A Good Day at the Range
- Thread starter lugerstew
- Start date
My barrel is a Shaw 26 inch ss. It had about 50 rounds through it from going to the range last week, plus I shot 4 barrel warm up rounds right before I shot these today. I'm planning on cleaning it tomorrow, before I use it again.
I'm estimating it has at least a thousand rounds through it since I had it put on about 2 years ago.
I'm estimating it has at least a thousand rounds through it since I had it put on about 2 years ago.
lugerstew,
Nice Shooting! I can't be sure where the OCW lies. The first three groups are the smallest but aren't in the same location (assuming the center of the bull is POA), which is Newberry's criterion. Since Newberry recommends increments of 0.7-1.0% of the charge and yours are about 1.4%, you may have skipped over some useful information. I would shoot some about 33.3 grains and more at 33.5 and some at 33.8 to see if the POI stays put. If it does, you are in the middle of a good load range.
The last two groups appear to be centered in the same place, the criterion Newberry looks for, but they aren't tiny like the first three. Again, I would repeat them with something in between to see what you get.
The only ways I know for sure to confirm an OCW are with more guns in the same chambering but with different barrel lengths, or by cutting your barrel down in steps to learn if it remains accurate. Since it seems capable of shooting well as it is, I'm guessing you won't want to do the latter.
Nice Shooting! I can't be sure where the OCW lies. The first three groups are the smallest but aren't in the same location (assuming the center of the bull is POA), which is Newberry's criterion. Since Newberry recommends increments of 0.7-1.0% of the charge and yours are about 1.4%, you may have skipped over some useful information. I would shoot some about 33.3 grains and more at 33.5 and some at 33.8 to see if the POI stays put. If it does, you are in the middle of a good load range.
The last two groups appear to be centered in the same place, the criterion Newberry looks for, but they aren't tiny like the first three. Again, I would repeat them with something in between to see what you get.
The only ways I know for sure to confirm an OCW are with more guns in the same chambering but with different barrel lengths, or by cutting your barrel down in steps to learn if it remains accurate. Since it seems capable of shooting well as it is, I'm guessing you won't want to do the latter.
Thanks for the advice Unclenick. I will give those a try, like I said though, more rounds and further distance, I have seen several times where awesome 100 yard groups go bad at 300 yds.
And also, darn, I cant find those bullets for sale anymore, and I only have about 10 left
And also, darn, I cant find those bullets for sale anymore, and I only have about 10 left
std7mag, I have always done it this way, wrong or right, the first time I try a bullet/powder combo, I check the load data and pick a range of powder charges, then load up 3 of each and shoot, .5 gr increments through a chrono at 100 yds to see which charge weight gives me the best groups, especially if a string of them is good, I call it OCW or looking for optimal charge weight. When I pick a few of the best, I load them again and shoot about 7 each at 200 or 300 yds again.
Whichever charge weight shows the best groups, Then I start doing Coal tests starting about .020 off lands to find the best COAL, and then I call that my best load for that combo, one powder charge weight, one COAL. I also know I have to adjust later for barrel throat erosion.
Whichever charge weight shows the best groups, Then I start doing Coal tests starting about .020 off lands to find the best COAL, and then I call that my best load for that combo, one powder charge weight, one COAL. I also know I have to adjust later for barrel throat erosion.