What did you reload today?

[Walleye Hunter]

I was tooling around with the .338 WINMAG this AM. I suspect that I took the long way around but I do believe I have made some progress. The OAL listed in the book I have is something like 2.3" but after playing with a dummy round in the chamber, I come up with more like 2.445". In the end here, I can press me a round, insert it into the rifle and it comes out the same length it was when it went in. My OALs still vary a little so I figure that the bullet dims must not all be congruent. I weighed them out and used five of equal weight and measured their OALs and they are all pretty close in length. Finishing with different OALs but working fine in the barrel makes me think that all of them are not perfectly the same.

Anyhow, I'm currently using Hornady 225 gr InterBond over 70 gr of H4831. The last time I shot, the batteries in the chrono died after the first shot but I was in the 2700 fps range. I always seem to goof up on the chrono. Forget to arm it, forget to start a new series after shooting a certain load, batteries kick. One day I'll outsmart it.

[85MikeTPI]

I was tooling around with the .338 WINMAG this AM. I suspect that I took the long way around but I do believe I have made some progress. The OAL listed in the book I have is something like 2.3" but after playing with a dummy round in the chamber, I come up with more like 2.445". In the end here, I can press me a round, insert it into the rifle and it comes out the same length it was when it went in. My OALs still vary a little so I figure that the bullet dims must not all be congruent. I weighed them out and used five of equal weight and measured their OALs and they are all pretty close in length. Finishing with different OALs but working fine in the barrel makes me think that all of them are not perfectly the same.

Anyhow, I'm currently using Hornady 225 gr InterBond over 70 gr of H4831. The last time I shot, the batteries in the chrono died after the first shot but I was in the 2700 fps range. I always seem to goof up on the chrono. Forget to arm it, forget to start a new series after shooting a certain load, batteries kick. One day I'll outsmart it.

In bolt guns, it pays to check your chamber OAL and set your loads to be 0.020 off the lands. This is in general, and some custom barrels like a little more or a little less jump
to the lands. In mag fed guns, the mags themselves typically govern the max OAL.

Note that your pressure and velocity will change with OAL changes. Going to a longer OAL will give reduced vel and pressure typically. It should be a note in your load data along
with all the other data to make sure you're staying safe.

Brass prep, bullet checks, loading consistency, etc. all add up to precision loads..

[Walleye Hunter]

In bolt guns, it pays to check your chamber OAL and set your loads to be 0.020 off the lands. This is in general, and some custom barrels like a little more or a little less jump
to the lands. In mag fed guns, the mags themselves typically govern the max OAL.

Note that your pressure and velocity will change with OAL changes. Going to a longer OAL will give reduced vel and pressure typically. It should be a note in your load data along
with all the other data to make sure you're staying safe.

Brass prep, bullet checks, loading consistency, etc. all add up to precision loads..

It will be interesting to see what differences I encounter. Having a longer OAL should produce lower velocities so I guess a whole 'nother round of ladder work is in order.

[Walleye Hunter]

I measured them again and I got four within .001 of each other and one that is .016 shorter for some reason. All of them are longer than my previous rounds so I should be fine on pressures and will see how it flies.

[Xringshooter]

Well, after finally getting my IMR4227, I loaded my first batch of .357 Maximum cartridges for my Ruger Maximum

Bullet: Cast 194 gr Bradshaw-Martin (cast and powder coated by a friend)
Brass: Winchester, R-P, Starline
Powder: IMR 4227 18.5 grs
Primer: CCI 400 Small Rifle

Also did a batch with a little lighter bullet

Bullet: 185 gr powder coated (red) from Missouri Bullet Co.
Brass: Winchester
Powder: IMR4227 18.0 grs
Primer: CCI 400 Small Rifle

Won't have a chance to check them out until I go to western NC to a friends the beginning of October

[Walleye Hunter]

And here are the results of my latest artwork. 225 grn .338 built to fit the chamber with 70 grns of IMR4831. I finally outschmarted the Labradar for a full run so I have some data that I can save and use. My OAL is longer but now my bullets are up closer to the barrel when fired and my velocity has gone up vs the last shot. At 100 yds, I cannot complain about my horizontal variation but my vertical needs some work. I figure it would take some in-person schooling to figure out what I am doing wrong. IMO, if the horizontal can be this tight, so should the vertical. Am I wrong? I'm also thinking that I should stick to this recipe until I get better as a shooter myself.

.338 target 9 4 22.jpg

Labradar data .338 9 4 22.jpg

[DukeConnor]

And here are the results of my latest artwork. 225 grn .338 built to fit the chamber with 70 grns of IMR4831. I finally outschmarted the Labradar for a full run so I have some data that I can save and use. My OAL is longer but now my bullets are up closer to the barrel when fired and my velocity has gone up vs the last shot. At 100 yds, I cannot complain about my horizontal variation but my vertical needs some work. I figure it would take some in-person schooling to figure out what I am doing wrong. IMO, if the horizontal can be this tight, so should the vertical. Am I wrong? I'm also thinking that I should stick to this recipe until I get better as a shooter myself.

.338 target 9 4 22.jpg

Labradar data .338 9 4 22.jpg

Vertical stringing.
https://www.accurateshooter.com/shoo...cal-stringing/

[85MikeTPI]

And here are the results of my latest artwork. 225 grn .338 built to fit the chamber with 70 grns of IMR4831. I finally outschmarted the Labradar for a full run so I have some data that I can save and use. My OAL is longer but now my bullets are up closer to the barrel when fired and my velocity has gone up vs the last shot. At 100 yds, I cannot complain about my horizontal variation but my vertical needs some work. I figure it would take some in-person schooling to figure out what I am doing wrong. IMO, if the horizontal can be this tight, so should the vertical. Am I wrong? I'm also thinking that I should stick to this recipe until I get better as a shooter myself.

.338 target 9 4 22.jpg

Labradar data .338 9 4 22.jpg

Did the Labradar data corroborate the vertical string or were all the
Velocities stay consistent? Have you every had stringing before with
Rifle? If not, I would blame the round prep again, but usually the velocity
Would show that

[Walleye Hunter]

Did the Labradar data corroborate the vertical string or were all the
Velocities stay consistent? Have you every had stringing before with
Rifle? If not, I would blame the round prep again, but usually the velocity
Would show that

The screen shot shows the deets on the series and I believe that they are within tolerances. And yes, I had vertical stringing with my last test but this time the shots are tighter horizontally.

[Walleye Hunter]

I have found that I cannot get a piece of paper to slide between the stock and the barrel so I figure that needs rectifying. Is it done with sandpaper or shims?