I have not spent much time around here lately, but have noticed a few questions popping up from new handloaders lately the few times I have dropped in. That makes me smile because I know what lies ahead for most of them………. A much more enjoyable shooting experience! There is nothing quite as satisfying to me as finding what your rifle really likes, watching it all come together on the target and knowing that you no longer have to settle for the expensive, inconsistent performance and the uncertain availability that factory ammo brings to the table 
Most of the time it’s pretty easy to find a load that appears to be miles ahead of most box ammo when testing at 100 yards. However, it pays to look a little deeper and make sure those tight little groups you are seeing on that 100 yard target are telling you the truth. If you are shooting any distance at all, you MUST know the truth.
I got lied to pretty good by the 100 yard target a couple weeks ago and I’m still laughing at myself for missing the obvious and taking shortcuts when I knew better. I just re-barreled my 7 APR and decided to go ahead and switch to the new RWS brass I had been saving for just this occasion, since I was starting over anyway, right? I loaded up a ladder test and went straight to 500 yards. 10 minutes later I had found max pressure and two potential accuracy nodes. Went back to the house, loaded 5 of each and went straight to 100(first mistake, 500 was the correct answer) to see what groups would look like. The high node load sent 5 into .067” at 100. Absolutely one of the best groups I have ever shot in my life. I was ecstatic and sending pics of the group to everyone in my shooting circles. Not to brag, but it was with a big overbore belted mag, right? It’s hard to pat yourself on the back, but I got it done
Who needs a chronograph with a load that shoots that good? Yep, mistake number 2 if you’re keeping score. I went right back to the bench and loaded 5 more and couldn’t get to the 500 yard target fast enough! I was ready to send out a pic of my sub 1/2” group at 500 as a followup to my last pic just as soon as I could shoot it. 10 minutes later I’m standing in front of the 500yd target looking at an 8 ½” mostly vertical abomination of something that might pass for a group, had it been shot with a musket. WTH just happened?
Ok chronograph……… you win, I need some help here. Back to the bench, back to the 100 - chrono engaged. Another stellar group at .126”! but that last shot read over 100fps faster than the first 4? Hmmm, chrono error obviously. Let’s go load 5 more and do this again. We did….and 2 more roughly 100fps faster than the rest. Again another great group, but just not possible with those numbers I thought. I pulled those 2 pieces of brass out and set them aside while I was questioning my sanity and what I was actually seeing. I didn’t want to believe the chrono because the 100 yard groups were as good or better than this rifle has ever shot, but the 500 yard target had already told me the TRUTH, had I chose to listen.
Mistake number 3 – This one isn’t quite as funny because it could have ended differently. I failed to really inspect my components when switching to the new brass. The 2 pieces of brass I pulled out weighed right at 60 grains more than the others in the mix! Yeah, 60 grains! Which translates into much less case capacity and much, much higher pressures.
300 WM brass from RWS is highly sought after because its heavy, tough as nails and VERY uniform…….and very hard to find. It’s taken me awhile to accumulate enough to run from a couple different sources and manufacturing timeframes, and its all brand new RWS headstamped brass. Thinking it was the same, I ran it all together without checking anything. The older stuff was obviously the real deal original, while the lighter stuff was most likely contracted by another manufacturer and simply bears the RWS name. Funny that it matches my Norma stuff in weight and neck thickness EXACTLY. On a side note, the heavy stuff masks pressure signs really well
So well in fact that I'd probably still be trying to figure out whats going on if I didnt use the chrono. I'm still in disbelief that a load with that much ES could print groups like that at 100 yds.
The moral of this rambling story is that 100 yard groups are nice, but don’t mean %^&* unless you only shoot 100 yards. It’s worth looking a little deeper when developing a load and getting that SD number as low as you can possibly get it, as it’s the biggest factor in keeping those small groups small as you pass that 100 yard line. Winners never shortcut, and shortcutters never win…..or something like that. Oh, and I think I just paid a lot of money for a bunch of Norma brass in drag.
Good shooting,
Robert
Most of the time it’s pretty easy to find a load that appears to be miles ahead of most box ammo when testing at 100 yards. However, it pays to look a little deeper and make sure those tight little groups you are seeing on that 100 yard target are telling you the truth. If you are shooting any distance at all, you MUST know the truth.
I got lied to pretty good by the 100 yard target a couple weeks ago and I’m still laughing at myself for missing the obvious and taking shortcuts when I knew better. I just re-barreled my 7 APR and decided to go ahead and switch to the new RWS brass I had been saving for just this occasion, since I was starting over anyway, right? I loaded up a ladder test and went straight to 500 yards. 10 minutes later I had found max pressure and two potential accuracy nodes. Went back to the house, loaded 5 of each and went straight to 100(first mistake, 500 was the correct answer) to see what groups would look like. The high node load sent 5 into .067” at 100. Absolutely one of the best groups I have ever shot in my life. I was ecstatic and sending pics of the group to everyone in my shooting circles. Not to brag, but it was with a big overbore belted mag, right? It’s hard to pat yourself on the back, but I got it done
Who needs a chronograph with a load that shoots that good? Yep, mistake number 2 if you’re keeping score. I went right back to the bench and loaded 5 more and couldn’t get to the 500 yard target fast enough! I was ready to send out a pic of my sub 1/2” group at 500 as a followup to my last pic just as soon as I could shoot it. 10 minutes later I’m standing in front of the 500yd target looking at an 8 ½” mostly vertical abomination of something that might pass for a group, had it been shot with a musket. WTH just happened?
Ok chronograph……… you win, I need some help here. Back to the bench, back to the 100 - chrono engaged. Another stellar group at .126”! but that last shot read over 100fps faster than the first 4? Hmmm, chrono error obviously. Let’s go load 5 more and do this again. We did….and 2 more roughly 100fps faster than the rest. Again another great group, but just not possible with those numbers I thought. I pulled those 2 pieces of brass out and set them aside while I was questioning my sanity and what I was actually seeing. I didn’t want to believe the chrono because the 100 yard groups were as good or better than this rifle has ever shot, but the 500 yard target had already told me the TRUTH, had I chose to listen.
Mistake number 3 – This one isn’t quite as funny because it could have ended differently. I failed to really inspect my components when switching to the new brass. The 2 pieces of brass I pulled out weighed right at 60 grains more than the others in the mix! Yeah, 60 grains! Which translates into much less case capacity and much, much higher pressures.
300 WM brass from RWS is highly sought after because its heavy, tough as nails and VERY uniform…….and very hard to find. It’s taken me awhile to accumulate enough to run from a couple different sources and manufacturing timeframes, and its all brand new RWS headstamped brass. Thinking it was the same, I ran it all together without checking anything. The older stuff was obviously the real deal original, while the lighter stuff was most likely contracted by another manufacturer and simply bears the RWS name. Funny that it matches my Norma stuff in weight and neck thickness EXACTLY. On a side note, the heavy stuff masks pressure signs really well
So well in fact that I'd probably still be trying to figure out whats going on if I didnt use the chrono. I'm still in disbelief that a load with that much ES could print groups like that at 100 yds.The moral of this rambling story is that 100 yard groups are nice, but don’t mean %^&* unless you only shoot 100 yards. It’s worth looking a little deeper when developing a load and getting that SD number as low as you can possibly get it, as it’s the biggest factor in keeping those small groups small as you pass that 100 yard line. Winners never shortcut, and shortcutters never win…..or something like that. Oh, and I think I just paid a lot of money for a bunch of Norma brass in drag.
Good shooting,
Robert
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