16ga.com ~ View topic - Ballistic Results From Lon, Tested by Precision Reloading

Here are some ballistic test results I had Keith Hagen at Precision Reloading do for me. Although the folks at Precision Reloading have been swamped with an onslaught of sales due to our country's political climate, he made time to do my testing, albeit a little slow.

These two loads may or may not be useful to forum members but they work extremely well for me. They are very consistent in velocity and pattern very well out of my Browning Citoris and Trulock choke tubes.

I believe they could make very nice target or light hunting loads for those inclined to shoot 2 1/2" hulls.

Cheddite hull 2 1/2"
Cheddite primer
15 grains 700X
SG16 or Gualandi 2116 wad
7/8 oz of 9s

With a 10-shot string Precision Reloading testing equipment showed an average velocity of 1,255 FPS, Standard Deviation (SD) of 5 and an Extreme Variation (EV) of 20 FPS. The pressure average was 10,338 PSI, SD of 261 PSI and EV of 730 PSI.

The second load is:

Cheddite hull 2 1/2"
Cheddite primer
15 grains 700X
DR16 wad
3/4 oz of 9s

With a 10-shot string Precision Reloading testing equipment showed an average velocity of 1,313 FPS, Standard Deviation (SD) of 5 and an Extreme Variation (EV) of 18. The pressure average was 9,089 PSI, SD of 311 PSI and EV of 880 PSI.

I've shot these two loads quite a bit over the chronograph, patterned with them and shot skeet and sporting clays with good results.

By the way, Keith's velocity test results varied less than 3% compared to my chronograph results.

Lon

Those look like very nice loads Lon, although perhaps a bit hot for such light payloads. I'm sure they perform well however. Thanks for sharing.

Member Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 1338

Mark,

Yea, I know these loads are a bit odd, with them being in the 2 1/2" hulls and not necessarily slower velocity or low pressure. That's why I prefaced my post with saying they may or may not be useful to some folks.

I can switch to 2 1/2" on my Mec press really easily. And, these loads, work better for me in my modern guns than any 2 3/4" 3/4 or 7/8 oz loads that I've tried, so far.

Mike,

The shot and powder were both hand weighed for these test loads. I know my production runs will never be quite that consistent.

I'm going to do some experimenting this spring with the same loads both hand weighed and then dropped with my press just to see the difference. I think you, Mike, have done this in the past, correct?

From what I've researched, you need to have about .3 of a grain variation of powder to start to see much difference in velocity over the chronograph.

Lon

I don't know about Mike, but I have run chrono and pressure tests on ammo that had hand weighed powder and shot charges and then stuff that was run on a 9000H. There is no obvious difference.

The ONLY reason you hand weigh loads, is for testing to insure that YOU KNOW what you are sending in to the lab.

Shotshells are a sloppy system, there are variables that affect ballistics more than a powder charge being 0.3 off, or short 5 pellets.

I wouldn't worry too much unless your charges are varying more than +/- 0.3 grains (0.6 total). Any reloader will drop at least that good if you operate it consistently.

Look at what the benchrest shooters go through, with case prep and chamber and bore massaging, and they don't weigh their powder charges, charges are thrown with a powder measure.

Then think about factory ammo, even the premium stuff, all dropped by volume, typically SD in 6 - 14 FPS and EV 20 - 30 FPS. Those are excellent numbers.

BTW, nice loads and Thanks for sharing the info with us. V ery Much Appreciated.

FYI, You can get the same chrono results that Keith got. You now have a KNOWN good load. Load up a bunch, throw away the instructions to your chrono. Position it 3' from the muzzle to the center line between your skyscreens and go from there. You can shoot 5 shot strings, if the veloctiy is consistent leave the distance at 3' if not start moving the chrono back 6" at a time until the velocities settle down. I will be very surprised if you have to move it at all. Do NOT expect the exact velocities or SD & EV readings, but you will be close to the SD & EV. In addition you also have your correction factor for your velocity.

Cloudy days are best. Bright sun should be avoided. Always use the diffusers. The chronograph should be on a level solid surface and your shotgun should be aimed level and in the center of the diffusers, to get the best readings.

