What would you consider an accurate powder measurement?

[Dr Prepper]

To add to what dizzy j said. (Which i agree with 100%)
I wouldn't treat ANY two components the same, they MIGHT even be identical in profile on the outside but they wont have the same jacket thickness or exactly the same jacket hardness or same alloy etc. Unfortunately in this hobby there isnt any swapping of components for 1 to 1.
Some people, me included even buy large lots of the same lot number of all possible components so they have a known recipe and don't have to adjust. This goes for every single component not just powder and primers.
I recently just bought a few thousand bullets of each 75gn bthp in .22 and 264 and im very happy i found them in bulk.
It all depends on how much "control" you want on your ingredients for your load data.
But yes i agree with dizzy i would go for the general same recipe but work up a new load test With them.

 

[ddjchemist]

Thank you for the input. I made a series of 5 bullet seat reloads in the increments of 5/1000 (+- 5/1000 and +-10/1000 from my optimized OGIVE for the Sierra bullets). I hope to go to the range this afternoon to test them.

 

[ddjchemist]

I am pretty much now done with this load development with for my Tikka 30-06. The bullet seating does not make any difference in the range I tested it. However, powder charge did make a difference. I made 4 different loads (49.5, 49.0, 48.5 and 48.0) vs. 5 different bullet seating (for Nosler 168gr HPBT). For all 5 bullet seatings the best accuracy came out from 48.5gr load. With this load I was getting groups 0.6-08 inches, and I am very happy with it considering that it was somewhat windy and I was shooting with minor fever and not feeling that well (I had my 2nd vaccine dose yesterday and it took me down again as the first one). I measured muzzle velocity for 4 different loads (3 shots each) and I was getting the data similar what Lyman manual is showing. My Tikka has 22in barrel and 1:10 twist rate to keep in consideration.

49.5gr: 2702 +- 18 f/sec (Lyman manual shows 2816 ft/sec for 50gr load)
49.0gr: 2648 +- 14 f/sec
48.5gr: 2612 +- 8 f/sec
48.0gr: 2573 +- 12 f/sec

 

[ddjchemist]

Now I am working on 300 WM and I want to start working from bullet seating 20/1000 off the lands and back. The only problem is that, in order to start 20/1000 of the lands, my overall cartridge length (AOL) far exceeds maximum of 3.340 in. Should I care at all about the overall cartridge length and just focus on OGIVE (I got now Hornady gauge and I use it)? I loaded my first cartridge with the longest OGIVE (I always start with longest) and AOL is 3.430 in, but the cartridge perfectly fits and bullet is not touching lands since I am able to easily close and open bolt. For these 300 WM reloads I am using Nosler 175gr HPBT tips and RX22. My Lyman manual shows load range 71-77+ while Nosler website shows 71-75. I will keep it conservative and go with Nosler range. Interestingly, Nosler data also indicates that the most accurate load was 71gr. By the time I develop these 300 WM and 30-06 Loads, I will be out of powder used for these loads. I got 5 different powders, 1lb each, to see which one works best for me. So far, 30-06 loads with IMR-4064 worked well and I might just stick to this powder and try to trade the other ones that I have for IMR-4064 (Win 760, Hunter and IMR-4320).

 

[Dr Prepper]

Should I care at all about the overall cartridge length and just focus on OGIVE (I got now Hornady gauge and I use it)?

Magazine length is your max OAL. Id focus on that (if your concerned about using that) if not and single feeding sky is the limit as long as the case neck has full grip on the bullet.

After you find mag length (if a concern) then figure out a seating depth. If your limited by magazine you may find a deeper seating node.
But i would always start off a load by trying to figure out your jam and then comparing mag length and picking a reasonable seating depth based on that.

So:
1. Find your jam length regardless.
2. compare to magazine length.
3. If the jam length is shorter than magazine id go roughly .020"- .025" deeper (away) if its not withing .025" already at max mag length then start considerably deeper at say .060 and make your increments larger, say .005" at a time. So .005, .010, .015, .020 etc. Find one that performs best and maybe refine that to go .002" +/-increments + AND - to see if your just out of a node and then call it after that.

Make sure you, find jam first then figure out your seating depth based on magazine etc.
Do your ladder load tests at the min seating depth and seat the bullet further out.
That's the SAFEST way to go about it.

 

[ddjchemist]

Magazine length is your max OAL. Id focus on that (if your concerned about using that) if not and single feeding sky is the limit as long as the case neck has full grip on the bullet.

After you find mag length (if a concern) then figure out a seating depth. If your limited by magazine you may find a deeper seating node.
But i would always start off a load by trying to figure out your jam and then comparing mag length and picking a reasonable seating depth based on that.

