Pet Loads....

N

Nathan

New member
I have loads I've developed for my own guns, but I'm guessing they are developed mostly for my guns. I would tell you my pet load, but my results generally seem different than other reloaders.

If I were to ask another persons exact pet load, what would I do with it???....just load it up and shoot? It won't be tuned for my gun, and I'll likely be missing data like case length or amount of crimp.....
 
Well, as you say, you wouldn't want to just copy it. That would be stupid.

However, that doesn't mean knowing how someone else does it better than you is a bad thing. If some guy is constantly kicking your butt in competition or just simply shooting nice groups at the range, it doesn't hurt to compare his recipe to yours.

For example, if he's using a particular powder, or primer, or bullet shape/brand/type, or neck tension, etc. and it's different from yours; that might be a clue that you need to try a different approach, especially if his performance is significantly better than yours. Of course, you wouldn't use his recipe, but you might try using his same ingredients while you develop your own recipe.

That's my take anyway.
 
Of course, you wouldn't use his recipe, but you might try using his same ingredients while you develop your own recipe.
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Absolutely what is quoted above. In most cases your looking for components that across the board have shown a tendency to play well together. Just as an example, a 130g bullet over a decent charge of IMR-4350 in a .270, or similarly a 150g bullet over a charge of H4350 in an '06.

Over a period of time these have simply shown to be a good to great combination in many different firearms from several manufacturers. Not that the charge weight, seating depth, or bullets are the exact same, but the overall combination just works.
 
That's what I do when I hear pet load info, but I was wondering if others had something closer to plug n play!
 
but I was wondering if others had something closer to plug n play!
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Well therein lies the crux, while you might be just fine with using data as plug and play, the alternative with 50K+ PSI only 2" in front of your face is the determining factor.

I have had a primer let loose due to working up loads in winter and thinking they would be just as peachy come mid summer, in 100'ish degree heat and high humidity, they weren't peachy at all. To be honest, that as as close as I EVER want to come to something worse. Now when I develop loads I usually do it while the temp is high even if it means a bit of sweating is involved. That way I don't have to worry about that issue when it gets cold. I will happily settle for a little loss in velocity over a loss of an eye or worse.

One should always take even printed load data with a grain of salt and work up in your own individual firearm. I have had flattened primers and had 200+fps velocity jumps with starting loads or only a touch higher. So to err on the side of caution always start low and work up. The cost of components isn't even comparable to the loss of body parts.
 
Sometimes others pet loads provide a good starting point to start from and develop into your own.

Shooting bullseye pistol out of a 1911? When you see everybodys pet loads use a certain bullet bullet with anywhere from 4.5 to 5 gr of Bulleye with crimp varying from .468 to .470 it gives you an idea of where about to start.

Same thing goes if you want to shoot .308 168 gr SMK out of a bolt gun and wondering what powder to use for consistent accuracy, lots of folks will say you can't go wrong with IMR 4064.

Its a jumping off point in the right direction most times, just requires a few minor tweaks and testing on your part. Do your research to make sure the data is safe, check multiple sources whenever possible.
 
It honestly came as a bit of a surprise to me to find that there are bullet/powder combinations for most all calibers that will shoot great in your rifles and my rifles. The newest Nosler reloading book shows a lot of those combinations, if you use the Nosler bullets. Naturally, that doesn't mean that you can't have another powder/bullet combination that works great.

If you have a 220 Swift, 38.5 gr of IMR 4064 behind a 55 gr bullet will be a good load. I read that in a gun book many years ago. So, I loaded up some of those and all these years later, that's my load. If you have a 260 and want to shoot a 100 gr Nosler BT, put it over IMR 4064. I forget the exact powder charge, but I found it before I saw that was what Nosler recommended. Exactly the same powder charge. So, you might want to look in the reloading books to pick powders and bullets before you get the reloading started. I didn't but now I do.
 
