Long vs short line loads

I've got a decent luck with the 185 gr lswchp over 4.18 gr Tightgroup at 25 yards. I'm happy with it. We shoot B-16s in my league, but I want to start preparing for B-16s. 

What is the preferred method of load development for slow and sustained fire? Learn my sight adjustments and develop a load for each? Develop a load that hits at 50 with the same POA I use with my 25 yard load? 

Any help is appreciated.

Most start with a developing a load that groups best at 50 yards and then reduce it for 25 yards such that function is maintained with the least amount of recoil. Most also adjust sights between the short and the longline. 

Some people use different bullets at the longline and the short, others use the same. Some people use the same charge and projectile, but use newer brass on the longline. 

I stopped having longline/shortline loads, I like the simplicity of having one load. I didn't notice any difference in my scores with a reduced load at the shortline.

One thing that I have noticed is that most people that have alibis at matches are shooting reduced loads on the shortline. I have also noticed that most people don't shoot alibis strings well. 

My recommendation would be to have one load that has a the best balance of recoil, function and accuracy for the shooter.

I used to worry about those things, now I simply shoot and see what I get. Was l smooth, was shot on call, was there  that little dot twitch right at the release? Etc etc

One load. Mines a little softer than yours. When I get to the point that I call a ten and it's not a ten, I'll look into causes. Right now I'm confident that the non-tens have nothing to do with my load.

For the curious: 3.9 of N310, Zero swaged 185, .465 crimp, length: just a little of the shoulder showing. Shot a 98-4X long line with it a couple of weeks ago. Yeah... that'll work.

I have used 3.6 Bullseye with a 200gr lead wadcutter bullet. (Star & Zero.)
6 clicks on the B0-mar from short to long and visa versa.

Have thought about developing separate loads, but do not really see the need.
No function problems and never the oops of grabbing the wrong load.

My .38 SPL wadcutters out of a S&W 52-2 hit high at 25 yds, since the load is developed for the longline. About 3". Anybody else see that?
Starline brass, CCI SPP, 2.8 WST, and a Precision Delta 148g HBWC.
Adjusting load for the difference seems tricky with such a light load of powder.
Maybe 2.5g? Have not tried that. Been aiming sub-6 at 25 yds.

jwax wrote:My .38 SPL wadcutters out of a S&W 52-2 hit high at 25 yds, since the load is developed for the longline. About 3". Anybody else see that?
Starline brass, CCI SPP, 2.8 WST, and a Precision Delta 148g HBWC.
Adjusting load for the difference seems tricky with such a light load of powder.
Maybe 2.5g? Have not tried that. Been aiming sub-6 at 25 yds.

I was shooting a match once, I think it was the NMC of centerfire, my shots were high as you are mentioning. A good friend and mentor pulled my screwdriver out of my box, handed it to me and told me that "the sights are adjustable for a reason".

chiz1180 wrote:

jwax wrote:My .38 SPL wadcutters out of a S&W 52-2 hit high at 25 yds, since the load is developed for the longline. About 3". Anybody else see that?
Starline brass, CCI SPP, 2.8 WST, and a Precision Delta 148g HBWC.
Adjusting load for the difference seems tricky with such a light load of powder.
Maybe 2.5g? Have not tried that. Been aiming sub-6 at 25 yds.

I was shooting a match once, I think it was the NMC of centerfire, my shots were high as you are mentioning. A good friend and mentor pulled my screwdriver out of my box, handed it to me and told me that "the sights are adjustable for a reason".

Perhaps I'll go that route!

I saw Shue do that to one of his Cabot teammates during teams.

Couple of things. I loaded a batch of 38 Spl WC for my 52 with 2.6 WST.  They didn’t function the pistol.  Cycled manually they were 100% fine but needed more oomph.  So I shot them as 38 revolver practice.  You can adjust impact (vertically) by adjusting the load but if your gun is shooting high you’ll need to load the ammo hotter(!) to lower the impact.  In my case, I had a load I was using for training but was hitting low (mid 9 ring at 6 o’clock) so I dropped the charge and the lower velocity loads grouped in the low 10 ring (2.5 inches higher). This was with a dot.  

One other thing if you shoot a dot on your 52 you can zero it at about 42 yards and your groups will be about 1 inch high at 25 and 1 inch low at 50.  This is what I do for my dots.  So I zero my pistols at 1 inch high at 25 yards.

Or, do like I just did and ordered a Matchdot II, which comes with the "Bullet Drop Compensator knob"!

Still have to switch settings between 25 and 50, but repeatable POI without mixing of loads.

Wobbley- Do you lower the powder to raise the point of impact? How's that work?

The gun recoils more in your hand with lower velocity and the barrel points “higher” at bullet exit.  It doesn’t take that much lower velocity to gain a couple of inches from more barrel time.

The gun moves more in the time while it’s in the barrel.   I’ve experienced it in revolvers and semis.

Fascinating! Thanks for the eye-opener Wobbley!

And playing with bullet weights works also.

Per Wobbly’s comment and experience, my Python with 6” bbl requires a sub, sub-six hold at 50 yards with 158 grain 38s running 770 to 790 fps.  The rear sight is bottomed out.

That proves that grip force has a large effect on point of impact, since that is one big factor as to where on the muzzle flip the bullet exits.

More accurate to say that the bullet of the hotter load exits the barrel faster, so there's less time for the recoil can affect it. Jwax is 100% on this phenomenon. You must maintain constant and consistent muscle tension (through your whole body really) through the entire shot process. Second only to proper sight alignment and trigger control. (It's not third, because those two things happen at the same time... )

james r chapman wrote:And playing with bullet weights works also.

Perhaps a 200g bullet sighted in at 50, and a 185g, same load, for the short line?

Or, 160