Load Development - Where to Begin?

[Phil3]

I am new to reloading, have all the equipment, and am ready to make some live rounds. But where to begin in the load development process? Powders, powder weight, bullet brand, type, weight, seating depth, jump to lands, neck tension, etc. Limitless combinations, but need to start somewhere. Unsure as to where.

Start with the "accuracy load" for an AR15 as in Sierra's book (as long as it safe when cross-referenced w/other manuals), and see what happens? What is the next logical change following that? Powder weight, bullet, or one of the above variables....? I am looking for a a generally accepted way of developing an accurate load that does not waste components and barrel life.

Unfortunately, my local range is just 100 yards, but if that distance is not good enough for load development, I can do 200 and 300 yard, even if it is a 4 hour total drive for the day.

The gun is an AR15 223 Remington, built for bench shooting and accuracy (longer, heavy barrel, Geiselle trigger, etc.).

Thanks.

- Phil

 

[McLarenross]

Re: Load Development - Where to Begin?

There are some stickies at the top of this page "Handloading for Lang Range 1-5". Read them and you will have a good start.

 

[jdel]

Re: Load Development - Where to Begin?

pick a bullet weight you want to use and a powder that's popular for round and make some up in different incriments. For my 223 bolt I had a crap load of Hor 55sp. I chose Benchmark,H335 and H332 as I had those on hand. Then I did my manuel cross referencing to find a weight in the middle of the min and max range and loaded up 3 rounds each of a given charge and went up in .3 incriments to max. Of the promising ones there I loaded 5 rounds to try out. So far it's worked for several rifles I load for.

 

[vman]

Re: Load Development - Where to Begin?

Do some research into what projectiles work for others with the same gun you have... once you have it down chose either one highly proven projectile, or the ones you are interested in. Same thing goes for the powder.

From that point on, you need to work out at what length you will seat the projectile into the case but being an AR i guess you wont exceed max mag length.

Load up a few rounds, starting at the lowest safe starting load and work your way up in regards to powder charges until your at max. You may only need to load up a handful of rounds to do this. All your looking for here is pressure signs to determine the max safe load for your AR.

Once you have determined your window, you need to them break it up again and perform a ladder test. I wont go into detail on a ladder test il let you look up the details, but I find it to be a very informative test for accurate loads at longer ranges.

 

[ARCOREY]

Re: Load Development - Where to Begin?

I buy the Load Books manual for each caliber I'm loading for before I buy any components. It's a ringbound compilation of all the major manuals from powder and bullet manufacturers available at Midway USA for less than $10. I have a Speer manual that is full load data for 45-120's, 35 Whelen's, and 6.5 Carcano information that I'll probably never use. The best part of the Speer book is the physical explanation of how reloading works and how to set up your equipment, the rest is mostly jibba jabba for me. The short and long range tables are okay, but JBM is free and some range time will get you closer than both. The Load Books manuals give me everything I need for that caliber and a place to take notes on my loads. I pick a range of bullet weights that look to perform the task I want and read the recommended twist rates required and make sure I'm not too far off base, but don't base my decisions solely on twist. I find the most common powder across several bullet manufacturers and see if I can purchase it locally. I select two or three bullet types available locally as well and start my loads around the middle of the scale according to the manufacturers and work up in .5 gr. increments in batches of 5 until I get to max load. I shoot 3 shot groups once on paper and reserve the final two from each group until the end. After shooting all my three shot groups, I go back and fire the last two rounds of the 5 shot batches at the corresponding targets in the opposite order. I look at all the primers and cases as I go looking for pressure signs and pay attention to the rifles recoil and report near the top end of the scale. If I see an accuracy area in several groups I go back and load that particular load again as well as .2gr. above and below it and try them on another range session. If I don't see any pressure signs, I'll also load .2 gr. increment batches and go above published max so long as they continue to look safe. None of my rifles so far have cared for the hotter loadings, but others find different results and every rifle is different. The most important thing is to make sure the components you're using are readily available and the loads are safe in your rifle. <span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="font-weight: bold">Don't share your handloads</span></span>. There's nothing worse than finding that magic load then realizing that you can't get the components any more or have to wait in line for them. I've been able to find 2 or 3 loads for my rifles with relative ease that use different but readily available components. During the Varget shortages I was overwhelmed by can after can of IMR 4064 which shot equally well in my 243 with only a 1 gr. difference in loading and gained 10 fps. I know guys begging for Federal GMM 215M primers while I have no problem getting my CCI's.