Obvious benefit of doing a Ladder for hand loaders.

[NF1E]

In the process of working up a usable load for Sierra 135 gn fb varminters for one of my rifles.


Bula Defense Systems M14 type XM21 version 1 ser #3. Heavy Bula barrel with the rest of the parts from Bula except for Trigger which is Shootingsight EBR with lightened hammer. Chassis is JAE with 1 turn on the barrel tensioner. Scope is a Night Force ATACR 5-25 on TPS med rings.


Ammo is hand loaded using MEN berdan cases freshly annealed, TULA KV-7.62 N primers igniting Varget. Starting load on ladder is 45gn up to 47.5gn in 1/2 gn increments.


Target one is for sighters with 5 rnds of MEN surplus on the center to warm things up, then 2 sighters from each different load as the morning progressed. Ambient temp is 45 degs with a light breeze.
2nd target is for the 10 rnd groups at 100 yds. Barrel was allowed to cool down to the point my hand could hold onto it forward of the gas system. Dry Otis patches were pulled through barrel between changing loads.
Notice the obvious on the 46 gn load. 1 moa max spread with a average of under .5 moa for 10 rnds at 100 yds. Even the poorest group had an average of under 1 moa. Worst spread was 2 moa with the 47 gn load. Whatta Hobby!

[Slowpoke Slim]

setup

[NF1E]

setup

S7 Bipod and a rear bunny bag. Photo shows an Atlas, but the S7 is a bit more stable for load testing. Whatta Hobby!

[Dave Hoback]

Why Berdan primers? Seems from a couple posts this your preferred. Or did it just happen you came across them?

[NF1E]

I just find berdan works well for my .308 rifles. Much more consistent fire that I have had with either Federal 210M or 215M in LR and the primer pockets just hold up nicely.. Now, I have seen some great results with boxer sr primed .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor.

[South Prairie jim]

The second target is a waste of ammunition. First target has plenty of information.