Ladder testing at 1k- Detailed article and video

I love the Baney 1k ladder method. Works like a charm and you don't burn up valuable barrel life finding the sweet node.

Also, for those planning on using a video camera. 1) Check your battery life. 2) Many vids and their batteries don't work well during cold weather. My favorite time of year to develop loads is winter time, when my barrel temp stays much cooler and I don't have to wait much or at all between shots.

Ask me how I know about video camera battery life:rolleyes: Nothing like shooting a ladder, getting home and watching a screen go black.

Alan
 
On going on record to explain how I've changed the excellent Audette ladder load development system.

Using the different colored markers is an excellent idea. The problem i've run into with this is that depending up the distance, caliber size and quality/power of spotting/rifle scope, the shooter may not be able to see the impacts down range "while" shooing the ladder. When shooting a ladder it is necessary to see/know which shot/impact is which. In addition, if you call a bad shot, you need to know which impact is the bad shot.

A friend of mine from Albuquerque taught me a new technique; home made DirtyBird or Shoot N See targets. Targets that leave a large black impact on a light/white colored backing. I take an 8'x4' sheet of plywood or similar sheet of stiff backing material and cut it in two so I have two 4' x 4' sheets. I then buy a roll of black plastic. Mine was about 20' x 8'. I cut that down to 4' x 4' sheets which are stapled to the plywood. I then take a $.97 cent can of white spray can and spray the entire sheet of black plastic, white. Let it dry and add bright orange aim points. Select your desired distance to shoot at and let fly. With my Zeiss 15-45x spotter I can easily see 22 cal hits at 660 yds. When the bullet hits, the white paint, directly around the impact hole, chips off, exposing the black plastic, easily seen at extended distances.



Above you can easily see my LV Steel 1/2 silhouette, used as a sighter target then looking at the right 4'x4' DirtyBird target you can see my ladder; 3 shots upward, 3 shots across (accuracy node) and 2 more shot above that.

That's my target. How I bring loads to the range is new as well. We all know that BR shooters load their ammo at the range. I modify that by bring prepped and charged cases to the range and seat bullets "as necessary". Below is an MTM ammo boxes with 100 prepped and charged cases.



The first row across is my starting row; for example all are 40 gr. The 2nd row has a .2 gr increase (6.5x47Lapua) and so on and so on until the 10th row has 41.8 gr. I take small, light, handheld press to the range with me with the seating die already pre-adjusted to my desired setting depth. At the range, I fire one round at my steel target to confirm a hit and so I can adjust closer to my intended point of impact. In this case the center orange dot on the 4'x4" DirtyBird target. I then start up the ladder, seating one bullet and shooting; marking the POI on a separate sheet of paper. Even with my NF scope set at 22x I can see the hits. Once the ladder has been shot the MTM ammo box should look something like this.



This ladder showed that 40.4, 40.6 and 40.8 gr showed promise. Now, I take the next 3 unloaded, charged, cases from the 40.4, 40.6 and 40.8 gr rows and seat bullets. I shoot each 3 cartridges at individual aiming spots for 3, 3-shot groups to see which group better. I'm especially looking for zero to nil vertical spread. Once I've done that the MTM box should look like this.



At this point I'm hoping to have narrowed it down to 1 or 2 different powder charges; say 40.6 and 40.8 gr. I then want to play a bit with seating depth; loading up 3 more of the same powder charge. Once I've shot those, my MTM box looks like this.



Now I may want to play a bit more with seating depth; going in or out a bit more….or……in the opposite direction. My box now looks like this.



At this point, it's time to pack up and go home where I don't need to pull any bullets. I might want to play a bit more with seating depth or try different primers but the majority of my Audette Ladder testing is done and all in one trip and I've only shot a max of 31 rounds; saves on components and barrel life.

Questions?

Alan
 
The read was excellent...I have somewhat of a new sendero in 300RUM. Its been braked, beaded, trigger adjusted and has about 30 to 35 rounds down the barrel. I've been wanting to work up a load for this gun this year. So I started at 90.5 to 93 grains...in half grain incraments. Kept the seating depth the same at 3.64 which will work in my magazine. Bullet is 210VLD and retumbo for powder. I tried some longer seating depths but my casings were getting scratched up and it did not load very smooth. One of my problem is getting more of the 210VLD's....I also thought about the accubond 200 grain since I always see these bullets around and I don't want to burn up all my powder...powder and 210vld's are getting hard to come by. I will test this out probably this week maybe at 400 to 500 yards if I can find a clear spot. Will see how it shoots out in the dessert of Utah. gun)
 
When it comes to wind, in this type of testing, I don't care if it's blowing 10 mph. I want it from a consistent direction. One of the beauties of shooting out in the West Utah desert is you can usually find about any (BLM) place to shoot so you can set up your direction so that you have a consistent wind, left or right, but not switchy from 11-1 or 5-6. If my groups are blown out a bit horizontally, so be it. That these distances I'm looking for as small a vertical as possible because at much further distances, it's vertical spreading that will eat you up.