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cryogenic419 is spot on. Most time's what works in most will work in yours also. Now that being said, One still needs to do the workup and stuff to fine tune it to your rifle. I have a 223 load that I have given to maybe 20 people now. I can tell you about 14 switched their load over to my load now. It just seems to shoot great in all 223's. Only thing I switch with cryogenic is the 308- RL-15 and GM210M primers is my go to for many years now.
 
There was an article by John Barsness in IIRC Handloader Magazine that had to do with loads that worked in more than one rifle. It might also be in his book, "Obsessions of a Rifle Loony". Good read BTW. Personally I haven't tried any of them mostly because I already have my pet loads worked up.
Paul B.
 
There are also pet loads for gas-operated service rifles. I suspect that the most prudent and successful shooters treat these powder charges as points within a RANGE of suitable charges, and double-checked against at least two widely used reloading manuals. They then experiment with powder charges on either side of the "pet load" charge (assuming it isn't a max load), and find the load the works best in their particular rifle.

For pet pistol loads, I'm often less meticulous about work-up and, if the load of interest is not maximum, will go right to that combination. The Skeeter Skelton .44 Special load, 7.5/Unique/240SWC worked well from the outset, and did so many things well, I never felt a need to try improving on perfection.

The well-known .45 Colt 8.0/Unique/250 - 255 load also worked so well in my revolver (a Red Hawk) and carbine (Rossi M1892) that I pretty much stopped, there. For shooters who own .45 Colt conversions or pre-WWII . 45 Colt revolvers of any description, starting at 7.2/Unique is prudent, but I suspect that 8.0/Unique is not excessive for those pieces, either.
 
It is always preferable to start from scratch, but I have the rolled the dice twice and it worked both times.

The first was using the "Accuracy Load" from the Sierra manual. I loaded 5 rounds with the published accuracy load and it shot very well in my hunting .308. I looked for pressure signs with each shot, and after finding none, called it good. That was ~20 years ago, and I still use that load.

The other was much more recent, I was wanting a load for my Mosin Nagant PU Sniper, and I found a forum thread where someone had mentioned a load that shot well in several of his Mosins. The load was upper-middle of the road from the published data from the bullet manufacturer, so I tried it out, again looking for pressure signs with each shot. Again, it shot well enough that I am not going to bother with any further load development. These 2 groups are at 100 yards with the factory 3.5X scope. The bottom group is neck sized, the top FL sized:

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For a full wood stocked Mosin, I am very happy with that.
 

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I primarily load for 308 and 30-06 hunting rifles. All of my best loads were "borrowed" from others advice. Hang around enough gun forums and gun shops talking to people about what works best for them and you soon notice trends. If it works well for a lot of others chances are good it'll work for you.

I wouldn't blindly copy someones load, but will confirm the data with a loading manual and work up to it. I don't believe I have to re-invent the wheel every time I want to try something else.
 
I would make sure it was within the load range posted by the powder manufacturer. Then I would drop the load 10% and develop the load for my firearm. This of course depends upon me having the powder that the other person used. I only use two powders for handguns (Alliant Unique and 2400), and two for my rifle (IMR 3130 and 4350).
 
Going in line with JMR40- I use a sight called Reloaders nest. There is hundreds of loads there. What I do is pick my caliber and then my bullet wt. With in that search i can look at hundreds of loads. You start to see a pattern of what Primers, COL, powder and charge seem to come together. A small example- 308 loads- By far the number one primer used is GM210M primers. Now this is not to say CCI will not work well, it just shows that 80% of 308 loads use GM210M primers.
 
Agree with all the suggestions about researching the published data behind the shared pet loads and the proper methods with regards to load development. However, after THAT is done, something occurs to me:

When I get a new to me gun, what do I do?
I am mostly a handgun guy and when a new gun takes it's first trip to the range, I sure as heck am not starting with some new, untested, way below max "starting" loads and trying to re-invent the wheel with each new handgun I get.

Instead... I feed it the loads that have (so far) worked -SO- well for me in my other handguns in the same chambering.

So when some of the new handloaders that I have coached (some since day 1) ask me for MY pet loads, of course I share them and of course I expect them to try them and oh yes, I do expect them to succeed with them.
 
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