Reloading for accuracy/consistency help

[hunter399]

Buy a electric scale to double check your beam scale.
Make sure brass is trimmed same every time.might have to get new brass to do this.
Find a seating depth ,that's most accurate in your rifles , and use it.
I just use cheap Lee products but seem to get good accuracy ,i've only been reloading about a year,so still learning myself.
Here's a pic ,where the magic happens

[CaNINE]

Jeff - like the others have said, starting with good components and using consistent reloading practices are both very important.  Beyond that the two most important factors I've found that have a significant impact on precision and ES are 1) even neck tension and 2) seating depth.  Give me a call sometime if you'd like to get into the weeds on all this stuff....or you can drive out to GH and I'll walk you through my process. 

[Jonathan_S]

Things I don't do:

-primer pocket cleaning
-primer pocket uniforming
-trimming (except for initial prep to make everything fit)
-clean consistent
-measure bullets
-neck size
-neck turn
-check concentricity

Now I'm not trying to shoot record groups at 1000.  I've got two goals for "medium range", there's a white spot on a rock at 580 and another at 640.  First shot hits on either of those is my goal and I haven't failed in a while.  So while I understand that I might squeeze some additional accuracy out of doubling my work habit on brass prep and bullet sorting, it's just not worth it for a guy like me who is looking to kill deer inside 700 yards.

@yorketransport gets spooky accurate results and some people would be horrified at his procedure 

[hunter399]

Things I don't do:

-primer pocket cleaning
-primer pocket uniforming
-trimming (except for initial prep to make everything fit)
-clean consistent
-measure bullets
-neck size
-neck turn
-check concentricity

Now I'm not trying to shoot record groups at 1000.  I've got two goals for "medium range", there's a white spot on a rock at 580 and another at 640.  First shot hits on either of those is my goal and I haven't failed in a while.  So while I understand that I might squeeze some additional accuracy out of doubling my work habit on brass prep and bullet sorting, it's just not worth it for a guy like me who is looking to kill deer inside 700 yards.

@yorketransport gets spooky accurate results and some people would be horrified at his procedure 

You don't clean primer pockets. Explain why
You don't trim brass after a few reloading explain why?

[Yondering]

You don't clean primer pockets. Explain why
You don't trim brass after a few reloading explain why?

Because they don't matter.

Contrary to your earlier posts, trimming has nothing to do with OAL, and very little to do with accuracy at all unless the case length is long enough to pinch in the chamber. Other than that it just doesn't matter.

[Yondering]

One thing that I've had trouble with is getting the bullet seated to the proper length every time. I'm forever adjusting the die itself to make sure its the right depth.

Jeff, don't change your die adjustment for each round to chase OAL. You're seeing variations in the length of the bullets themselves, which doesn't matter. What does matter is base to ogive length, and by changing the die you're introducing variation, that's counterproductive.

You need to make sure OAL is short enough to fit in the magazine box of course, but beyond that, go by base to ogive (BTO) instead of OAL. That'll help you be more consistent between different batches of bullets as well.

[Jonathan_S]

Things I don't do:

-primer pocket cleaning
-primer pocket uniforming
-trimming (except for initial prep to make everything fit)
-clean consistent
-measure bullets
-neck size
-neck turn
-check concentricity

Now I'm not trying to shoot record groups at 1000.  I've got two goals for "medium range", there's a white spot on a rock at 580 and another at 640.  First shot hits on either of those is my goal and I haven't failed in a while.  So while I understand that I might squeeze some additional accuracy out of doubling my work habit on brass prep and bullet sorting, it's just not worth it for a guy like me who is looking to kill deer inside 700 yards.

@yorketransport gets spooky accurate results and some people would be horrified at his procedure 

You don't clean primer pockets. Explain why
You don't trim brass after a few reloading explain why?

- Because I don't like wearing away primer pocket brass or wasting time for something which showed no improvement in accuracy in my case
- Because I don't get stretching enough to have trouble chambering and it still shoots well.  When you only size far enough to bump the shoulder for ease of chambering, the brass doesn't stretch like a mofo

[jasnt]

I do trim but not often. My brass gets loaded dozens of times before it’s toast so it does stretch some. Typically after about 10 re loadings I’ll get .002-.005 of stretch and I trim that off to keep neck tension consistent. I can tell when it’s time to trim by my es jumping back into the double digits which is fine for most folks but drives me crazy! OCD of sorts. I’m sure most of my practices are not necessary or only help an immeasurable amount. But in my mind if one thing is not 100% than nothing else’s is either. Just my ocd 

[hunter399]

I have Lee case trim ,on cordless drill ,i always check,but out of 20 cases maybe one , or two actually get trimmed.
I do a lot of full length resize , but for example my kids and wife all use 243 in different rifles , so I try to keep it so all that ammo in the same cal can chamber well in a three different rifles.
Primmer pocket cleaning is just force of habit.

