I whats the next step after the test

yotehunter243

New member
finally got a chance to get my new Tikka T3 out and shoot it today. I loaded 87gr Berger VLD over H4350 and did a quick ladder test. I ran a patch between each shot and gave the barrel 3 minutes between shots. I was shooting 120 yards (my range is in my yard) but i was really impressed with how the gun shot. I shot 10 shots stepping up .2gr increments and all 10 shots were under and inch. My question is what powder measurments do i choose

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A ladder test is best done at a longer range. However, I use a target with 5 bulls on it at 100. I shoot one shot at a time at each bull, using a progressivly hotter load. Round Robin. Repeat till all loads are on the target. Then look for similar impact points and grouping.. Then I try to choose a load somewhat in the middle and go from there. If you have a chrony you can check the velocities for the best ES. Note each on the target.

Also just to clarify I start out with 3 load test rounds of each weight powder charge.
 
If I run a ladder test, I use zilla's method. I'm thinking one of each would be confusing to me. But to answer your question, somewhere between 44.2 and45.
 
In that case I'd use 44.5. Next I'd mess around with seating depth. But first I'd load up 10 rounds at 44.5, 44.6 and shoot 2 seperate 5 shot groups at seperate targets and see what I have..
 
It's difficult to get any usefull info out of a ladder test at 120 yards. However it looks like your rifle shot it all well so I would start toward the top, like the 44.5 load and try 2 groups of 5.
 
Do it again, but each gets a separate target and try 5 shots with each powder charge. Whatever holds the tightest pattern is the keeper, but from what I see you've got some good choices.
 
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