Verticle Spreading and load development help - where to go from here?

How many of you shot your first game with a reload 55 years ago. Just a humble Lee Loader, 30/06, 165 Hornady and 4064
Not I...But to attest to the ole outdated, back of the cabinet, overlooked, nearly laughed at 30-06!
My son loves my old factory stainless Rem 700 30-06 that I put in a sponge painted McMillan hunters edge stock and tuned with 165 grain handloads.
He took deer head shots on cull hunts, a head shot on coyote and front shoulder on bobcat all well beyond 100 yards last year.
Rifle shoots as good as my customs.

Sorry! Didn't mean to hijack!!
 
Not I...But to attest to the ole outdated, back of the cabinet, overlooked, nearly laughed at 30-06!
My son loves my old factory stainless Rem 700 30-06 that I put in a sponge painted McMillan hunters edge stock and tuned with 165 grain handloads.
He took deer head shots on cull hunts, a head shot on coyote and front shoulder on bobcat all well beyond 100 yards last year.
Rifle shoots as good as my customs.

Sorry! Didn't mean to hijack!!
You did not hijack if it is my thread, and even if it isn't
 
Keep going with your seating depth test. If .030 shot best then maybe .045 will be still better and .060 still better yet. Go until your groups open back up then you will know what seating depth is best.
Then at the best seating depth do a powder test and go up slow increasing by .5 grs of powder at at time. Don't just jump to 75 and hope for the best. I will bet you will find what you are looking for some where in those parameters.
Good shooting and good luck.
Henry
What he said!
 
I have actually had success in the past with the .308 jumping bullets a full quarter inch. A factory 700 Remington that shot under half minute. I was using 150 grain McCracken bullets and they would not come anywhere near the rifling so I just seated them deep. Sometimes theory and practice mesh, but frequently they do not.
 
I used h322 for those loads but I just picked one off the dial on my Culver. All Culvers are the same so we often had no idea what a load actually weighed.
 
I have actually had success in the past with the .308 jumping bullets a full quarter inch. A factory 700 Remington that shot under half minute. I was using 150 grain McCracken bullets and they would not come anywhere near the rifling so I just seated them deep. Sometimes theory and practice mesh, but frequently they do not.
I shot 120golt dots out of my creedmoor and they were coming out of the case completely before coming close to the lands,... They shot somewhere in the .375" range 😂
 
Great example, I appreciate it! So in your example if you were going to start reloading, you would probably pick the 74.4 because if you fluctuate in either way, you should achieve a similar velocity? What powder charge should I start this at? If I start at 72.4, I am talking about nearly 30 reloads just in this test.
That's correct on fluctuating weight. Most scales only measure to a tenth of a grain so you might throw one and its 74.4999 then the next one might be 74.40, so loading in the middle of a velocity node gives you some cushion for that aspect. If its a cartridge that has data available like a 300 WM or a 30/06, I use may favorite recipe book and look up the max for the bullet powder combo. Then I build 10 rounds rolling back from the MAX .2 or .3 grains. Some folks like .5 but I like more resolution. So say the powder max is 78, my initial ladder might look like the following.

1 78.00
2 77.80
3 77.60
4 77.40
5 77.20
6 77.00
7 76.80
8 76.60
9 76.40
10 76.20

If you are using a wildcat, its harder and you need to be more careful about where you start. Nowadays you can use a loading program like Quickload to give you an estimated max load and work back. Before those were easily available we would use similar cartridges and start in the middle of the load range and slowly work up to find pressure and record velocity. I did this with my 2 old 7mm LRMs and back in the early 90s we did it with our 7mm STWs. For the LRM I used the 7mm Weatherby, started in the middle of its powder load and worked up. For the STWs we used the 300 Weatherby. We used to make STW brass from 300 Weatherby brass. You just have to avoid too light a load and too heavy then you can sneak up to the max.
 
I'm. A. Work. Up. Slow. Guy! 3 tenths To. 1/2. Grain at a. Time !! 3. To 5 , 3 shot groups. In. Matched. Cases !! So that's. 15. Rounds of. One. Powder charge and 15. Rounds. For the. One. 1/2 grain up!! 30. Rounds total ! That's. Fine. For me ! Next. Week. Do it again. With. 15. Rounds each of two. More. Loads ! Let the. Barrel. Cool I. Min between shots ! I. Use the. Timer. On. My. Phone all the. Time !! Keep. Careful. Notes ave. Save targets ! I. Like to. Have an. End goal in. Mind when I. Begin ! Ex: 270 Win / 130grn Ballistic Tip/ 3050 FPS! Then. Adjust. Both. Coal. And. OGIVE For accuracy! When. I. Find what makes the. Magic , it. Becomes. My. Load !!!! Usually. 6. Or 7. Range sessions 30. Rounds. Each. Session , and. You. Have. It ! I. Love. This stuff!! Have. Fun
 
I like it, and at the end of your statement, is why I don't use a chronograph do to just because you have a low extreme spread doesn't make it the most accurate set up. I all ways tell people that paper doesn't lie. It physically shows you your bullet impact each and every time. My chronograph sets in my closet and I pull it out for the kids to play with when we go to the range. It just doesn't match my cal forum at extended ranges. Like the corona virus test sometimes it gives off a false positive. LoL!!!
I'll always take more data versus less. Ideally you'll find a tight grouping load with very low es. But given the choice, yes the accurate load is usually better. Unless the spread is great enough to cause misses at the range you intend to shoot.
 
I very much agree that too much data is generally about right. Data, in and of itself, tells us nothing but lack of data may lead us to incorrect conclusions.

As a former short range Benchrest shooter I now freely admit to cleaning my barrels far too often. That idea came from the data from you savvy long range scientists.
 
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