Custom Hand Loads

[jstanton]

Before someone offers make and sell you some custom reloads, keep in mind it requires a license.
per: [18 U.S.C. 922 (a)(1)(B); 27 CFR 478.41]]

Thank you for the heads up. I did not know that!

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[cowboytex]

Full mag sports in Bullard will work up custom loads for you. Real nice people too.

[jstanton]

Has anyone else actually given their rifle to Dallas Reloads to work up a custom load and not just purchased ammo from him? Don't like hearing that cb4128 had such a bad experience.

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[outlook8]

Has anyone else actually given their rifle to Dallas Reloads to work up a custom load and not just purchased ammo from him? Don't like hearing that cb4128 had such a bad experience.

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Curious as well...

[bboswell]

Not trying to bash anyone here, but I had a less than desirable experience with Chad at Dallas Reloads last year. Just make sure you stick to your guns if you want a certain powder, bullet, etc and call, call, call him until he gives you an update. I know there's not many options out there but I wish someone would have told me a review before I gave him my APR build.

How can you specify what powder until you have performed load workup? The most accurate load with most uniform velocity may or may not come from you pet powder. He may have done you a favor...

[newbieG]

How can you specify what powder until you have performed load workup? The most accurate load with most uniform velocity may or may not come from you pet powder. He may have done you a favor...

Exactly what I was thinking.


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[poisonivie]

Thats the first negative I've ever heard about Chad, but I've heard lots of praises for his work.

[JW21]

That elevation knob isn't going to help if it's based off data you collect at Texas elevation and then take it into altitudes where elk live.

Just a thought based off you mentioning 7 mag and your profile pic having an elk in it.

[Take em]

Has anyone else actually given their rifle to Dallas Reloads to work up a custom load and not just purchased ammo from him? Don't like hearing that cb4128 had such a bad experience.

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I have and was not super impressed. Did a decent job and will construct bullets to your liking (power, case, bullets, etc.,) just be ready for lack of communication. I have not sat down and shot the rifle on a bench yet but the groupings he came up with were not great (gun may be the issues though as this was an old 8mm-06). I was there and told i call you and email this to you, NADA, call him back leave a message and still NADA. More and more untill I was able to pick the gun up.

[Take em]

How can you specify what powder until you have performed load workup? The most accurate load with most uniform velocity may or may not come from you pet powder. He may have done you a favor...

He only used 1 powder type and just played with the grains on the rifle I sent him. Generated 5 sets of bullets total and choose from there.

[ChadTRG42]

Thanks for the feed back, guys. There is a certain method on how I do a load work-up for a rifle. I'll try to explain it the best I can. When a customer tells me the caliber he's shooting, barrel length, and the bullet weight/type, this will direct me to the correct powder I want to use for this particular rifle. I want to test 1 powder and 1 bullet with various powder charges to dial the load into the rifle. I'm wanting to tune the load to the barrel harmonics and read what the target tells me on where I am at. I also look at the chronograph data (bullet speed) to know where I am at with the bullet velocity. You can't just open up a reloading book, close your eyes and pick a powder and powder charge with the bullet you want to shoot, or pick a load you found on the internet. There's no method to that.

For example, here's a perfect example of a text book case I look for the science of load development. Below is a target from a 243 Win shooting a 115 grain DTAC coated bullet (boron nitride coated) shot at 300 yards. This is with 1 powder, 1 bullet, and going up in powder charge in small increments (usually .3-.4 grains at a time).

Testing done at 300 yards:

Load A is dead center, 4 shots, 2935 fps, 42 ES (ES= extreme spread). The group is kind of open, shooting about 2" group. (the squares are 3")

Load B- Top left 2910 fps, 48 ES. 3 shots are nice and tight, but the other 2 are stringing up, which tells me we are approaching or passing an accuracy node. Since Load A was open, we must be approaching a node.

Load C- 2931 fps, 34 ES, Top right, 5 shots nice and tight, all centered up. There's no stringing groups, no open groups. Perfect nice and tight at 1" at 300 yards. That's 1/3 moa accuracy!

