How do you start?

[nastynatesfish]

I'm wondering. I've been working loads for my new 260 rem and my 7-08 savage I put together. I've got about 90 total through the 260 and have settled on a charge and coal to try. Got about 50 through the 7-08. I'm not to worried cause I have components and I'm doing a break in on each at the same time. But...
How do you start your load work up? I hear people say they tried 2 charges and its a ragged holer! Ya ok lol.
How do you figure charge to start?
How do you pick OAL to start?
Do you start at book OAL and move out or at lands and move in?

I start by taking a case and using my trimmer cause guage and willow out the mouth a little, use a good amount of case lube on the mouth. Drop a bullet into the chamber, drop the case in on too of the bullet and close the bolt. Usually will push the billet a few thousands into lands but give me a good start. I usually start about 1-1/2 grain under max and load 3/5 each half grain apart. Take the most accurate and start with length from lands down. Always try a few at book OAL too.
Just seems like its alot of components if there's a simpler way to go. I don't know, I'm bored at work.
This is where I'm at with the 7-08 and 130 Sierra matchking. It's 43.5gr varget, not sure on length since I was just looking at comparator .473". Gonna hopefully try to get out Thursday again. The top left is 4 shots and I adjusted 2/2 for center after. Hope it'll print the same.

It's a 26" ershaw from gunshack.com SS varmint. Still want to try my 162 or 160bthp in it too

[Maztech89]

I start 10 percent under max, touching the lands, with IMR 4350 when suitable. Its my number one used powder and always in stock. My 22-250 was a ragged hole on the first charge tried due to sheer dumb luck. It has been altered since but still great. It too is a Shaw 26" Varmint and has shot a few sub 1/4" center to center 5 shot groups at 100yrd. Obviously not every time, but its sub 3/4" evertime and sub 1/2" 90% of the time, conditions dependent. Mine cleans soooooo easy too I couldn't be happier for the money.

[nastynatesfish]

Imgonnahave to order some imr4350 keep hearing nothing but good about it.

[BobT]

For the larger cases (.30-30 and up) I start at the book minimum with the bullet loaded to magazine length in repeaters or touching the lands in single shots, I load 5 rounds there and then 5 at each 2 grain increment until I get to book max, most of the time 15 rounds will cover the range. Somewhere in there I usually get a noticeably better group so I go from there, most of the time I have an accuracy level I'm willing to accept and when I hit it I stop load development. For hunting rifles I load everything as long as I can to keep pressures down, once a bullet gets seated into the lands though things can go the other way pressure wise.

Bob

[Westcliffe01]

I usually start with a mid charge weight load, then seat the bullet to the longest length that will fit in the magazine. Then chamber and extract 3 of those bullets. Re-measure the OAL and figure the lands are probably 0.005 shy of that number. Load the balance of 5 to the same OAL, so these would all be jammed. Then work my way up the charge level (so far I have done 243 and 308 win) in 0.5gr steps. See if there is a clear accuracy node particularly in the upper end of the load range before I see pressure signs. Then at that point I will pick what looks like a good powder load and back off the seating depth in 0.010" increments. As the jump gets bigger one has to watch for pressure signs since the volume in the case is getting smaller.

With my 243 it was tough optimizing the load because everything was shooting more accurate than I could. With the 308 and 185 hunting vs Target VLD's the hunting shot really nice but I battled more with the target VLD's and have not got them to shoot equally well yet. I did get the 175 SMK's to shoot about 1/4MOA so I need to put more effort back into the VLD's again.

[missed]

I load up one bullet from the low powder charge and work up in half grain intervals to the max charge all with the bullets touching the lands then when I find the one that is getting too hot I go back to the next half grain. Then from there I load 3 bullets each of that charge at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 thou from the lands and go shoot those. Once I have a best group of those I load another of that group and 10 thou up and down, try to repeat initial results. Once jump has been possibly established I load three each with a 2 tenth powder charge difference two down two up and the initial, shoot from 500 all at the same target and point on target to see which group the best. I have marked the bullets with different colored Sharpie so I can tell which ones were which. From there best group is tested again for seating depth ten thou up and down if there is a change in charge.

Just enough method to make you mad.

My 308 came together entirely to easy this time. My old Remington pss 308 was maddening to tune loads in no matter what it was a moa gun at best until I spent way too much money on it.

[nastynatesfish]

Missed...so you do your testing at 00 yards? And at .010 OAL each??? Seems like a huge spread to cover at that range

[missed]

Whoops looks like there is a line missing, dang posting from the phone!

I am at 100 for the initial powder and seating depth. Then when I go to tune the powder charge with the three at two tenth difference I move to 500, it makes everything exaggerated to easily see the differences. So many times tuning at 100 is down to hundredths of an inch that statistically your adding in more standard deviation in your measurement and error rate increases.