Ammo Testing

H

hg shelton

Guest
Trying to work up some loads for a couple of new rifles .223's. Just wandering what tempatureyou guys think is best to get the best accuracy out of new load?????????
thanks, Gary Shelton
Just don't want to freeze my butt off just to find they won't work when the weather warms up.........
 
All Day Range Practice

HG
If you got the time I like to shoot BR practice from 8 till 5. Preload your morning cases with the 2 powders you want to test. Use 2 blocks of 15-20 cases. This way you can run 2 powders or 2 bullets. One load will always shoot better than the other. For .223 you might try H322 and WW 748. After trying both powders for accuracy set one back in your box. Now you have 2 blocks that can be tested for best bullets with your best powder.

I like to shoot all the conditions I might experience in a Shoot. Some are wind and light conditions, temps, and fatigue thus the all day practice. No need to hurry if you dedicate the whole day to load developing. Keep records of components and loads used also temp at certain times during the day. Use windflags and a solid rest and bag set-up. Clean barrel at least every 25 shots. Bring food and water a bad feeling you is no good for a days testing.

Now you have the basis for pre-loading if you choose. Lawrence pre-loads with the aid of his Range work and he has a couple National Championships to prove pre-loading works for him.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
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Thanks Stephen, that really helps, also saves me the cost of that airline ticket to North Dakota for that -20 practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gary
 
Don't you think that you're going to need to load for the temperature range most prevalent in your area or that will likely occur in a shooting season of matches? Current thinking--according to this forum --is that a temperature difference of 20 degrees Fahrenheit will require a change in the powder charge and/or bullet weight.

With that in mind, I don't bother trying new loads here when the temperature is -- as it is currently-- an arctic high in the 20's, when I know I will be shooting at a mean temperature of 50 degrees F the bulk of the year. When I lived in PHX I was crazy and shot in temps from 60 to 110, so I had to do a lot of experimenting, but it seemed like a load dialed in at 75 or so would work well most of the year. Of course, back then we figured a temp under 60 was too cold to leave the house and the heater and the beer, and etc.... OK, at the time I had other priorities besides shooting.........blasphemy, I know............


BTW, I shoot a lot of .223 besides the BR calibers and it does not seem to be terrifically temperature sensitive when using N135 sas some other rounds might be. A fairly heavy load of N135 behind a medium weight bullet in a medium twist rate barrel seems to be a pretty good all weather round up here, at least for me.

You probably will find more people on the factory/hybrid forum shooting this cartridge-- hence more input.
 
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