Back into reloading after a long break with some questions

[xrdan]

I'm reloading again after about a 25 year break- before it was mostly pistol ammo mainly to save money. I only had one bolt gun at the time and I lucked into a load that it shot well right off the bat. Good thing, as it's a 7mm rem mag and an afternoon of shooting groups with it is not my idea of fun. A guy I know recently sold me his single stage press and electronic powder dispenser- I have a progressive press and the rest of the stuff from before. I have gotten 2 Savage model 11's- one in .243 and one in 260 remington. I guess my main question is load development- I've been reading about OCW and OBT and I've seen where people have run quickload and sometimes have identical MV with different barrel times. I'm guessing this is due to the different pressure curves of the powders?

If you guys could enlighten me on some of this new stuff I would appreciate it. I have h4350 and lapua brass to work with as well as 105gr amax bullets for the .243 with 140gr for the 260.

Thanks

Dan

[LongRange]

so what exactly are your questions? if its about quick load yes its a great tool but IMHO expensive and not really needed and yes ive used QL but can think of a lot of other stuff i could use for $160 bucks as QL is something thats not going to be used much.

you have all the right components to make both those rifles shoot so my suggestion would be to shoot OCW tests with both rifles and follow the instructions to a T...i see a lot of PPL shoot OCW tests and have issues with the test and it usually boils down to two things...they didnt follow the instructions or pulled shots and didnt realize it or dont want to admit it LOL.

what 140g bullets do you have?
what primers are you using?
are you target shooting,hunting or both?

[xrdan]

Part of it was me wondering if QL was worth it. I'm not able to go shooting much right now so I'm trying to streamline the process. I can shoot up to 600yd where I go and I'll probably never shoot farther than that or compete. I have federal large rifle primers and 140gr amax bullets for the 260. I've shot the 243 to check for pressure signs- increasing by .5 grains at a time. At 41.5 I got a slight ejector mark (using magnifying glass).

My plan is to dial in the loads for both of these rifles and leave the one that shoots best alone and use it to hunt. I want to put a heavy barrel on the other one to shoot targets and steel plates.

Thanks

Dan

[bigedp51]

To make Quickload output accurate data you need a chronograph, and then you adjust the burn rate in Quickload until the two velocities match.
Bottom line, before I got a chronograph I was sorry I spent the money on Quickload and still its nothing more than a fancy version of the Powley Pocket Computer I used in the 1970s.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/powley1-1_zpsibkslwyh.jpg

Call me old fashioned but a workup load starting at the suggested starting load and working upward and reading your primers and brass gives you plenty of information.

[LongRange]

Personally I think the best way is to shoot an OCW test....5g increments are a little to much in a small-er case so you might be skipping right over a good load...as biged said you need a good chrony to get good results from QL.

[mikgarus]

Personally I think the best way is to shoot an OCW test
+1!