Whether you handload or run factory, everyone seems to go through a similar process when building or buying a new rifle; choosing what comes out of the gun. Bullet characteristics, speeds, and of course accurate groups out of the rifle all play into final decisions. Seems like everyone draws that line in a different place. Curious where that line is for you and what matters most in that final decision.
Is it:
A certain group size?
SD numbers?
Terminal performance?
Finding the "sweet spot" in velocity?
Or is it just when something checks enough boxes that you stop chasing?
Having a realistic ammo design is the key here. Pick a good combination of cartridge, powder, and bullet. Have an achievable measure of accuracy and precision. Establish a realistic expectation for terminal performance based on bullet selection and muzzle velocity.
Yes, a load that is always under 1.5” for 10 shots is my goal. If I cannot get that level, I start to question why I am reloading. And I start looking really hard at my shooting, my rifle system, and my ammo design.
I only pay attention to SD as a measure of the consistency of my loading process and components. I have yet to find a load that shoots consistently good 10-shot groups that doesn’t also have decent SD/ES.
Terminal performance is largely a matter of bullet selection. I don’t bother trying out bullets that I don’t think will have good terminal performance.
The “sweet spot” for velocity is driven by accuracy. If I don’t find accuracy at an “acceptable velocity window”, then I probably started with the wrong ammo design (mismatch between cartridge, powder, and bullet). I won’t usually stress too much over muzzle velocity. It’s either within a reasonable expected range or it isn’t.
As soon as I think I have the right load, I load 10 extra, test them for confirmation, and stop load development. There are certainly times where I stop too soon, but life is too short to improve upon 90% solutions.
