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Need you experts to help
- Thread starter USAF Ret
- Start date
I heard that from Brian Nelson a few years ago. While I can see it making sense with a semi-auto unrested, I can't see any difference between my 5 shot groups, 10 shot groups and 20 shot groups when I keep my rifles reasonably cool and I am rested. 3 to 5 can really change things.Board member Statshooter, who was a college statistics professor, always shot 30-shot groups because he didn't really believe results from smaller samples and had a rationale for that. But most folks won't find that very budget-friendly.
It's hard to maintain consistency of all the conditions much over 30 minutes unless one is indoors. I did take my .308 to LFI and shoot some 20 round groups. I was happy after 2, so I took 160 rounds into the live fire simulator and shot the rest up doing shoot/don't shoot drills, shoot houses...in 15 minutes. The RSO running the sim was laughing his butt off. I was sweating and had a pretty elevated pulse at the end.
stagpanther
New member
A good start--one thing I'd suggest is at some point trying other combinations--that's the fun of hand-loading, after all. I prefer 170 gr round nose soft points in my 336 30-30.
Yessir. Will do.A good start--one thing I'd suggest is at some point trying other combinations--that's the fun of hand-loading, after all. I prefer 170 gr round nose soft points in my 336 30-30.
I would generally concur with stagpanther for almost every rifle.
But with the .30-30, most traditional bullets are soft nosed and vary considerably out of the same box, probably due to deformation of the soft tip.
The 160 FTX has a higher BC, and very little variation bullet to bullet box to box.
The 140 GTX, now the CX I think, also has low variation and might be another choice, but it is all copper. With my rifle, it shoots almost as well as the 160 FTX, both with LeveRevolution powder.
Your rifle my shoot the lighter bullets better than the FTX. Every barrel is different. It might even shoot even heavier bullets well.
All the soft nose bullets in my 30-30 shoot groups that are larger by 50%. They are pretty consistent in group size, but the groups are larger.
But with the .30-30, most traditional bullets are soft nosed and vary considerably out of the same box, probably due to deformation of the soft tip.
The 160 FTX has a higher BC, and very little variation bullet to bullet box to box.
The 140 GTX, now the CX I think, also has low variation and might be another choice, but it is all copper. With my rifle, it shoots almost as well as the 160 FTX, both with LeveRevolution powder.
Your rifle my shoot the lighter bullets better than the FTX. Every barrel is different. It might even shoot even heavier bullets well.
All the soft nose bullets in my 30-30 shoot groups that are larger by 50%. They are pretty consistent in group size, but the groups are larger.
stagpanther
New member
I agree variation is a big factor, but maybe it's just my particular rifle that prefers the 170 spire points. Funny enough, I've never had much luck with ftx's and leverlution in mine. 1.5" at 100 I'd consider pretty good with any 30-30 recipe. My best results so far have been with winchester power points. I would also like to try Nosler's 150 gr round nose bullets--if I can ever find them.
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USAF Ret said:Next loading, I will spread my sample size to 1/2 grain between loads.
That's a little big, IMHO. A rule of thumb for seeking a node load is steps of 0.7% to 1.0%. For you, 0.3 grains per step falls right in the middle and is a good number to use. If you are working up a load while looking for pressure signs, then 2% steps are adequate.
Yessir, been reading and watching info on the node calculation. Mark has been sending me recommendations as well.That's a little big, IMHO. A rule of thumb for seeking a node load is steps of 0.7% to 1.0%. For you, 0.3 grains per step falls right in the middle and is a good number to use. If you are working up a load while looking for pressure signs, then 2% steps are adequate.