furtaker
Senior Member
Just curious as to what everyone's experience is regarding actual chronographed velocity vs. published velocity of your handloads.
Nosler seems to really embellish their velocities on their site. I've found many loads to be 150-200fps slower than advertised. Yeah I know barrel length can make a difference, but not that much unless it's maybe 4-6 inches. And I've found that data can sometimes be backwards. In my 240 Wby, a mid-range load of Magnum shoots about 150fps faster than a max load of 7828 and Nosler lists 7828 as giving more velocity.
From what I've noticed, Hodgdon seems to be more realistic with the velocities they list. Several loads I've chronographed with their data is pretty close.
I generally just try to match factory load velocities in my guns and stop there as long as accuracy is good. That's plenty to kill a deer and my rifle and brass will last longer.
What are your experiences and expectations?
Nosler seems to really embellish their velocities on their site. I've found many loads to be 150-200fps slower than advertised. Yeah I know barrel length can make a difference, but not that much unless it's maybe 4-6 inches. And I've found that data can sometimes be backwards. In my 240 Wby, a mid-range load of Magnum shoots about 150fps faster than a max load of 7828 and Nosler lists 7828 as giving more velocity.
From what I've noticed, Hodgdon seems to be more realistic with the velocities they list. Several loads I've chronographed with their data is pretty close.
I generally just try to match factory load velocities in my guns and stop there as long as accuracy is good. That's plenty to kill a deer and my rifle and brass will last longer.
What are your experiences and expectations?