What comes first

[paulie]

Although I’ve been reloading for quite a few years, I am absolutely a clean slate when it comes to reloading for the 6 PPC and this extreme accuracy stuff.
What comes first?, the chicken or the egg?
To be honest – at this point I don’t know which is the chicken or which is the egg.
Been reading here as much as I could find that I think would apply, but it’s starting to making me dizzy.

The components I’m using are N133 powder, 205M primers and Barts 68gr Ultra’s.
The gun seems to shoot well anywhere between 28.8gr and 29.1gr, although I’ve not gone higher.

So… what comes first in when you’ve got yourself a new rifle, and you want to determine what the best load for that particular rifle is?
Do you fiddle with the charge weight first, or the bullet seating depth?, or do I start elsewhere?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

paul

 

[abintx]

Paul ...

I actually start with neck clearance, then powder charge, and finally fine tune with seating depth and neck tension. I'm sure there are many ways to do it but that's how I progress.

For more on neck clearance and neck tension read this: http://www.benchrest.com/FAQ/2.4.shtml

If you've got a copy of the The Benchrest Shooting Primer put out by The Precision Shooting Magazine check out Lee Euber's excellent article "SCANNING" FOR THE RIGHT LOAD starting on page 197.

 

[f d shuster]

6ppc loading

Paulie: Another vote for "The Benchrest Shooting Primer", published by Precision Shooting magazine and available from Sinclair Int'l. 1-800-717-8211, page 181 of their new 2009B catalog, $19.95 and well worth it. 420 pages would be excellent reading over the Winter.

 

[Mike Bryant]

I start with the seating depth when I start working up a load. I'll start with the bullet just touching the lands. Then work the powder charge to what seems to shoot the best. Then go back to seating depth and go in or out a few thousandths at a time to see where it seems to want to shoot the best. The Skip Otto shims that work with a Wilson seater work well for this in that it's easy to change seating depth by adding another shim or pulling out a shim to go deeper in the case.

 

[Wilbur]

I'm with Mike

I start with the longest OAL possible that doesn't interfere with closing the bolt. Using that seating depth, I find the better powder charge and then return to the seater. When starting with the longest OAL you only have one way to go with the bullet.

Folks place emphasis on neck tension, and there may be someting to it, but when you realize that brass yields at the same pressure regardless of how the neck was sized it doesn't follow that it would matter much. I believe that neck tension ideas are derived from a success where other variables were at play. In the above referenced article I wrote (many years ago):

"...........The necks should be consistent from case to case and if I experience differences I immediately reduce neck tension as much as possible and still maintain a hold on the bullet such that it cannot be casually moved with the fingers. If my cases feel consistent, I like firm neck tension. Consistent necks are pure luxury for me as I seldom achieve this feat"

I'm not in disagreement today with what I wrote then but I've proven to myself that consistent necks versus inconsistent necks won't improve my aggs.

That said, allow me to wax philosophical for a moment. Within every shooter's "system" there is a degree of static that prevents clear perfection. If bedding, barrel or bullet is responsible for agg killer static, an adjustment of neck tension will not help. If neck tension is the dominant static, rather than thoughts of adjustment, one would likely have the thought "don't touch me!!"

 

[Mike Bryant]

I start with the longest OAL possible that doesn't interfere with closing the bolt. ...

One thing to make sure of when your rifle shoots at the longest OAL is that you can extract a loaded round without leaving the bullet stuck in the lands. There is nothing that will spoil an agg more than trying to get powder out of an action that has been dumped in the chamber and raceways and try to finish a group in the time remaining. Very seldom do you have time to finish the group unless you switch to a different rifle.