Round Count Question

noharleyyet

noharleyyet

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About how many test rounds do you loaders generally fire before settling on a recipe?

I usually load 3 sets of 3 per range session til I get the speed and accuracy I'm looking for.

The quickest I've attained bingo was a 25-06


...most stubborn was a 7-08.
 
Same as you. 3 rounds, then clean barrel and let cool. Repeat process. Makes for a long day at the range sometimes, but in the end, it's worth it.
 
GlockZ said:
Same as you. 3 rounds, then clean barrel and let cool. Repeat process. Makes for a long day at the range sometimes, but in the end, it's worth it.
Click to expand...

Is your point of impact the same with a clean vs a fouled bore?
 
I load testers of 3 shots each(sometimes 5) when I'm starting out and I may have 5-10 different loads. I always foul the barrel with a few shots prior to testing anything. IMO there is always a change of impact on the first shot of a clean barrel. That being said of course I always foul my barrels prior to hunting season and leave them dirty until season is over.

Once my preliminary tests are done and analyzed I usually narrow it down to 2 or 3 loads that I want to test further and then I will shoot 3, 5 shot groups with each of those 2 or 3 loads to determine which is best.

I always attempt to conduct my tests on nice days with little wind and no extremes of temperature or humidity.
 
I also always shoot with a fouled barrel for accuracy or load development. As for round count I do 5 sets of 5. I use to do three but this pics speaks for that. You could stack two and then possibly pull or push a bullet a 1/2 off, not knowing if it was the load or you. I feel with loading and shooting 5 I can eliminate a flyer.

 
Last edited:
I just recently loaded 50 of a new recipe without first testing it. I lucked out, and they work great. Kinda risky if they didn't shoot worth a darn, but I was having too much fun seating bullets.

280 Rem - 140 gr nosler partitions w/56gr of RL19.
 
I take a reloading setup to the range, and hopefully leave with a good load and drop data for it. I've done "load development" a bunch of ways, and lots of them work. Round count varies of course, because a "good enough" load might be found in the first 10 shots, or it could take some fiddling.

Regarding cold bore shots, with good rifles today there should be no first shot deviation provided your bore is fouled. I wouldn't use a barrel for hunting or competition that exhibited one.
 
I always thought that was a interesting article. Especially from the point of differing "conventional wisdoms". Being a hunter who hunts with a fouled bore vs being a sniper planning on your first shot coming from a clean bore.
 
HowaMini said:
I always thought that was a interesting article. Especially from the point of differing "conventional wisdoms". Being a hunter who hunts with a fouled bore vs being a sniper planning on your first shot coming from a clean bore.
Click to expand...

I feel like a sniper would practice frequently enough that their barrel would not need to be cleaned frequently, of course I'm not a sniper so I could be wrong.
 
Berger vld's= Usually I can get it done with less than 100 rds between seating depth and powder charge

Accubonds,partitions,matchkings= Less than 50
 
noharleyyet said:
About how many test rounds do you loaders generally fire before settling on a recipe?
Click to expand...

3 shot groups to narrow it down, then 5 shot groups to make final decisions.
We can get up to 300 yrds out the reloading room window and up to 500 yrds out back across the pasture at my buddies house where we do most of our reloading, so makes for convenient tweaking.
Makes it hard to settle - almost too easy to keep tweaking...
 
I usually pick a powder and bullet to try.
I do a 10 round ladder test with .3 grain difference.
I look for the 3 or more rounds that are closest vertically, and use the middle for my powder weight.
Usually i find 2 nodes where this is most consistent.
Then with powder charge known, i load 6 rounds each at various seating depths, and pick the depth that gave the best 2 groups.
A lot of shooting, sure. But then i put at least 1500 rounds a year downrange.
 
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