HELP WITH SATERLEE VELOCITY TEST

[Joefrazell]

Get a wider precision mount for that magneto speed and shoot your ladder at 400 plus. Shoot at the same bullseye every time. Stop and mark your shots one at a time or out a cam on target. Also, be sure to wait until conditions are good. No wind, mirage. Early morning or just before dark.

 

[milo-2]

A few guys have walked you through this and gave solid advice. I want to interject this, my findings, bullets like a certain seat depth. I personally don't feel that is affected by velocity. I feel finding the seat depth of a new bullet paramount before starting load dev.
Unless a design change of the ogive comes from the maker, the seat depth for say a Berger 6.5 140gr hybrid may be ,010" off, that transfers from chamber to chamber, there is not much interference that can affect it.
Examples, I Have shot Berger 6mm 105 hybrids at .012" off in every 6mm chamber I have used them, from 2800-3150fps.
Same with 180gr 7mm hybrids, .008" off.
I can go on and on here.

 

[Bdubose]

What research do you do on barrel harmonics and how do you apply it?

Not very scientific but I read this and other sites for folks using the same barrel length, etc. and check the speeds they are shooting the same weight bullet. It seems to prove out that within 50-75 FPS or so I can find a node in that vicinity that shoots consistently well. Then I begin searching for a velocity node. Last I adjust jump.

When I started this "thang" I found I was starting out way too slow and was wasting powder, bullets and time.
So researching what others are doing with speed is a pretty good starting point, then find the charge to get in the ball park and test from there.

 

[25WSM]

When I do my long range ladders I use different color sharpie markers to color the bullet tips. They leave that color on the paper and if you use the same order of color every time it's easy to tell what shots are what. Don't put color on the bearing surface just half way from the tip. They show up best on white paper but if you can't tell what color a hole is put some alcohol on a qtip and touch the hole and the color will transfer. Works real good and it's way cheaper than a target camera.
Shep

 

[Bob Wright]

Having not got much use out of my go pro over the years, it turned out to be a good tool to record bullet strikes at any distance. I just shield the camera with an AR500 plate. I set it on 1 minute photo intervals.
It records every shot in order.
Still like the sharpie idea, as I may try it next time. This target was marked after firing, with shot number, charge weight and speed to keep for my records.
It's one way to record, anyway.

 

[25WSM]

So I mentioned that I tune my 1000 yard gun day before matches and some remarked sure they will do that every night before going hunting. Well anyway my tuning before a match applies to hunting also. Lots of people tune their rifles during the summer months and shoot ground hogs or clay birds to keep sharp. But when hunting season gets here it's much colder out and your gun will go out of tune. So I do the same test with my hunting rifles as I do my 1000 yard comp guns. I load 5, 4 shot groups. I shoot them at long range. For my 1000 yard guns it's at 1000 for my hunting guns it's normally 300 because that's what I have at my shop. So for my 1000 yard gun I use my last load and load 2 sets under and 2 sets over. I separate them by 2 tenths. I color the tips of each set the same color and shoot them all at one aiming point. What I look for is the 2 loads that overlap each other. At 1000 yards all 5 groups will be in about 15 inches. But 2 or 3 loads will print right on top of each other. Now for my hunting rifle I do it a little different. I know my load is going to be slow going into winter. Colder is slower 99% of the time. I actually don't now of any powder that gets faster in the cold but it may exist. So on my hunting rifles I load up 5 groups of four starting on my current load and only going up in charge. And shoot them the same way I do at 1000 but I use separate aiming points because at 300 yards all the groups would be in no more than a few inches. Sometimes just loading up to match your accuracy speed is good enough. So if you want to shortcut it you can give it a go. Just do single shot of increasing charges till you get to your good accuacy velocity and then shoot a verification group to see how it does. I like to shoot the 5 groups so I can find the over lapping charges. These overlapping charges are in the node and are more forgiving of weather changes. Using temp insensitive powder helps a ton. I used to use rl22 in my hunting rifle and it would slow down 75 fps in my 257wby. For the most part every rifle will lose its tune going from 80 degrees to 30 degrees. If you think temp won't change your tune just ask someone that shoots 1 and 200 yd br. Our 6ppc would lose tune in 10 degrees. Most cartridges are not this picky thank God. Hope this helps. The things long-range compatition shooters do does directly relate to long range hunting rifles.
Shep

