New reloader here working on 270 and 30-06 hunting loads - I worked up a bunch of each and went to the range last weekend and am looking for tips on how to interpret what I found. The goal is to find a good hunting load for CA game (primarily blacktail and hogs).
Protocol for each was same - I loaded five shots of each of a number of powder loads from starting load to near max recommended, using the same COL for each. All loads were with H414, LR primers, and Hornady 165g Interlock (30-06) and Hornady 130g Interlock (270) bullets. COL for -06 was 3.23, for 270 was 3.13. Rifles are Win M70 (-06, new so I'm not really familiar with it yet) and Tikka T3 (270 - aways been a great shooter with factory ammo).
So off to the range....
For the 270 I loaded between 50 and 52.5g of powder in 0.5g increments. The lowest (50g) gave a great pattern of 0.4" and was dead on where I'd zeroed the gun at 100 yds for factory 130g Corelokts (2" high). Next best was up at 52.5g (0.75"), with intermediate patterns in the 1-2" area. The 52.5g loads shot about 1" higher than the 50g loads, so I assume that there wasn't a big difference in velocity.
Where do I go from here? My inclination would be to try +/- 0.25g around the 50 and 52.5g loads to see if there's any difference. I'm not sure about playing with COL as in order to get close to the lands I'd barely have the bullet in the brass.
The -06 was a bit more confusing. I loaded between 51 and 56g in 1g increments. No great patterns, best was 1.1" (55g) with the rest in the 1.5" range, so I'm less clear on what load to concentrate on. Of interest was that there was a couple inches of vertical difference between the 51 and 56g loads, so clearly a lot of difference in velocity. How do I think about this in the context of a hunting load? I'm unlikely to shoot further than 300 yds but I fear (?) that a lower velocity would lead to a lot more drop past 200 yds than a higher. I can also play with COL - using a smoked dummy I found that the max COL before hitting the lands was 3.245", so at 3.230" I'm 0.0.15" off. Would trying say 0.010" be the next step?
Incidentally I also loaded 5 of each caliber with magnum primers in the mid-load range and found no notable difference in the 270 and a wider pattern in the -06.
Thanks!
Protocol for each was same - I loaded five shots of each of a number of powder loads from starting load to near max recommended, using the same COL for each. All loads were with H414, LR primers, and Hornady 165g Interlock (30-06) and Hornady 130g Interlock (270) bullets. COL for -06 was 3.23, for 270 was 3.13. Rifles are Win M70 (-06, new so I'm not really familiar with it yet) and Tikka T3 (270 - aways been a great shooter with factory ammo).
So off to the range....
For the 270 I loaded between 50 and 52.5g of powder in 0.5g increments. The lowest (50g) gave a great pattern of 0.4" and was dead on where I'd zeroed the gun at 100 yds for factory 130g Corelokts (2" high). Next best was up at 52.5g (0.75"), with intermediate patterns in the 1-2" area. The 52.5g loads shot about 1" higher than the 50g loads, so I assume that there wasn't a big difference in velocity.
Where do I go from here? My inclination would be to try +/- 0.25g around the 50 and 52.5g loads to see if there's any difference. I'm not sure about playing with COL as in order to get close to the lands I'd barely have the bullet in the brass.
The -06 was a bit more confusing. I loaded between 51 and 56g in 1g increments. No great patterns, best was 1.1" (55g) with the rest in the 1.5" range, so I'm less clear on what load to concentrate on. Of interest was that there was a couple inches of vertical difference between the 51 and 56g loads, so clearly a lot of difference in velocity. How do I think about this in the context of a hunting load? I'm unlikely to shoot further than 300 yds but I fear (?) that a lower velocity would lead to a lot more drop past 200 yds than a higher. I can also play with COL - using a smoked dummy I found that the max COL before hitting the lands was 3.245", so at 3.230" I'm 0.0.15" off. Would trying say 0.010" be the next step?
Incidentally I also loaded 5 of each caliber with magnum primers in the mid-load range and found no notable difference in the 270 and a wider pattern in the -06.
Thanks!