So:
1. Find your jam length regardless.
2. compare to magazine length.
3. If the jam length is shorter than magazine id go roughly .020"- .025" deeper (away) if its not withing .025" already at max mag length then start considerably deeper at say .060 and make your increments larger, say .005" at a time. So .005, .010, .015, .020 etc. Find one that performs best and maybe refine that to go .002" +/-increments + AND - to see if your just out of a node and then call it after that.

Make sure you, find jam first then figure out your seating depth based on magazine etc.
Do your ladder load tests at the min seating depth and seat the bullet further out.
That's the SAFEST way to go about it.

Thank you so much. The magazine length is limiting factor here. I made the longest possible cartridge such that it fits in the magazine (AOL = 3.362) and I consider its bullet seating my starting point. I made a series of bullet seatings in 0.005 decrements. For bullet seating I use Hornady OGIVE gauge.

 

[ddjchemist]

Here we go again. I made 3-round sets of 5 different loads (71gr, 72gr, 73gr, 74gr, and 75gr) vs. 5 different bullet seatings (longest OGIVE to fir magazine, -5/1000, -10/1000, -15/1000, and -20/1000). This time the best groups came from 75gr and 74gr, but bullet seating was irrelevant. All sets 75gr and 74gr of bullet seatings were sub-MOA shots and I could not see absolutely any difference. I got multiple 0.5 MOA shots with these two loads. I could not borrow a ballistic chronograph today, but will buy one soon. At this point I will make all my 300 WM rounds using 74gr (for 100 yards) and 75gr (for 200-300 yards). It looks my Tikka T3X 300 WM loves these Nosler 175gr Bullets. The only minor disapontment I got is from brand new Nosler brass. I purchased 100 rounds from MidwayUS and almost half of them had dented neck. However, it seems this did not make much trouble. I seated few bullets directly onto brass with dented neck and the neck got adjusted in the process of bullet seating. After bullet seating, one could not see any difference between non-dented and dented cases.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Here we go again. I made 3-round sets of 5 different loads (71gr, 72gr, 73gr, 74gr, and 75gr) vs. 5 different bullet seatings (longest OGIVE to fir magazine, -5/1000, -10/1000, -15/1000, and -20/1000). This time the best groups came from 75gr and 74gr, but bullet seating was irrelevant. All sets 75gr and 74gr of bullet seatings were sub-MOA shots and I could not see absolutely any difference. I got multiple 0.5 MOA shots with these two loads. I could not borrow a ballistic chronograph today, but will buy one soon. At this point I will make all my 300 WM rounds using 74gr (for 100 yards) and 75gr (for 200-300 yards). It looks my Tikka T3X 300 WM loves these Nosler 175gr Bullets. The only minor disapontment I got is from brand new Nosler brass. I purchased 100 rounds from MidwayUS and almost half of them had dented neck. However, it seems this did not make much trouble. I seated few bullets directly onto brass with dented neck and the neck got adjusted in the process of bullet seating. After bullet seating, one could not see any difference between non-dented and dented cases.

You sized the brass before loading these right???

 

[ddjchemist]

I actually put them a side except 3 of them. I will resize them as I resize the fired cases. However, I bullet seated 3 of them just to test, and believe or not these 3 rounds were shooting as all other ones that had perfect neck. The dent was just around the front, so I guess bullet seating straightened the neck. In the future, I will resize new brass before loading it, so that will take care of any dented brass.

 

[Dr Prepper]

I actually put them a side except 3 of them. I will resize them as I resize the fired cases. However, I bullet seated 3 of them just to test, and believe or not these 3 rounds were shooting as all other ones that had perfect neck. The dent was just around the front, so I guess bullet seating straightened the neck. In the future, I will resize new brass before loading it, so that will take care of any dented brass.

Yeah your supposed to resize all new brass anyway. Dents in the neck in new brass especially bulk brass is pretty common. I try and get hornady brass in bulk if possible or starline for pistols. If i want better than that i might look at lapua pretty hard. Its spendy but its top tier. I think generally alot of it is round about the same average quality as hornady though. Peterson is pretty good too from what i hear. But your should last you quite a while.

 

[tac]

Dents in the case neck are usually indicative of the use of too much case-sizing lube.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Dents in the case neck are usually indicative of the use of too much case-sizing lube.

Oh yeah that's true i may have misinterpreted that statement.. Thanks Tac! But i think he was talking about the actual neck not the shoulder. But still id rather not Assume.

 

[tac]

Oh yeah that's true i may have misinterpreted that statement.. Thanks Tac! But i think he was talking about the actual neck not the shoulder. But still id rather not Assume.

NTW, maybe I got it wrong, eh?

 

[ddjchemist]

Nosler customer service already got back to me, so I will send them pictures of dented brass and retail boxes (lot number). However, this turned out not to be an issue. I quickly resized all the cases (both dented and non-dented) and they are all now perfect.

 

[DirectDrive]

Nosler should have culled that brass and sold it through SPS, if only to keep the peace.
Shooters Pro Shop, Noslers store front for 2nds and over-runs.