AFRICA HUNTER QUEST© 

Chapter 29 - THE PILGRIM REFINES THE LOAD 

    Donny diligently pursued his load development strategy. He kept the seating depth at just touching the lands and progressively increased the powder charges by 0.1 grain. The vertical collapsed for the first three powder increments, but then expanded. The fourth powder increment produced a skewed kicker that was more horizontal than anything else.  

    When using a dummy round, he had determined that the case had enough neck tension to maintain a seating depth of 0.012 inches into the lands both chambered and extracted. He had way more magazine capacity than he needed to accommodate that seating depth, so he decided to take his plus 0.3-grain powder charge increase and increase his seating depth into the lands. The 0.001-inch increments caused the vertical to morph into cloverleafs that were as small as about 0.32 inches, center to center, at 0.002 inches into the lands. At seating depths farther into the lands, the groups expanded, then seemed to pull apart as if the impacts were feuding with each other. “Bad vibe,” thought Donny. “0.002 inches into the lands it is.” 

    He carefully prepped seven rounds at plus 0.3 grains of powder at plus 0.002 inches into the lands. Two were foulers, with five as his load’s proof rounds. He selected an early Thursday morning to shoot the proof rounds to avoid both distractions and significant wind. He was rewarded with a group that looked like a filled in cloverleaf that measured 0.469 inches, center to center. Mission accomplished. 

    He wanted to show GG the results and thank the Old Man again for helping him. Donny knew that there would have only been two chances associated with achieving his proof group otherwise: slim and none. He also figured GG could give him some context that would help in any future reloading efforts. 

    Donny reflected on his final load. It had evolved surprisingly easily. He didn’t know if that was normally the case, but he suspected it wasn’t. The proof group was comfortably less than his arbitrary ½ -inch criterion. More important, the group was essentially round, about the best pattern he could hope for. The final powder charge was 0.2 grains less than published maximum, and more than likely within 0.5 grains of the actual maximum pressure associated with his system. Thanks to two Good Ol’ Boys, he was sure he had maxed out the component hand he had been dealt.

Africa Hunter Quest©, Chapter 29, Page 1