Reloads, just how anal are you?

[Pharmseller]

Oh, and I always make sure I have a small white dog in the room when I seat bullets. Optional for case prep but essential for bullet seating.

It matters.




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[Jeff_Gibbons]

I enjoy the tinkering but have changed my approach some. I try to buy good brass and standardize. no more weight sorting brass for me. I used to trickle charges into a balance beam. The rcbs charge master is the only way from now on. I’m playing with bushing dies now but haven’t seen much difference really. I do want to see a tight group at 100. But haven’t seen much recently woke up to the idea mentioned by others above - more fun and way more important to shoot field conditions at distance. Hitting steel at 750 is fun off a bench but hitting a pie plate at 400 off a backpack first shot is a lot more fun.

 

[SouthernOhioGuy]

3 moa for blasting ammo and 1 moa for precision.

 

[wyosam]

I buy good brass. I used to be very particular with all the standard down the rabbit hole stuff. Now it’s try my first choice bullet with my first choice powder, pretty large charge jumps in the pressure ladder, .5-1 grain. If it doesn’t do what I want but is close I might try a second powder. If not, bullet #2. If it doesn’t shoot it’s a tomato stake (or maybe a fireforming barrel depending on what it is. I chased a few around wasting a bunch of time and money in the past. Even if I eventually got them to shoot, it probably wasn’t worth it. I’ve only had 1 lemon in the last 8-10. I choose cartridges to minimize trimming. I use the Lee collet die a lot. I used to trickle onto a balance, then used an electronic thrower that was a little less accurate. Now I throw a lot of stuff from a manual thrower and never weigh it once it’s set- even with larger stick powders. Accuracy is still tight, ES is well below whats necessary for my needs. My borescope has even more dust on it than my case trimmer. I do still anneal every firing on a lot of stuff, every other on the rest. I like my brass to last. I don’t load real hot anymore, but I save and separate cases with loose primer pockets for moose loads. A dab of superglue keeps primers in until they get ejected into a swamp to never be seen again.


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[magtech]

Reloading takes time to get right IF you want small groups and low sd.

Just doing powder/oal changes can lead you into tens of groups or more. Then fine tuning powder/oal can double that.

Mandrel changes seating pressure changes... blah blah blah...

TLDR: A good/great load takes time. Reloading and shooting takes time. If you dont have that, maybe your loads are good-nuff for the time you have.

 

[Nimbus73]

I appreciate all the feedback and there have been some interesting opinions. Since I only have factory rifles, including one recently re-barreled with a new factory takeoff, I think it is safe to say in my situation I am about where I should be. I just got a membership to a local gun club, so my range trips can be more frequent. I'm confident knowing that what I'm doing is correct, and as time goes by, I will incorporate more advanced techniques to my process which result in slight improvements. For my intentions, I am happy with my results, but there have been a few times where I'm like, man I wish I had another reloader shooting my load in my weapon so I can tell if things I see on target are the load or the shooter.

 

[justin davis]

I go back and forth. A lot of respected guys in here that hunt a lot and say you don’t need to have crazy groups to hunt. I agree

But then on the other hand I see guys that are real picky and shoot tiny little groups and it makes me think I need to step my game up haha

 

[dreadi]

I get mad if I'm not shooting sub MOA at 200yds because I am capable of loading and shooting that well.

 

[Pharmseller]

I go back and forth. A lot of respected guys in here that hunt a lot and say you don’t need to have crazy groups to hunt. I agree

But then on the other hand I see guys that are real picky and shoot tiny little groups and it makes me think I need to step my game up haha

Tiny groups are the goal, but after I find the right load I rarely, if ever, shoot from a bench again. It’s field positions only. Tight groups don’t matter a lick if I can’t shoot from a hunting position.




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[justin davis]

Tiny groups are the goal, but after I find the right load I rarely, if ever, shoot from a bench again. It’s field positions only. Tight groups don’t matter a lick if I can’t shoot from a hunting position.




P

Yea I guess what I mean. The whole point of the question. How anal do you get?

There are lots of guys who find a good load and you’re good to go. Others mess with seating depth and charge and nit pick until they have tiny groups.

I guess I go back and forth on what a guy should be doing

 

[grappling_hook]

Lol. ANAL, as in ANALytical.

Hehe

Anal isn't short for analytical in this use, though. It's "anal retentive" from Freudian psychology.

 

[Pharmseller]

Yea I guess what I mean. The whole point of the question. How anal do you get?

There are lots of guys who find a good load and you’re good to go. Others mess with seating depth and charge and nit pick until they have tiny groups.

I guess I go back and forth on what a guy should be doing

The tighter the groups, the more confidence I have. Confidence is huge. Knowing that I will hit my target when I squeeze the trigger makes me a dangerous man.

Hence the practice from field positions after tweaking the recipe until I’m .75” or better, .6”.




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[doc holiday13]

Depends, pistol I use a fixed volume insert. I don't load pistol to max or for specific speed. so I'll throw 5 charges and weigh them individually and roll for 500 rounds

Some rifle ball powder drops within .05 grains every time on my rcbs powder throw so once calibrated i leave it. that's generally for 223 loads.

Stick powders get dropped in a automated powder thrower so it's always exact

 

[Harvey_NW]

Yea I guess what I mean. The whole point of the question. How anal do you get?

There are lots of guys who find a good load and you’re good to go. Others mess with seating depth and charge and nit pick until they have tiny groups.

I guess I go back and forth on what a guy should be doing

Experience is shooting a seating depth test and watching the groups open and close in a "sine wave" format, and thinking one is better than the other. Wisdom is understanding random distribution and the statistics of sample sizes, and knowing that's a foolish waste of components because each load will produce the same cone of fire.

 

[bp78]

Reloading and the science behind it can take over and become a hobby in & of itself.

When reloading for PRS, finding powder weight "nodes" that grouped better in my rifle was incredibly interesting and proved to be "juice worth the squeeze". Found a load the rifle liked and then put more time into loads a few tenths up & down to find those tighter nodes/groups for the barrel.