Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Ladder test, How, why?

Agreed, the bullets will routinely NOT walk straight up, but often at an angle. I am looking for the grouping of both horizontal and vertical along with the corresponding MV grouping. So yes, that gives me a range of charges that shoot together. I start in the middle and shoot groups to confirm what the ladder showed and then test seating depth.

As for thrown charges in LR, you had better weigh each and every one. You can get away with thrown charges in some finer powders and shorter ranges, but with the larger grain powders and LR, vertical will eat you up. Seen too many SR guys come and try that and was not pretty.

Some cartridges shoot more accurately at the higher pressures (6BR cases such as Dasher, BRX, BRDX as you can easily get 2950-3000 fps with 105s) and others tend to like it lower. Most 300 WSMs with 210 seem to shoot better at 2800 fps (H4350) while some have shot better at 2950-3025 with powders such as MRP.

Yes RE thrown charges, at least it works out that way and thats to a positive side of results. I will throw charges for short range ammo, at least used out to 200 and sometimes 300 depending. ANd depending on the use out to 600 may throw it there. Typically I weigh it though. But beyond 600 I've never shot a thrown charge. Though I feel I could probably get by with it on the 800 yard line.... but I dont' try it. IMHO long range should equal weighed charges period.

I've shot enough ladders to know there has been a horizontal component fairly often.

I was amazed that you can find a charge area where the next increment actually moves on both axis. So amazed later on I shot it more than a few times and it was repeatable.

Thats why I don't ever want to do load work up without shooting it. I've also shot groups where 2-3 incremental charges, if shot as seperate 5 shot groups or such, actually grouped well... but only if you had the powder charge dead nuts.

If all you want to say is you can't shoot well enough to shoot an audette and just need to go bang, do it anyway you want. And its typically partially the truth as another poster noted, lots of folks can't shoot well enough to shoot an audette. They need a good load and just trigger time.

But those also don't need to be in a long range anything forum at this point in their skill level.

No one was born with perfect skills and loads... some get there at different speeds. And with different needs.

RE bickering, its not bickering here, only a healthy discussion trying to show options that folks may or may not want to incorporate into their methods.

The bickering starts with someone with an azzhole starts using it as their mouth.

If you cannot shoot good enough and do not have a gun that is that accurate, then many methods will work and KFPRO is good enough if you are happy with the results, but that does not put you into the LR arena either.

The ladder is not for everyone and every gun and every situation.

I am shooting off solid benches with top quality rests using an Oehler 35 P with 4 and 8 ft spacing on screens and ONLY use only it on very accurate guns and I have shot competitive for quite awhile.

Dude, you're awesome.

Makes me glad I only had 500 yards to shoot. 1/2 the distance and 1/10 the effort...

1. Very few locales offer true no wind conditions, even morning and night, particularly across 1000 or even 600 yards. If you're dealing with any topographical terrain features at all, it's a rarity at best. Thermal updrafts, down drafts, etc, are not kind to the Audette method.

2. I'm aware Although barrels move in an elliptical pattern, it's the constant of gravity that we're trying to keep constant, since wind is a crapshoot anyway.

Nobody said it was. Finding the max length and max pressure only leaves one direction to go in load development. Like I said, find pressure and work backwards.

Of course, you guys would rather seat a bullet to some random depth, on top of some random charge and lob them at a 500yd target, thinking you are onto something.

If Drew can figure it out without [bleep] hair changes in powder charges, anyone should be able to...........grin

I guess the ladder system is not compatible with the Hi-Line.



Travis

What if the humidity changes by 40% between days that you are doing the ladder test? Temperature? Does that matter?

Umm, thanks?

haha

My name is Travis you dumb bastard.



Travis

Game changer.

How am I supposed to shoot a ladder if I cannot hit schit at 500yds?

What if I have to have my 220AI rebarreled because I burned out the throat finding nodes?

you should only ladder test once a year to preserve barrel life.

But I need to burn 800 rounds a 1/10th of a grain increments to find the pucking node.

By that time the throat is gone and I have to rebarrel. Luckily I'm doing my shooting in the morning, so it's cooler and the barrel might last another 127 rounds.

I thought it was Heisenberg?

You need a new scale, you are supposed to go 1/20th of a grain. Don't forget to try 17 different primers.

Your barrel will last another 130. Easily.