When going it alone with a wildcat, I do load till pressure is obvious and accuracy is usually deterierated by then, back off to the last accurate node and have a great rifle.

Lou has the right idea.

Read a lot of data, figure out what the caliber is capable of doing. Then run a chrono and look for ALL the pressure signs.

I was looking for 3,000 fps in a .223 Ackley from a 700 Rem. PSS. Not looking for an accurate load, I just wanted to see if I could get 3K out of it.

I read a lot of data manuals, looked at sites online. Then went with a "high velocity" powder.

I was sneaking up on 3K and started getting primer flow around the firing pin. I could possibly search for a slightly heavier primer and sneak up on 3K again. Wildcat loading. There's no "book" on it. I decided to back off the load until the pressure signs in the primer ceased.

But for everyday loads, I stick with manufacture published load data. I'm suspect of load data I find online and don't use it except as a "guide."

Chrono is essential for working up a load past any standard publish data. But I mostly stick with standard mfg. load data manuals, and work on an accurate load rather than a fast one.

When I start working with a new bullet, I use anyone of the books I have. Then take the lightest load listed and start working up 1 gr at a time, 1 round at a time, with the chosen powder until I find pressuer signs. Then I back off what I found to be max and start over 1/2gr at a time, three shots at a time.

I've found a couple loads in different books that had to be miss prints as the starting loads were to hot. First step with a new powder and or bullet; pressure test!

i stop when i find the most accurate load. no point carrying on once the groups start opening up. the load im using now is flattens the odd primer...

Hey Pegleg, I like to use the venerable, time-proven, easy to use, never fail Methods refered to on this site as good old CHE & PRE.

I stick with manuals and will go willing a bit over, but so far I have been able to find best accuracy under 1 grain over max loads (sometimes a lot under) and if the velocity is good enough, go shoot. It's better than reading tea leaves...

IOW, I'll give myself about 1 grain over max book loads to account for oversized chambers and that's all. If I haven't gotten acceptable accuracy by then, it's time to try another combination.

Loading for velocity is hazardous, loading for velocity is fun. YMMV!

The books...for MOST rifles...are a bit on the conservative side, and justifiably so. I usually look at the powders that give the highest velocity and go for the one that gives the best groups somewhere near or SLIGHTLY above the books. Be sure to compare YOUR barrel length to the book's...sounds basic, I know, but you might be surprised at that 2-3" difference.

Good luck.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer

Pegleg, great way to loose an essential part of the body, or is that why your name is Pegleg?

So many people get into reloading and want to turn an 06 into a 300 Weatherby....

But once you get a little mileage under your belt, one with a little common sense learns that it is more about accuracy and being able to load the type of loads you prefer to carry afield.....

But those that are hung up on velocity, or footpounds are just out in left field... it is like getting excited about what time something starts on TV according to TV Guide....

Shot placement kills, not footpounds...

And as far as stretching out another 100 fps or so in MV... well consultation with a trajectory chart will show you, that instead of pushing pressures up much higher for another 100 fps, a couple of clicks on the scope adjustment will compensate and give you the same point of impact at 100 yds or so.....

Sure, I run some loads hot, you know any handloader would be lying if he denied it...but I bet that the percentage of the loads I carry afield or to the range that are " HOT" amount to about 5 percent or less...

Personally, I have enjoyed being able to down load ammo, more than anything.....

With the blue dot loads I posted several years ago, I still get a lot of emails requesting that data....

But I did save one, that I thought was really great.... A grandpa, had asked for loads in a 257 Roberts... he had two grandsons, that the dads have long since gone out of the kids lives... the boys were like 11 and 12 and grandpa was going to take them out first time deer hunting at relatives' property, in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas....

So I worked up a load suggestion of a 100 grain bullet at about 2250 fps... recoil was similar to a 223 or less....

I got a nice email from the granddad that told me, between the 2 boys, getting to hunt in 4 states that fall, that they had taken 7 deer between them....all with 257 Roberts, with a 100 grain bullet load, having an MV of 2250 fps...

Which incidently if you check a trajectory chart in any load manual that has them... ANY spitzer bullet with an MV of 2250 fps, in any caliber, and any bullet weight... If zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, will be dead on a 200 and 3.5 inches low at about 230 to 240 yds....

Since ANY deer is 14 to 18 inches from backbone to chestbone, regardless of weight, the above give you a window of opportunity of HALF that size ... 7 inches ......

So one can put the cross hairs on the hide at up to about 250 yds, without having to compensate for distance.. and if you hold steady, you will hit your target....with a 50 % or more reduction in recoil.....

And since 95% of all deer taken ANYWHERE in the USA is 100 yds or less.... needing a 500 yd load, with 3500 fps MV and 4000 ft lbs of energy to take a deer, is NOTHING but a way to burn up excess testosterone....myself, I'd rather burn my testosterone up showing the wife how much she turns me on....

Well said Seafire...just a smidge wordy but well said...

I won't go beyond the highest documented load and I don't mean saw it on the internet. If you need to go faster than that it's just a good reason for a bigger faster gun.

I test load for a given powder/bullet by loading in 1gr increments & fire them over the chrono. I start w/ the book middle & I stop when the case shows signs, heavy lift, primer, etc. Then I'll test for accuracy just below my max. & tweek from there to get acceptable accuracy. I find this keeps me out of trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
I test load for a given powder/bullet by loading in 1gr increments & fire them over the chrono. I start w/ the book middle & I stop when the case shows signs, heavy lift, primer, etc. Then I'll test for accuracy just below my max. & tweek from there to get acceptable accuracy. I find this keeps me out of trouble.

