Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Load 'em like this, guys...

Below is one of three sub 1/2" groups I shot with my .243 Remington VLS this afternoon. This is an OCW (optimal charge weight) proofing target, where upon I shoot one graduation below and one graduation above the suspected OCW to "prove" the recipe's resilience. Such a load recipe will be largely impervious to odd brass cases, odd primers, and outside temperature changes--at least to a certain measure.

Remington 700 VLS, 26" barrel
.243 Winchester
75 grain Sierra HP "Varminter"
IMR 4350
Remington virgin cases
Remington 9 1/2 primer
Target distance 100 yards



The .8 grain spread doesn't move the point of impact beyond 1/4 MOA in this instance. On loads developed in this manner I've noted excellent (sub MOA) performance at 300 yards and even farther with the same high/low charges thrown into the group. This recipe would likely remain MOA with as much as a 1.5 grain spread across the 46.4 grain OCW zone.

Something else to note: Such recipes nearly always perform well in just about any old rifle you feed them to. (Work up to the 46.4 grain charge--and be careful if you try this recipe, of course).

Velocity is going to be in the 3300 to 3400 fps range from most rifles.

These loads performed extremely well considering that the cases were virgin Remington, off the shelf with no prep other than to partially size the necks.

Load recipes developed in this manner will go a long way toward eliminating flyers, and also seem to nearly or even totally negate the need for anal-retentive brass case prep. (I didn't weigh these cases either, by the way! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ). If your load recipe seems overly sensitive to case prep, or exact powder charges, you may want to take a look at redevelopment in the manner described in the link below.

It took me a total of 24 bullets, 24 charges of powder, and 24 primers (and 24 shots of barrel life, for that matter) to perfect this recipe. And yes, you actually can be reasonable certain of the load's typical performance in as few as 24 shots if you study the targets and understand the data. Marathon bench sessions of five individual five shot groups aren't necessary, and merely waste barrel life and material in my opinion. (But you do get trigger practice, which isn't a bad thing!)

For a synopsis of the OCW method, click this link: http://home.earthlink.net/~dannewberry/index.html

Thanks for the read...

Dan Newberry