Of all the rifles I have & all the loads I've worked up for each, once I begin to hunt with them I always stick with one load, one bullet.

Do you?

243 and below I generally have more than one load I use.

Couple examples .........

22-250 I use 40gr v-max and 45gr TSX.
243 I use 75gr v-max and 85gr Partition.

I try to, but then I always want to experiment with some other bullet...

I have one rifle that was built around a dummy cartridge I gave the 'smith.
338-06 with a 210 Nosler. The rifle has never fired anything else.

I do in the majority of cases; however once in awhile I make a change for a special need. For example, I almost always use 165 gr TSX in a 30-06. When making a trip to Newfoundland for woodland caribou I decided that the TSX might be too hard a bullet and worked up a load using Partitions. Used this one successfully and then returned to the TSX.

I do this with the 7mm-08 and below. There is generally a fun/varmint load and a big game load.

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight with Hornady 190 gr. BTSP and 56.5 grs. H4350. Only load I shoot in that rifle. If I want a different bullet I switch rifles.

I'm more than happy when I can find one broad brushed loading to work year round in all the situations I may hunt a particular rifle. Sure does keep things simple. Sometimes though, a particular rifle/chambering is so broad brushed, it is necessary to have more than one loading to cover all the different things hunted and shot.

Best

I'll also add that I will sometimes try out a new bullet for "real world testing", even if I haven't shot it a lot at various ranges. I'll note where it hits at 100yds, relative to my primary load, and then bring along a round or two to test when I'm hunting medium-short range spots where POI differences aren't that critical. The first time I ever killed anything with a Barnes was on a buck at roughly 100yds, using a 130gr .30cal version that I slipped in the chamber atop a magazine full of Noslers. It turned out that it killed just fine.....

I found that the more rifles I owned, the less need there was for multiple loads for any one rifle.
At the moment, I only use one load for most of my rifles, nearly all use either a Barnes TSX or a Nosler Accubond bullet.
Simplifies life somewhat.....

I am down to 40gr for .223, 140 Bergers in the .270 and 250 Hornady in the .35 Whelen. Makes things pretty simple.

For a while I matched the 75gr .223 loads to the 150gr .308 and that made it real simple with similiar BC and speeds.

223 just 55 grain sp
30-06 150 grain tsx
300 wby mag 180 grain tsx

Right now I am trying to find the elusive "cheap bullet/premo bullet" combo. In the 06' I am starting w/ 165 BTSP & 165 TTSX. Hoping for same POI and velocity to keep things simple and such a lot.

7STW crankin @ 3450 with a 150grn Nosler BT
I do

currently have 1 308 and use the 130 TTSX

I find a good load and use it for everything.

Yes, once I find a load that I'm happy and pleased with, I stick to it. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

My rifles are load specific. I work up the load that is most accurate with modest to fast muzzle velocity. Accuracy is the end game. This way I employ the cartridge size for the specific game that I hunt. It has been a bit of work over the yrs., but it has worked for this hunter/shooter. MTG

Who needs more than one? For over 25 years, I used a 270 with 150 gr. Speer Hotcores & never had a deer or elk survive them. Then I switched to a 300 WSM about 8 years ago. I used 180 gr. AB's for the last 6 or 7 years but I'm done with that crap. Now I need to decide which will be my one and only bullet. I'd like to try 180 gr Deep Curls but they're too hard to find yet.

Once I get a rifle to perform well, I stick with that formula. Each rifle though has a specific use.

I find a load that works for a rifle load a bunch shoot them off (sometimes this takes years) and get the urge to try something new. Great way to learn a lot and have some fun. Thanks GRF

Mostly.....yes.

I do use one load in a lot of rifles, but have to experiment too much with bullets to do it in all of them.

Often I'll find a powder charge that shoots to the same point of impact with one bullet weight in a certain rifle, then use it with different makes of bullets. My Serengeti 7x57, for instance, shoots just about any 156-162 gtain bullet very well with 46 grains of H4350, and close enough to the same place that they're interchangeable. So far I've taken big game with the 156 Norma Oryx, 160 Sierra GameKing, 160 Nosler Partition and 160 North Fork, and maybe one or two I've forgotten, and never had to change the scope settings.

