Reload vs factory for accuracy

[North of 60]

LOL Flyfisher, you remind me of me.

Maybe it is the OCD in me because I enjoy finding what a rifle likes to optimize precision and hopefully outcomes. Hell, i even put together arrows and bolts for bowhunting.

Seriously though, if a person has the time, inclination and a bit of OCD, I've found it can generally cut group sizes in approximately half with loading my own vs standard factory ammo.

I'm not spending $ on chasing match ammo when i can get close with specific components for a particular rifle.

 

[satchamo]

Consistency. Factory ammo might be fine one month then different next month. Is it gonna be such a huge change there your gun suddenly is opening up? Doubtful. But with reloading you don’t have to ever worry about this. Sure you will have some slight variance from components but overall you’ll have SDs that are 25% (or so) of factory. For me that’s why.

 

[North of 60]

To Sertorious's point, I also purchase factory 5.56 and 7.62x39 ammo to plink with, but i have low expectations of precision (consistency) with that ammo.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

It is a waste of time and barrel life to shoot for data every few boxes of ammo.

What does “shooting for data” entail? How is it different than practice shooting?

Spending 20 rounds out of 200 to shoot a bench group to confirm that there aren’t any major changes and confirm a new zero as needed hardly seems a waste of anything. If your barrel wears out in less than 1000 rounds, then the geometry would seem to be changing almost constantly, right? It’s not like it’s going to shoot great for a thousand rounds, then just start being terrible. The only barrel I shot out (a .25-06) went from excellent to okay to mediocre to abysmal during the course of about a thousand rounds over twenty years (it probably had 500-1000 through it when I first got it). A more skilled shooter than me (like the old man who sold me the rifle) had probably already noticed a falloff in shooting ability before I got it. But it was only one of about ten long action rifles I was shooting during that time frame.

I agree with buying ammo and components in volume, assuming you have a good idea what you want. But even doing that won’t guarantee that you get the exact lot that shoots the best in your rifle. The thousand rounds of ADI .223 69-grain I just bought is split between two lots. Neither of which is the same lot as the first pile of that ammo I bought. I just have faith that it will shoot about the same. And that “about the same” is good enough for me to practice fundamentals.

My highest volume shooting just isn’t practical to buy “enough of what it likes for the life of the barrel.” I’m not shooting high volumes of “barrel burners.” If I manage to burn out my .223 Tikka barrel in the next year or two, I will be quite happy (and it came to me with an indeterminate round count). And after that I expect to wear out a new barrel every 2-4 years depending on barrel life and other factors I cannot currently predict. But I don’t see the need to try to purchase 10k rounds of the same lot of .223 to get there.

 

[ddowning]

I like to confirm dope at several distances across several sets of conditions. Sometimes there can be weird shit happen that messes with your dope. You can identify it if you shoot enough with everything the same.

Everyone has to make their own financial decisions about what is practical. I had a little economic boom in business and shot a lot. The next few years were harder and I spent a lot of time, money, and effort to get close to where I was during the boom. I have decided that spending $xx,xxx on shooting and traveling every year was a bad financial plan. I also didn't enjoy it like I used to. I still buy enough components to to burn out a barrel when I screw on a new one, but I no longer burn out several barrels a year. Before I started shooting matches I was shooting less than 1000 rounds per year and nothing further than 500 yards.

 

[mtnbound]

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?

For me, I like to reload but it is with the intent to spend more time shooting at the range not tinkering with achieving perfection with a load. I am the biggest cause of a bad shot.

Anymore most factory ammo is horrible about lot to lot consistency and if you shoot enough one will see that. My reloads are by far more consistent and because most rifles will have a preferred bullet and powder I can maximize my systems potential.

Reloading can be cheaper but anymore it’s a wash.

Reloading takes time but thats more dependent on your setup. My Hornady Lock and Load allows me to easily load 100 rounds an hour and I’m not using it to it’s true potential.