Alan
 
Well I tried the test today and as much as I hate to say it I only had so so results. I was doing this at 400yrds and I thought the markers I used would produce something but that's were I went wrong. I used my wife's washable markers that she uses during her tutoring classes. I was only able to keep track of the first 3 sets. But it was not a bad day since I got some good volicity readings with my chrono.
When I bought the 300RUM I was hoping to get about 3150 to 3200fps out of it with the 210VLD. But I just don't think it will do it with the factory barrel and not having pressure issue. Or I don't think mine will do it. I have been told that the volicities below seem to be on par with most factory guns. Even on the 93 grain load I did not see any ejector mark but where the primmer is hit by the firing pin I think it may be starting to creater. The 91 and 91.5 is completely smooth at the edge of the dimple left by the firing pin and the 92 to 93 I can catch my finger nail on the edge. I seen a picture of this and it looks slightly the same so I think I'm at the max or very very close. I know 93 is one grain over book max for retumbo also. The good thing is all these shots fit into about a 5 inch circle. So I'll probably wait till it warms up a bit and retry this test out at double the distance and hopefully beter light conditions. Will also probably start out at 91 grains. Also I did not clean the barrel during shooting. I shot 2 fouller and then started the test.

90.5 91.0 91.5 92.0 92.5 93.0
2976 3009 3016 3065 3086 3100
2956 3023 3030 3037 3086 3129
2962 3023 3030 3037 3037 3108
 
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When it comes to wind, in this type of testing, I don't care if it's blowing 10 mph. I want it from a consistent direction. One of the beauties of shooting out in the West Utah desert is you can usually find about any (BLM) place to shoot so you can set up your direction so that you have a consistent wind, left or right, but not switchy from 11-1 or 5-6. If my groups are blown out a bit horizontally, so be it. That these distances I'm looking for as small a vertical as possible because at much further distances, it's vertical spreading that will eat you up.

Alan

Alan,

Your method is great! Going to try it with my custom 30-378 next week. Any medications since thous post. I am having troubles finding a ammo box that can hold 100 rounds face up. MTM can hold them down but to do your method I need them face up. What distance do you recommend, would 300 work for this or would I need further distance in order to see a vertical change? Any feed back greatly appreciated.

Joden
 
Joden,

I'm soon to start loading for the 338 Edge and I'm able to set the 300 RUM cases in, neck up, in the MTM-100-Mag box.

Handled Deluxe Rifle Ammo boxes by MTM Case-Gard™ - 100 Plastic handled ammunition reloading boxes and cartridge cases

Does the 30-378 case fit that box? If it won't you might consider placing your cases, neck up, in our loading block and VERY carefully transport it to the range. Maybe wrap some plastic around the tray so it sits tight over the case mouths and prevents some powder from popping out.

300 works in a pinch but to be honest, if it's custom rifle that will likely be VERY accurate, 300 may have a hard time differentiating the holes. An average accuracy rifle will likely work well at 300. Any time you can get further out, it will make life easier. A local shooter, Curtis, tried this method a few months back and he was happier than a pig in s**t. Took him 32 rounds to find and verify the node.

Alan
 
Joden,

I'm soon to start loading for the 338 Edge and I'm able to set the 300 RUM cases in, neck up, in the MTM-100-Mag box.

Handled Deluxe Rifle Ammo boxes by MTM Case-Gard™ - 100 Plastic handled ammunition reloading boxes and cartridge cases

Does the 30-378 case fit that box? If it won't you might consider placing your cases, neck up, in our loading block and VERY carefully transport it to the range. Maybe wrap some plastic around the tray so it sits tight over the case mouths and prevents some powder from popping out.

300 works in a pinch but to be honest, if it's custom rifle that will likely be VERY accurate, 300 may have a hard time differentiating the holes. An average accuracy rifle will likely work well at 300. Any time you can get further out, it will make life easier. A local shooter, Curtis, tried this method a few months back and he was happier than a pig in s**t. Took him 32 rounds to find and verify the node.

Alan

Don't know if my cases fit the MTM box, don't know how much larger they are than the 300, Midway says they fit 30-378 face down, Instead I took a ammo can from work and punched holes in a foam insert. Maybe Ill have to send MTM a round and have them make a box that fits face up. Thanks for the advice on distance to conduct ladder test. To be honest I wanted to do it closer so I could get away with using my night force (8x32 [as I don't have spotting scope yet]) as the spotting scope and not have to make the targets that you made in order to see hits tat far away. Would a cardboard painted white flake the paint off when a round goes through or does it have to be black plastic?

