Acceptable ES and SD

What do you consider acceptable ES and SD for hunting with ranges from 800-1000 yards? Of course the lower the better, but what is a good velocity range to feel comfortable shooting at these distances?

Ladder test at 800 or 1000 and look for the least vertical. The load with the least vert. is not always the one with the best ES/SD in many rifles i have tested. Now if you have triple digit ES there is probably something that needs attention in the loading procedure, or you have a suspect chrono. Between 2 loads I would pick the one with the least vertical over the one with lower ES/SD.

An extreme spread of 20 or less, I always try for less. Brass prep is the name of the game. Start with good consistent brass!

Axl said:

Between 2 loads I would pick the one with the least vertical over the one with lower ES/SD.

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Bench rest shooters can dial in the vertical of a load at a specific distance, but i believe a well rounded hunting load should have good vertical at all distances. If it doesn't your load developments not done.

Any es less than 20 over 10+ rounds is a good start. You want one that is consistent day to day, not just once. Once I get a load I like in development I usually chrono 3-5 round each time I shoot. I'm always tinkering, trying .2 more/less powder, deeper primer seat, longer COAL, anneal a second longer, so I have my pet load and something to compare it to.

I hate shooting over a chrono but it is a necessity to learn what is happening.

A repeatable 5 shot group with an SD of 15 or less is my magic number for no particular reason. If it's a hunting rifle I know I won't be shooting beyond 500 yards, I'll go with the most accurate load at 100 yards with a 3 shot group under an SD of 20.

Since ur looking for number I'll go with es of 20fps or less, but you need to measure the vertical on target. I have no empirical evidence, but some bullets seem more consistent in their flight path, my theory is the more consistent bullets have a more consistent bc and retain a more similar curve.
Ime if you need to cut vertical spread at long range, use Sierra or lapua bullets(probably Berger too by the amount of ppl that swear by them) anneal ur necks, ream ur flash holes and weigh your primers. Or buy lapua or Peterson brass

I like single digit SD and ES in the mid teens. I have only one barrel that keeps ES around 8-9fps.
It is also the only barrel I have that is a genuine .1MoA shooter regularly. It is also the easiest barrel to tune.
Wish all my comp barrels were As good.

For regular barrels, an ES of 20 is perfectly acceptable, but as All said, I have seen better vertical with loads that had 40fps ES.

Cheers.

A SD of 10 would mean that 95% or the rounds would be +20 or -20 FPS of the average. And that 65% of them would be between +10 and -10 FPS.
My 300 RUM with a 210 VLD will have an impact change of +/- .5 MOA at 1000 yards with a +/- 20 FPS change in velocity. That .5 MOA at 1K is a hair over 5 inches. With a 10 inch kill zone .5 MOA is all I could afford.

Kinda supports what others above have said. A SD of 10 or an extreme spread of 20 FPS would be about the limit for 800~1K shot.

Single digits for both .

Long live Remmy700

I haven't shot over a chrono in about 5 yrs. A pretty well known gunsmith on here once told me that I could chase numbers or go out and shoot to see what my rifle will really do. He suggested to load up until I saw high pressure (a pretty good swipe mark on the bottom of the case), then reduce the load by two grains and I should be pretty close. I thought he was nuts, but because of his reputation I tried it. Well lo and behold it worked. At least well enough to hold sub MOA out to 1000. I've done it on three of my rifles and my buddy's two rifles. No idea what my ES and SD are. I figure out my velocity through my drop charts. After I've found my pressure load, I go test at 500, 800, and 1000 yds and look for vertical dispersion. If I find any, I might tweak my load a half grain up or down or adjust seating depth a little. But, I've only had to do that on my 6.5x284 and that was a .5 grain increase to get me where I needed. Maybe not the answer you're looking for, but I used to waste a lot of time shooting over a chrono looking for a load.

What loading techniques do you use to download sd and es?
I am thinking of buying a concentricity tool and turning my necks, as well as classifying brass by weight.
Do you think it will make any difference to turn the necks for a factory rifle?
In this case it is a bergara hmr 6.5 creedmoor.
i use lapua brass

Brush buster said:

What do you consider acceptable ES and SD for hunting with ranges from 800-1000 yards? Of course the lower the better, but what is a good velocity range to feel comfortable shooting at these distances?

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Acceptable ES: =/< 20 (single digit if possible)
Acceptable SD: =/< 10 (single digit if possible)
Good velocity at 800-1000 yards: This is "my" unwritten rule but I like to keep it at 1500 FT-LBS for elk and 1000 FT-LBS for deer and the minimum velocity for the bullet to effectively expand at point of impact. Of course, there is no substitute for shot placement.

Single digits sd