I have a good load for my '06 Mountain Rifle that I've used on elk for the last 10 years and a few other regular loads for other rifles but for all the rest?......No effin' way. As a certified "Looney" I have too much fun testing new bullets, powders, etc. to see if I can find something "better". It makes for a lot of shooting which ain't bad.

Upon returning to the states after a paid vacation in SE Asia, I bought a post 64, 300 WM. A very accurate load of H-4350 and the 180 grain Nosler Partition was developed. I have hunted Caribou, Blacktail and Mule Deer, Black Bear and of course Elk for all of those years with that "exact" same load developed in the spring of 70.

For the most part yes, once I find a load and a bullet that a rifle likes I tend to shoot it a lot. It's not that I don't like mucking about, rather I lack the time to indulge my curiosity fully - maybe when I'm retired.

Right now for my 338wm it's 71 grains of H4831sc under a 250 grn interlock. I shoot it lots so that when I am out hunting I know just where it's going to go.

39grs 4895 165 NP 300 Savage
62grs 4895 280 Swift 358 Norma Magnum
70grs 4895 350 Woodleigh 425 Express
62grs 4350 165 Hornady SPT 30 Gibbs

These loads have served us well for a very long time!

Hum that is a rut, were some have found them selve stuck. I tend to span those things and move on.

One load per gun make life much simplier!

One load per gun is simpler but of little interest to me as an end in itself.

For most of my rifles I've worked up at least two hunting loads and sometimes more. The reasons are many but I find it practical.

This year, for example, I intended to hunt elk with my .300WM and 180g North Forks. Unfortunately I was laid off in late September and was running low on North Fork loads. Rather than spend money to buy more I simply used some 180g Barnes MRX bullets I had loaded some years before.

For my favorite rifle, a .257 Roberts, I have 110g TTSX and 110g AccuBond loads for antelope. When carrying during combined deer/elk season it gets 120g A-Frames.

.30-06? 165g North Fork and 168g TTSX.
7mm RM? 160g North Fork and 140g TTSX.
6.5-06AI? 130g Scirocco II and 140g AccuBond.
.45-70? 19 different loads, all good for hunting something, from head-shooting bunnies to T-Rex.


Then, of course, there are the practice loads - mostly built with A-MAX, Ballistic Tip and SST.

I only shoot 200 NPs in my 300 win mag. Not interested in endless experimenting. This load works too good. And not that I expect to have the opportunity, but I think it would probably work for almost anything on the planet.

These days I just launch 150 gr 7mm Bullets out of my 7mm RM. My current rifle likes 150 gr bullets so much so that it dose not matter if its Federal Blue Box or Fusions or Any of the premium loads they all shoot close enough together that I can inter change with out much thought. Right now my favorite has been the Federal Fusion loads. Plenty for the deer I shoot, if anything a little to much. But I like the rifle so that is what I shoot. One of these days I will get a 7 x 57 or a 243 barrel for it and call it a day. It would be nice if Federal made a reduced recoil loads in the fusion line. A 150 gr @ around 2400 to 2600 would be perfect for my current white tail hunting but they don't and I am not bothering with the time and effort to cook up my own. I just to lazy for it in my old age.

If I have more than one rifle in the same caliber I'll stick with one load for each. I have 3 30-06s. For those that I have only one I sometimes have more than one load (weight bullet) set up for it. Of course sighting in is required for them. There are others that I have been happy with so left well enough alone. I am however always thinking of trying something new so everything I said can be thrown out the window.

one load for 270 win - imr4350 and 150gr partition
one load for 30-06 - imr4350 and 180gr partition

i might buy a few boxes of factory stuff to shoot as the season approaches, but when i go hunting for deer/elk/or hogs, i always use the above hand loads.

For ten years I've shoot 200 grain Partitions in my .300 H&H.

I usually stick to one load for each rifle. Sometimes I'll vary that if I am using a rifle as back-up to my primary choice in order to suit the quarry.

Yep............unless I get less than stellar results when I've done my part. That's why I discontinued use and long since sold all of the AB's I had on hand for both the 25-06 and 270 WSM. I've run with the TTSX's since early on and so far, so very good.

