Quote:
Originally Posted by bigride
I've been loading my own for many years, both rifle and hand gun. It's been my experience that you never need to go to max loads. As an example, I've tried a variety of loads (powders) in my 30/06 and 243. I've found that as you step up from the start loads that at some point around midway from start to max powder charge the accuracy is great and then as you move up the accuracy falls away. I've noticed this in both rifle and handgun rounds. All my favorite loads, I have notes on, the most accurate down range is always somewhere around the middle of the start and max powder charge.
Another plus of not going full bore is your brass will last longer, your firearms will last long, you'll last longer and it's less likely you'll experience pressure problems. That does not mean you should not check for signs of pressure as you fire the rounds.
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Ahhhh yes that's some solid advice there...
I have a match rifle here with a SAMMI spec chamber that makes projected velocity at around 1gr under max load, you can push it that extra grain if you wanted but groups open up so there really is no point... If the velocity is there then so is the pressure...
I had a fella over on CGN who was looking for help, seems his .223 rifle shot really really well at 2 whole grains under max and he was genuinely worried about it!... I had to tell him the perc to saving 2grains per shell was he was getting 1 free shell for every 11 that he loaded!! That seemed to abate his fears abruptly!!