Almost identical technique. I try to get it done with more than one rifle and the results for what might be a safe high limit varies, often, from one rifle to another.No surprise there but it is of some interest when you come accross it on your own. roger

For some reason I shoot my .375 off shooting sticks better with a 300 grain bullet at 2400fps rather than 2500fps. On the bench I can shoot either load with the same accuracy, not so when I'm on the sticks. Strange but there it is.

I work up a load and stop when:

I reach the accuracy I want…
OR
When the Crono tells me I hit the Max Velocity for that load…
OR
When I hit the “books†published MAX load…

Whichever comes first…

I agree with a lot of the guys here. I just load for the best accuracy. It may be 5% below max or it could be right at published max or somewhere between. 100-200 fps is not noticed by the animal.

And, with all seriousness aside, you could just keep loading up until the firearm blows and then, in your next life stop just short of that load, and so on, and so on.

I don't disagree with any of the previous posters, and I will offer the following thoughts:

This can be a dangerous area to push the envelope. Why do you want to experiment with something that can kill or maim you or others? Reloading is a fun hobby for me that allows me to shoot centerfire rifles very cheaply as compared to buying factory ammo, but my day job is lawyering, and I have a family, so I have a lot of incentive to keep all my parts in tact. I consider reloading quite safe if done correctly, but it very much has the potential for disaster. Don't ever forget that.

That said, there are margins built into the max loads, but they are there for a reason. They give a margin of safety for erratic, unusual events. Pressures can spike very quickly with just a little difference in components. The manufactures are not perfect. An unusually hot primer or batch of powder or deformed bullet or a combination could cause a pressure spike. If there was no margin of safety, you might have a small disaster. If you exceed maximums even without danger signs, you are encroaching into the safety margin.

Yes, don't try to turn the .30-06 into a .300 Weatherby. It won't happen. More importantly, it can't happen. If I can't kill it with my .30-06, I reach for my 375 H&H. (But I'm also not a velocity freak.)

For the best accuracy, you must try the full range of powder charges. My .243 shoots good with max charges, but it shoots dramatically better with a moderate charge of my chosen powder. Had I started at the max, I would have never known that. While there are practical limits to how much hunting accuracy is needed, a 50% smaller group at 100 yards usually translates into a 50% smaller group at 300 yards, which does wonders for confidence.

To answer your question, I agree with Temmi and add that you should stop with any pressure signs.

Regards,

LWD

I'll probably get an argument here, but I do not necessarily agree with all that has been said. it's all good advice as far as it goes, but then, we all know that certain cartridges have not been loaded to their full safe potential due to the fact the the original firearms they came in are too weak for modern pressures. Can we at least agree that this includes the .257 Robt., 7x57 Mauser, 30-06 and even the .35 Whelen? Every one of those rounds has been loaded in weak rifles, the .257 in rebarreled 1893 and 1895 Mausers, the same rifle which handicap the 7x57, and the 30-06 and .35 Whelen due to 1895 Winchesters and 1903 Springfields.
In a modern rifle made to modern standards, there is absolutely no reason these cartridges cannot be loaded to modern standards. It's not trying to make a 30-06 into a .300 Weatherby, it's just bringing the round into the modern era.
I recently did a comparison of Winchester Silvertip .308 win. and 30-06 ammo, both with 180 gr. bullets. The .308s were fired in a rifle with a 22" barrel and the 30-06 in rifles with 22, 24 and 26" barrels. The .308 was marginally faster than the 30-06 in 22" barrels, for all pratical purposes a tie in the 22" vs 24" race and the only time the 30-06 was faster was from the 26" barrel of a Ruger #1B. Velocity was 2650 FPS average, not even close to the advertised 2700 FPS. I kind of wish I had a box of 06 ammo from maybe 10 or 15 years ago to compare, because my results lead me to believe that the 06 has been further downloaded, maybe because they're worried about those weaker actions to a greater degree or to make the WSMs look even better. maybe it was just a weak lot of ammo. Who knows?
I certainly don't expect anyone to agree with me, and that's OK. I just think that if a Winchester M70, Remington 700 or Ruger 77 or #1 can handle the roughly 60,000 plus P.S.I. of a 300 mag. round, then doesn't it make sense that it should handle the same pressures from a .257 Bob, 7x57, 30-06 or .35 Whelen just as well? There is actually less back thrust on the bolt from the smaller rounds as well.
Do I say that we all should load our rifles in the mentioned rounds to the hilt? Nope. Not a bit.
However, I find it interesting that the .275 Rigby's 140 gr. bullet load was said to deliver 2750 FPS. For those that don't know about the .275 Rigby, that was the British name for the 7x57 Mauser. Also, at one time, thr Western Cartridge Company loaded a IIRC, 139 gr. bullet for the 7x57 to 2900 FPS. Now most companies load a 140 gr. bullet to 2600 FPS and most don't even go that fast. Kind of makes one think. At least it does me. I also wonder. Do the people who write up the loading manuals actual work up proper loads for those cartridges for their own personal use? Sure would be interesting to find out.
Paul B.

One day I woke up and realized that 38 wadcutter will kill a deer if you hit it right. I moved away from loading for loading's sake, and started to train under the same conditions that I hunt. Now I load for acceptable accuracy within the recognized velocity envelope for a given cartridge in the short, light rifles I prefer. If a 30-30 won't go fast enough for a job, I use a 308 or a 30-06.


Okie John

When I first starting loading the purpose seemed to be accuracy potential. The more you read today the more the focus tends to go toward speed. Blown out lungs kill animals no matter how fast the bullet. The bullet kills a lot better when it goes where it is supposed to go and not how fast it gets there. In most cases the max speed is not the most accurate. There are exceptions. I like to find my rifles capabilities when I first get them. Once that is found I stay below it and find the most accurate safe recipe for that rifle.