So I went to the range today with my 6.5 creedmoor and my 300 win mag. Didn't go so well for the win mag. After about 10 shots with the win mag my parallax adjustment quit working and then my vertical and horizontal turrets quit tracking and now something is rattling around in the tube. So it is headed back to Vortex tomorrow. But on a brighter note the Creedmoor is doing great so I'm going to use it for deer hunting next month. I've attached a picture of today's range session and am wondering if I'm between nodes with this load and if I should play with seating depth or powder charge. I'm not sure what my velocity is because I forgot to bring my chronograph today. My load is 42.5gr H4350 with 129gr ABLR, CCI large rifle primers and Hornady brass. C.O.A.L is 2.775"
Should I play with seating depth next?
- Thread starter jammer300
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DocDoc
Well-Known Member
You are below max, so run a ladder test to find the max and any "nodes". Alternately you can run the Berger seating depth test first, to get the best seating depth, then run the loading ladder. That would be my personal preference.
dsculley
Well-Known Member
Not knowing how you arrived at your current load it is hard to say. According to Nosler, max is 43 gr.
I agree with Doc. I would run the seating depth test, then proceed with testing for charge. You can run either a ladder test or an OCW test. If you have a chronograph available you can use that to get some velocity data, but I use it primarily to watch for over-pressure. When your velocity starts exceeding the velocity for published max load you are getting into over-pressure situations.
Some like the ladder test, I prefer the OCW method. Either can work and there is nothing wrong with doing both to compare results. If you are not familiar with the OCW method you can find a good description and the methodology here: Home. If you need help interpreting the results, you can post pictures of your targets either here or at Practical Riflery Forums... techniques and equipment of the practical rifleman... Forums.
fWIW
I agree with Doc. I would run the seating depth test, then proceed with testing for charge. You can run either a ladder test or an OCW test. If you have a chronograph available you can use that to get some velocity data, but I use it primarily to watch for over-pressure. When your velocity starts exceeding the velocity for published max load you are getting into over-pressure situations.
Some like the ladder test, I prefer the OCW method. Either can work and there is nothing wrong with doing both to compare results. If you are not familiar with the OCW method you can find a good description and the methodology here: Home. If you need help interpreting the results, you can post pictures of your targets either here or at Practical Riflery Forums... techniques and equipment of the practical rifleman... Forums.
fWIW
highfinblue
Well-Known Member
I certainly only have a single experience with the searing depth test, but it worked perfectly for me.
I got my load data from Nosler and started with 40.0gr of H4350 and worked up to 43.0grs in .5 grain increments. 42.5 showed the best group. I do need to run these thru a chronograph but I'm stuck at work for the next two weeks so in the mean time I'm will do more reading on the OCW vs. ladder test. Thanks for the help guys.
bob4
Well-Known Member
That being said I would work seating depth next as described by Berger. As it is I run seating depths first at a low charge then grain up if you will. This method most always gets me 1 inch or better @100yds.
Mikecr
Well-Known Member
+1 DocDoc
