You'd be surprised at how portable that round target is when you've posted it up a hill. It comes down nice and easy. Getting it up there? Not so much. In all seriousness, the target itself is always the issue. I've got padded straps that I connect to target hanging hooks so I can hang it off my shoulder. 300-400 yards of walking is doable with this setup, depending on terrain, which is why finding target locations with semi-close vehicular access is critical.

Glad they helped!

Thanks - too much "real life" getting in the way, not to mention data gathering, etc. I'm endeavoring to put out more content like this more regularly.

Thanks!

I'll posit a few things back to you. 1) How do you think that graphite would "contaminate" the powder? (either powdered or dried liquid) 2) Why do you believe that you would not "contaminate" the powder if you applied lube after charging? As to the powder taking some of the lube off as it goes past, with NL2, once it dries, it's like paint. It takes alcohol (or a 65psi, 4000-degree case ignition) to remove it. With dry lube, I suppose it could be a thing, but I've seen very similar seating forces for NL2, graphite, and moly, so, if it's happening, it's a very small impact.

I have and found NL2 to be slightly better in larger cases. HOWEVER, there are some idiosyncrasies with this. The first is that I've heard of people having issues with Imperial not sticking to annealed cases as well. I do not have that problem and I did some testing to try to find out why. My belief is that because I use an ultrasonic to clean brass, some of the soapy cleaning solution sticks to the cases. My further belief is that this soapy film enables the graphite to stick better to my annealed cases. I did try thoroughly washing a batch of cases and comparing to non-thoroughly washed (my standard), and the "standard" method showed significantly better results. I can't definitively say, however, that the better results were due to the soapy residue. Additionally, most of my testing with NL2 has been on 30-cal case necks. I am about to start some testing on the thickness of dipped and "painted on" NL2 using brass strips, as well doing some other things to see if they affect SDs. I'll be applying this to smaller case necks to see what impacts they have.

Thank you for the note. One of the goals was to educate people about what SD really means. I would bet if you asked 10 shooters what it is, one would give some semblance of a correct answer. Most would simply know that you want them as low as you can go, without understanding how low is good enough for the type of shooting you're doing.

Thanks for the comment!

I let it dry for about an hour, though I think it is dry well before that.

You're welcome!

Thanks - the next will be focusing on more ways to reduce SDs - with data, of course.

I'm assuming you're referring to % case fill. I've been thinking about that one and how to show meaningful results. It's pretty straight forward to depict how lower case fill can cause burn rate differences, but less straight forward to show in practical terms... however... as I'm writing this response, I'm thinking about it. If I could find a fast burning powder that will be safe to fire at low enough fill, I could run something like 25 rounds through where I chamber a round, point the rifle up to get all the powder to the back of the case, then very slowly bring it back down to fire. Then do the reverse. Would be an interesting test.

Thank you.

Appreciate it!

Yeah - I knew that, but sometimes during voiceover you just can't quite get the words out :) When you do a good take on a long piece of narration, it's tough to go back and redo.

Thanks!

Question: I’m guessing that you have to let the NL2 dry before you charge the cases ? Next question: how long does it take to dry? Lubricating the cases does work, I started by dipping the bullets in the Imperial case neck lube and then seating them with an arbor press. I have noticed that my groups have gotten better. But ya know we are always looking for something better.

I usually let NL2 dry for about an hour. It's likely dried well before that, but I like to be sure. I'm not exactly sure what sealing in evaporating alcohol would do to burn rate, but it would likely not be uniform case to case.

Thanks!

"Probably never" because you don't want to, or don't have the location(s) to do so?

I didn't go into this in the video due to time considerations, but here are some considerations for lube: - Graphite can have a tough time sticking to annealed brass. Because of how I clean brass, the cleaner leaves a slight residue that I believe allows graphite to stick better. As such, it works decently well for me. - Of the powdered lubricants, I found moly to be slightly better than graphite and both to be significantly better than others I tested. - I found Neolube to be roughly the same as moly as far as results are concerned, but quicker and easier to apply. I'm going to do more testing and on different calibers. - As for getting Neolube, you can order 2 oz. on Amazon, but it is expensive (like $35). You can order it directly from the manufacturer in much larger quantities. I got a quart from them. huronindustriesinc.com/shop/lubricant/

Just search for "Colloidal graphite solution in isopropanol" Neolube is just one version

I'm glad you liked it.

I use an ultrasonic

Based on our PMs, you've convinced me to do some serious testing on neck turning.

If you're asking about interference fit, there are a lot of opinions on this. My personal opinion is that the more interference you induce (e.g. by using a smaller bushing), the larger the impact from the variances induced by other factors (friction in the neck, neck thickness, brass properties).