I have 2 identical 300 WSM's that shoot the 180gr. TSX load extremely well. It's nice that it worked out that way. As many know, an extremely accurate load in one particular rifle doesn't automatically ensure that same level of accuracy in another, no matter how identical the rifles used.

I don't expect needing to change any of my loads at this point in time. After 4 decades of hunting, I know what I want in a bullet/load........and I'm quite particular. Doing my part leaves me with a very real sense of confidence. In the end, that's what it's all about...........IMHO.

Well maybe, but it's fun to experiment until you find that "one load, one bullet".... .

Generally it looks like this:

223 (for varmints): 53 gr. Hornady V-max
308 win: 150 gr. Hornady sp interlock
270 win: 130 gr. Nosler partition
7 mm rem mag: 162 A-max
30-06: 165gr. sp interlock
300 WSM: 165 Hornady btsp interlock
300 win mag: 200 gr. Nosler partition
338 win mag: 250 gr. Sierra Game King BTSP
9.3x62mm: 286 gr. Nosler partition
375 H&H: 260 gr. Nosler partition (that may change to something else down the road).....

Yep, I think with every rifle of ours I load for(11)I'm down to a single load/bullet. All except for one do very well with the TTSX, so I then leave them alone at that point...simple simple, also the scope doesn't get messed with either. Just go shooting, and go hunting.

I have gone back and forth on this one over the years. At first, I fell in love with a Remington Mountain Rifle chambered for 7mm/08. I loaded 42.0 grains of BL-C2 under a Nosler 140 grain Ballistic Tip and commenced killing deer like they were wired to a light switch for several years. I loaned that rifle to a couple of friends and they used my ammo to do the same thing.

Then a strange thing happened. I wanted to experiment with other bullets. I found that particular rifle would shoot 130 grain Speer HotCors and BTSP's just as well as the Ballistic Tips. I killed a few with those too.

Then I tried 154 Grain Hornady RN's. Killed one with that bullet, and it worked too.

Lo, these many years later, with a different 7mm/08, this one a Ruger 77mkII, I have stumbled on another bullet that I think my switch me back to a "one bullet/load" hunter.

So far, I have done limited shooting with a new 140 grain Sierra BTHP Gameking bullet, and it shows real promise out of this rifle. Oddly, the charge weight is the same as my old standby load, but I have substituted Varget for BL-C2. Preliminarily, I like what I see as far as accuracy. I have friends who have used the .277" equivalent of this bullet for years with very good results on game, so although I realize I am comparing golden delicious to red delicious, at least it is an apples to apples comparison for now.

Looking forward to shooting more of these through the summer.

A gun is only going to shoot one load to the same point of aim, why mess with changing the combinations? I use one load/caliber, set the Dillon up and reload. Anything less isn't really shooting, it is tinkering...

+ 1

I get a 270,the first (and usually last)thing up the spout is a 130 Partition and the right charge of H4831.A 130 Sierra usually groups right with it so I use those for practice. There are usually a few hundred of each around.

In a 300 mag it was pretty much always a 180 gr Partition,although I've used a 165 and a 200 gr.I have not loaded anything but a 165 gr bullet in a 30/06 sine the late 70' sometime.

A 160 gr in the 7mm magnums and a 140 gr in the smaller 7mm's has always worked for me.

I shoot the 257 ackley 120gr nosler partitions and the close as i come is my 30-06 likes 150 gr hornadays both with 4895.
I can buy powder in bulk.

Yes Sir, one load per weapon, a max power/accuracy load that will exploit all the game killing power one cartridge can provide, and I do like heavy bullets driven fast.

