Need reloading Data with Benchmark powder

[7mm Magnum]

Well, I started reloading the 62 gr with your data. I put 22 gr, just short of .6gr of the max load. I measured every single one before I put the powder into the cases. So they should be more consisting. Thanks for your data. But my son messed up the depriming pin and I have to wait for the part to arrive sometimes this week to continue. Once I get 100 rounds done, I'd take it to the range to try them out.

If it were ME,... I'd start out at the 21.0 grain amount and work up to the 22.6 grains in .2 grain increments for 2 reasons.

1. This is an untested load combination in your rifle.

2. You could be walking right past a really SWEET load by starting so high up the scale.


Just my suggestion,... I've been doing it like this for over 30 years now. Take it to the next level after you settle on the powder charge and adjust seating depths to fine tune the load to your rifle.

Good luck,.. let me know how it all turned out for you.

 

[dtkw]

I have only loaded 15 rounds so far. I will separate them from the rest I will start with 21 gr as you suggested. I'll let you know once I got the part to continue. Thanks again. I started reloading about 30 years ago. But stopped for maybe 10 years due to new place and new job. Now I have more free time so I am starting again. With the Speer manual, I also started with the lowest and then combined the highest and the lowest and get the average and used that load. I have never max the load.

 

[dtkw]

Today I took 40 62 gr rounds of the reload with 21 gr of benchmark to shoot. No problem whatsoever with them. I also noticed the reloads have less recoil than the factory 55 gr rounds. I could hit a 2 liter Coke bottle at 50 yards with the iron sight. So, next step I am going to add 0.2 gr to see what is going to happen.

 

[7mm Magnum]

Glad to hear things are working well,.. I apologize if it seems that I've been ignoring your comments to me,.. but I have just returned last night from a months hunting in the hills of Wyoming for elk.

I'm still trying to get caught up with all the back logged emails.

 

[dtkw]

Elk hunting! Did you get one? My 10 yrs old has been asking me to take him to hunt elk with my Remmington 700 30-06. But works and budgets are tight right now. So, just have to start saving now. I hope you had a great time out there.

 

[kludge]

Using data for a slightly heavier bullet is generally considered safe when using a bullet of similar construction... like using 68gr/69gr data for loading a 62gr/63gr bullet in .223 or 168gr data for 165gr bullet in .308, etc.

Never use data from a lighter bullet... i.e. never use 55gr data for 62gr bullet.

If Hodgdon list a load for a 63 gr bullet I would use that. 21gr sounds a bit light - below the start load for a 69gr bullet.

I'm interested to see how you do... I just bought my first pound of Benchmark for the .223, but I'll be using 68gr and 55gr bullets.

 

[dtkw]

With 21 gr of Benchmark with the 62 gr bullets seems fine and cycle without any problem. Since then, I have started added 0.2 gr increase to see if there is any difference. I only have around 100 62gr bullets left. Then I would start with my Hornady 55 gr bullets. I have 1,000 of those in a bulk.

 

[kludge]

Honestly, I would load up 15-20 rounds from "start" to "max" in equal increments (one round of each powder charge, and keep detailed notes of which round is which - load two rounds of the starting load, and use one of them as a "fowling" shot into the berm) then run them one at a time over a chronograph - if you have one - from lightest to heaviest load. Loading 10 or 20 rounds of the same thing to find a load is a waste of time, gas, and bullets, IMO.

Keep track of each hit on the target. Watch each round for pressure signs, and STOP if you see signs of pressure or difficult extraction. Take your time and let the barrel cool a consistent amount of time between each shot.

Somewhere in the process you will hopefully find a series of shots that make a nice group - and you have found the sweet spot for that combination of bullet/powder/gun.

If you have a chronograph you may also find a spot where you get diminishing returns in the amount of powder you use vs. the amount of velocity you get. If you make a graph you will notice a curve that flattens out as you go up in powder charge.

