Reload vs factory for accuracy

Air Bear

FNG
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May 24, 2024
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Not seeing the topic here yet, but feel free to point me to it if i missed something.

First off i am strictly inquiring for hunting scenarios and i dont yet reload. I am wondering about reloading vs a good quality factory ammunition in regards to accuracy. I know each rifle is going to be partial to certain weights, powder etc, but what i want to know is how much more consistency can you get from reloading youself vs a good factory ammunition?

I realize this question can go a lot of different directions so i am not going to try to preemptively address all caveats. What i am trying to understand at a general level is if supposing i have a pretty reliable factory ammunition (1.25 moa or so), what improvements, if any, could i eventually find with reloading if i put in the work?

Another way to put this would be to those of you that reload and feel you have good loads developed, what sort of set back would it be to go to a good performing factory ammo?
 
The majority of match shooters make their own ammo. At least the non factory sponsored shooters. There is some very good factory ammo available and it's costly. To get started in reloading is somewhat expensive now days. Components are pretty high today. I don't shoot factory ammo other than 22LR. Even shotshells are a tossup these days.
 
If you get 1.5” 10-shot groups (or better) with factory ammo, I would not bother to reload. Unless your time is worthless, it makes no financial sense to reload. But, it can be fun and satisfying to do it. I know a lot of people who waste a lot of time letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. For instance, there was an old guy at the range who was not happy with .75” groups and was hoping to improve on that by trying different seating depths and tiny differences in charge weight.
 
If you get 1.5” 10-shot groups (or better) with factory ammo, I would not bother to reload. Unless your time is worthless, it makes no financial sense to reload. But, it can be fun and satisfying to do it. I know a lot of people who waste a lot of time letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. For instance, there was an old guy at the range who was not happy with .75” groups and was hoping to improve on that by trying different seating depths and tiny differences in charge weight.
Exactly what i am wondering. Thanks
 
I suppose a more better way for me to ask would be; to those of you that reload , how much is accuracy a factor to you reloading? Not cost, and not because you enjoy it. Just more consistent groups.
 
It all depends on what you are looking for. At 1.25" that's a cone of 12.5" at 1,000 yards if you are perfect in reading wind, bullet drop etc. .75" is a 7.5" cone. What are you striving for? For me if I had a 1.25" barrel and that's the best I could do I'd throw it away. Also if you shoot a lot say 1,500 or more rounds a year with quality ammunition a that's $4,500 at $60/box. Reloading will save a lot in variable cost, with much higher quality ammunition, but it is a definite time soak.

Personally I enjoy the process.
 
Another reason for reloading is to use combinations and components not available as factory ammunition.

To answer your question, it’s not only about accuracy, but consistency lot to lot of ammo. And most of all velocity. Hornady ammo is horrifically slow it multiple cartridges I have tested.
My 24” factory tikka 6.5 creedmoor was more than 100fps less than what the box said.
Factory 300WSM in a friend’s factory 24” tikka was 70fps slower than box velocity.
 
I'm a shitty reloader and have 20-year old equipment. I decided that for my kids' T3 @ 243 "We're only going to shoot ammo we make at home." It was a great learning experience for them.
The first batch were so much more precise than I've ever seen before (factory or handloads), we just stopped the "development" process right there. When we run low we load up another batch of the same recipe.

All other cartridges in the stable currently run factory ammo, but I do have the equipment and supplies to handload most of them.

TLDR...Seems to me that its pretty easy make handloads out perform factory.
You just need to decide if it's worth the effort.
 
The problem with factory ammo, even when it is very accurate, is availability and lot changes. Find something good and as soon as you shoot it up, you could be starting all over again. For what I want out of my rifles, factory ammo isn’t an option. I want my ammo the way I want it, when I want it, with perpetual consistency. No way to have that practically with factory ammo.
 
A lot of good info here and some mixed opinions, which i appreciate. If i can achieve meaningful improvement in my consistency I want to explore reloading as i do feel like factory ammo often is less reliable than i want. At the same time i dont really want to go down infinite load developments and tinkering. Its also kind of a big jumping off point. I cant just king-of get started reloading. I have to go all in.
 
I don’t think someone with a budget kit can make as consistent hand loads through the life of a barrel/brass as shooting factory stuff. The equipment and knowledge to do so takes time and money.

Accuracy with factory can be great, I have seen it, but it’s more of gamble.

I have yet to see ammo out of box be even remotely as consistent in velocity as my loads.

Reloading is a time vs money endeavor. If you have time and lack money it might be for you, as it is me. If you have the money and lack the time, shoot Berger ammo until you feel like it’s holding you back.

Reloading will push you to shoot more, just the learning process.
 
I suppose a more better way for me to ask would be; to those of you that reload , how much is accuracy a factor to you reloading? Not cost, and not because you enjoy it. Just more consistent groups.

Accuracy is a factor, certainly. So is consistency. You can make the ammo that the rifle likes and, if you have a good process, get great results.

But my earlier advice stands: don’t get into it expecting to save money. It’s the most expensive way to save money you can find.

And set realistic expectations. I’m shooting consistent 1.4” groups with my current lot of $23.99/box Hornady 6.5 CM 140-grain ELDM or .270 130-grain soft point factory ammo. That’s good enough for everything I need. I’m confident that with some time at the reloading bench, I could get that under an inch. But to what end?

It’s not going to vastly improve my chances of hitting a deer’s vitals at 500 yards. In terms of time and money, I’d be better off buying more ammo and continuing to practice with the factory ammo. If the next batch of factory ammo has a slightly different POI or shoots 1.6” groups, is that going to suddenly make my rifle unable to kill a deer? Not if I have been practicing regularly. I buy ammo expecting to shoot it all and buy more.

I reload for the same reasons the folks above reload. I’m not going to reload to do better than $0.50-1.50/round factory ammo. I definitely will for $3-5/round factory ammo. And, when I do that, I don’t settle for 1.5” groups, because I know that with a consistent process and good starting materials, I can probably get 1/2 to 2/3 that without undue time or effort. It’s just as easy to make very good reloads as it is to make mediocre ones.

And, when I reload, it will be to make .25-06 with 134-grain ELDMs for my 1:8” twist rifle. It won’t be to make 62-grain 5.56, or the equivalent.
 
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