A few examples:

8-Bore 850 gr Round Ball
577 Nitro 750 gr softs and solids Barnes
500 Nitro 570 gr softs and solids Barnes
505 Gibbs 600 gr softs and solids Woodleigh
50-110 WCF 525 gr Cast Performance WFNGC
45-120 Sharps 505 gr FNSP
458 WM 500 gr softs and solids Hornady
416 Taylor 400 gr soft points Hornady
375 AI 270 gr TSX's
38-55 WCF 265 gr Beartooth LFNGC
9.3-62mm 320 gr softs Woodleigh
338-378 WM 225 gr TTSX's
338 WM 250 gr Swift A Frame
303 British 215 gr softs Woodleigh
300 H&H 200 gr Swift A Frame
300 WM 200 gr Partition
30-06 200 gr Partitions
300 Savage 180 gr Speer RNSP [HC]
30-30 WCF 170 gr Partition
7X57mm 175 gr Speer Grand Slam
270 WCF 150 gr Partition
6.5-55mm 140 gr Partition

Have used my 25-06 AI with hyper-speed light weight monos [100 gr TTSX's @3550 fps] but usual standard hunting cartridges start at the 6.5 Swede and go up.

Gunner

I only shoot one bullet/one load through a given rifle...at a time.

Me too, unless a double, doubles. fork that hurts.

Gunner

.222 50 gr. Hornady
7 MM Mag 175 gr Nosler Part.
30-06 180 gr. Nosler Part.
.35 Rem. 200 gr Rem SP
45/70 425 gr. Beartooth cast

Mostly for deer and elk, except the .222.

Man, your poor wife must stay really busy, loading all that ammo for you...

DF

Gunner

Where's the fun in that?

When I was young and broke I tried to make one rifle do everything by working up several different loads for it.

Now I have one load for each rifle and lots of rifles.

+1

DF

I load heavy high bc bullets in all my rifles and have no need to swap bullets. They are cheap enough to practice with and have a high enough s.d. to perform well at all distances.

300 wm. 208 amax
7 rem mag 162 sst
308 165 Hornady btsp
35 whelen 225 gamekings
30-06 150 swift scirocco ( because I don't handload these)

For hunting I stay with one load and bullet per rifle except that I work up different loads for 243 Win. It is used for shorter range whitetail deer and longer range varmints. 60 gr vmax Hornadys and 100 gr Hornady sp.
For woods hunting it is 7mm-08 with 139 gr Hornady sp.
For open fields in Tennessee it is 270 Win. Either a Remington 700 with Winchester Super X 130 gr or Savage 110 with Hornady 130 sst. I have now reached a point that I can choose a different rifle for different hunting situations.
If the hunting will be combination of woods and fields, the choice is always the 270 win shooting 130 bullets.

For practice and target shooting I try everything I can get my hands on. The most accurate of all is Savage 7mm-08 with IMR4350 and Hornady 162 SST but the gun weights 12 lbs! It does not hunt often.

I used to be able to shoot multiple loads, but as I've aged my gun doesn't perform the way it used to. Can get multiple bullets out though...

I couldn't resist, just like I can't resist tinkering w/ my rifles and even though I constantly say I am after that holy grail "one load", truth is I LOVE rifles that can shoot multiple to same POI.

Yep. I always figured that's the point of reloading. NPs from my 300 ultra dialed in nice and tight so they poke everything from elk to prairie dogs. Keeps life simple.

57 grs. of H-4831 and a 150 gr. speer hot cor in my 270.All I've used for years.

Yes, one load with one particular bullet for each rifle, but....
I've been known to change that combination from time to time.
I always look for and load one and often two other loads for practice.
For instance, my current '06 load for my mauser is the 180 gr. factory Federal TTB. The practice load is the 180 gr. Sierra GameKing over 58 grs. of Ramshot Hunter.
My other practice loads are for the shorter ranges, 50-100 yds. For that, I use whatever powder will push a lighter bullet about the same velocity for about the same zero. I find it's a great way to use up bullets and powders that currently are out of favor. I get lots of "get on the target and shot faster" practice that way as well. E

That,s where I'm heading to loder. Got it going on that way for the .280 and 7-08. Working on getting there with the .240 Bee and soon will be the 7x57. Will be doing the same for what ever else ends up in my safe.

I much prefer simplicity rather than jumping all over the place.

I have tried to stick with one load for each rifle, and some I have been successful.., but my favorites, I usually wind up trying some new bullet every few seasons...This year it was the .30 cal. 165 Accubond, and in the 7mm the 168 grain Berger..

