How to reload for specific guns

[Eldraque]

I am a new reloader, i hear people say that they make very specific loads that are for each specific gun of theirs. How does this work? I only load .40 (one load for 3 different handguns) and .223 for my AR.

What is the process to tailor a specific load for an individual gun?

Is this more necessary for rifles?

[bsumoba]

Each gun is an individual. They won't necessarily like a particular load or shoot well with it. This also affects rifles more than pistol. The idea is to create a load thar is optimized for thar firearm and yields the best accuracy during most shooting scenarios.

Look up ladder tests or OCW tests.

[Mike402]

People always say OCW doesn't apply to pistols, but I found out that wasn't true when I ran a test w/ my Sig X5 .40. Check out this thread I posted to see how much difference charge weight can affect accuracy w/a pistol at 25 yards:http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...ght=pistol+ocw


OP to answer your question, you experiment with different combinations of powders, charge weights, bullets, seating depth, etc until you find the combination that produces the best accuracy & least amount of variation from your gun.

[Mot Mi]

As the others mention, load development based on each individual gun is always different. Bullet weight, brass, different powders, dies and other little things can determine the outcome of what you want for each caliber and firearm. There are way too many variables to even consider, ex... different coals, charge weight, bullet weight, brass headstamp, and powder. You, yourself will have to test and develop loads for each firearm. You may want long distance, stopping power with hp, different coals, and with powder availability it really comes down to what you have on hand. You can use better bullets or cast your own. Like I said too many variables to even consider and load development can take years if you own dozena of firearms. Keep a notebook and write everything down even with a chrono.

To answer your question, for an ar or rifle do the ladder test and load development with .2 grain increments and different coals from start to max. After, do a group test for each load for accuracy. It may be more specific for rifles if you wanted to go long range or accuracy. I do load tests for every powder I come across and have a notebook filled with data.

It may be necessary for rifles depending on what you'd like to achieve. Vice versa for pistols as well. You may want more fps or other things. These variables determine the outcome of what you are reaching for.

now if youre just wanting to plink then go with econimical powders and use cheap components to make the cost lower.

[RandyD]

This is primarily done for accurate rifles. You would not use all of these techniques on a lever action 30-30. There are many variables to consider in reloading. You can select the specific weight and shape of the bullet you will use. You can select the optimum powder for the application that you will be shooting. You can select a specific brass manufacturer and also select specific cases from a larger lot, to use for reloading that are more uniform in case weight and capacity. You can trim the brass so it is uniform. you can trim the primer pocket for uniformity. You can make the flash hole uniform in size and remove burr that is inside the case that results from punching the flash hole in the manufacturing process. You can size your brass so that the headspace measurement is a custom fit to a specific chamber. You can seat the bullet a specific distance to the lands on a specific barrel that results in smaller groups. This requires some testing. You can give the optimum powder charge that results in smaller groups. Again, this requires some testing. You can size the neck to give the optimum tension that results in smaller groups. Each of these techniques may require special tools, and skill sets. There is a wealth of information on these reloading techniques on 6mmbr.com in their reloading forum.

[TomReloaded]

For my .40 (M&P), light bullets and/or max loads shoot low and a little erratic. It doesnt matter too much what bullet or powder I try, if its moving real fast it shoots low.

If I use 165+gr and near min loads, I get basically the same good results. A little change in oal or a few tenths of a grain dont make a big difference as long as im in the same ballpark.

[mjmagee67]

I do reload for each individual bolt action rifle. Semi-auto's no I use one common load for each caliber and bullet weight. For handguns get a common load also. Too much trouble to separate out loads for the semi-auto rifles and pistols.

[pacrat]

OP asks

I am a new reloader, i hear people say that they make very specific loads that are for each specific gun of theirs. How does this work?

That is the difference between a "reloader" and a "handloader".