If your nice "group" corresponds with the flat part of your charge vs. velocity curve then you have something you can really work with -- the powder/bullet/gun combination is a good one.

If your "group" corresponds to the rising slope part of the charge vs. velocity curve than I would try a faster powder with that bullet/gun combination for economy's sake.

Now you can experiment in and around the "sweet spot" and if you can pick a load near the center of the "flat" part of the curve - this will give you more invariance to the actual powder charge if you don't weigh each powder charge... small variations of powder charge lead to only small variation of velocity.

If you pick a load outside of the "flat" part of the curve this will lead to vertical stringing at longer distances - small variations of powder charge lead to large variations of velocity and therefore bullet "drop".

 

[7mm Magnum]

Elk hunting! Did you get one? My 10 yrs old has been asking me to take him to hunt elk with my Remmington 700 30-06. But works and budgets are tight right now. So, just have to start saving now. I hope you had a great time out there.

Nope,... didn't get to punch my tag.

We did get into them several times but elk can move when they want to,..miles at a time. The only way you can make up for lost time in tracking them is if they decide to bed down and you move on their tracks while they are doing so. I was in elevations on average of 8700 - 9500 ft and being from Michigan where my normal elevation at home is in the 600-700 ft range running and doing hurtles over blow downs is not my normal hunting style.Especially in 55*- 65 * inclines and declines in drainage's.

Wyoming has some VERY challenging terrain. The 1st small herd of 20-25 we got into took us over 4 miles in before it got to dark to do anything about it. I'll post some pics,.. but I have to download them from the camera before I can do it.

10 yrs. old would be a good time to start elk hunting,.. it will give the time necessary to train and get in shape for some of life's most challenging and exciting style of hunting.

 

[7mm Magnum]

Honestly, I would load up 15-20 rounds from "start" to "max" in equal increments (one round of each powder charge, and keep detailed notes of which round is which - load two rounds of the starting load, and use one of them as a "fowling" shot into the berm) then run them one at a time over a chronograph - if you have one - from lightest to heaviest load. Loading 10 or 20 rounds of the same thing to find a load is a waste of time, gas, and bullets, IMO.

Keep track of each hit on the target. Watch each round for pressure signs, and STOP if you see signs of pressure or difficult extraction. Take your time and let the barrel cool a consistent amount of time between each shot.

Somewhere in the process you will hopefully find a series of shots that make a nice group - and you have found the sweet spot for that combination of bullet/powder/gun.

If you have a chronograph you may also find a spot where you get diminishing returns in the amount of powder you use vs. the amount of velocity you get. If you make a graph you will notice a curve that flattens out as you go up in powder charge.

If your nice "group" corresponds with the flat part of your charge vs. velocity curve then you have something you can really work with -- the powder/bullet/gun combination is a good one.

If your "group" corresponds to the rising slope part of the charge vs. velocity curve than I would try a faster powder with that bullet/gun combination for economy's sake.

Now you can experiment in and around the "sweet spot" and if you can pick a load near the center of the "flat" part of the curve - this will give you more invariance to the actual powder charge if you don't weigh each powder charge... small variations of powder charge lead to only small variation of velocity.

If you pick a load outside of the "flat" part of the curve this will lead to vertical stringing at longer distances - small variations of powder charge lead to large variations of velocity and therefore bullet "drop".

Kludge,... I'm going to have to disagree with your comment regarding only loading 1 round of each powder charge. The simple reason being minor variances that can contribute to a false read of the load. Barrel temperatures, barrel fowling, load inconsistency, (IE: minor seating differences, case trim lengths, between individual rounds, etc.) can produce an unrealistic / untrue read of the load. I normally load anywhere from 5-10 rounds of each powder weight to eliminate that sort of false read. If you can pattern a good group with a load you need not worry about was that a flier from the load,... or something that the shooter did by an improper cheek weld, or improper trigger squeeze, etc.