140 AB in my 280 Rem
150 CoreLokt in my other 280 Rem
150 Hornady Interlock BTSP in my 308 Win
150 AB in my 300 WSM
165 AB in my 300 WSM

Use to like to tinker but getting to that point of one load for each gun. Right now have a 7-08 that loves 154 Hornady RN's and working on 160 NP's for my 280. Have another 7-08 on the way and hoping to find a good 120-140 Nosler BT or Part load for that one.

And that is a winning combination!

Far from it...

but if it had to be drawn down to one...

the powder would be 4064...

I could make do with calibers from 6.5 mm to 338 bore...

doesn't matter...

typical example...say 06... that would be 50 grains of 4064...
and the bullet would be 180 grains... RN or Ballistic Tip would be my two choices... or I could make do with my favorite, a 220 grain RN or Partition..

I have exclusively used a 30-06, IMR 4350, and a 180 Remington Core-Lokt. It has not failed me yet on anything from badgers to elk. This season I hit a spike elk at 490 yards through the shoulder. He was dead in less than 30 seconds.

Im a new guy, and thought this would be a good place to start. When I find a good load for a rifle I stick with it. If I need more or less, I use a different rifle.

I think that is where I am headed.

Imr 4350 or H4350....good stuff.

Reloder28,
Other than an upgrade to a Barnes TSX(with a new powder) from the old style X Bullet, one rifle,one bullet, one load, one sight-in since August 1993!!!! memtb

The problem with one load, one bullet is left over bullets. When working with a new cartridge I buy a variety of bullets and powders. Then, after finding the best load, I have a lot of left over components, which I obviously have an obligation to shoot.

I did that in my youth but got much smarter. Barnes for tags.

Mostly

I shot one gun with one load for about 30 years straight. ( 30-30 170gr partition)

I mess around more now.

Thats pretty much what I do.

I found the results at the range and on game with accubonds in a couple rifles excceptional .Its all I reload except in my 22-250 and 243-my predator rifles.

300WM=180gr AB
300WSM=180gr AB
couple 270WSM = 140gr AB
243 = 95gr BST / 55 gr BST
22-250 = 50gr BST
338-06AI = 225gr AB & TTSX

I found the same thing. Lots of left over bullets and powders.
What I've found is that, with a little research and tinkering, I can make up very good shorter range practice loads with them while saving the more expensive stuff for hunting or long range practice. E

Yes...just about one load per gun. My main hunting caliber is the .350 Remington Magnum of which I have owned 6 different rifles and still own four.

Two of them are Remingtons, a Model 7KS and an original 600...both of which have very short boxes. A lot of bullets have been tried but the 220 grain Speer FP HotCore is really the only one that "fits".

Since these rifles will also shoot pistol bullets I also have one low velocity pistol bullet load for finishing shots (never needed one) and for small game...

The other two rifles, a Ruger 77MKII and a custom Montana 1999, have longer boxes and as I've picked up a bunch of 250 grain bullets are just being used to burn them up so no one load has been set for them.

In thinking about it most of my rifles are or have been one load rifles. .280 Remington, .375 H&H, .308, 7.62x39, .41 Magnums... Just makes hitting things at a distance easy...

Bob

One load for my 7-08. 120 NBT, Ramshot Big Game.

I have several rifles in each of my favorite calibers and I have tried to get away from having a load for each rifle and instead find a load that shoots well in rifles of same caliber. Not easy to do but it cuts way down on load work up. Sometimes I cave in and work up several loads just for kicks and giggles.

I have a 140 Accubond load that shoots 1/2moa in all three of my 7 Wby's.

I found one load that shot very well out of my Remington model 7 in 308,so I stay with that,it is a 155 Berger VLD loaded with Varget,cloverleaf at 100 yards...

280 - 150 PT
300 WSM - 168 TTX
35 Whelen - 225 TX

If those 3 can't get it done...punt

Nor should it.

That's about as made-for-each-other as it gets right there.

As for the original question, I have outgrown my "gotta constantly experiment" stage, and have settled down a lot.

I am trimming lots of redundancy and overlap in rifles/chamberings, and am also settling on one universal load for each that remains.

I still have a bunch, but there are only a handful that get shot regularly any more, and even fewer that get reached for when it comes time to actually head out hunting.

Life is getting much simpler.