reloading

GP1

Active Member
How much effort do you put into your reloads and what grouping are you satisfied with ? I reload a .243 and a .22br and do like both rifles to be under 1/4" at 100yrds I'm not to bothered on fps and don't do hot loads but do like accuracy.
 
Well I tend to agree with you there - However the round does need to have the legs to do the job it was designed for. I have a 6.5x284 that I use out to 1000yds, it shoots very well at 100- 200yds on a low node but the .4moa at a higher node is needed at the longer ranges.
 
I put lots of effort in and I struggle to get groups of less than .5 MOA at 100yds. This latest effort with the rifle I am trying to sell looks like about 1.5 MOA to me. Regards JCS
 
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JCS, I knew you would be lurking around this thread, don't be shy, put the one up you shot at 1,000 yards!!, me........., make this into a well known phrase BARN DOOR, SHOVEL, AT 10 PACES
 
I think the quality of the barrel has a lot to do with the performance of the gun and the reloading fiddling makes little difference for hunting purposes.
 
I put a lot of effort into it, because I actually enjoy reloading. But once I get to 1/2" group I stop fiddling and start shooting.

I find that more time spent shooting pays dividends with good groups.
 
I think the quality of the barrel has a lot to do with the performance of the gun and the reloading fiddling makes little difference for hunting purposes.

don't really agree with that, yes the barrel plays a big part but if you don't get the reloading right you could end up with a 4" or more grouping regardless of barrel, this could lead to your quarry not being shot humanely, I reload for three reasons 1st is accuracy 2nd is I do enjoy it and 3rd is price.
 
The amount of effort varies depending on what it's intended to be used for and through. Although it would be nice to say that every load would shoot into 1/2" if we are honest the chances of finding such a load through something like the Muscat Martini in 303 is very unlikely. The open sights are just too course and of course with it beign well over 100 years old there is wear and even some pitting in the bore.

So I try to make consistent loads that are also kind to things like this.

On the other hand one expects much more from a heavy barrelled rifle with 7x50 CSS scope in 6mm Remington.
 
I put lots of effort in and I struggle to get groups of less than .5 MOA at 100yds. This latest effort with the rifle I am trying to sell looks like about 1.5 MOA to me. Regards JCS

Are two of those shots free standing or off sticks John? Either way that's good shooting.

This is 20 consecutive shots at 110yds (off a bench), the black patch is 2cms. Average group size about .33moa

 
depends what you want out of it.

some reload to reload
some reload to save money
some reload for infinite accuracy

I started to save money, getting smaller than factory groups was a bonus.
slowly the cancer is spreading and I have actually started weighing powder (yes, its true!)

If I am honest I don't take the time or care to try and shoot small groups.
I like to see less than an inch for big bore stuff and smaller for smaller stuff.
(I have a PCP that shoots calibre x2 size groups at 33 yds! thats a .177" group centre to centre but my .270 likes to ruin that statistic!)
 
Are two of those shots free standing or off sticks John? Either way that's good shooting. ...]
Thanks very much. Two of the shots in the top half of the target were shot off 4 sticks. There was a bit of pressure not to screw up at the final stage. Regards JCS
 
This was a group at 100yds and I reload as I enjoy it, as others have said i'm not interested in speed its accuracy that kills.
 

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I used to get quite animated about what my kit was doing at 100yds and I think I've gotten past it now. Chasing increments can be a futile exercise and I think it detracted from the enjoyment a little at some point.

My stalking rifle will do sub minute, that's fine by me. This was a scenar load to see what it could do, black box is 1cm, never got anything like this with a hunting bullet at a useful velocity which was really frustrating. Spent a lot of time and money working through loads only to come back to the first one I used.
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My .223 will shoot chuffs of a gnat as demonstrated by this 5 shot group, never measured it, just shot another group the same size and called it a developed load.
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My Trg shoots just fine as well, I've since lengthened the load and bumped the powder up to make a more useful long range load and it hasn't influenced the group size at all.

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This was a group at 100yds and I reload as I enjoy it, as others have said i'm not interested in speed its accuracy that kills.
This is interesting - not arguing - as there is another school of thought which would sacrifice some accuracy for velocity.
Craig Boddington is a proponent of this thinking. It has a place in my mind (not comparing us :)) and realistically a .243 has to be in the high end of it's energy curve to stay legal...
 
I re load for 4 reasons

To get the best out of my rifles
To Save money
I find it relaxing
To have something to do whilst my wife is watching crappy soaps.

I stop playing with a load once I am happy that anything I point it at is dead. I only change a load if I drop on a bulk buy of a new component very cheap.

Rick
 
I'm a firm believer in the adage that says accuracy above all else. I like my rifles to shoot 1/2" at 100yds as I mainly shoot small varmints at longish ranges. If they can't manage that, I find it too easy to blame the rifle instead of the idiot behind the trigger when I miss....

Hence the reason I sold my hummer, as I just could not get it better than 1" at 100yds no matter what I did.
 
I'm a firm believer in the adage that says accuracy above all else. I like my rifles to shoot 1/2" at 100yds as I mainly shoot small varmints at longish ranges. If they can't manage that, I find it too easy to blame the rifle instead of the idiot behind the trigger when I miss....

Hence the reason I sold my hummer, as I just could not get it better than 1" at 100yds no matter what I did.
I can see that angle, different applications I suppose. If I were taking down big animals with an 8" kill zone then I'd probably err toward energy.
Headshooting bunnies on the other hand is about precision and energy isn't the motivator.
 
I re load for 4 reasons

To get the best out of my rifles
To Save money
I find it relaxing
To have something to do whilst my wife is watching crappy soaps.

I stop playing with a load once I am happy that anything I point it at is dead. I only change a load if I drop on a bulk buy of a new component very cheap.

Rick
Haha, pull the other one! :D
Unless you're doing serious volume it'll take a month of Sunday's to recover the fixed cost, especially if you're using premium components - and constantly buying bits 'n bobs... ahem.
 
Haha, pull the other one! :D
Unless you're doing serious volume it'll take a month of Sunday's to recover the fixed cost, especially if you're using premium components - and constantly buying bits 'n bobs... ahem.

The fact is if one looks around then quality used equipment is usually to be had. Let's face it unless abused dies do not wear out in use by the usual hand loader. Same goes for a bench press.

The problem we have here in the UK is the cartel that fixes the prices of the stuff we need. from the prices of dies to the price of powders we get shafted big style by the importers.
 
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