I've been reloading now for some 30 + years and have found that by shooting multiple rounds of the same load and figuring your standard deviation rate for each load, your more apt to get good solid information on your loading to determine which is functioning the best out of your weapon.

After the best powder weight has been determined for the reload the next step would be the minor adjusting of the seating depths for off the lands contact to tweak it a bit more. Almost 40 years using this technique it has yet to do me wrong.

Just my

 

[7mm Magnum]

DTKW,... here's just a couple of pic's pf some of the terrain out there. The first picture is from the top end looking down at what your seeing in the second picture. This was out in the Deadline Ridge / Absaroka Ridge areas of Wyoming in the Bridger National Forest area Northwest of the small town of LeBarge.

 

[kludge]

Kludge,... I'm going to have to disagree with your comment regarding only loading 1 round of each powder charge. The simple reason being minor variances that can contribute to a false read of the load. Barrel temperatures, barrel fowling, load inconsistency, (IE: minor seating differences, case trim lengths, between individual rounds, etc.) can produce an unrealistic / untrue read of the load. I normally load anywhere from 5-10 rounds of each powder weight to eliminate that sort of false read. If you can pattern a good group with a load you need not worry about was that a flier from the load,... or something that the shooter did by an improper cheek weld, or improper trigger squeeze, etc.

I've been reloading now for some 30 + years and have found that by shooting multiple rounds of the same load and figuring your standard deviation rate for each load, your more apt to get good solid information on your loading to determine which is functioning the best out of your weapon.

After the best powder weight has been determined for the reload the next step would be the minor adjusting of the seating depths for off the lands contact to tweak it a bit more. Almost 40 years using this technique it has yet to do me wrong.

Just my

I can't fault your method, because it does work, I just feel it's a waste of time and money.

The "ladder" method will quickly zero in on the best load for your gun/bullet/powder combination, or let you know quickly that you need to try a different bullet or powder.

Check this out:

Long-Range Load Development

 

[7mm Magnum]

I can't fault your method, because it does work, I just feel it's a waste of time and money.

The "ladder" method will quickly zero in on the best load for your gun/bullet/powder combination, or let you know quickly that you need to try a different bullet or powder.

Check this out:

Long-Range Load Development

Ahhhh,... Just one of the positive aspects of being a re-loader. You get to shoot more,... and more often!

I enjoy my bench-time.

 

[dtkw]

Beautiful pictures out there, but looks pretty lonely tho. I will not hunt for fun, but for meat if I have time to clean and cut or family being hungry. I have had deer meat before, tasted almost like steak except it had little fat on it. Well, if I win the lottery, I will take my son out do some hunting. But so far the biggest gun he could handle is the 223 rounds. He could also fire the 458 socom but not hitting anything at 50 yards. Maybe by the time a miracle happens, he would be good at it.

 

[7mm Magnum]

Beautiful pictures out there, but looks pretty lonely tho. I will not hunt for fun, but for meat if I have time to clean and cut or family being hungry. I have had deer meat before, tasted almost like steak except it had little fat on it. Well, if I win the lottery, I will take my son out do some hunting. But so far the biggest gun he could handle is the 223 rounds. He could also fire the 458 socom but not hitting anything at 50 yards. Maybe by the time a miracle happens, he would be good at it.

I too am a meat hunter,... but even if you wind up with "tag soup" at the journey's end the outdoor experience in that type of atmosphere with a couple of huntin' bud's makes the the adventure worthwhile.

And as far as the firepower goes many a elk have been taken with a .270 Sure a large frontal area projectile makes the task go by quicker (bigger hole; more blood flows out) but you have to remember it's the point of impact that counts. If an arrow can claim its prey, so can a small caliber rifle with a properly placed shot.

One of the most important things when hunting elk it to be in the best physical shape you can be in. These critters can really move for their size when they want or need to. It WILL test your agility to it's highest. Running up and down stairways or bleachers will get those specific muscles toned up to meet the task at hand, not to mention rework the cardio aspect as well.

I had a great time,... and I'll be back!