Working up a load – Advice
 

Working up a load – Advice
If you had ten bullets to try, how would you work up a load? Start at 100 grains?
80,100,120 or vary by 5 grains? I have been at this only a couple of years but is seems every time I go up in powder the group gets larger. I heard sometimes there is a sweet spot, but I have not seen it yet.
I am trying a lot of combo in my new .45 but not much promising yet. I’ll try to post the targets in another post when I have more time.
Thoughts?

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

Once you reach a certain point more powder usually opens the groups up. I start at 90gr of T7 and work towards 115GR. In both of my ML the sweet spot is around 100 gr. My Rem likes 105gr T7 and a Knight/Barnes poly tipped bullet. It also likes 100 gr T7 and the 260 gr Nosler Partition bullet. Both of those combos will shoot a 1 1/4 " group. If I was younger they would probably be in an inch. My Omega likes almost any 250 gr bullet and 100 gr T7. Good luck working up your loads. Thats a big part of the enjoyment of ML's.

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

With loose powder I would start with 85 grains of powder. Shoot three and then kick it to 90 grains. Shoot three more. If the group is good and tight, then kick the charge to 100 grains and shoot three more. Depending on what shot the best, take the last one, load that charge and shoot for the group. If it falls right back in to place you have a good starting point for when you get more bullets.

Be sure to swab between shots. Also you might want to shoot at a range where distance might not be such a big factor. After all you are looking for a load, not even close to finding out how that load will shoot at long distances. 50 yards would be the max distance I would be shooting. This is not a session to tune in the scope or anything else. All it will tell you is what the rifle MIGHT like. I personally think 10 shots is no where near enough for any real load testing.

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

Quote:

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If you had ten bullets to try

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I'm not sure we're all interpreting that the same way. Do you mean you have ten bullets of the same styleand will take ten shots to work up a load for that bullet,???or a supply of ten different styles of bullets and will be shooting each style a number of times to work up a load for each one ???

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

My Savage said 44g of AA 5744, so I started at the manufacturer recommended load and powder. That shot well, 1.5" group. So I shot every bullet at that load of powder, found the ones that grouped the best and then used those. Once I selected the bullet then you vary up and down, from that starting point. If your only shooting 1 bullet you can start at 85g, but it will take a while to get to 100 or 110 which is where most 1:28 guns shoot best with 300g bullets. Chap

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

Thanks - I starting with 100 gr T7 in my new .45. So far only 175 power belt is under 2". I got more bullets to try. 200 Shockwave. I think I started to high tryning to save time and bullets and hoping they would group.

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

bowbender6

If you want to shoot the powerbelts go to the 223gr arotip and back your powder down to 80gr you are trying to push them way to hard .
as far as a saboted bullet 200gr is going to be the heavyest bullet you are probbably going to be able to find , I would start off with 80gr shoot 3 see how they group then go 85gr shoot 3 see how they shoot and so on you will find your sweet spot somewere between 80gr and 110gr with a 200gr saboted bullet in both of my .45cal Extremes it is a 200gr XTP & 85gr of 777 .

Ron

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

Thanks Ron
I was reading some of your posts (either here or powerbelt forum) and figured I started with too much powder. THe gun is Kodiak I only paid $120 for but I floated the barrel. I should be able to get something to shoot. If I can't gat it to shoot flat I'll back the powder down and give it too my Daughter.

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

The first question is, do you have a performance goal in mind? In other words, if you need a fast flat load it doesn't matter if the bullets group at 80 grains powder as this will not meet your goal. Maybe you start at 100 gr and immediately switch bullets if one doesn't group there. If you just want the most accurate load possible, I'd start at 80gr with every bullet and work your way up. I killed a ton of deer with 80gr and a 240gr HTP out of my old sidelock, with no noticeable lack of power.

You can get bullets from Precision Rifle running up to 240 grains in sabots for the .45, they have a 260 grainer but it's made for the faster Savage.

My main question is what is the twist in this gun? It's not one of the .45s made with a 1-20" twist, is it? Those ones can be a bugger to find something that will shoot, there's a reason the 1-20" fad only lasted a couple years.

RE: Working up a load – Advice
 

1:28 twist
I would like a fast, flat accurate load (don’t we all). 4” at 200yrds. If I need to drop the powder down to get accurate so be it, I have a whole family of hunters and someone can use the gun for under100 yrds. (the gun will be better than they are). The advice so far should save me some time. I thought I would shoot some more, and some different bullets and loads. Then I’ll call Cecil at PR bullet and given what is shooting better out my gun see what he recommends to try. I might be just a cheap gun and I might have to get something better (CVA Kodiak Nickel). I did make sure the barrel wasn’t rubbing the stock. I could be that the .45’s are fussier than the .50’s.