Chronographs. If you didn’t have one

[sailor]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Take a level 2 reloading course and be enlightened.

I will take but could you please post all equipment I should buy - ehich is
good tooling?
So far I bough only Rcbs 5-0-5 scale...

[NinjaHunter]

Better tooling = more consistent reloading tools.

e.i:
-Rock chucker press (RCBS press)
-Giraud case trimmer
-RCBS chargemaster
-AMP machine (annealing made perfect)

Furthermore, practice dry firing everyday; if not everyday, every other day. It's to ensure you, the operator, is able to shoot 1 MOA or better during the load tests.

[heretohunt]

I really appreciate the replies.
To give you a bit more information I do have a fair amount of money tied up in guns scopes and equipment. I have three custom or semi custom rifles depending on your definition. One of them is an Alberta tactical 338 lapua ai. I haven’t started loading for that yet though.
The only rifle that I play with past 500 yards is my 7rem mag. Oddly enough that one is a stock sako 85. I haven’t done anything to it.
Most of my reloading experience is based on trial and error. Mixing In a bunch of reading and it can be a bit confusing.
I am interested in learning more about the velocity nodes. Do you fire one round each going up in half grain increments and find the flat spot and then load two or three different charges in that area in three or five rounds To test for accuracy when you find a flat spot?
My current goal is to be sub Moa every Time to 800 yds. I think the Lapua is what I will need to go past there...Baby steps.

[Grizzly Adams]

Cheap chronographs made liars out of a lot of people.

Grizz

[Dubious]

Select you bullet and powder going to use 300wm as an example here cause it’s the last one I did. I selected Berger 210 vldh and vvn560 select your powder spread. 70 gr to 74gr load a single round in .2Gr increases and shoot the set recording speed for each shot. It dosnt matter where they hit or group. now I would look for speeds that where with in 20-30fps of each other if you see some that are 31 as a split don’t eliminate yet, let’s Say 70.6-70.8 and 73.4-73.6 There will be more nodes but some you can cull here dump your data into quick load fine tune burn rate and check pressure eliminate over pressure or under pressure out of spec loads.

Now load 3@ 70.6 3@ 70.7 3@70.8 3@ 73.4 3@ 73.5 3@ 73.6 and head out and test. Some of these just won’t group so you can cross them off the list you will likely have 1 or 2 groups that are in spec gather velocity extream spread and standard divination. I like a 1/2 or less group at 100m and for me the es must be under 20.

Let’s say we’re down to one load now 73.5 I would now go back to the bench if the group was in es sd and size spec I would load 5 more and do a final test for a bigger data set to plug into StrelokPro or shooter type apps. If the load needs more work this is when I fine tune seating depth and anneal, both will help groups and es. I then test in 3 round groups recording the data in a shooting log I take with me every time I shoot.

Every time I go to the range I record temperature humidity ambient pressure velocity extreme spread and standard deviation In my log . I use weather flow advanced ballistics for atmospheric data, I blew all my money on labradar powder and bullets so I didn’t have the 1000$ for kestrel 5700. The weather flow So far has provided excellent data and it bluetooth’s to StrelokPro for live wind temp and pressure changes that I can read off my phone at the firing point. There a spot where you can plug in temp and velocity to make a chart noting velocity changes at different temps.

As a disclaimer these powder charges are made up don’t be out there running this data I have shot this powder But not these charges in my setup With good results if your unsure about pressure there a lot of people On Facebook or on here with quickload that may run your loads for you. Quickload weatherflow and labradar have proven to be invaluable for me in load development when using standard cartridges, with wildcat cartridges or powder bullet combos not listed in manuals it’s an even better combo.

[Dubious]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Is getting no readings with a Labradar a better option? Labradar does not work above 3900fps.

I have loads With readings up to 4000fps with labradar past that I don’t know Ive never tryed.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by sailor

I will take but could you please post all equipment I should buy - ehich is
good tooling?
So far I bough only Rcbs 5-0-5 scale...

I’m probably a bit beyond where you are in experience right now, but anyways.

It’s all dependant:
Taking a few dial indicators and seeing which presses run truer than the others WRT the die opening.
Using dies that minimize case and bullet run out.
Uniforming primer pockets and flasholes.
Turing case necks to give consistent neck thicknesses, and neck tension.
Annealing brass to give consistency in your neck tension.

All subject to the big.......
IF

your rifle is trued, and capable of getting all that and a bag of Doritos for accuracy.

Your optics are top end.

You the nut behind the bolt is capable of ringing the next Possible couple thou out of things.

[Cheyenne 1]

If you want a chronograph, just buy a labradar.
As the information you gather needed to be accurate and repeatable.
They work the same from day to day, no need to worry about sunlight or shadows, or the missed shots. Nothing hanging off the barrel of your rifle.
And if your shooting with others they can use it with nothing to swap over.
Also very easy to save and edit your data after your home.

