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I'm fairly new to reloading and ran across a forum thread about "coloring" the bullets for different powder charges to "mark" different loads during load development. So to develop a load of 45ACP for my EAA Witness pistol I used Sharpies of different colors to mark the bullets prior to shooting. Being a "trust but verify" kind of guy, my first round of shooting I walked the 25 yards to the target and "marked" each 3-shot load points of impact. I was using PowerPistol powder in 0.2 grain increments starting at 6.4 gr and ending at 7.2 gr (max). It was easy to see the colors of the points of impact. The groups were larger than I expected and the 6.8 grain group was the smallest at 2 7/8". (see target at 25 yards).
So I focused around the 6.8 grains and loaded three more in 0.1 grain increments each at 6.7 gr (green), 6.8 gr (blue), and 6.9 gr (red). (see color marked bullets).
I moved the target up to 15 yards to gain more control of the test. At point of impact the colors can be clearly seen with Green 2 7/8" spread, Red 2 1/4" spread, and Blue 1" spread. (see target at 15 yards)
I'm delighted at how easy "marking" bullets makes load development and intend to use it from here on out. I've have since loaded 160 rounds of 6.8 gr PowerPistol, CCI 300 primers, Berry's plated 230 gr round nose bullets, mixed cases. Now I can work on my trigger finger control to see if I can move the group more to center, or maybe a sight adjustment is needed.
So I focused around the 6.8 grains and loaded three more in 0.1 grain increments each at 6.7 gr (green), 6.8 gr (blue), and 6.9 gr (red). (see color marked bullets).
I moved the target up to 15 yards to gain more control of the test. At point of impact the colors can be clearly seen with Green 2 7/8" spread, Red 2 1/4" spread, and Blue 1" spread. (see target at 15 yards)
I'm delighted at how easy "marking" bullets makes load development and intend to use it from here on out. I've have since loaded 160 rounds of 6.8 gr PowerPistol, CCI 300 primers, Berry's plated 230 gr round nose bullets, mixed cases. Now I can work on my trigger finger control to see if I can move the group more to center, or maybe a sight adjustment is needed.