Joden
 
30 cal holes? You'll be able to see them at 32x; even at 400, 500 or 600 yds. Haven't tested it but my SWAG says the paint will stick to the cardboard and "won't" chip/peel off. You need that contrasting color to clearly see the holes at distance.

Alan
 
30 cal holes? You'll be able to see them at 32x; even at 400, 500 or 600 yds. Haven't tested it but my SWAG says the paint will stick to the cardboard and "won't" chip/peel off. You need that contrasting color to clearly see the holes at distance.

Alan

Sweet, Thanks Alan
 
When it comes to wind, in this type of testing, I don't care if it's blowing 10 mph. I want it from a consistent direction. One of the beauties of shooting out in the West Utah desert is you can usually find about any (BLM) place to shoot so you can set up your direction so that you have a consistent wind, left or right, but not switchy from 11-1 or 5-6. If my groups are blown out a bit horizontally, so be it. That these distances I'm looking for as small a vertical as possible because at much further distances, it's vertical spreading that will eat you up.

Alan

Alan,
In regards to the ladder test, do you run a bore snake through the barrel between ladders to keep velocities even or should I not touch the barrel until after all three ladders are shot? Also, if I do clean is a bore snake bad for the barrel to use considering it's dry and has brass brush at the beginning of it?

Thanks
Joden
 
Joden,

I'm in the camp that doesn't clean a barrel except for a very few specific reasons. 1) Barrel break in. 2) The barrel is wet and needs to be cleaned and dried out. 3) Accuracy starts to fall off and could be attributed to copper fouling and/or maybe a carbon ring just past the throat.

I Dyna Bore Coat my barrels then break them in per the Krieger method on their web site. Personal decision but it has worked for me. I then don't touch my barrels unless numbers 2 or 3 occurs and it hasn't. I can get away with it because in our dry Utah air we don't worry about high humidity and barrel moisture. I've got two 6.5x47's (Krieger and Broughton barrels) that haven't been cleaned in close to 2000 rounds each and they still putting 5-shots into .25 to .3 moa.

Once a barrel has been cleaned it could take as little as 5 or as many as 50 rounds to get the barrel properly fouled and accuracy returns. The DBC really negates or may even totally eliminate copper fouling. I have a 4th reason to clean a barrel. I have a custom Pre 64 M70 in 9.3x62 using a Pacnor barrel. It's an absolute tac driver putting many 3-shot groups in around .15 to .25 moa. I've been casting and shooting lead bullets. Before one does that you've got to get all the copper fouling out before shooting lead. When I went to clean the barrel that had about 500 rounds down it, I got ZERO copper out using Barnes CR10. DBC really works!

Alan

Alan
 
Joden,

I'm in the camp that doesn't clean a barrel except for a very few specific reasons. 1) Barrel break in. 2) The barrel is wet and needs to be cleaned and dried out. 3) Accuracy starts to fall off and could be attributed to copper fouling and/or maybe a carbon ring just past the throat.

I Dyna Bore Coat my barrels then break them in per the Krieger method on their web site. Personal decision but it has worked for me. I then don't touch my barrels unless numbers 2 or 3 occurs and it hasn't. I can get away with it because in our dry Utah air we don't worry about high humidity and barrel moisture. I've got two 6.5x47's (Krieger and Broughton barrels) that haven't been cleaned in close to 2000 rounds each and they still putting 5-shots into .25 to .3 moa.

Once a barrel has been cleaned it could take as little as 5 or as many as 50 rounds to get the barrel properly fouled and accuracy returns. The DBC really negates or may even totally eliminate copper fouling. I have a 4th reason to clean a barrel. I have a custom Pre 64 M70 in 9.3x62 using a Pacnor barrel. It's an absolute tac driver putting many 3-shot groups in around .15 to .25 moa. I've been casting and shooting lead bullets. Before one does that you've got to get all the copper fouling out before shooting lead. When I went to clean the barrel that had about 500 rounds down it, I got ZERO copper out using Barnes CR10. DBC really works!

Alan

Alan

I'm used to cleaning after every shooting session. Maybe I'm over doing it. My gun was made by GAPrecision and they use Bartlein Barrels. The cleaning instructions that Gaprecision gave me with the gun say to clean at normal intervals of every 10-25 rounds after initial barrel break in. Your thoughts?

2 questions

1) When you say you don't clean are you referring to copper clean or are you saying you never run a patch down the barrel period because the DBC works so well?

2) During the ladder test, I assume you don't touch the barrel then? Assuming I did a good job with barrel break in, will I see pressure and velocity rise during 30-40 rounds of shooting the ladder test to a point where the data isn't sufficient to trust?

Thanks
Joden
 

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