Load D- 2946 fps, 25 ES. Low left, 3 shots and 1 high. Groups opened up and had 1 shot go high. I also noted slight pressure signs with this load.

Load C is what I am looking for in load dev. I'm watching for nice tight and consistent groups and low ES numbers. Most of the time, the sweet spot load also has the lowest ES, since the load is tuned to the rifle. This is accomplished with 1 powder and 1 bullet and testing different loads in small increments at a time. Everyone of these loads shot sub moa. But I'm looking for the sweet spot to get to the next level of accuracy.

Since we are shooting a coated bullet, the ES numbers will be higher than a naked bullet will be. Most loads with a naked (uncoated) bullet will be less than 20 fps ES. I'm not a fan of the coated bullets, but some shooters like them.

[WrecklessRanch]

^^ What MRC said...
You don't have any friends willing to work you up some loads.
I got into reloading because a friend let me practice on his set up. Man did I get hooked quick.

I'll second this. We just got finished setting up our reloading room at my house and I cannot wait to get serious about it. I already did some reloading at a friend's and there's nothing more satisfying than shooting something you loaded yourself.

Also, if you are current or former military, LEO, or FD I can tell you how to get RCBS equipment at a huge discount.

[jstanton]

I'll second this. We just got finished setting up our reloading room at my house and I cannot wait to get serious about it. I already did some reloading at a friend's and there's nothing more satisfying than shooting something you loaded yourself.

Also, if you are current or former military, LEO, or FD I can tell you how to get RCBS equipment at a huge discount.

Unfortunately no. My father in law use to reload but only for pistol ammo and hasn't done it in a while.

I don't know anyone personally that reloads or shoots long range. Since I originally started this thread I have found a company in Montana, Choice Ammunition, that produces some pretty good stuff but I think if I really want to go to the next level I will need to develop a load specific for this rifle.

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[Horitexan]

That elevation knob isn't going to help if it's based off data you collect at Texas elevation and then take it into altitudes where elk live.



Just a thought based off you mentioning 7 mag and your profile pic having an elk in it.

You're right, altitude WILL play a difference for sure. I used to think the same thing about the usefulness of custom turrets; but, unless you're doing some pretty durn LR hunting, the altitude isn't always that big a factor. A little playing around with a ballistic calculator can give you a pretty quick idea how to compensate for the altitude.

For example, my 6.5cm pushing a 140gr bullet at 2683 (slow mover factory load) shooting at a 700yd target at various altitudes:

Sea level: 19.07moa
3500ft: 18.16moa
7000ft: 17.3moa

400yd shot:

Sea level: 7.29moa
3500ft: 7.07moa
7000ft: 6.87moa

Of course, this all depends on the rifle, load and the shot. I was surprised to find the numbers I did before I started playing with Ballistic calculators.

He only used 1 powder type and just played with the grains on the rifle I sent him. Generated 5 sets of bullets total and choose from there.

The ultimate question to ask is: did you get a load that produced the type of accuracy you were looking/hoping for? I'd be more upset over the apparent lack of seating depth exploration. It's unreasonable to expect a load development service to play with multiple powders and bullet types - if they did the cost would be outrageous and the timeframe unreasonable. If a buddy asks me to help him with development we'll pick out the bullet (type and weight) he wants to shoot and use a powder type that's known to be good for the caliber. The ONLY time I would try another powder (in this scenario) is if, for some reason, his rifle didn't like it and we just couldn't find a charge weight that would shoot well in his rifle.

Can you elaborate on: "Generated 5 sets of bullets total and chose from there." He presented you with 5 loads to choose from or he loaded 5 different charge weights and picked the best one and called it 'done?' Or something else?

