Good questsh.
Yep, I have a book with all of the details for each load I make, powder weight, overall length, the load development results and so on. It's pretty extensive.
I also keep data on my shots: Time of day, temperature, humidity altitude (combined as Density Altitude), wind speed and direction, range, elevation and windage hold, point of impact and so on. It's called DOPE (data on previous engagement) and it is all collated and used to determine future shots.
For instance, cold bore shots. I record data in any and every situation (cold bore shots) so that if I am forced to make a cold bore shot without actually ballistic solveelr data I can reference the dope and have a clue on how the projectile will/may react.
It's all about trying to remove the doubt and uncertainty when making shots.
I hope that helps.
Powder is incredible really, the different types and uses. There's so many. It's headache-inducing.
I hope you manage to secure the SKS and .22 as you'll have some fun. Careful with that SKS though, it's a whole lot of gun. Shooting that .22 will be a good start to rifle shooting and, who knows, maybe you get a realoading set up also?
Yeah it helps for sure! I think I remember you saying about writing the shots down which is important for those reasons on lack of tech if you're in that scenario but it's also good to keep it for the ammo and other specs too. We have good memories but maybe not that good lol.
I've always liked rifle shooting, I just didn't get to do it much since it required a bit more space to do so. Handgun is less space requisite so ive done that more.
Yeah I'm sure the SKS is a lot to use! If it's anything like the AR-15 my dad has it's going to be something to handle that's for sure. One thing he mentioned was the ammo was cheaper than others because it's military surplus stuff so it's easy to find. He gave me a website that he gets ammo from and it wasn't bad at all. Box of 500 was 175$ I think or something close to that. As much as I'm looking forward to having and using it, I'm really excited for the .22 so I can do some good practice without breaking the bank!
There's probably so much 7.62×39mm kicking about that it'll never run out! That box of 500 seems cheap enough, far cheaper than the rounds I make which are about $1.80AUD each to make. ($1.29 US). It's hard to quantify it though as I re-use cases and they last for different periods of time. 500 7.62's for that price is great. You'll have a lot of fun.