For me, & this is me just saying what I’ve found has worked for me over the years & I'm by no means a statistician or reloading guru, your increments are way too course.
I find the optimum barrel time for the length of barrel & then use QuickLoad to identify the powder weight that gets me the closest to that time.
I then load five rounds each starting at that powder weight and going up & down two steps at 0.1gn increments.
I’ve not done non lead bullets yet but with traditional cup & core I load one batch at 10 thou off the lands & then a second batch at 20 thou off the lands. So in total I have 50 rounds loaded. It sounds a lot. You,ve just shot 21 rounds - so only 4 less than my first batch at 10 thou jump, & don’t have a clear idea of where you go next.
Using this method I worked up the following load for an AI AT in one sitting - I’d shot the rounds with 10 thou jump & had found a good load in that at under 0.5moa so nearly didn’t bother to shoot the other 25 & was going to go home & pull them. However, I decided I should really see how they shot if only to see just how ‘tolerant’ the barrel was. I was pleased I did as the little hole below is 5 rounds of .308W loaded with a Sierra 2155 bullet.
Incidentally for load testing I keep the target simple - rows of 15mm black patches on the back of a large pistol/gallery target which I find make a simple clean aiming mark. I then stick a couple of minutes of elevation on the scope so the bullets don’t hit the aiming mark but instead leave it clear for the next shot to be aimed.
I’ll be developing a load for my 308 using Sako 162gn Powerhead blade but won’t be bothering with jump initial, I’ll just load to factory length & do a test based on powder weights as above. The fun will come when I do the development for the 6.5x47 as there’s no factory ammo to use as a starting point!
I find the optimum barrel time for the length of barrel & then use QuickLoad to identify the powder weight that gets me the closest to that time.
I then load five rounds each starting at that powder weight and going up & down two steps at 0.1gn increments.
I’ve not done non lead bullets yet but with traditional cup & core I load one batch at 10 thou off the lands & then a second batch at 20 thou off the lands. So in total I have 50 rounds loaded. It sounds a lot. You,ve just shot 21 rounds - so only 4 less than my first batch at 10 thou jump, & don’t have a clear idea of where you go next.
Using this method I worked up the following load for an AI AT in one sitting - I’d shot the rounds with 10 thou jump & had found a good load in that at under 0.5moa so nearly didn’t bother to shoot the other 25 & was going to go home & pull them. However, I decided I should really see how they shot if only to see just how ‘tolerant’ the barrel was. I was pleased I did as the little hole below is 5 rounds of .308W loaded with a Sierra 2155 bullet.
Incidentally for load testing I keep the target simple - rows of 15mm black patches on the back of a large pistol/gallery target which I find make a simple clean aiming mark. I then stick a couple of minutes of elevation on the scope so the bullets don’t hit the aiming mark but instead leave it clear for the next shot to be aimed.
I’ll be developing a load for my 308 using Sako 162gn Powerhead blade but won’t be bothering with jump initial, I’ll just load to factory length & do a test based on powder weights as above. The fun will come when I do the development for the 6.5x47 as there’s no factory ammo to use as a starting point!
