Got out and hit the range today to test my first reloads for my Soviet Mosin-Nagant M91/30. I started with only Varget powder. I don't have enough brass to work multiple powders at once. That's fine, I'm sure my shoulder is okay with it, too. I'm still fairly new to reloading, so hopefully my analysis of these targets is okay.
Ammo specs include: Sierra 150gr Pro-Hunter SP bullets, PPU once-fired brass (FL resized, trimmed, flash hole uniforming, primer pockets cleaned/reamed/deburred), CCI 200 Large Rifle primers, Varget powder.
I'm using the original iron sights on my M91/30, which aren't great. (I'll replace with peep sights, eventually.) It shoots high by a fair margin, so I aimed at the very bottom-center of the target and it at least got me in the general ballpark of the bullseye. First rounds were a cold barrel, but I didn't wait for the barrel to cool down before proceeding. I don't have that much time. I figured the 5 rounds in each powder increment would at least group somewhat closely. I went by the Lyman's 49th edition handbook, starting at 43.0gr of Varget, and ramping up to 48.0gr in 0.5gr increments.
All brass looked good after firing. No pierced primers or indications of over-pressure conditions.
Here were the best groups, followed by some interesting notes:
45.5gr Varget, approx. 3.55MOA:
46.5gr Varget, approx. 2.77MOA: (Note I threw out one shot... explanation forthcoming.)
47.0gr Varget:
My best grouping was the 46.5gr load, with an interesting caveat. I threw out the one round from my group size because I noticed something occurring over the course of the session. In between 5-round groups, I would retrieve the target, mark it up, make a new target sheet and send it out on the range. This allowed the barrel to cool a little bit, usually causing the first shot to change point-of-aim. (Often, much closer to the bullseye, funny enough.) Notice in these following targets I experienced the same phenomenon. The first round of each group was the one closest to the bullseye.
44.0gr Varget:
43.0gr Varget:
Sometimes it wasn't as noticeable as in these examples, but the cool-down period usually affected the first round a bit. In any case, I found this interesting. Is this common? Can I change anything to minimize this?
Since my best grouping was the 46.5gr load, and my shots tended to group fairly well near the bullseye on the 47.0gr load, I plan to work up some more reloads between these numbers. I may also add 0.1gr increments just outside of that range, as well (46.4, 46.3, and 47.1, 47.2, etc.). If nothing else, I get to shoot more rounds.
I hope my analysis is good on this. If I made any mistakes or should be watching for anything else, I'm always open to suggestions and learning a better way to read my data.
Ammo specs include: Sierra 150gr Pro-Hunter SP bullets, PPU once-fired brass (FL resized, trimmed, flash hole uniforming, primer pockets cleaned/reamed/deburred), CCI 200 Large Rifle primers, Varget powder.
I'm using the original iron sights on my M91/30, which aren't great. (I'll replace with peep sights, eventually.) It shoots high by a fair margin, so I aimed at the very bottom-center of the target and it at least got me in the general ballpark of the bullseye. First rounds were a cold barrel, but I didn't wait for the barrel to cool down before proceeding. I don't have that much time. I figured the 5 rounds in each powder increment would at least group somewhat closely. I went by the Lyman's 49th edition handbook, starting at 43.0gr of Varget, and ramping up to 48.0gr in 0.5gr increments.
All brass looked good after firing. No pierced primers or indications of over-pressure conditions.
Here were the best groups, followed by some interesting notes:
45.5gr Varget, approx. 3.55MOA:
46.5gr Varget, approx. 2.77MOA: (Note I threw out one shot... explanation forthcoming.)
47.0gr Varget:
My best grouping was the 46.5gr load, with an interesting caveat. I threw out the one round from my group size because I noticed something occurring over the course of the session. In between 5-round groups, I would retrieve the target, mark it up, make a new target sheet and send it out on the range. This allowed the barrel to cool a little bit, usually causing the first shot to change point-of-aim. (Often, much closer to the bullseye, funny enough.) Notice in these following targets I experienced the same phenomenon. The first round of each group was the one closest to the bullseye.
44.0gr Varget:
43.0gr Varget:
Sometimes it wasn't as noticeable as in these examples, but the cool-down period usually affected the first round a bit. In any case, I found this interesting. Is this common? Can I change anything to minimize this?
Since my best grouping was the 46.5gr load, and my shots tended to group fairly well near the bullseye on the 47.0gr load, I plan to work up some more reloads between these numbers. I may also add 0.1gr increments just outside of that range, as well (46.4, 46.3, and 47.1, 47.2, etc.). If nothing else, I get to shoot more rounds.
I hope my analysis is good on this. If I made any mistakes or should be watching for anything else, I'm always open to suggestions and learning a better way to read my data.
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