mauser06

anyone ever compare velocities in any loading manuals with a chronograph??

ive just been curious as to how close they are?? right now i have the newest nosler book...

i know barrel length is a factor...but was wondering how close to their numbers are real world...

a chronograph is in the future one day....but not this minute...

Pawildman

RR is spot on. I pay little or no attention to what the manuals list as fps/load. My philosophy is that while velocity is good, accuracy is better. The best is top velocity and max accuracy with the same load. Consistency with components is critical to achieving this. And yes, a good chrony sure helps a lot. I went for years without one. After I got one, I wondered how I had gotten along so well before without it. Go figure.......

mauser06

DANG! i was hoping it would be within 100fps or so....

didnt realize that much more was into play...

my true use is for longer range groundhog hunting when im clicking in my distance...hard to do when you dont know your velocity! lol...

and i know it would defiantly help to have a chrony also to see my consistency as a hand loader...

to me, velocity dont mean a whole lot...shoot calibers that are already pumpin what you want from them from the start and you dont need to worry about how fast the bullet is moving...just gotta worry about where its hittin..

guess i'll have to pick up a chrony sometime soon...

im addicted to handloading already! only shot 20rds from my 35 whelen i loaded...got another 21 test loads ready..but waiting on a trigger spring before i go..should be here monday or tues hopefully!

bigcountry

I don't blame the manuals or bullet/powder mfg. Alot of thier data is taken with pressure barrels from quality mfg.

I have had krieger barrels that exceeded most all data, and in fact couldn't reach max load. As RR has details, so much to do with headspace, and freebore, land and groove diameter, barrel smoothness, fouling, you freakin name it.

Scott Gags

I have found my loads match the claimed velocities in the Alliant manual but my velocities run quite low approx 70 fps behind the Nosler manual. I have found most factory loads are also approx 50-70 fps lower than claimed in my rifle.

Some of that difference is that the Nosler Manual is determined from a 24" barrel and my rifle has a 22" barrel.

For safety reasons the test barrels are set to minimum SAAMI specifications. This runs pressures up and increases velocities. Not necessarily because they are dishonest just better to error on the side of caution. Factory rifle chambers tend to be sized on the generous side to reduce chambering problems.

thndrchiken

I haven't really worried about velocity, too much. I do my load work up and when I have a load that I have settled on then I chrony it and punch the numbers into my shoot software to get the estimated bullet drop at range. That being said there is still no substitute to actually shooting at the intended ranges to know exactly how the load performs at range.

BarnesX.308

You might still be. Like these folks stated, your gun has a lot to do with it. Some lots of powder are faster than others. There's also the cases. Some cases are thicker, harder, softer, etc.... Primers can be hotter than others of the same type.

My Barnes manuals use a 24" barrel, even for Weatherby loads. I've tested a few and was close. Better news was that my loads were of similar velocity to each other. That lack of variance means accuracy.

My most disappointing time out with the chrony was with factory 30-06 rounds. 180 grain bullets were barely hitting 2500fps.

Do you have a chrony, Mauser? I bought the Shooting Chrony back in the 1990s for about $120 or so. It can be fun. I brought it to work one day and we were shooting paper wads through it with rubber bands. The slower ones didn't even register.

The good news is, I haven't chronied a load in several years. But they still flatten deer and pulverize watermelons

harter66

I have a rifle in 30-06' that actualy runs 200fps faster than book loads in Lyman Hornady Speer and Seirra manuals. I can vouch for the lot changes changing everything.

homers brother

+1

The closest I've been to book velocity has been 31 fps, which considering the many variables already mentioned, I thought was pretty close. Generally though, manual data is just my starting reference point for load development.