Thanks for the feed back, guys. There is a certain method on how I do a load work-up for a rifle. I'll try to explain it the best I can. When a customer tells me the caliber he's shooting, barrel length, and the bullet weight/type, this will direct me to the correct powder I want to use for this particular rifle. I want to test 1 powder and 1 bullet with various powder charges to dial the load into the rifle. I'm wanting to tune the load to the barrel harmonics and read what the target tells me on where I am at. I also look at the chronograph data (bullet speed) to know where I am at with the bullet velocity. You can't just open up a reloading book, close your eyes and pick a powder and powder charge with the bullet you want to shoot, or pick a load you found on the internet. There's no method to that.



For example, here's a perfect example of a text book case I look for the science of load development. Below is a target from a 243 Win shooting a 115 grain DTAC coated bullet (boron nitride coated) shot at 300 yards. This is with 1 powder, 1 bullet, and going up in powder charge in small increments (usually .3-.4 grains at a time).



Testing done at 300 yards:



Load A is dead center, 4 shots, 2935 fps, 42 ES (ES= extreme spread). The group is kind of open, shooting about 2" group. (the squares are 3")



Load B- Top left 2910 fps, 48 ES. 3 shots are nice and tight, but the other 2 are stringing up, which tells me we are approaching or passing an accuracy node. Since Load A was open, we must be approaching a node.



Load C- 2931 fps, 34 ES, Top right, 5 shots nice and tight, all centered up. There's no stringing groups, no open groups. Perfect nice and tight at 1" at 300 yards. That's 1/3 moa accuracy!



Load D- 2946 fps, 25 ES. Low left, 3 shots and 1 high. Groups opened up and had 1 shot go high. I also noted slight pressure signs with this load.



Load C is what I am looking for in load dev. I'm watching for nice tight and consistent groups and low ES numbers. Most of the time, the sweet spot load also has the lowest ES, since the load is tuned to the rifle. This is accomplished with 1 powder and 1 bullet and testing different loads in small increments at a time. Everyone of these loads shot sub moa. But I'm looking for the sweet spot to get to the next level of accuracy.



Since we are shooting a coated bullet, the ES numbers will be higher than a naked bullet will be. Most loads with a naked (uncoated) bullet will be less than 20 fps ES. I'm not a fan of the coated bullets, but some shooters like them.

Yep, testing one bullet with one powder at a time makes absolute sense as long as you're able to get the kind of accuracy the client is expecting or is promised. I can imagine developing loads for other people being an absolute nightmare of unrealistic expectations, second guessing and unfulfilled dreams.

Curious whether you play with seating depth or not, since you didn't mention anything about it? I'd certainly choose the same group as you did, of the ones you mentioned (and without more info) but I'll typically use a similar (although more drawn out) method to begin determining an optimal charge weight; and then I'll play with seating depth to close the group as tight as possible. IME, seating depth has a bigger effect on group size and charge weight is more about velocity, vertical stringing and ES/SD.

It's interesting that you have found increased ES numbers with Boron Nitride coating - I started hBN specifically for its reputation for LOWERING ES & SD numbers, among other positive effects. I've noticed a definite drop in my ES/SD numbers using hBN although I've had to increase my charge weights to attain similar velocities because the lower friction of the hBN bullets don't produce the pressures the naked pills do. Although there's some debate about the reality of 'cold bore' shots' POI, I have found that my hBN coated bullets have caused my cold bore shots to follow the group with even more regularity than before. Aside from the hassle of coating, I've found them to hBN to be an asset, for me.






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[ChadTRG42]

I seat the bullets where I know they shoot well, based on experience with previous loads and testing. For example, a Berger VLD likes to be seated just touching the lands, or just off. I will seat the bullet there, and then tune the load with the powder charge. I can find a good load and tune it much faster (20-25 rounds) doing this, than messing with various seating depths in multiple range trips. And if the powder charge you selected is out of the accuracy node, it won't matter where you seat the bullet, because it still won't shoot well. The method I use helps find a good load with 1 range trip, maybe 2, if the first trip doesn't produce. If it is a common caliber, then only 1 range trip is generally needed.

Chad

Custom Reloads of Dallas

https://www.dallasreloads.com