[Don_Parsons]

Here's a little trick at finding the accurate load for a given powder, bullet, primer, and case for a particular rifle.

The fastest way to the water line let's say.

When working up a load for small cases I do it by 0.5 of a grain,,, larger cases go by 6%.between the loads.

Example using the 308 winchester starting at the middle to max where a person can just start to feel the sticky bolt handle lift. ***Caution Since some Rifles Should not be Loaded to Max***

40
40.5
41
41.5
42
42.5
43
43.5
44
44.5
45
45.5
46 and so on till I feel a sticky bolt handle on ejection.

I'm trying to find the highest "Node," and one just bellow it, and it allows the barrel to set into the fowl mode for consistany before attempting long range shooting.
Normally about 100 shoots. If it doesn't look good down range, then I'll do another 100 rounds on top of that.

Up goes the 3 tall targets, and I sight in to either side of the Bulls-eye,,, that way I can see the water line better.
300 yards is not bad, 600 is better,,, and 700 out to 1000 yards shows the spacings better.
It is wize to do this with zero wind, the best of the best table and rest as well as a rifle that can pull off some accurate shoots. More so for target rifles,,, there are hunting that fit this category to.

So I load 3 cartrages the same volume of powder,,, and Mark them with the same colour,,, if I run out of colours I repeat use them all over again.

Keep in mind that we remember what grain of powder we start with and go to the next highest charge after that as we climb the ladder.

2 things are going to show up on paper.

The 1st shot to 2nd and 3rd might be tight as the 4th and 5th start to rise up the paper,,, maybe the 7th & 8th tighten up as the 9th and 10th begin to spread.

Or the spread could start off the get go then tighten up with another spread as it startes to tighten up when we notice the bolt handle is starting to get sticky,,, if this happens, then its wize to go to the Node where it seen its best grouping.

A chronograph is handy as it let's us know what ft-per second the particular loaded cartrages are producing,,, that way if we change powder lots, primers bullets or cases at a later date we have a place to start if we need to work the ladder since 1 or more of the components have changed.

So.

The 40gr first as I shot 1 into each target.
40.5 doing the same thing.
41gr and so on.

All 3 target groups should look the same for lateral as I'm trying to find the tight water line,,, I'm not even thinking about right to left.
The spread of charges that show signs on the paper are the ones where the barrel is at its less vibration / or the closet to the Node we are looking for.

There could be 5 or 7 Nodes per rifle,,, finding the ones closest to max is handy in load development,,, the lower Nodes are good for plinking as well as the gals and youngers as it limits the recoil on them.

Any-who,,, let's say we find close groupings between 41.5gr to 42.5 before the bullets start to rise,,, this is the place we might want to start fine tuning.
0.2gr between 41.5, then 41.7, next is 41.9 and so on up past the 42.5gr when things started to spread.

The selected case, primer, powder, and bullets you are using will show good signs of being accurate so long as the rifle, shooter, table and rest are up to the task.

Like I mentioned in the above,,, don't try this on a Windy day, and us the shooters have to be at our best,,, along with a solid table and rest...

We will know if the rifle is up for this when we get started on making the ladder on paper,,, the further the target the more we can see the ladder in action.

So either something is not working,,, us, the rifle, the shooting platform or the mix of the cartrage is not in sink.
If this is the case, then something is going to need addressing. "If one chooses to that is."
If it's a Harvesting rifle and 2 or 3 MOA is good for 100 to 160 yards then your pretty much ready to go.

If things are working out and we find that 42.1gr's is the sweet spot,,, now it's time to play with seating depth...
Just off the lands or a ways back from them.

I like to start with 0.20th thousands of lands when starting the ladder.
So I'll do 3 cartrages at 0.20, then 0.15 next 0.10 and 0.5th thousand,,,
I never put a bullet on the lands for 2 reasons.

First is that as the barrel heats up it grows. At 0.10 thou the chamber when hot will meet up with the Octave of the bullet.

Second is that if a person is using this rifle and cartrage for Harvesting game,,, its kinda crappy to jam one into the chamber then not take the shot.
Yank back on the bolt and find out the case came back,,, but the bullet is now stuck in the throat or rifling.

The other seating depths get seated in further,,, 0.25, then 0.30 and so on to 0.40 thou.
I call this the jump-slam as some rifles like it, and other don't.
Even 0.20 thou off the lands is a jump.

There will be 7 targets down range for the seating depth thing as I'm looking for the best group.
Again,,, water line up and down only.

When I do this test I use 2 different powders yet the cases, primers, bullets remain the same.

I have learned a few things this year of the many things yet to learn,,, try different things, either the rifle shoots good fowled up or better when clean.

Shoot lots and bring family and friends into this,,, and focus on 1 thing at a time on a shoot,,, kinda like archery as we brake each step of our shooting format into separate groups.

Once we have practised each step multiple times it all comes together.

This happens with our shooting format,,, and hopefully our rifles and ammo as well.

My claim to fame is just trying different things, hopefully it produces better accuracy down range. LOL

PS: One thing about the ladder test is it allows the rifles to seat in,,, copper fowling is ok in my books since I hate clean bores. Ha

Don