As far as tuning your rifle, there are several different ways to do it.
Ladder tests are one way.
I prefer to shoot groups on a target, looking for the node where the bullet is stable, point of impact doesn't move, no vertical, and speeds flatten out.
After I find my node I take it out and shoot groups at 600, and 1000, check for consistency and make sure there is no vertical. At that point I will tweak the seating depth to fine tune the load. After that its ready to compete with.
I will tag a link on from a different forum. It has some really good discussion about this.
There are some good explanations on tuning.
Keep in mind these guys shoot F-class or BR.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/thr...arrel.4007733/

Originally Posted by heretohunt

I really appreciate the replies.
To give you a bit more information I do have a fair amount of money tied up in guns scopes and equipment. I have three custom or semi custom rifles depending on your definition. One of them is an Alberta tactical 338 lapua ai. I haven’t started loading for that yet though.
The only rifle that I play with past 500 yards is my 7rem mag. Oddly enough that one is a stock sako 85. I haven’t done anything to it.
Most of my reloading experience is based on trial and error. Mixing In a bunch of reading and it can be a bit confusing.
I am interested in learning more about the velocity nodes. Do you fire one round each going up in half grain increments and find the flat spot and then load two or three different charges in that area in three or five rounds To test for accuracy when you find a flat spot?
My current goal is to be sub Moa every Time to 800 yds. I think the Lapua is what I will need to go past there...Baby steps.

[6MT]

My LabRadar helped me today solidify a load with my .308win. Chrony's help after OCW and seating depth testing. For me, it validates my loading technique. Shows me the consistency that I strive for. Here's the results from a 30 shot string from this morning's outing...



And lastly, the speed gets entered into my Kestrel for ballistic solutions.

And IMHO, it doesn't matter which chrony you buy. As long as it's accurate. I've owned 3 MagnetoSpeed units before I settled on the LabRdar unit.

[no-regard]

Originally Posted by 6MT

My LabRadar helped me today solidify a load with my .308win. Chrony's help after OCW and seating depth testing. For me, it validates my loading technique. Shows me the consistency that I strive for. Here's the results from a 30 shot string from this morning's outing...



And lastly, the speed gets entered into my Kestrel for ballistic solutions.

And IMHO, it doesn't matter which chrony you buy. As long as it's accurate. I've owned 3 MagnetoSpeed units before I settled on the LabRdar unit.

That is an impressive set of numbers!

I'm curious why you went through 3 Magnetospeeds? Faulty?

I have a MS and am considering moving up to a LR, seems to me there would be considerable savings on components and time with the LR. As well as the ability to always use it and collect data. I've been trying to improve my reloading and am enjoying watching the numbers, trying to make sense of it all.

In doing some reading about the LR, there seems to be a lot of users who are finding the need to add a secondary trigger to the unit because of missed shots when it doesn't read, can anyone here speak to that? Seems like a hassle and sort of takes away the benefit of a wireless unit.

[6MT]

Originally Posted by no-regard

That is an impressive set of numbers!

I'm curious why you went through 3 Magnetospeeds? Faulty?

I have a MS and am considering moving up to a LR, seems to me there would be considerable savings on components and time with the LR. As well as the ability to always use it and collect data. I've been trying to improve my reloading and am enjoying watching the numbers, trying to make sense of it all.

In doing some reading about the LR, there seems to be a lot of users who are finding the need to add a secondary trigger to the unit because of missed shots when it doesn't read, can anyone here speak to that? Seems like a hassle and sort of takes away the benefit of a wireless unit.

No, I think they are great units. My first....I shot the fork. Opps! The second worked as good as the first, but the new (at that time) LabRadar units were intriguing to me. So I bought the LabRadar. But, I came into a great deal on a Magnetospeed Sporter unit. I ended up selling that and the second unit there after.

I liked the idea of not having to mount a unit to my barrel. But, that shouldn't stop you from the Magnetospeed unit. It's just personal preference.

[Dean2]

I was recently emailing with Labradar about the 3900 fps limit. Apparently it is a physical limitation of some sort and not software related. They have no plans to address this limitation anytime soon as it affects so few cartridges and the ones it does are not really in common use. They also said that to move up to that capability would put the unit into the $40,000 price range. Guess we will have to stick to the Chrony style for these speed demons for the foreseeable future. That said, I think for anyone that reloads for more than one rifle the Labradar is definitely the way to go, for all the good reasons enumerated above.

[6MT]

[QUOTE=no-regard;4187269]
In doing some reading about the LR, there seems to be a lot of users who are finding the need to add a secondary trigger to the unit because of missed shots when it doesn't read, can anyone here speak to that? Seems like a hassle and sort of takes away the benefit of a wireless unit.[/QUOTE]


As far as the secondary trigger units go, I've never heard of this. While sometimes the unit will pick-up a neighbor's shots (in close proximity), this happens rarely. And really only if the other person is using a brake. It has happened to me before, but again...rarely. And if it does, I either move (never had to) or wait until they're finished.