OCW reloading, done right, short tutorial

This is a short tutorial of an OCW load test for a 6.5x47 Lapua with 140 grain Berger Target VLD and H4350 powder. Brass is the new Peterson brass.

[@VaMike9]

Dan is the man! Appreciate the wisdom that he's giving you guys at no cost. Trolls always shoot tighter groups at extreme distances with unproven techniques, however, Dan's explaining how this works and what you can expect.

[@tonto8069]

I took Dan’s class back in the fall of 2015. The amount of knowledge I gained from those 2 days was amazing. I just bummed that I didn’t get to take level 2 due to some health issues. But I’m getting back to reloading and ready to go.

[@boerseunxxx2578]

Hi Dan, I'm very late to this thread so hope you can answer. The way you explain it in the video is very clear, but to me it's different from the instructions on your site? On your site, your instructions are to pick the 3 groups with closes POI. The middle charge is your OCW. In the video however you pick your scatter group and then add 1.5% to charge to find your OCW load. I'm confused. Which one of these should I do?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

I can do consultatoins, it's 45 dollars for the work. We do a phone call, and exchange emails. Choosing the powder charge range correctly can help you save components, and expedite the process. The best powder charge range will vary from cartridge to cartridges, and depend also on powder chosen, and bullet, of course. See the "consulting" page at the OCWreloading dot com site.

[@davidnuttall-y7l]

question how/why did you start @ 40 grs. ?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

We knew that lower charges, up to 40 grains were safe (tested prior), and we wanted to get the potential from the cartridge. Thank you for watching! :)

[@DLN-ix6vf]

how do you know to start with 40 gn. ?

[@alexduke5402]

What about seating depth? I'm trying to work up a load for a Savage 110 elite precision in 338lm . Running a Berger 300gr tactical hybrid on h1000. the problem is I only have .5 lb of h1000 left and activity searching for some more. So I guess I'm going to have to drop the h1k until I find more and move on to Ramshot magnum. This cartridge is kicking my butt.

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

With Ramshot Magnum, load 86.2 grains with the 300's in Lapua brass. We use 89.3 grains of Retumbo with 300's in our Savage... and you'd be around 88.7 grains with H1000 (that's an estimate).

[@alexduke5402]

@@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413 I have been running 93gr of h1k. I'm trying to keep the speed up. Maybe I need to give up on that and back the charge up some. I talked to a guy a friend of mine knows. He's loaded 338 before. I got 2 in damn near the same hole and 1 flyer. a few times I got 2 touching or very close and a flyer. This was during in my seating testing and he said I may need to just shoot twice, let it cool and try that. How far are you from the lands in your load? Thanks for the help! I've reached out to a few people on here and no one wants to share any input on 338lm.

[@justice1327]

Why didnt you shoot one or both of the OCW nodes to show the results?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

I will try to do another video in the future which will show two of the nodes. In this case (and in most cases) we know *about* where we want the velocity to be, so we only cover that area. Thank you for the suggestion--we should do a two node OCW test, I agree.

[@garycasteel277]

Can you repeat this test and get the same results?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

Yes, the results will be the same if the test is shot correctly.

[@additudeobx]

Thanks for the OCW load test and I've read your website and I have worked up a couple of loads for 308 in 168 SMK and 175 SMK with IMR 4064 But I am coming up with numbers that kind of concern me and I hope you can look at this and tell me if I'm on the right road. When I compare what you have published load info for on 308 168|175 SMK using IMR 4064 which is 168g - 42.8g IMR 4064 and 175g - 41.8g IMR 4064, my load data is what I consider unreasonably high. I followed the OCW instructions and got 3 MAX loads for 175g from IMR = 45.6, Sierra = 42.3, LEE = 43.5 and so I chose 45.6g as my MAX load. So my first SIGHTER I took 7% and: #1 @ 42.4g - SIGHTER / FOULER + 2% #2 @ 43.2g - SIGHTER / FOULER +2% #3 @ 44.1g - SIGHTER / FOULER Then +2%: #4 @ 44.9g - SHOOTER + .2g #5 @ 45.1g - SHOOTER +.2g #6 @ 45.3g - SHOOTER +.2g #7 @ 45.5g - SHOOTER +.2g #8 @ 45.7g - SHOOTER STOP - 1 Over MAX Load Is this correct because I think I am way beyond your published 175g - 41.8g IMR4064 number. It looks like Bolt Action Reloading found a node at 43.4 which is above your 41.8g but still quite a bit less than my 45.7g number. Could you give some advise if I am working this correct? Thanks

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

Your brass won't last long at those charges... I'd stay below 44 grains for sure. If you need further help, see the "consulting" option at OCWreloading.com and we can do a phone call if you need to.

