Ladder Test

[Fla mac]

OK I want to do a ladder test on my 200 yd. 30BR rifle. I want to start at 33 grs. and go up in .2 grs. per shoot up to 36.0, checking for over pressure each shoot after 34.6. I know that the ladder test should be done with about 20 rounds, but I will only have 15. Now I have been shooting this rifle with .005” into the lands. Should I continue to use this seating depth or go to just touching the lands? When I worked up a load for this rifle using the group test I found it liked .005” long.

john
Mims, Fl.

 

[jo191145]

Someone referenced a ladder test here recently and that inspired me to try one. Hadn't done one before. I was also trying out my chronograph that interfaced with my laptop to see how that worked. I loaded 10 rounds for my 6 Beggs LV gun. Use LT-32 powder and Berger column bullets. I started at 25.6 grains of LT-32 and went up .2 grains at a time to 27.4 grains. I'm not sure what I can learn from this except that 100 yds is probably too short a distance to get meaningful results. Comments gratefully accepted.

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Yes, what you learned is shooting an Audette style ladder at 100yds with an accurate rifle tells you nothing. Lets say your PPC is persnickety/fussy. When you shoot an Audette like that at 200yds with a fussy gun you know you hit the jackpot on component choice. =)
You can use Boyds idea of separate aiming points for each shot. Works well with less accurate rifles. When a ppc is happy the data is more skewed by conditions tho.

Bottom line. Shoot enough ladder tests and you'll learn a lot about things you might think unimportant.