Quote:
Originally Posted by lclund1946
You may be very new at load development but you are certainly on the right track and posting just what this thread needed. The graph clearly illustrates the pressure spikes which are usually followed by a leveling off of pressure for a couple of increments. If you were shooting on a target loads 41.2, 41.5 and 41.8 would group into a small cluster if you are shooting up to your rifles potential. While you are not up to Hornady's Max charge of 44.0 grains you are over their max velocity of 2700 fps for various 150-155 grain bullets. If you load 5 at 41.4, 41.5 and 46.5 respectively you will likely find the most accurate load over a range of conditions and the load with the lowest ES and SD which will likely be single digit. You will also have a load that is easy on brass if properly FL neck sized as it will likely not be fire-formed at the base enough for your dies to size.
If brass life is not a concern and you want more velocity you have another stable node between 43.3 and 43.6 which is about 2 grains below where you started getting pressure signs and where I would have stopped. Load 5 at 43.4 and 43.5 and you should find the sweet spot which could be further tweaked by seating depth. However you will likely want to neck size the brass in which case you will want to start another ladder at 43.5 grain and work up a load for that situation or better yet go to the Hodgdon online Manual and switch to Varget.
Here is a pressure ladder that I shot. Loads 22.0, 22.1 and 22.2 grains clumped into 0.6" followed by pressure spike which took 7,8@9 out of the group. I had no pressure signs but the brass was close to fireformed, the primers were begging to flow and the case was full.
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Hopefully this is what your 5 shot groups will look like and then it is a matter of proving the load/loads at longer distances.
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