Thread: Perfecting reloads - what to do first?

I'm reloading for my new 7mm08. I've made my own before but this is with a much better rifle now.

I want to get them just so and know I need to figure out the best charge, the best projectile and the best length of the round for the barrel.

My question is what takes precedence. Get the charge right - so it's giving pretty consistent velocity and accuracy before I worry about how close to the lands I am? Or will changing the length undo the good work with the charge?

It depends some rifles are governed by the mag length so I usually check where lands are compared to the mag length.
The 7mm 08 are one of the easiest to get to shoot well from the ones I have loaded for.
I use 2208 and Nosler B Tip either 140 or 120 and both shoot well.

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I start with the projetile as close to the lands as I want to go and then work up to the velocity I am after or can achieve. Once I find a good/accurate velocity then seat the projectile deeper in to the case so there is more jump until you find the best depth.
Lots of ways to skin a cat. Waht are you after? Benchrest accurate or hunting close range accurate? Long range load?
My load development is usually seat the projectile just off the lands, load one round of each charge weight, going up in one grain increments until i get the velocity I want or hit pressure issues. Then load up 6 at the charge weight I want. Shoot 2 3 shot groups. If the groups are under 1" at 100 yds I call it good and go hunting.

I followed Bergers recommendation which is to load 3 at 0.10 off the lands, 3 @ 0.50, 3 @ .90 and 3@ 1.38 off the lands. Load 2 lots of each of the above to give you a total of 24 rounds so that you are getting a consistent result.

Berger say that one of the above loads will be dramatically better than the other three. What I found was my rifle liked .50 and .90 off the lands. I set my loads at .70 thou off which is half way. I also increased my powder charge by 0.5 grain. Do a search on my post on here about the 6.5mm SAUM final load and you'll see the result...consistently under half inch groups.

Originally Posted by 6.5mm-mag

I followed Bergers recommendation which is to load 3 at 0.10 off the lands, 3 @ 0.50, 3 @ .90 and 3@ 1.38 off the lands. Load 2 lots of each of the above to give you a total of 24 rounds so that you are getting a consistent result.

Berger say that one of the above loads will be dramatically better than the other three. What I found was my rifle liked .50 and .90 off the lands. I set my loads at .70 thou off which is half way. I also increased my powder charge by 0.5 grain. Do a search on my post on here about the 6.5mm SAUM final load and you'll see the result...consistently under half inch groups.

Do you do this before or after working out most accurate powder charge? If before, will different powder charges have enough impact to change what seating depth is the most accurate?

I start with projectile choice 1st - as Stug says it depends what you're trying to achieve, long range ? hunting? bush ? targets ? etc.
In most cases I run a bush load with one pill/load and a different load/pill for "long range" (300 - 800 yd). I try to keep it simple & work with a 30 - 40 thou jump in the first case, work up a ladder to find best velocity x accuracy sweet spot. For long range stuff I'm chasing 0.5 moa or better. Once I have found load/powder sweet spot then I'll fiddle with seating depth & that might mean some fine tuning of load around the sweet spot as well. Personally i dont like to jam pill too close to lanz for hunting as I dont want to risk a pill stuck in rifling. I don't spend too much time on bush loads, choose a good pill for up close and personal, then go with moderate load and jump that gives 1 moa or better. There are plenty of other variables to fine tune accuracy like brass prep, neck tension, head space, run out etc.

I always seat mine at 10 thou off the lands until I find an accurate load at or close to book max with .5 grain increments. I then play with the seating depth to fine tune the load at .2 grain increments.

If you try to load for different charges and seating depths to start with it will drive you crazy.

Thank you all. The rifle shoots those cheap Serbian PPU rounds so sweetly I might be pushing it uphill to beat them. But it'll be fun trying.