Range Loading ?

H

Hombre0321

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Guys I am for the first time considering building a point blank rifle. I have been shooting Long Range Benchrest and F-Class for a little over a year and would like to add one more shoot to my schedule. It is a club shoot and that is just fine with me.

I have a very nice Farley action and a older Kelby Klub Stock so I am pretty sure I am going to do this. My question has to do with Range Loading. I am not one bit interested in showing up at these matches with just another 6PPC, no matter how good they are nor how much they win. Without a little challange I will just stay home. So I am considering either a .222 or a .30BR. I have quite a bit of experiance with the 30BR and like it a lot, but that .222 just seems to be calling my name. Back in the day when there were a lot of .222's shooting Benchrest were they Range Loading then like they are now for the 6PPC? Was the tune on the .222 as picky ( sorry just couldn't come up with a better word) as the PPC?

Thanks in advance folks
Roland
 
Want to win...?............ An not do PPC........ 30BR or some sorta 30... Your Farley have a PPC boltface..? If so 30PPC...
The downside, recoil in a 10.5 gun may be a handfull when compared to a 10.5lb .224 or .243....... But you may get used to it...?........... The plus side... Score Matches, LONG competitive barrel life... Great bullets.. An not just customs.!

.222 and or .222Mag is capable.. IMOP as capable as a FL 22PPC......... Just if .22, your outta the Sporter class.
Why not just go .100 22PPC...That is if ya don't mind the case work.. Aggs like crazy...

Still, one way or another... You'll probably eventually do a 6PPC............ Tunes... Great bullets.. Easy 10.5 handling.....
Sporter class for a chance of a 3 gun... Join the rest of us Lemmings... Hehe.


Oh......
My question has to do with Range Loading
Click to expand...
Whatever you choose...............>Loading at the range is required... In particular during testing<... You "may" get by with pre-loading a 30 at Matches.... Maby....

Good luck Roland,
cale
 
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Roland,,,The .22 cals are legal next yr in Sporter class....why not a 22 BR or 6mm BR?? Both are worth the effort...Roger
 
Hell, Roland, these guys don't know. Neither do I, but I got a couple thoughts.

First is, if you want a .222, build a .222. You weren't planning to try & qualify for the World Championships, were you?

Second is that while it never hurts to be able to load at the range (e.g., I load the .30 BR at the range, though it's not very fussy), there are always ways around that, too. Seems to me that it is powder that's fussy, not "caliber" or "chambering." While I don't have a lot of experience with 4895, the little I do have says it's not fussy.

Jim Borden did some testing on how to succeed with preloading. One thing he found was that if you load to the same velocity, you get the same tune. Powder charge may vary. That does mean that when you load up a bunch of rounds, you have to do it over a chronograph, so viewed one way, I guess that does means "range loading," but not "loading at the match."

Then too, Jim's a Gold-level Precision Rifleman & Hall of Fame Benchrest shooter; he'll take any slight edge that's available & make good use of it. Which is to say, if you can find a load that's not fussy & "very good" at always being the same velocity, you likely can load at home and not see a difference.

Final thought is to go visit an old Texan living near Odessa, named Gene Beggs. He's got a tunnel range set up for testing. Build your rifle, give some thought to adding a tuner, get a bunch of suitable powders, and go visit Gene.
 
Slightly off topic but Charles do you know if Jim's preloading testing was documented and published anywhere?

Sounds like it would be a good read.
 
I have no qualms with your desire for a little "challenge" in shooting, but let me caution you that building and shooting a 6 PPC will give you all the challenge you need. The best two cartridges for short-range benchrest are 6 PPC and 30 BR and shooting either one of them at a competitive level will give you all the challenge you need.
 
A goodly number of the top IBS Score shooters pre-load, if that tells ya anything. It's a lot easier to load at home for me. I tried loading during matches when I first started and found it was too easy to make mistakes and difficult for me to load and converse with others. I also enjoy the time between matches to talk to others and help with schlepping targets, scoring or whatever needs to be done to run the shoot. If more people helped a little, there might be more people willing to run matches.
 
mshelton said:
Slightly off topic but Charles do you know if Jim's preloading testing was documented and published anywhere?

Sounds like it would be a good read.
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Well, it was posted to BR Central a while back. Don't know if it is in the current archives or not.
 
I think that the answers to a couple of questions would help with your choice. Is the club match group or score, and what are the rules with regard to rifle weight? If it is a score match, and you can shoot a rifle heavier than 10.5# the choice, between the two calibers that you mentioned becomes much easier. Another thing...will you be shooting at both 100 and 200 yards?
 
Roland, I looked this morning for my copy of Warren Page's The Accurate Rifle. It wasn't on the bookshelf where it belonged. But tonight I looked beside the bed (where it also belongs), and there it was.

Page lists IMR 4198 as one of his favorite powders for the .222. Well, 4198 did vary a touch, and the IMR was a bit faster than the Hodgden, but... Page shot 20.5 grains with bullets in the 51-53 grain region.

He mentions surplus 4895 as being on the slow side, but "up to 24.5 grains has been used in accuracy loadings" (again, what we've got today isn't that same surplus powder), DuPont 4320 (again, a bit slow), Ball, Lot C-1 and C-2, and Reloader #7.

I kinda, sorta don't trust Alliant powders these days. You're probably familiar with H-4198 from your .30 BR. Not, IMHO, a fussy powder. And as I said earlier, the little I've used H-4895 in a .223, it isn't fussy either.

Just as an aside, I've seen in old, old PS articles that the case wall runout on some of the Remington .222 brass was bad enough that if the necks weren't turned, the bullet would engrave on one side, but not the other. One other reason for loading at the range is "you don't have that many prepped cases." Still true for me with .30 BR and 6 PPC. Now, good .222 brass shouldn't be that hard to come by.

In short, if your boltface is for a .222 and you want a Deuce, I don't think you're going to have to depend on loading at the range. Worth what you paid for it. You'd probably score higher/shoot smaller groups with your .30BR, but it wouldn't be the same.
 
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Pete Wass said:
A goodly number of the top IBS Score shooters pre-load, if that tells ya anything. It's a lot easier to load at home for me. I tried loading during matches when I first started and found it was too easy to make mistakes and difficult for me to load and converse with others. I also enjoy the time between matches to talk to others and help with schlepping targets, scoring or whatever needs to be done to run the shoot. If more people helped a little, there might be more people willing to run matches.
Click to expand...

Good points Pete....
I had forgotten about the caliber change to Sporter.... Cool!

Charles talks about using a minimal "fussy" powder..... I agree... Why I'm SO addicted to 8208.... It's still a touch fussy...
What ain't..!:rolleyes:

Your about having fun Roland.... An... THAT's what it's all about..! If ya win and do it with your "unique set-up", it's just WAY Awesome..!
Good luck again,
cale
 
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