How do you find an accurate load?

[DeadWoodDan]

I've only just begun loading for a revolver and have been in my XD .40 for a few yrs. I'm out to find a nice accurate load for the Ruger BH .357 and was curiuos how you work a load up? I don't have a Chronograph so leave that method out please. With such small min/max charges i just always found one that seemed to group and went with it. Hand guns seem to be a different animal in this aspect than rifle cartridges.



THanks
DWD

[btroj]

I pick a bullet. I then decide what velocity I want. I pick a powder appropriate for that combination and go from there. I start with a book start load and work up by .3 to .5 gr st a time. I shoot 10 to 20 at each charge and see what I get.
In general I get good results with the first powder chosen. Many different powders can work in oer velocity windows so I don't get hung up on a certain one.
A chrono isn't required at all. It is about accuracy, not speed. I frequently don't chrono until I have a load I like and then only so I have a good feel for how fast it is going , not just what I think it is doing.
A handgun need not be any more difficult than a rifle at all.

[Frank]

I start off looking at a loading manual. I look for the powders that give the top velocity. I test the load at 100 yards. Often we hear, "Unique, Unique," but Unique has failed every time. It never makes it in the top three. :violin:

[sixshot]

I agree totally with btroj, its a must that you decide on "your" bullet, then select a powder that you have on hand & try to make it work. Using the suggested starting load for your bullet you will usually hit a sweet spot somewhere towards the top end. If that powder doesn't give you the results you're looking for then switch to another but stay with your chosen bullet. Almost always you can find a good load with 1-2 powders unless you are really fussy.
I also like to shoot a minimum of 10-20 shots, even from sandbags you can get 1-2 shots that wander, usually from a change in grip tension, but there are lots of things than can effect a group.
If you are looking for midrange/plinking loads the faster powders usually work just fine & give you hundreds of shots from one pound of powder. I use lots of Unique, 231 & WST. If I plan to lean on the loads a bit harder then I switch to 2400 or H110, no need for magnum primers except for the H110, also don't shoot reduced loads using H110.

Dick

[41mag]

Pretty much of what has already been said,

Figure out what (bullet) or boolit I want to use and for what,

Browse through several manuals and do a few searches on the web to see what others have had good results with,

Look around the closet to see what I have on hand that might be within the selected choices,

Start low and work up looking for accuracy,

Case in point, I just, well really can't say "worked up", but in any case, finished up with a laod for my Redhawk in 45 Colt. Using the 45-270 SAA, I chose to try out some Accurate #9 I needed to be using up. Well with the first load I got the velocity in the high 1000fps range close enough to call it 1100fps. Accuracy at 50yds was around 2" from a rest.

Similar results with my 41 and the MP- 411 HG #258 Solid I also just recently got in, one powder, one charge, and called it quits. Managed a less than 2" group for 5 shots at 50yds. The velocity was within the range I was looking for and with the HP groups buy coming soon, I see a hopefully short time of looking for it as well.

Since one groups doesn't really prove a load, I will head down and do more testings, but I know these revolvers enough that when they throw them together like this, there isn't much sense in looking elsewhere.

[subsonic]

How do I do it? Don't do as I do, do as I say :-) Usually time and gas prices limit my testing, so I search for things that work for other people and copy them.

When I have time, this is the protocol I follow:

Set a goal.
This can be velocity, accuracy, cost, using up things on hand, etc. Any combination of the above. Try to stay away from goals like "As ____ as possible!" Because you will never stop chasing an unidentified goal.

Start with a combination that is likely to work.
Under sized, pure lead, plain base 125gr boolits over a max charge of H110 in a .357 is probably not going to work. Look at what other people are having success with and do your homework in the load books.

Eliminate all external variables.
This means be careful and pay attention. Sort your cases, boolits, etc well. Weigh powder, pay attnetion to seating and crimping pressure, and shoot from a good rest with good technique. Use an optical sight if you can. If the trigger is horrible, don't be surprised at poor accuracy. If you are a poor shot, no load will fix that.

Change one thing at a time and diagnose problems.
Pretty self explanatory, but if you are getting leading, your results will not be valid until you fix it. Same thing for boolits pulling from recoil or if they are too heavy for your twist.
If you change more than one thing at a time, you won't know which variable made a change in your results, for good or bad.

[subsonic]

Oh, and one other thing. Don't waste time testing components or loads that you don't want to use in the first place. Like don't test round nose boolits when searching for a hunting load or don't test magnum level loads if you are looking for a cheap plinker.

It is surprisingly easy to become sidetracked.

[L Ross]

Gee golly gosh, DWD, what do you want to do with your 357 BH? I mostly shoot steel discs of a rail road rail set up in my yard. I can shoot up to 80 yards. I want to knock these 3/4" thick by 4", 6", and 8" discs down decisively but I don't like the intense muzzle blast of full .357 magnum pressure loads. So I start by thoroughly cleaning the used guns I buy to remove all jacket fouling. I pin gauge measure the throats. I cast up mid weight for caliber plain base bullets out of wheel weights and a little tin and size them to throat diameter if I have to. Then I load a fairly fast burning powder to some thing between 800 and 1,000 fps. I try to make sure I don't reduce the bullet diameter when seating. Then the hardest part, focus on the front sight and squeeze the trigger while keeping the front sight on the disc.
Best of luck!

Duke

[Frank]

subsonic:

Oh, and one other thing. Don't waste time testing components or loads that you don't want to use in the first place. Like don't test round nose boolits when searching for a hunting load or don't test magnum level loads if you are looking for a cheap plinker.

Member those ones you bought a long time ago for SHTF? You gotta use those first or Momma's gonna be mad. :lol:

[Wolfer]

All but two of my revolvers have fixed sights that I've already filed to where I wanted them. So I usually pick a boolit and a powder, start low and go up until it shoots to my sights. At that time if it's not accurate enough for me I try something else. I can shoot at the house so if I shoot six I like I'll shoot six more. If their still good I'll load 50 of them to shoot over the next few days. I've found that some days I don't shoot as bad as other days so I like some time before I commit to loading a bunch.
I want all my pistol loads below the speed of sound to keep the noise level down so I'll shot over the crono to see where it's at.

Like someone already said I already know what boolit and powder I want to use so I go from there.

[dnotarianni]

Lot of good info so far but along with picking your powder I like to use the slowest powder for that cartridge so I can get as close to 100& load density as possible. I seem to get more consistency with a full case of powder and consistency=accuracy

dave

[NSB]

I've been shooting the 357mag for over 40 years and it's my favorite centerfire handgun cartridge. I can tell you that in every gun I've owned, and that's a lot of them, in 357, WW296 and Hornady XTP bullets have always performed the best. I've tried every powder and bullet out there and these two components always shoot well regardless of the gun being used. If cast bullets are your choice, I've found 296 to still work great and I've had pretty good results with 231 powder.