who's your favorite powder load data, I was given a tip
- Thread starter Bowman
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I usually compare a few and check out the load data threads on snipers hide.
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I've been reloading for almost 7 thousand years. Used to write features for Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, Guns and Ammo, etc. I'm also woefully ignorant compared to many others who have never been published but post on this forum. Many powder manufacturers have told me that their number one fear is getting sued by someone who used their reloading data and blew up the entire family and the family dog. The most aggressive with load data is Nosler---they don't care who sues. Hodgdon, on the other hand, is very conservative. Go ahead and check. Look at a specific load for a specific bullet weight and Nosler is always aggressive and their FPS is always above everyone else. The best load is what works for you and your rifle.
My neighbor came by while I was sitting on my porch reading this and he saw the topic and, he said that's easy, a couple grams a day. I told him, wrong powder.
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You and your buddy can go to the same gun shop the same day and buy identical rifles manufactured at the same plant on the same day. You can then load the same bullet with the same weight powder and seat the bullets to the same depth. You go to the range and one rifle likes the load and one does not. So you work up a new load for the inaccurate rifle and it loves it, shoots SMOA all day but the original accurate rifle does not like that load at all. There are so many variables that influence accuracy that you never know until you experiment with your unique rifle. Also, the figures published by the powder companies are using test barrels that are lapped, shot cold, and replaced every 100 shots or so. I also defy anyone to replicate Nosler's load data and then come up with feet per second that match or exceed what is published. Take a given weight bullet from Nosler with a given powder charge and a given barrel length and then compare the published fps with Barnes or Hodgdon. Usually a significant difference.
Another chirp from me...The powder manufacturers loads are almost always VERY conservative. It's in their own interest you don't blow up a rifle. The best data comes from the manufacturer of the bullet you are using. They test THEIR bullets with several powders. NOW, check their data with what YOU are shooting. Most of their data comes from a 24" barrel. Most of us don't shoot 24-inchers. I usually drop about 200 feet of velocity from their figures as a ballpark guesstimate and then confirm my final most accurate load with a chronograph. I generally start with the powder they found as most accurate and go from there. I start at the lowest recommended load and load four rounds. I then go up a half-grain and load four more, continuing on until I reach the max load. Each four-round group of finished rounds are put in snack-size baggies and labeled with a felt-tip marker. I also make up one target per load using 8.5 x 11-inch cardstock paper with a 3" stick-on bullseye and labeled with the powder and bullet info. That way, you can lay all the targets out after you shoot and see what the bullets are doing with the different loads. In a perfect world, the patterns will start out larger and then get smaller as your load increases and then open up again. With the targets side-by-side, you can see exactly where the best pattern is. Make up a 5-round packet of that load to confirm the group size and use a chronograph to get the velocity. Done! I usually use at least two powders, usually three, to see which powder works best in my rifle. That's the key...what works best IN YOUR RIFLE. I can give you my best load, but that doesn't mean it's going to shoot best in yours. My son and I have identical Ruger American's in 308 caliber. The "best" load for each is a half-grain difference. Since the patterns vary by less than 1/4", he shoots my load since I'm building them and he generally "borrows" ammo from me anyway.