 

[25WSM]

The sharpie trick is used all the time at 1000 yard matches. A lot of guys mark their tips in matches so if there is a crossfire they can prove it wasn't theirs.
Shep

 

[new2mud]

For the most part every rifle will lose its tune going from 80 degrees to 30 degrees.

^^^This. And for those in hotter climates, you may see decent linearity in temp-induced velocity changes and then a spike beyond 85F or so. Be sure to test your loads at 85+ separately, since it may require a full 1/2 grain adjustment rather than your typical 0.1-0.2 grain steps.

 

[asd9055]

Having not got much use out of my go pro over the years, it turned out to be a good tool to record bullet strikes at any distance. I just shield the camera with an AR500 plate. I set it on 1 minute photo intervals.
It records every shot in order.
Still like the sharpie idea, as I may try it next time. This target was marked after firing, with shot number, charge weight and speed to keep for my records.
It's one way to record, anyway.

Great idea about the GoPro. I am in the process of building a remote camera system. Found a 2w transmitter, supped to be goo to 10KM in clear sight...trying to figure the right camera

 

[MTbackwoods]

Having not got much use out of my go pro over the years, it turned out to be a good tool to record bullet strikes at any distance. I just shield the camera with an AR500 plate. I set it on 1 minute photo intervals.
It records every shot in order.
Still like the sharpie idea, as I may try it next time. This target was marked after firing, with shot number, charge weight and speed to keep for my records.
It's one way to record, anyway.

You're shooting a SAUM aren't you?

 

[NW Hunter]

A few guys have walked you through this and gave solid advice. I want to interject this, my findings, bullets like a certain seat depth. I personally don't feel that is affected by velocity. I feel finding the seat depth of a new bullet paramount before starting load dev.
Unless a design change of the ogive comes from the maker, the seat depth for say a Berger 6.5 140gr hybrid may be ,010" off, that transfers from chamber to chamber, there is not much interference that can affect it.
Examples, I Have shot Berger 6mm 105 hybrids at .012" off in every 6mm chamber I have used them, from 2800-3150fps.
Same with 180gr 7mm hybrids, .008" off.
I can go on and on here.

Hey Milo-2,
My experience mirrors yours.
I have always done seating depths first to find my loads. That's where I started on this load.
Unfortunately, I didn't explain this up front.
I started the thread at the Saterlee velocity test stage of the load development.
I get myself into all kinds of trouble with my wife because she can't read my mind.
On second thought, I don't want her to read my mind! LOL!

 

[NW Hunter]

A few guys have walked you through this and gave solid advice. I want to interject this, my findings, bullets like a certain seat depth. I personally don't feel that is affected by velocity. I feel finding the seat depth of a new bullet paramount before starting load dev.
Unless a design change of the ogive comes from the maker, the seat depth for say a Berger 6.5 140gr hybrid may be ,010" off, that transfers from chamber to chamber, there is not much interference that can affect it.
Examples, I Have shot Berger 6mm 105 hybrids at .012" off in every 6mm chamber I have used them, from 2800-3150fps.
Same with 180gr 7mm hybrids, .008" off.
I can go on and on here.

Milo-2, what is your go to for distance from the lands with the Berger 140 grain hybrid?

 

[25WSM]

I don't think it really matters which way you start. Seating or powder charge. It won't shoot till they are both right. One nice thing about seating depth is it's pretty stable. Meaning if you change powder you can leave the seating depth alone and it will normally be still good.
Shep

 

[milo-2]

Milo-2, what is your go to for distance from the lands with the Berger 140 grain hybrid?

.010" off with a store bought modified case, Hornady OAL system
I assume you mean 6.5 bullet?