Coming in the next video :)

Fortunately, much of the next video is done because it was originally part of this one - it was just too long, and also too much to take in. I just need to augment, redo voiceover, etc. to get it out.

I didn't know that - he certainly put together something special

@@TwoMinutesToTargetGRT is being updated. I am part of the powder/cartridge validation. An updated version should be out this Dec/Jan .

@@Nonedwdo you know if it will be available for mac

I'm an ex-NASA Space Shuttle engineer, and much (most?) of the content of the book went over my head. Still, even just the parts I could grasp were well worth wading through the rest. I actually I have two copies of the book - one is marked up heavily with a highlighter, the other intact. BTW, I've asked for Jeff Siewert's insights as to why the example I used of Retumbo has effectively the same pressure curve early on as the much faster Reloder 19 - I sent him data and he will hopefully give some interesting info back. My current bet is that it's due to the higher fill that Retumbo yields (97%) vs. 88% for RL19 - less available volume at the beginning. We'll see.

@@TwoMinutesToTarget Agreed, he could do with the likes of us practical engineers toning down his nerdiness.....haha.

@@TwoMinutesToTarget I came across Siewert on a Hornady podcast, truly an expert and very humble guy.

You should have seen the original - was waaaay too long.

Please don’t fall into the trap that shorter videos are better.

Thanks for the note!

Yes - been exceedingly busy with "real life". I have a few more that will come out in relatively short order.

Thanks! I haven't run across you on the Hide very much - though my time there has been less as well - where have you been hiding? (no pun intended)

@@TwoMinutesToTarget Life just gets in the way. Work life and remodeling my future retirement cabin in the mountains. Only time I have for shooting the last 2 years is 1 mile benchrest and 1k yd benchrest....which is just trigger time for 1 mile benchrest.

Thanks - this was originally a longer video with different content at the end, but it was too much trying to get squeezed into a single title. I've got some cool data that will be coming up in the next in the series.

Funny you should mention this - a day after you posted this, I was out at a private range with a friend of mine (whom I'm trying to get into ELR - I think he's hooked...) and he was asking the same question. The problem is that some of the things that are treated as gospel in shooting "stance" - like loading the bipod, pulling the rifle into your shoulder - are at direct odds with absorbing recoil. With pulling into your shoulder, for example, it is very difficult - and takes a lot of practice - to isolate your bicep (the primary pulling muscle) from your pectoral muscle. This leads to your pecs being engaged (harder), which is the opposite of what you want to absorb recoil. When shooting ELR, I like to be completely relaxed. Engaging your bicep (and pecs) means you are not relaxed. Likewise, loading a bipod means you are not relaxed - I find it to be the opposite of relaxing while prone. My solution? Screw loading the bipod. My most stable bipod is the Phoenix, which has ski feet. If it didn't take its own trailer to haul around, it would be my every-shot bipod. Since I don't always like using it, my second favorite is the daddy Atlas with... you guessed it... ski feet. If it only had smaller distance between the leg detents, it would be the perfect bipod. As for pulling back into my shoulder, with heavy recoiling rifles I do think you need some of this - shooting free recoil can work with light recoiling rifles, I don't like it with heavy. For this, I put most of my muscle engagement into my three "grasper" fingers (middle finger, whatever the finger down from your middle finger is called, and the pinky). Your body is made to engage finger muscles without engaging your whole arm. So, I snug into the rifle a bit and pull back with those three fingers. Doing so will engage your forearm muscles, which will naturally engage your bicep a small amount, but will not progress further than that to a meaningful amount, leaving your pecs to absorb better. New video coming out today in a series I'm calling The Anatomy of a Shot - I could add this topic to that series, or perhaps an addendum to this series. The problem is that meaningful content takes a lot of bandwidth, and I have precious little of it these days.

I tend to do nearly free recoil. It makes a big difference vs loading bipods and isolating your bicep to pull back into your shoulder. I want to be as relaxed as possible for each shot - loading things does not equal relaxed.

I'm curious what size pipe you used. It shouldn't have cost that much - for a 2' stand (2 legs, 1 crossbar) you'd have about $40 in galvanized pipe cost, then you'd need 2 bushings, 2 elbows, the large T, and a length of pipe for the back - I started using a reducer on the rear leg and going down to 3/4" there as well. I'm also wondering if you could do the whole thing out of 1/2" to save both weight and cost (a little - not much)

@@TwoMinutesToTarget I used the same size you did. Bought it all from Lowe’s. I used black iron pipe. It was cheaper than straight galvanized

lol video is 4 years old. guess we gotta chalk up the rise in cost to inflation. great video.

I haven't - in theory it should. The question is, how much?

I have tested this before. Free recoil to soft shoulder to loaded bipod. 30 feet/s difference in my 6,5 setup.

Oh hell no. I use brakes on all my precision rifles, even my 6mm BRA.