JM2c

[noylj]

Whether pistol or rifle, best accuracy is almost always with the bullet just touching the lede/rifling or no more than 0.010" off. So, you take one gun and determine the COL for a round with the bullet touching the lede. You can put two slits in a case so it holds the bullet loosely and insert the case with bullet in it in chamber and extract and determine what this max length is. Then you can take this max COL and see if it fits your magazine. You can reduce the COL until the round fits your magazine. You now have the max working COL.
This COL may not work in any of your other guns in that cartridge. Some have long throats and some have very short throats.
For a rifle, you then find a range where you can shoot at 300 yards and you run a ladder-test of charge weights to determine what charge weight range puts all the bullets into "the same hole." This gives you the most likely region for best accuracy with that bullet and powder.
You will quickly find, by looking at different manuals, that there is no single MAX load that is truly MAX for all guns firing that cartridge, so you know that the most accurate load for any given gun will not be same as every other gun.
For best accuracy in a bolt action rifle, you will want to partially size the cases or neck-size only. This will mean that these rounds will only fit one rifle, in most cases.
For semi-autos, lever, and single-shot rifles, the case must easily slide in the chamber. You can still do minimum sizing, as long as the cases slide in YOUR chamber.
For pistols, the accuracy is so much less, that you can generally simply buy good quality bullets and powders that have been recommended and find a more than adequate load for your gun.
I have pet loads for my S&W M52 .38 wadcutter gun that won't fit in ANY revolver and not necessarily in other M52s, but they are the most accurate I can load for my gun.
Thus, a reloader loads for any gun and is happy with holes in the target and considers the manual to be a bible. A handloader strives to produce the most accurate rounds possible for a given gun, and doesn't care if they work in any other gun and KNOWS the manuals are only guidelines.

[Whiterabbit]

I am a new reloader, i hear people say that they make very specific loads that are for each specific gun of theirs. How does this work? I only load .40 (one load for 3 different handguns) and .223 for my AR.

What is the process to tailor a specific load for an individual gun?

Is this more necessary for rifles?

it may or may not be necessary for rifles (or pistols) at all. It is only specific if you change something that MAKES it specific for your gun.

I always start by using general loading practices. 9 out of 10 times, it yields the best results. It's not a "general" practice for no reason!

Occasionally, you might want ot try to optimize further. This could be a number of things. Maybe you want ot try a heavy for cal bullet because of your twist rate. Maybe you want to seat out to reach the lands of your gun and it becomes too long to load in standard mags, or maybe even too long to fit YOUR mag, you jsut single load them. Maybe you want to neck size only, and your gun just happens to have an extra large chamber so that neck sizing makes the cartridges ONLY git your gun. Changes like this make the round "tailored". It's for your gun only.

[Whiterabbit]

I have examples. Unfortunately not of my 7x57 with barnes brass solids seated .1" deep, the bullet tip extends a mile and a half past the case mouth. They are absurd looking and would have been perfect to show as an example. I still have others though.




In these cases the loaded cartridges are >2.3" which means they do not fit the cylinder of a S&W X-frame. However, they do fit the cylinder of MY revolver because it is 3" long. So if you shoot an X-frame, we can't share ammo.

Not with these bullets, anyways.

[gunboat]

Your bench top is disgustingly neat -- almost obscene

[Whiterabbit]

Holy Moly George, I just pulled the granite on the right side and replaced with 100% MDF, again impregnated with heated parrafin for chemical resistance. Since it's new, it's as neat as a baby's skin. I should withhold pictures for sure!



Gimme 60 years, my benches will look as fine as yours do today.

[bigedp51]

Your bench top is disgustingly neat -- almost obscene

How can you say that, in his very first photo his press is falling down drunk.............don't you remember any of your Shore leaves.

[bubbala]

Holy Moly George, I just pulled the granite on the right side and replaced with 100% MDF, again impregnated with heated parrafin for chemical resistance. Since it's new, it's as neat as a baby's skin. I should withhold pictures for sure!



Gimme 60 years, my benches will look as fine as yours do today.

exterior mdf is available but pricey, and it weighs a ton. that might be a good thing for a bench.