DoneNOut
Well-Known Member
I am going to call my new Benchrest gun the "Murphy Stick". First load development session I dropped my ammo box and all my presorted loads flew out of the box and into a mixed up pile. I had no idea what was which. 30rnds, 3 round batches of various powders and charge weights...Welp, I shot them all through the chrono anyway and reverse deduced by velocity and by my experience with the selected powders to assign a SWAG to what was probably which rounds. I did learn that everything I loaded shot slower than my target velocity of 2600fps except one unknown recipe. The next day I loaded all those recipes again and collected the chrono data. I was spot on with my SWAGS! This session told me some of them were loaded too hot to get the velocities in regards to the 40F temp.
Today I show up and it started to sleet rain. My targets get soggy, my hands were cold, and I couldn't quite get my shooting position dialed in like I wanted off the bench I was using. Then my chronograph adapter breaks on the tripod, so no chrono data to collect. I decided to just see which ones grouped the best without the velocities. SO, the previous disaster range trip I didn't know what I was shooting, but I knew the velocities. Today's session I knew what I was shooting, but not the velocities...
Then I remembered a Hypothesis that a round that is in tune is forgiving of fundamental shooting flaws. The groups that continue to ragged hole even when the shot didn't feel good stuff. I figured I would put that to the ultimate test today. I fired 6 batches of various powders from my not-so-great position and while muscling the gun. Of the Varget, TAC, AA2520, VV N135, VV N135 went ragged hole while the others were, well...as expected crappy. That N135 load is my new 1000yd load! Off to order an 8 pounder of it! (Varget is just too expensive now)
Of note, the N135 recoil and sound was different than the others. The others recoiled with big push and boom, whereas the N135 was lighter recoiling and a crack sound.
Today I show up and it started to sleet rain. My targets get soggy, my hands were cold, and I couldn't quite get my shooting position dialed in like I wanted off the bench I was using. Then my chronograph adapter breaks on the tripod, so no chrono data to collect. I decided to just see which ones grouped the best without the velocities. SO, the previous disaster range trip I didn't know what I was shooting, but I knew the velocities. Today's session I knew what I was shooting, but not the velocities...
Then I remembered a Hypothesis that a round that is in tune is forgiving of fundamental shooting flaws. The groups that continue to ragged hole even when the shot didn't feel good stuff. I figured I would put that to the ultimate test today. I fired 6 batches of various powders from my not-so-great position and while muscling the gun. Of the Varget, TAC, AA2520, VV N135, VV N135 went ragged hole while the others were, well...as expected crappy. That N135 load is my new 1000yd load! Off to order an 8 pounder of it! (Varget is just too expensive now)
Of note, the N135 recoil and sound was different than the others. The others recoiled with big push and boom, whereas the N135 was lighter recoiling and a crack sound.
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