Member Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 1338

Thanks for working up the data on your loads Lon , I see you have found out the same thing that Ole Ben and I found several years back that the 63.5- 65 mm hulls performed the best all around , the loads are very nice in velocity and consistency I would have to say .

One thing that surprised me a might, is the difference between the wads in pressure to the extent that is shown .

All that have tested the DR 16 have found that the pressures were lower, more constant in velocity and pressures than all the other wads available on the market , but Ole Ben and I have loaded some great shooting loads that were based on the Gulandie wads , which is a wonderful wad , now the trap commander on the other hand is a wonderful looking wad and should perform but it simply does not , the R16 is a great wad as well as the AA16 .

The difference on pressures is quite significant between your two otherwise compairable loads , quite interesting but as Mark and I had a theory on in conjuction with Tom Armburst chiming in on the idea that due to the collapsible nature of the legs it allows thing to get moving before the crimp gives way , who knows , perhaps Mark will chime in here for he has spent many an hour behind a pressure barrel and has the best grasp of what happens when a shell goes off , just in front of perhaps Mike Cambell and Skeetex.

Thanks once again to you Lon and thanks to SPR 310 for I know he has these put into his wonderful data sheets of loads .

Best Regards , Nick

I think you are saying the correct thing Nick , his loads using the dr had less shot than the g-wad . A 3/4 oz load with the g-wad would probably be just a tad higher in press than the dr .

*Last edited by Dogchaser37 on Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:04 pm; edited 1 time in total*

What are you going to do if they aren't good loads, when the charges are dropped by volume rather than weight?

Toss the loads out or hand weigh each powder drop???

700-X will drop +/- 0.2 grains until you are too tired to care.

The loads are fine.

Come on Mr. Campbell this is a no brainer. This fellow has solid loads, they aren't going to go south because they aren't weighed by hand.

Mark,

I'm sure you are right. I just want to know what my Mec 600 press will do when dropping by volume instead of hand weighing.

It's more for my personal curiosity than anything else.

I'll let everyone know what happens.

Lon

Member Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 1338

Lon , you' obviously have the scale . I'd check what would be my normal drop 1) by trying to push the bar back to the powder drop with a little thump , and 2) I'd let the handle bump up to the top 3 times lightly b4 dropping the powder ... 410's are quite touchy loading off the bars and doing what I just described seemed to give me the most consistency with my MEC . Lets the powder settle more consistent . Lon , your 1st load is probably he best range of ballistics you could hope for - I'd be using the 2nd load just for lack of recoil though .

Boy I sure missed that one on this phone screen, Bill thanks for pointing that out.

Gotta get back on the outer where I can see something, yen I am on the phone right now waiting on a machine to get done.

Gotta go.

Regards. Nick

Boy I sure missed that one on this phone screen, Bill thanks for pointing that out.

Gotta get back on the outer where I can see something, yen I am on the phone right now waiting on a machine to get done.

Gotta go.

Regards. Nick

I got out the other day to do some more Chronograph testing with this load of mine.

I've now shot five, 10-shot strings over the chronograph with this load
over the last five months, in various temperatures.

Cheddite hull, 2 1/2"
Cheddite primer
15 grains 700X
SG16 wad
7/8 oz 9s

My averages:

1,225 fps
SD of 7
EV of 23

Precision Reloading's test of my load:

1,255 fps
SD of 5
EV of 20
10,338 psi

On Mar. 26 I ran 10 shot strings (hand weighed powder/shot vs. press dropped by volume) on my Mec 600. The results are as follows:

Hand weighed:

1,223 fps
SD of 7
EV of 21

Press dropped by volume:

1,241 fps
SD of 7
EV of 25

It appears to me that I must be getting just a bit more powder drop per load when running the press in a "normal" manner as compared to hand weighing the shot and powder. I suspect the extra jostling of the press for each step, including the crimp stages, is the reason for the increase in powder/velocity between the hand weighed and press dropped loads. We're talking about less than 2% difference in velocity.

Regardless, I'm pleased knowing I can reload by volume and get good results--just like Mark/Dogchaser said!

Lon