Pennsylvania Game News - March 2020 - 52

develops harmonic vibrations; it "shakes"
and if the vibrations are different from
shot to shot, the muzzle will point in a
slightly different direction each time.
But if muzzle velocities are as close to
identical as possible, the vibrations will
be similar.
So a load that doesn't have good ES
and SD numbers, and doesn't group well,
probably never will.
A load with good numbers, however,
deserves a second try if it doesn't group
well because poor results could stem from
shooter error.
If accuracy doesn't improve with a
second test, the barrel just doesn't stabilize that bullet well - at least not at the
velocity it's traveling - and the bullet will
wobble instead of flying in a tight spiral.

ANALYZING LOADS
My chronograph recently played a big
part in me choosing a new load for one
of my rifles. I have a modest collection
of firearms, and while I don't own very
rare or highly collectible guns, I like to
look for firearms that were attractive and
affordable when new, but for one reason
or another, didn't have a long production life.
I'm a Remington rifle fan and one
of my favorites is a Model 700 LSS,
essentially a stainless steel BDL in a gray
laminated stock that was discontinued at
the end of 2008.
That year was the only year the
LSS was produced in .257 Weatherby
Magnum, and I bought one and mounted
on it a 4.5-14x40mm AO Leupold VX-3
scope, then seasoned the barrel with a box
of factory loads before testing a variety
of handloads in it.
I can be a hard to please when it comes
to accuracy: I want my hunting rifles to
shoot like varmint rifles and my varmint
52

rifles to shoot like target rifles. One-hole
groups are always my goal, but I'll settle
for half-inch clusters from my big-game
rifles.
This .257 wouldn't do much better
than 1.5-inch, three-shot groups at 100
yards. So, I put it in the back of my safe
and forgot about it. A few years later, I
gave it another go, and it performed only
marginally better.
Then, last summer, I decided it was
time to try it again. Nothing grouped as
I would have liked, but one combination
did shoot into about a 0.764-inch hole
with an ES of just 8 feet per second (fps)
and an SD of only 4 fps.
A second test provided almost identical numbers and group size at a borefriendly velocity of 3,335 fps, which is
good for hunting.
By comparison, the other three recipes
that were my finalists delivered 1.7-inch
at 3,341 fps with an ES of 17 and an SD
of 7; 1.309-inch at 3,371 fps with an ES
of 8 and an SD of 4; and 1.603-inch at
3,230 fps with an ES of 16 and an SD of 8.
Obviously, my powder charge consistency was not a concern and repeated
tests with similar results ruled out shooter
error.
When I told my son Jason of the
results, he consoled me with some sage
advice: "Dad, some rifles are target rifles
and some rifles are hunting rifles; you
have to accept that this one belongs in
the latter group."
If I had shot those test loads without
a chronograph, I never would've known
how close to a perfect load - that is, ES
and SD numbers of zero - I had come.
I know a lot of hunters who would be
extremely happy with a rifle chambered
for a high-intensity cartridge that shot
into less than three-quarters of an inch.
So I followed Jason's advice - and my

Pennsylvania Game News - March 2020

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