[@Guitarjourney4life]

I actually like both brands of brass. Use Peterson in my 6.5 creed and lapua in my 300Prc. I guess if the neck is getting into your jacket, you could use a mandrel to open it up from new

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

The sill is desired and important because powder performance may vary with temperature and throat erosion. By using a powder charge within the sill, these effects may be minimized. However there is variation at any specific load because the scale accuracy may be +/- .1 gr, there is variation in hand loading components, the chronograph accuracy may be +/- 5 fps, etc. So it is possible to get an "artificial sill" due to inherent errors in measurements and hand loads. These variations are not accounted for due to a sample size of 1 for each powder load in the 10-shot OCW method. One approach is to shoot the 10-shots from low to high powder charge, then repeat for a sample size of 2 by shooting the 10-shots from high to low powder charge to confirm that the sill is not "artificial". Or shoot the 10-shot OCW each day for 3 days in a row to see is the sill "artificial" or is is consistent and real?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

We typically have great results from a single (properly done and interpreted) OCW test. The load identified in this single test went on to stay sub MOA out to 1200 yards, and won at least one PRS match. We do share our data with other shooters, and they confirm that the OCW loads work very well--even though the test is conducted with 18 to 20 rounds, total. :)

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

@@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413 I usually get different sills or plateau with each different 10-shot group. For example, this morning starting with a 10-shot fouled barrel from yesterday, shooting a 1976 Remington 700 in .270 Win with 4350 from 51.0 to 55.5 gr, first 10 shot going up showed a sill at 53.0-53.5 gr. Going down from 55.0 to 52.0 showed a sill at 54.0-54.5. Both sills were within 2 fps within that load range. In this rifle, I typically get minimum standard deviations of 4.64 with 10-shot groups at 54.5 gr. I've gotten similar variable results with a Tikka T3 .270 Win shooting 4 days of 10-shot ladders and getting a different sill with each ladder. I've assumed this was due to inherent errors in my scale (+/- 0.05 gr), chronograph (+/- 3fps), and hand loads...at some loads standard deviations up to 15 fps.

[@BlakeKillam]

Hey would you be able to help me out if I show you some groups I shot, I’m having a real hard time trying to find a node. Can I shoot you an email or something of them?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

Check out the "consulting" option at OCWreloading.com ... that's my webpage, and the system is explained there. If you need to do a consultation, you'll see how to proceed with that on the consulting page.

[@jonathonschram3429]

Any update on the peterson brass? I've ran their brass in 6.5 creed and lupua was better for me...at least the lots I used. I have a new 6.5x47 barrel waiting for components...How many reloads were you able to put through the brass? Any annealing being done, and at what interval?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

About six... and counting. But the Lapua is just as good, and Peterson has turned their attention to more popular cartridges.

[@raydash2898]

Great vid, thanks for making it. I would like to see that once you find you optimal weight would you start to play with seating depth to get the groups even tighter?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

yes, seating depth will help tighten at least the closer range groups a bit (and sometimes quite a bit). If the bullet is still "yawing" or wobbling at 100 yards, it's spiraling around the path it would be on if it were stable.

[@RangerCaptain11A]

OCW test has nothing to do with group size, it only has to do with point of impact. in my opinion the node is at 40.6. how can you detect a scatter node? and why 3%?

[@campnoutdoors1621]

Amen!!! I have shot 2" 5 shot groups at 1000 yds and this fellas idea of OCW would be lucky to land on a 12" steel plate

[@jbpooh]

@@campnoutdoors1621 yeah because this "fella" knows nothing. He only has his own long range shooting school and is well known throughout the long range shooting community for his OCW method or perfection of it. Myself and many others I know have gotten his help building our loads and never been let down.

[@dwaynewood8156]

Dan where would you start your seating depth before your ice or after

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

after the OCW powder charge is determined. Normally just start at .020" off the lands (twenty thousandths)... if you're planning on using a secant ogive bullet (like many of the Bergers, and also some Sierra and maybe others)... then start with a tangent ogive of the same weight; find the powder charge that's optimal then work up to that charge with the secant ogive bullet. I do OCW load consultations which you can read about at OCWreloading.com I don't typically answer too many questions on KZbin, as I'm sure you'll understand why. But I did want to answer yours, as it's important for others to understand as well.

[@MrHf4l]

Where can purchase these targets?

[@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413]

email us, I'll send you a PDF

[@bernardmichel4935]

​@@bangsteellongrangeshooting3413 bonjour s'il vous plais puis avoir un PDF de vos Targets pour évaluations des charges merci beaucoup cordialement Michel b, France 🇨🇵