 

[steelheadmike]

I’ve only been reloading for 8 months or so but here’s my take:

1. My first reloads shot better than any factory ammo I ever used.

2. I am not limited by availability nor slim factory offerings. I am shooting rounds that isn’t even close to anything factory.

3. It’s cheaper to shoot so I shoot more. I’ve improved my ability substantially.

4. I enjoy the reloading process. It gives me a great outlet for the semi-neurotic, perfectionist, and anal-retentive part of my brain.

5. After having some trouble with factory ammo due to a tight chamber, I don’t have to worry if half the rounds in a box are going to chamber or not.

 

[Jtb.kfd]

Coworkers ask me about reloading a lot with many of them having intentions of getting into it. I tell them this.
- 30+ years ago factory loads were not what they are today with regard to accuracy/consistency.
- 30+ years ago I could save a lot of money reloading (mainly shotgun and odd ball centerfire)
- Today components can be hard to come by (I am sure this varies by region). Finding what you want and need takes time on top of the actual reloading.
It’s a hobby, if you don’t enjoy it you are wasting your time and money.
- You won’t make a more accurate hand load over factory unless you get into the hobby and spend considerable time learning the process.
- For my big game hunting shot distances I don’t need to reload, factory would work just fine. My varmint hunting is different, I could not get the consistency/accuracy I am looking for with factory at the distances I shoot.
- As others have mentioned, if you want a particular load/velocity/bullet configuration you may just have to make it yourself.
- If you shoot just enough to make a clean kill while hunting then reloading is a waste of time.
- This one is the most important to me. If I go and spend a couple hundred dollars on some ammo and then go to the range and shoot it all hours later my wife notices how quickly it went up in smoke. Contrast that to spending a couple hundred on an 8lb keg of powder where I can say “do you know how many rounds I can make with this, its like THOUSANDS”. She knows I am lying but can’t really prove it because she doesn’t know herself and its too much trouble to look into it. So, I end up getting to shoot a lot more without all the “questions”. She thinks I am being smart about my hobby.

 

[SpeedyR]

for hunting depending upon caliber and decent ammo availability, reloading doesn't make financial sense. The cost of entry plus time is pretty high.

but if you want better accuracy. for sure hand loading will get you there. But really you only need MOA or so for most hunting applications, so no need to "shoot for" 1/2 MOA if you are just hunting at normal ranges.

BUT if you are shooting a caliber that is harder to find, or maybe doesn't have good accuracy factory loads avaiable, then it can for sure raise your enjoyment and proficiency to develop good hand loads.

So no, if you are shooting 6.5CM for hunting and shooting 50-100 rounds a year, buy a few boxes of quality ammo and be done. If you are shooting 348 winchester or 35 remington, then it might be worth your time to invest in reloading.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

The main deal for me with reloading versus factory, is consistency over time. I'm not aware of any factory ammo that doesn't change, sometimes substantially, over different batches. Factory may use different powders, different primers, brass from different manufacturers, etc from lot to lot.

For example, I once bought three boxes of Nosler Premium 165 Accubond in 30-06 because I was in a hurry a few years ago. These were purchased at the same time, so presumably manufactured vaguely in the same time frame, but we're all three different run numbers. One box was accurate, one was not, and one was so so. Measuring the brass, case capacity varied between 67 and 72 grains of powder, and there were slightly different looking primers in one box of them.

 

[TaperPin]

Hunting and dinking around with reloading are two completely different sports and not everyone who likes one also likes the other. A lot of people who drive cars, don’t enjoy chaining oil. A lot of pizza lovers don’t feel the need to own a pizza oven for their back yard. That’s ok.

Personally, I can’t imagine not having a basic reloading setup. From a teenager, it’s an aspect of shooting that allows more free time to be engrossed in the sport, and naturally provides a good education on what makes an individual gun shoot to its potential, and an excuse to hit the range.

It seems folks with pizza ovens eat more pizza than those who don’t. If you enjoy changing oil, your cars are probably getting new juice every 5k miles instead of 10k. Most reloaders tend to hit the range more often than those who don’t.