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Lots of people here with lots more experience than I but here is what I do. You serious reloaders will find this boring. A fair number of new members recently so I thought I might pass on some simplifying techniques. Calls this advice for the semi serious reloader a few steps back from fanatic. I try to settle on a few powders for all my needs. I & H 4350, RL 15, Varget, I & H 4895 are some good all around choices. I then check a couple of different manuals and start at the lowest minimum and load 1 round each working up in ½ grain increments to the highest of the listed book maximums. After each shot fired, I check for bolt stickiness, flattened primers, ejector marks or any other anomaly. If I see any signs of pressure prior to getting to the highest book max, I note it and then I drop back 1 full grain and consider this “Safe Max” for that rifle. If there are no signs of pressure then I use the highest book max as Safe Max. Then starting at 1 grain under Safe Max I load 3 rounds each in .2 grain increments up to Safe Max. This equals 6 different loads. On a 100 yard range, starting with a clean barrel, I fire two fouling shots and let the rifle cool. I then fire the 18 rounds letting the rifle cool between each shot. I have six different targets dots up and I shoot 1 round of each load at its particular target dot (or aiming point) from the light load to the heavy load and then reverse the order so there is uniformity of barrel fouling until I have fired all 18 rounds. You will usually find a point where the groups tighten up then loosen up. I then use the smallest group as my hunting load. This in my mind is a little easier than the ladder method at 200 yards because the ladder method assumes a “perfect hold” by the shooter on every shot. For Barnes I seat 50/1000 of the lands and for everything else 10/1000 off the lands but always with at least 90% of caliber length of the bullet shank excluding the boattail seated in the neck. Of course the cartridge must also fit in the magazine box. I then sight in dead on @ 200 yards. If you don’t have access to a 200 yard range then I would sight in 2 inches high at 100. With most bottle neck cartridges shooting bullets with a BC between .400-.500 and an SD of .25 to .28 and a muzzle velocity between 2650-2850 you will have a 5 inch window between 0 to 230-250 yards and be about 7-9 inches low at 300 yards. Nothing beats being able to practice at various ranges and knowing the exact characteristics of your load but I find this to be a pretty good start. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | ||
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More great advice from Mr. Dettorre. Best of all you delivered in in a clear and concise package. But then, you are not being paid by the word.  Jason "You're not hard-core, unless you live hard-core." _______________________ Hunting in Africa is an adventure. The number of variables involved preclude the possibility of a perfect hunt. Some problems will arise. How you decide to handle them will determine how much you enjoy your hunt. Just tell yourself, "it's all part of the adventure." Remember, if Robert Ruark had gotten upset every time problems with Harry Selby's flat bed truck delayed the safari, Horn of the Hunter would have read like an indictment of Selby. But Ruark rolled with the punches, poured some gin, and enjoyed the adventure. -Jason Brown | |||
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good advice Mike, but you don't specify the distance or if you did, I apologise, i am fighting off round #2 of malaria over 4 weeks. I develop the same way but start at min to max, divide the difference by 20, and load one round per increment accordingly. I then fire all the rounds at 300m, either on a single target if I have a buddy at the butt who will mark each round numerically while the barrel cools, or a series of targets as you do, one shot on each. where the group clusters the closest indicates the sweet spot for that rifle, and final adjustment can be made with seating depths etc. Old bisley shooters taught me this method. I only do this with my rifles up to 30cal, the 375 and above i work at 100. Harris Safaris PO Box 853 Gillitts RSA 3603 www.southernafricansafaris.co.za https://www.facebook.com/pages...=aymt_homepage_panel "There is something about safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows and feel as if you had drunk half a bottle of champagne." - Karen Blixen, | |||
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Great advice Mike. Just one note on bullet seating depth: When I was working up the loads for Randi's 308, I seated .050 off of the lands. Trouble was, this gave me a COL that was too long for the magazine so the COL was dictated by the mag length instead of bullet jump. Have gun- Will travel The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark | |||
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Absoultely...cartridge has to be able to fit in the magazine. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue. What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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I hate pulling bullets. I would add one thing. Pre weigh all of you powder charges into labeled plastic vials. Get one of the hand tools like the tong, lee loader or so on. Set the seating die at home and to the range you go. You roll your next series while the barrel cools. I hate pulling bullets. Did I mention I hate pulling bullets? | |||
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Arniet, how do you feel about pulling bullets? Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue. What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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I do my load development basically the same way, but plot the center of each group on a clean target creating a "ladder" and use group size as well as position on the ladder to pick my final load. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading Beginner’s guide to working up loads for hunting ammo…257 Roberts thru 375HH
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