Powder Increase For Accuracy

[krunchnik]

Hey Reloaders I am wondering how much of an increase in powder charge is made when testing for accuracy-
I was thinking possibly .5 grain would be a good number-
I have already started almost at rock bottom charge-
I am putting together a 150gr Hornady SST .308 and am using Accurate AA2520-
What say the experts??

 

[BobinNC]

My rule of thumb is when building a load:

Over 50 grains powder charge use for testing @ 0.5 grain increments
Under 50 grains powder charge use 0.3 grain increments
Under 30 grains use 0.2 grain increments

That's what I use, others may feel comfortable with more or less. IMHO and YMMV

 

[krunchnik]

My rule of thumb is when building a load:

Over 50 grains powder charge use for testing @ 0.5 grain increments
Under 50 grains powder charge use 0.3 grain increments
Under 30 grains use 0.2 grain increments

That's what I use, others may feel comfortable with more or less. IMHO and YMMV

Thanks for the quick reply-.3 it is-

 

[LA260]

Depends on what powder dispenser you use. Mine only does 0.1gr min so I do even steps usually 0.4 so I can split to 0.2 if needed.

 

[CK1.0]

Loading and shooting "ladders" is a fool's errand... speed doesn't really have anything to do with accuracy once within a "normal speed range" for a given cartridge and you'd have to shoot many thousands of rounds and burn out many copies of the same barrel to have a sample size large enough to prove me wrong.

Just pick a speed that's safe in all the weather conditions you and your rifle might find yourselves in, figure out how much fuel (grains of powder) it takes to get there, and then try to make every single round you load come out the same as the last and the same as the next and it will be more accurate than you every single time.

 

[BobinNC]

Loading and shooting "ladders" is a fool's errand... speed doesn't really have anything to do with accuracy once within a "normal speed range" for a given cartridge and you'd have to shoot many thousands of rounds and burn out many copies of the same barrel to have a sample size large enough to prove me wrong.

Just pick a speed that's safe in all the weather conditions you and your rifle might find yourselves in, figure out how much fuel (grains of powder) it takes to get there, and then try to make every single round you load come out the same as the last and the same as the next and it will be more accurate than you every single time.

I'm sorry but the only reloading fool around here is you.......

 

[krunchnik]

I had to try a couple of different charges to get a better grouping using Hornady 168gr BTHPM-
So it seems to me that differences in charge weight would indeed impact accuracy -