Thread: Interpreting a Ladder Test

Hi P38. To make it easier for me I numbered your shots. Statistically there are no patterns here, just data that says that ladder testing will not give you the information you are wanting.
Both ladder testing and the OCW method are intended to identify barrel vibration "nodes" as a means to reducing the effect of shot-to-shot variance in a given ammunition. My interpretation of this target is that other factors in your set-up are setting the overall group size, masking the information that the ladder test may otherwise provide. They will do the same thing for OCW testing.
My best advice if you are wanting to shoot smaller groups is to pass on ladder & OCW testing and shoot test groups with each type of bullet that are acceptable for the task you have in mind and hope that one or more of these meets your expectations, sticking with a moderate load for each, 7-shot minimum groups to get a bit of statistical significance. Good luck.