Hi,
Winchester's the only company I can think of who's ever published "this duplicates factory ballistics" recipes, using all their own branded products, of course. Even then, "duplicates" is the operative term: it doesn't mean we're loading the same "ammo" at our bench they are in the factory.
None of the big factories uses the exact powder you can buy off the shelf. They might be "similar" but not the same. For example, Red Dot's been a popular shotshell powder for decades, and Federal loaded a line of target shells w/ what "looked" like Red Dot but the load averaged about a grain and a half over the max book load. A conversation w/ our Federal rep yielded this advice: "Yes, it's a Red Dot variant, but DON'T load the commercial variety to the level we do. You'll damage something using the powder you can buy." I later learned there have been something like 18 variants of RD, and we, the public, only get ONE!
I dunno what the smaller, custom or semi-custom loading companies do.
So...
When I'm trying to duplicate a factory load, I start w/ the chronograph and try to establish a base line performance level, then work toward it, using powders I have and/or like (a little research often reveals what powders are "long time" favorites in a given cartridge.)
Once I can come real close on velocity and consistency over the chrono, the paper punching's next. It will usually be good if the rest of the things I've checked are in the ballpark w/ the factory ammo.
Naturally, there are lots of ways to approach this. Mine's but one...
Rick C
