SmallCaliberCentral

I am getting great close range accuracy with cfe 223 but high extreme spread in velocity. I have read of others seeing the same thing. What powders are working best relative to that? Thanks

I am currently running 32 grain varmageddons

I may be wrong but annealing my brass and a very good scientific scale made all the difference for me. Especially the scale. I was amazed how far off my rcbs beam scale and charge master could be in high/low spread when i got a scale that went to .001gn

My 204 is the only rifle that it has ever worked in. With an ES over 100 there is always a serious ignition issue, except apparently, magically in the 204 physics don't seem to apply.

there is a whole lot more to ES and SD than the kind of powder you use. Most of it is case prep. I use a inside neck reamer on my fired brass, tumble it, then anneal it followed by neck sizing then trim cases chamfer and deburr if needed, check primer pockets, measure the powder to the nearest .1 and seated to the same depth. Neck tension has a great deal to do with the speed that bullet leaves the barrel at.

Benchmark and/or N133 seemed to do the trick for me.

Before getting too hung up on SD's and ES read this

https://www.shootingsoftware.com/ftp/Pe ... f%20SD.pdf

What I do is concentrate on finding a powder, load and a bullet that gives good groups then load it as precisely as I can. I might experiment with action screw torques, bullet seating etc later but the first thing is finding the right powder and load for the bullet and barrel

Yes there can be differing factors, but as the host of that article by Denton offers(their system). Use a Pressure Trace system enough, and you'll see that large swings of ES are mostly ignition based issues. Why may be for a few different reasons, but the whole mess begins, or fails, with the reliablility of the ignition.

if ignition were the only issue then we could all just use magnum primers. Are you guys confusing SD with the powders temperature sensitivity ? Those are different issues altogether. Never heard of SD being a powder issue until this thread, can anyone source that ?

if ignition were the only issue then we could all just use magnum primers. Are you guys confusing SD with the powders temperature sensitivity ? Those are different issues altogether. Never heard of SD being a powder issue until this thread, can anyone source that ?

HoundofSC wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:06 am Before getting too hung up on SD's and ES read this

https://www.shootingsoftware.com/ftp/Pe ... f%20SD.pdf

What I do is concentrate on finding a powder, load and a bullet that gives good groups then load it as precisely as I can. I might experiment with action screw torques, bullet seating etc later but the first thing is finding the right powder and load for the bullet and barrel

Basically same here. If I find a load combination that is shooting under or around 1/2 inch and it is safe and sane, they I go with it, it my various rifle calibers. I do not concern or worry myself with what the SD's and Es readings are. And even not too concerned with what the FPS is. Accuracy first and foremost. Most of the critters I go after and shoot and put down, quick and humanly, I do not believe can or could tell me the difference. Bill K

HoundofSC wrote: ↑Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:44 am if ignition were the only issue then we could all just use magnum primers. Are you guys confusing SD with the powders temperature sensitivity ? Those are different issues altogether. Never heard of SD being a powder issue until this thread, can anyone source that ?

Depends upon the case, charge, etc. In the Creedmoor, 243, and 308. Regular charges of my typical powders(748,760,CFE) the difference in output between Win & Wolf Standard and mag primers is so miniscule that you almost can't see it on the PT.

Typically a powder that is "sensitive" in an application has more to do with the primer being effected and causing ignition differences, rather than a powder just taking off. 760/414/2700 in the 243 is a prime example of a powder that can get grouchy when the mercury rises. But that isn't little wiggles, that is a major shift in burning rates and system pressures.

Like Bill said, other than double checking my 204 load in the chrono simply so I could know my drops, The accuracy has always been phenominal, and wasn't something that mattered. Accuracy always wins in my book as well, just wanted to know velocity for drops.

Should add too my comment re: FPS. I am not overly concerned with it, other than to have a average of the accurate load, I will be using, so I can have a cheat sheet made to give me my click adjustment for the range, I range, and am going too shot at, be it target or critter. Bill K