Developing a Load at the Range?

B

baddarryl

New member
Hi all. I have started reloading and have a Lee Turret press at home. So far I am only loading 9mm for IDPA etc. I want to get into .223 and .30/06 for my Garand. My range is about 45 minutes away and I would love to be able to experiment and tweak loads down there.

Is it a reasonable assumption that I could use the Lee Classic or Lee Handpress to do the onsite development? I know there are other brands, but I am one of those guys that like to stay in product families for simplicity and redundancy. Thank you.
 
Sure, LOTS of folks do just that.
My local range has reloading rooms -no gear provided, just nice lighted enclosed rooms with electricity for scales- at our four different ranges.

Reads like you only need a wind free area, or even your rig for a place to set up scales.
Having a prepared batch of sized and primed cases also help speed up the load development as well.

JT
 
Lots of folks do just that.
Saves a lot of running back and forth to the range.
One fellow has an genuine reloading bench in his van with everything needed, just like home.
Very cool.
 
An easier solution is to load a string, 3/10 to 5/10 apart.

I tend to load 3 difference calibers, use the same procedure when looking for a load.

If I have a load that shot good I will do the same and see if I can find a difference.

Take a press (hand or bench) and you can work with COAL

If I hit an area I can take down the rounds left, or just keep running up through them to see if there is a second node.
 
I have used a Lee handpress at the range, worst part is metering or measuring your charges. The wind plays havoc with a balance beam scale and even using a battery powered scale it can be a pain but it is do able. I used the back of my SUV for my as a loading bench and it worked fairly well. One of the BR guys sets his up in the restroom
 
I've been thinking of various ways to load at the range without the wind being a major problem. I haven't tried this but it should work. Just prep and prime your brass, then measure and pour the charges, then make plugs from wood dowels and plug them in the case. Then just seat bullets as needed at the range with the Lee hand press. This way no need to pull down unused rounds, and all powder weights will be consistent. Then once you find a load, just do the same with a bunch of pre loaded rounds on a second trip and play with COL for the final tweak. Like I said, I haven't tried this yet so just a thought so far.
 
...more than reasonable, it's do-able.
Do it, man!
I take a sampling of progressive loads and first find consistency.
Jimmy
 
Some of the best shooters I know do it that way and if it appeals to you go for it. The advantages that I found were when working up a load. I could do in 25 or 30 loads what might take me 50 using home loads. Once i hit a node that gave me both the velocity and the accuracy I was looking for I could fine tune it in .1 increments. I also found that I could tweak seating depths more efficiently that way

Best way to do it is the way the BR people do it. They use a very accurate throw such as a Harrel or one of its clones. Then in the luxury of their home they throw and weigh out various charges of the powder they use and record the settings of the throw adjustments. Then they know that if they set the throw to xxx they will get 43.1 gr of Varget. At least that was how it explained to me one day, never owned anything fancier than a Lee throw.The few times I range loaded was using a battery powered scale, dippers and a trickler inside my SUV to weigh my charges

Arbor presses are pretty portable too, you might look into them if get serious about range loading

Just my 2 cents worth
 
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Ya, I've seen a few do it at our club. Biggest factor . . . can't be a windy day...powder...

I got the Lee handpress. Works fine for small batches like ones you would do at the range.
 
I do use the range to work up my loads but after trying to load ammo at the range I decided it was better to load at home under predictable conditions and then use the range to get the results. Maybe if I had bought that box truck I could have put a reloading area in it but I didn't buy it so I load my ammo at home.
 
Done by the Benchrest crowd

The top guys at our matches, load up between relays.
They use the same cases for next relay. Talk about consistency!

Most items in your kit will be small - bullets, primers, powder. The biggest thing will be your press.
A good start on it is to resize and prime the cases at home. After that it's just powder weight and bullet seating depth.
When you find the magic combo that gives you 1 hole for 3 shots, you can stop :)
 
I load at the range and use Wilson arbor seater

http://www.lewilson.com/chambertypebulletseater.html

I have RCBS Compac press for FL Sizing and use Wilson neck die.

http://www.lewilson.com/stainlessnecksizedie.html

You can use on of these

http://harrellsprec.com/index.php/products/combo-press

I shot BR and when I quit I'd pretty much continued on using those type dies for my hunting/varmint rifles. I still load for few tight neck rifles.

One club I belong too, been member almost 25yrs so their pretty used to me loading.

I think I save little on barrel wear and anything I change, I can see instant results. I do most of my fine tuning at 200/300 yds and sometimes I'll just load everything at home then just seat bullets at the range and work on that. I'll come back couple times that yardage make sure any changes are working.

I've been working on R-26 couple rifles and some ELD-X bullet couple rifles.
 
Well years ago I was shooting with a bunch of BR enthusiast and asked the same questions. For the most part I never expected to get the one hole type groups that most of them got, I just wanted to save time and effort driving 45 minutes or more, then having to pull rounds when I got home.

I put together this little accumulation of tools that have traveled many miles with me and loaded thousands of rounds.

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I took a note book and sat down one rainy weekend and weighed out my most common powders in the charge weight ranges that I used for the calibers I load, then noted what the settings were for min and about a grain under the top end charges. I also checked what the weight was when I turned the stem on my Uniflow in half and full turns.

This let me work up loads, or fine tune a load while sitting at the bench and shooting over the chrony all at one time. If I find something I really like I simply note the measurement noted on the stem which would look like 3+3 1/2 turns. When I get home I simply set up the measure and weigh out the charge. With my hunting rifles the end results is usually plenty close enough for my typical hunting ranges out to around 300yds.
 
Here's the latest evolution of my portable setup:

20170113_131649_zpsexbvb5th.jpg


I use a digital scale for ease of use, but I take along a beam scale just in case. The wind box was originally built for the beam scale, but accommodates the digital.

I can also set it up using the trailer hitch on my car if I don't have a convenient bench or table:

20170504_111939_zpsxi4azxfn.jpg
 
You guys are hard core. If developing a load, I just take careful notes and load strings at home to take to the range.

I wish I could become avid enough these days to warrant reloading at the range.
 
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