Getting ready for the range... loaded some test .243's

BigDanS

Summer is winding down here and soon it will be time to hit the range with some new loads and guns:

243 test - 100 g Speer Grand Slams and 100g Speer Boat Tail Soft Points , Winchester cases and Winchester large rifle primers
Loaded over H4350, 37g, 37.5g 38g, 38.5g 39g and 39.5 gr



D

BigDanS

And a comment. I had already prepped the brass, so setup, careful measuring powder and weighing rounds, and seating 36 rounds, three hours! The powder is weighed exactly, and every bullet is within 0.1 gr of the others.

Interesting, the bullets weighed from 99.4gr to 100.6gr. I wonder how much variation in POI is caused by small variences in bullet weight.

jbohio

I'm proud of you.

You need a Chargemaster. You can load those 36 in 20 min. Precisely.

Zee

3 hours for 36 rounds?

Wow. I'd give up handloading at that.

N320AW

You're sure assessing loads the right way with the one half grain increments.:beer: Good luck.

Weatherby

jbohio wrote: »

I'm proud of you.

You need a Chargemaster. You can load those 36 in 20 min. Precisely.

He'll get there by the sounds.
Hope you get a winner in there

BigDanS

knitepoet wrote: »

Friendly word of warning about how you're packing/sorting the different loads.

You need to take a sharpie and mark the individual rounds, or put each load in a separate zip-lock bag.

You'll understand why the first time you accidentally drop and spill one of those boxes. BTDT :cuss:

I take different color sharpies and either make a line across the primer, fully color the primer or make a mark(s) on the bullet, so if I DO accidentally drop a box, I can still tell what is what.

I have even gone as far as writing the charge on the case if I have a LOT of different loads to try with similar looking bullets. (A-max, sst)

Great idea.

D

wildgene

...I do the same thing, going black, blue, green, yellow, orange, red from lightest charge to heaviest, respectively. Color coding the primers works for identifying changes in seating depth, too...

BigDanS

cpj wrote: »

It takes you 5 minutes EACH ROUND?
Wow.

Let me add that I have to setup my bench from storage and take it down which adds 20 minutes or so to the entire process.

On average, yes. Especially when I am adjusting charges. I would weigh 6 charges, then increase .5 gr, measure 6 and then increase .5 again. I never just throw charges when I am testing. Every charge is weighed as exactly as possible. I can see a Charge Master would be a great help. The jewelry scale I am using to weigh bullets is very exact, but the surface is too small to weigh bullets quickly. I could use a larger platform for that s well.

If you want to poke even more fun, all the cases were prep'ed and primed prior to loading.

When doing a test like this, my control freak comes out. I weigh every bullet to be as near as constant as possible. Same primers, exact charges, same bullet weights. If I find a winner, it will be worth it and I will load 100 that way, and most likely I will be less exact.

I also have some 95 gr Hornady SST's coming. I will likely load them the same way.

D

Zee

knitepoet wrote: »

Friendly word of warning about how you're packing/sorting the different loads.

You need to take a sharpie and mark the individual rounds, or put each load in a separate zip-lock bag.

You'll understand why the first time you accidentally drop and spill one of those boxes. BTDT :cuss:

I take different color sharpies and either make a line across the primer, fully color the primer or make a mark(s) on the bullet, so if I DO accidentally drop a box, I can still tell what is what.

I have even gone as far as writing the charge on the case if I have a LOT of different loads to try with similar looking bullets. (A-max, sst)

:that:

I write the powder charge on the case. Cleans off quick with Acetone when I prep the case again.

Zee

BigDanS wrote: »

On average, yes. Especially when I am adjusting charges. I would weigh 6 charges, then increase .5 gr, measure 6 and then increase .5 again. I never just throw charges when I am testing. Every charge is weighed as exactly as possible. I can see a Charge Master would be a great help. The jewelry scale I am using to weigh bullets is very exact, but the surface is too small to weigh bullets quickly. I could use a larger platform for that s well.

If you want to poke even more fun, all the cases were prep'ed and primed prior to loading.

D

Yes to the Chargemaster and yes to the cases being prepped and primed prior to load work.
NO........to weighing each bullet. No me.

Jermanator

FYI-- I found Amax's to be most often (or at least the 6.5mm 140gr's) 139.9 grains well over 70% of the time with the variation for the rest +/- .1 grains. 140gr 6.5mm Sierra Matchkings varied +/- .2 grains.

Zee

knitepoet wrote: »

My "tumbler" ((vibratory type) takes sharpie off of brass/nickel quite nicely as well. I use the tumbler to clean the lube off after sizing anyway

I'm in the dark ages. I don't have a tumbler. I use a paper towel.

Jermanator

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-lb-metal-vibrator-tumbler-67617.html

Zee

Not desperate enough to get one yet.

BigDanS

cpj wrote: »

Weighing bullets? Yeah. No.
And keep in mind, whatever the accuracy +or- of your scale is, that's how much off your powder charge and bullets are. So if it weighs to a tenth of a grain, you are off that much.

I covered this in a scale test about two years ago. The analog scale is very accurate compared to digital for repeating a charge.

D