02-19-2020, 04:16 AM
I was re-reading the posts and just want to blast in on a couple of previous suggestions about keeping a log. That is a MUST DO! Get yourself a notebook if you haven't done so already and start writing down the various loads and how they do. The cases should all be trimmed to the same length so that's a given, but what primer you use, what powder, what bullet, the COAL, etc. can all vary. Pick a primer and a bullet and then pick several different powders as suggested by the bullet manufacturer. Work up loads for each powder. Just a suggestion that I find very easy is to take Ziplock snack size baggies and put your different loads in them. Write the load on the baggie (first) with a marker pen. For example, as a general rule, I shoot four-round groups at half-grain increments when first working up a load. The load I just shot today was using a Speer 90 grain TNT bullet and H335 powder. I had 8 snack baggies with four rounds in each baggie marked from 28.5 grains to 32.0 grains in half-grain increments. The 31.5-grain load gave me a 0.47" group at 100 yards. Now that's pretty good, but I'm still going to play with seating depth just for the hell of it. Right now, my COAL is 2.20" per the book. My finished COAL is yet to be determined. It's all marked down in my log so I can refer back to it at any time. I don't leave anything to a (rapidly failing) memory. I still have books dating back to the mid-50's when I first started loading for a 38 Special.