My two-prong plan. Sound?

Pond James Pond

New member
I have a decent .308 recipe that achieves sub-MOA at 100yds.

I have a decent rifle and scope set-up, but not zero'ed to that round.

I have a recently threaded barrel and a new suppressor that the recipe was not developed for.

I have a new Lyman Gen6 that I have not tested yet for real world accuracy.

I want to see how they all work together!

My plan:
First, prep handloads metered on my Lee Safety scale. These will give me the most consistent loads: Load 30 of them. Then prep a further 20 using only the Lyman as a metering tool. No charge checking on the Lee.

Use 10 of the Lee-loaded cartridges to zero the scope, possibly fewer, at 100m.

Now shoot a group of ten Lee-loadeds at a new target. These will be the accuracy baseline. (Group A)

Now shoot a group of 10 Lee-Loadeds through the suppressor. Keep for comparison. (Group B)

Now shoot a group of 10 Lyman-loaded cartridges through the suppressor to see if grouping or POI changes. (Group C)

Now shoot the other group of 10 Lyman-loaded cartridges through the unsuppressed rifle to see if grouping and POI is comparable to the Lee-loaded ones. (Group D: this checks if my accuracy suffers by just running the Lyman with its +/-0.2gn variance)

Then compare each group, B, C and D to group A to see how they change. I expect some changes but I really hope that they are limited to groups B and C due to the suppressor. If group D is all over the place, then that means I can't trust my Lyman Gen 6 and I may just cry a bit...

So my question is whether or not you'd change anything and whether or not you'd run this test at 100 or 300m.

Those are my two distance choices so don't bother with 200m etc.
Reasons for 100m are that my scope is 3-12x and I can clearly see where the duplex is sitting at that distance.
Reasons for 300m are that by then the bullet should be as sable as it's going to be and it is more representative of the cartridges overall potential.

NB, so far all my testing has been at 100m.

Thx
 
If your baseline load is sub-MOA and your silencer - Lyman dispenser loads differ only slightly, you might not be able to tell a difference at 100m.

For serious testing, I would do the initial shooting at 100 but zeroing appropriately high so as to at least be on the paper at 300. Then shoot for comparison at 300. The groups will be larger, but the discrepancies will, too; and easier to distinguish. If the discrepancies are slight, you may have to do more shooting to prove a real difference greater than chance.

By the way, I do not credit the popular fantasy that bullets get more stable or more accurate as they travel. A 300m group will be three times the size of a 100m group, assuming equal sight picture on the target and no wind. More likely larger still.

There is a ballistician here who has issued a challenge to anyone who thinks he can demonstrate converging bullets under controlled conditions. His offer of travel expenses would probably not cover your location, though.
 
Unless you're an above average marksman, you're not likely to see a significant difference at 100 yards/meters. You may see a POI change due to the suppressor weight on the muzzle.
 
I have a decent .308 recipe that achieves sub-MOA at 100yds.

I have a decent rifle and scope set-up, but not zero'ed to that round

Have you achieved this sub-MOA load through this rifle and haven't zeroed the scope, or is this a recipe that has worked in other rifles but not tried in this rifle? Your plan seems to focus on this load shooting sub MOA in this rifle, so if you haven't proven that part, that should be your focus.
 
It was through this rifle. I haven't zeroed yet as I'm still developing loads. It is my most accurate but I'm hoping for a similar load in the 170 gn region.

I'm zeroing it now just because I may shoot out to 300m and I want hits as close to the vertical lane of aim as possible.
 
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