H322 and the Barnes 115 TAC-TX

[LRRPF52]

I just finished confirming a ladder using H322 with the Barnes 115 TAC-TX bullet. I shot a seven-group ladder of four rounds each from 23.5 to 26.5 grains in half-grain increments. Kind of interesting. I got a double-node pattern from the seven loads. The bottom load of 23.5 was the tightest at 0.55" at 2180 f/s. Groups 2 ,3 and 4 increased in size and then started closing up again until group 7 measured 0.68 at 2484 f/s. I loaded up two 5-round loads to confirm and shot them today. The 23.5 load was just a bit larger than the 0.55" group it shot last week. The 26.5 load was the same, 0.68". Even though the 23.5 load is slightly smaller, I'm going with the 26.5 load because of the increased velocity. That's going with me to Texas in April for hogs and Axis deer. A quick note...the 26.5 load is a max load. The primers were JUST starting to show pressure. They were slightly flattened and the firing pin dimple was slightly cratered, not enough to worry about, but enough to tell me to not go any higher.

.5 grain increments is too large, especially for solid copper/monolithic bullets.

You’ll get more resolution with .3gr increments, or 1% case capacity and not push over pressure spikes inadvertently.