Thread: Ladder Testing

I was hoping that Tankd and/or Ryan would have posted some examples of Ladder Testing where ladder nodes were conclusively found, and that knowing this had resulted in optimising a load for better accuracy, but I can understand why they might not have.

Historically the forum has some more real data and here are links for those interested.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ndloads-18625/
OCW testing (using 3 shots per load rather than 1). All data presented. Any movement in the group centres appears below the resolution provided by 3-shot groups.


https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....260-rem-40854/
Shot at 285m. No ladder node but the rifle spaces the shots in a way that points to dispersion being VERY low. The indications are that this rifle could be a real tack driver with consistent ammo (otherwise it will vertically string). A follow up post from the OP is needed (and more test results) to draw conclusions relevant to the effectiveness of ladder testing.


https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....er-test-13143/
A good demonstration of some points from my original post. Bottom of page 2 the shots are numbered.


https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....er-test-38845/
Possible cluster. Needs confirmation from the OP that a ladder node was genuine, and whether this then allowed better grouping for this load than any other.


https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....t-issue-11027/
Ladder appears promising, but 3-shot groups using the ladder node load are then large. This either shows that single shot (conventional) ladders can show spurious clusters, or that operating at a ladder node load is not a guarantee of tight groups, or both.


https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....uestion-35984/
This last link doesn't have any pictures sorry. I've included this only because it contains a completely incorrect description of what ladder testing is. What is described is shooting for best group size while incrimentally increasing powder charge, and to find a safe maximum load. Nothing wrong with this. As I've pointed out - more than once - this is is also my recommendation (not with 3-shots per load however).