[JeffRaines]

Thanks for the help guys.

One thing that I've had trouble with is getting the bullet seated to the proper length every time. I'm forever adjusting the die itself to make sure its the right depth.

Jeff, don't change your die adjustment for each round to chase OAL. You're seeing variations in the length of the bullets themselves, which doesn't matter. What does matter is base to ogive length, and by changing the die you're introducing variation, that's counterproductive.

You need to make sure OAL is short enough to fit in the magazine box of course, but beyond that, go by base to ogive (BTO) instead of OAL. That'll help you be more consistent between different batches of bullets as well.

Going BTO is the best thing thats happened to me! I just loaded some up, and you're right - I was chasing the variations in bullet length. Once I set it up, I didn't have to change it after that... which made the loading go much faster.

I also turned them 180 degrees while seating.

We'll see if I get a chance to shoot them this weekend

[kisfish]

Tag

[hunter399]

You don't clean primer pockets. Explain why
You don't trim brass after a few reloading explain why?

Because they don't matter.

Contrary to your earlier posts, trimming has nothing to do with OAL, and very little to do with accuracy at all unless the case length is long enough to pinch in the chamber. Other than that it just doesn't matter.

So if you have one brass that is little long,another that is shorter.and seating depth is set on die , you don't think that the bullet will be seated deeper in the shorter piece of brass.Or effect your OAL.

I do agree it may or may not effect the way it shoots.but if your wanting consistent results your brass should stay the same length.
If you don't wanna trim ,then you should at least measure with caliber and check each reloading and maybe put ones to the side to trim later if needed.


I might be wrong but it just makes since that if both brass or all brass is the same length then then your bullet is seated the same in each case and jump to the lands or rifling stays the same between each cartridge.which anybody that reloads a lot knows that the jump to the rifling has a lot to do with accuracy.

[yorketransport]

OP listen to anything york posts up here toward shooting topics!!!

I don't like to brag, but I'm kind of an expert on being an "internet operator". I've read pretty much everything out there on Facebook regarding shooting.

@yorketransport gets spooky accurate results and some people would be horrified at his procedure 

Sometimes I'm surprised that my loads even go off.

So if you have one brass that is little long,another that is shorter.and seating depth is set on die , you don't think that the bullet will be seated deeper in the shorter piece of brass.Or effect your OAL.

I do agree it may or may not effect the way it shoots.but if your wanting consistent results your brass should stay the same length.
If you don't wanna trim ,then you should at least measure with caliber and check each reloading and maybe put ones to the side to trim later if needed.


I might be wrong but it just makes since that if both brass or all brass is the same length then then your bullet is seated the same in each case and jump to the lands or rifling stays the same between each cartridge.which anybody that reloads a lot knows that the jump to the rifling has a lot to do with accuracy.

Nope, case length won't change OAL. The seating die is set up to seat the ogive of the bullet to a specific distance from the base of the case. Regardless of where the case mouth lands, the die is still going to seat the ogive of the bullet at the same distance from the base of the case. A shorter case length would result in less bullet in the case, but it would still be the same distance from the base of the case. That means that the distance from the bullet ogive to the lands is the same since that measurement is made from essentially the bolt face to the lands. Having one case shorter than the rest would mean that you've essentially lengthened the freebore by taking material off the back end instead of the front of the feebore. This won't change your distance from the bolt face to the lands though.

If you want to be competitive in the national level BR competitions then by all means, use whatever tricks you can to build up your confidence. If the goal is just to be able to hit a .75-1 MOA target out to 1000 yards though it's not necessary. I'd love to see the day that I've become such an exceptional marksman that I can say it's my load's fault that I missed a target at some ridiculous range. For now though I'm happy to just admit that sometimes I just plain miss. 

[Yondering]

So if you have one brass that is little long,another that is shorter.and seating depth is set on die , you don't think that the bullet will be seated deeper in the shorter piece of brass.Or effect your OAL.

Yes, exactly. Case length has nothing to do with how far the bullet is seated. The seating die doesn't stop against the case mouth.

[hunter399]

I guess you guys are right on OAL will stay the same , but I have seen it on bullets that have a cantilever that little ring around the bullet that it won't line up very well ,if your cases are not the same length.Anyway everybody has there own methods thanks for info.