Charge weight or OAL first?

[daved20319]

Will be starting load work ups for my Savage .223 bolt gun soon, and was wondering about "proper" technique. All my loading manuals list COAL's that seem to be based on AR mag length limits. So do I use that, determine optimal charge weight, then tweak length, or do I start with length at some (arbitrary?) distance off the lands?

BTW, rifle is a Savage 12FV, 26" 1:9 twist barrel, so 77 gr. is about as long/heavy as I think I'll be able to use. Later.

Dave

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[41mag]

for MY OWN procedure, I am more comfortable in establishing the proper OAL first, even without a primer seated. The notion is such twiddling/adjustments are 'more safe' while no powder charge is present. Along with that, with no primer seated I can not lose track of whatever cartridge I'm using for OAL set ups.

But that's just me. Good luck.

 

[Colts4me]

I follow the book. It gives the powder charge and the OAL so I know it's been tested.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I decide OAL first.. first off, the cartridge has to fit (ideally, "optimally") in the gun(s) in question.. that will then essentially dictate/directly affect powder charge.
If it's do-all ammo, the ammo should fit in all guns made (magazines and chambers) so OAL is a given.

 

[flashpan]

JMHO
With the bolt gun you can now enjoy a lot of flexibility in seating depth vs the AR platform. I focus on the powder charge first using either the "ladder" or Optimal Weight Charge" methods. I use one seating depth until I find a load that wants to shoot (smaller consistent groups). Then I adj the seating depth to fine tune further. Many of the new bullets on the market as far less sensitive to seating depth than before which makes things easier. This all probably sounds like overkill but I find using a system helps find the right load a lot faster and burning less components. Again just me...have fun.

 

[DizzyJ]

Do you have a tool for finding distance to the lands? If not, you need one.

Find out this measurement and then load .010"-.015" off the lands.

Then go do your ladder (charge weight) tests.

Once you narrow down the powder charge that gives the the best (safe) accuracy node, you can play with bullet seating depth to fine tune the load even more. This is usually done in .005" increments up to touching, and even jamming into the lands .005"-.010".

Be aware the jammed loads will be quite a bit higher in pressure, so watch for pressure signs when working up the powder charge.

Write down that information, and load em up!