I know we have to have a few here that roll their own ammo.

Im looking for a free (and good preferably) ballistics charts for hand loading.
I know there is an infinite combinations of powders, charges, and bullets.

I haven't tried totally ballistic software yet (not free), but it looks like it is close to what I want to do.

 

sorry but this is a little off topic.... i was talkin to the guy down at ace hardware, where they sell guns and he said that he had a guy that brought his rifle back in 4 or 5 pecies. He said that he wanted rembursed because he bought his reloading stuff there and when he shot his first, home-reloaded round, it blew his gun apart. The guy at ace asked him how much power he put in it and the other guy said that he filled the cartradge up to the top.
needless to say, he didnt get any money.

 

Yea, that can happen quite easily. Which is sorta the reason I was looking for the software. I want to back off from the max load on my 7mm Rem Mag, but I dont want to load a few and shoot and try again.

I know from shooting muzzle loaders, varying the powder charge a little can have dramatic results in grouping.

 

I Won't even buy reloaded rounds...

At the local range I bought a bag of 38 Cal reloads.. as I was shooting one shot didn't feel right.. Stopped shooting and checked the gun.. Found a round lodged in the barrel... Tapped it out and shot again... several round later it happened again..

I handed the bag back... and took my 2" to the armory to be checked out.. gun was fine...

Could have been disaterous firing a round into a blocked barrel...

I have also seen several examples of guns blown apart (mostly composit) by weak brass casings...

Gerry

 

Sometimes safety isn't free but the Sierra reloading handbook is my bible when it comes to reloading.

MikeyB

 

I prefer using books to computer programs, and I have a hornady 2 book set, and an older RCBS book. Both are good.

Be careful not to go significantly below the minimum listed charge when loading a bottle neck rifle cartridge, as doing so can sometimes result in unpredictable pressures.

If you can, hook up with someone experienced to look over your shoulder the first few times.

Also, it is a good practice to look over your loading block full of charged cases before you start seating bullets... Would prevent the squib loads Gerry got.

With a little dinking around, you can find a load that is more accurate than factory ammo, and cheaper.

Be careful, and have fun.

 

Sierra book for me also. Every gun is a little bit different and so is every reloader. I'd sure take the time to work up to a potential load watching for trouble. It's really the fun part trying to work up a good load that's more accurate in your gun!

 

I have a number of reloading manuals plus cheat sheets from other reloaders that I shoot with, and my own logs of loads I've worked up over the years for my guns

You can get alot of info off the internet from the powder companys and the bullet makers......this was where I started to gather info when I started reloading.....many times the local gun shops will have free reloading sheets too if they sell bullets and powder

As most reloaders will tell you.....working up a load from a starting base to get the best bullet/powder combo for your gun is rewarding to see a 5 shot group in the 10 ring

Go to your local libary for books about reloading to get you started.....after a time you'll start buying books till you have a shelve full of books and logs

A few important items you'll want are shell boxes that you can label with bullet/ powder info and date/cal....and a reloader log book with room for comments about that load, if you dont keep records of your loads you'll be spending alot of wasted time to find that load that best for your gun

 

I've never reloaded buy my older brother, and father are into it alot. We just finished biulding a little shelf to hold the small amounts of bullets, primers, and dies that we have. I didn't relize how much we had untill we put it all in one place. Here is a lil pic i took when we finished.




Coop

 

I have a Hornady book, a Sierra book, along with some small pamplets for IMR, Accurate, and some other powder. I also have a boss that has reloaded for years and has been very helpful.

Kinda what I am wanting is to know how performance (bullet drop and speed) change with different powders in different charges.
The bullet manufactures list some different powder charges, but lack a variety of powder. the powder manufactures just list max charges. I have already seen a 2 grain drop on charge yeilds a tighter group with minimal additional bullet drop, but the charts I have from IMR dont list a minimal load or what kind of bullet drop I can expect.

 

At least in the set I have, book 1 lists a particular cartridge and several bullet weights and types, along with velocities that resulted from various load levels with each powder.

Book 2 is a pretty good ballistic table, that lists drop of a particular bullet (by ballistic coefficient and sectional density), with the rifle zero at various ranges, for different muzzle velocities...

It would be easy to look up, for example, how much more drop you would have with a particular bullet at 300 yards, with the scope zero at 200 yards, if you were to go from a load that produces 3100 fps at muzzle to a load that produced 2900 fps...

Would that be kind of what you are looking for?

 

If I could only have one manual it would be the Sierra, although it's actually two, but I have a choice so I have also had the Nosler, Speer, Hornady, and some articles from 'Rifle' and the 'American Rifleman'. After trying a number of different loads for a couple of common calibers I ended up typically using what were pretty common recommendations, but it was fun trying.

 

Also, you can't automatically assume a rifle will group better with a lower charge. It depends on the individual rifle. I've seen some that like nice, gentle target loads and some that thrive on the ragged edge. You just have to experiment. Things like seating depth (the effect on case volume and the distance between the seated bullet and the start of the rifling is a major issue), concentricity, primer choice, etc should also be examined.

Unless you're shooting serious distances, the point of impact change associated with plus or minus a few grains of powder should be well within minute-of-vital-zone on a deer. If you're shooting targets, drop is a secondary issue - group size and zero are all that matters.

 

Jeff.... Yes, that is the kind of information I am looking for.
I only have book one of Hornady (also a 2 book set) that I bought in a used book store. I realize that charge doesn't always effect the shot group, but I have seen it happen on muzzleloaders and would like to know what the safe lows are in addition to the highs. And how the charges effect out to 300 or more yards. Afterall, there are 40 acre clear cuts around here and I have spotted deer at that range, why not drop one take a 4 wheeler to get it instead of trying to hike across 1/2 the county to try to sneak up on it.

 

Another thing - I've seen some speculation that overly-low loads of slow-burning propellants in high-capacity cases is more dangerous than a case stuffed full of fast-burning stuff. I forget the exact mechanism, but it leads to spectacular detonations.

Now, if I could just remember how low is too low.....