Anybody have any ideas?

[johnnymac]

I started reloading about 6 months ago and i am still finding myself very frustrated and confused with my results so far. First let me explain the process i go through when loading:

I am using Federal Gold Medal Brass and CCI BR Primers for all loads.

1. Full length size brass
2. Tumble brass overnight
3. Trim Brass
4. Debur flash hole, and case mouth. Chamfer inside
5. Prime with RCBS hand primer
6. Powder charge
7. Seat bullet

I first load groups of 3 at different powder charges increasing by 0.3 increments. All loads are seated at the same depth.

I shoot all loads through chronograph to determine which load has the most consistent velocities.

Once the most consistent(velocity) load is determined i then load groups of three with that same powder charge at different seating depths getting progressively closer to the lands.

I then shoot these to determine which one groups the best.

So now for the problem: Today i was testing some different loads. I was using Varget and 168 gr Hornady AMAX. These were shot out of a remington 700 5r .308. I had one group measuring 0.24 and another measuring 0.38. Other groups were from 0.75 to 1.00. Later in the afternoon i duplicated the same two loads that shot well and could not get a group under an inch. This seems to be the way it goes for every gun/bullet/powder i try. I have tried 168 gr Sierra MK's as well as the 175's and have the same problem every time.

Sorry this is so long, just wanted to explain as much as possible. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, John

[AJ Peacock]

How often are you cleaning your barrel?

AJ

[johnnymac]

After every 20 rounds or so

[AJ Peacock]

Every 20 rounds is pretty often. It probably takes 3-5 rounds to correctly foul the barrel. I clean mine when the accuracy falls off (or I can't take it any more) maybe 100-200 rounds on some of my rifles.

Did the better groups come right after cleaning, or after a couple groups?

AJ

[jmason]

John- when you found the charge weight that worked good for consistency you changed the seating depth. That changes the pressure. You'll now need to find the charge weight that works with the seating depth you chose. You'll need to back down a bit on the powder and shoot some more 3 shot strings over your chrony again to find the powder charge for velocity consistency at that depth. Basically start over. If you depth was a good selection you should (in theory) end up with a better grouping load for your troubles.

Keep us posted!

[jmason]

holy crap you guys are quick. 4 posts from the time I read the first post to my 1st reply!

[johnnymac]

some of the good groups are fresh off a clean barrel and others are the last group of the day. Im confused with how a particular load will shoot very well but when i load it again it shoots very poor everytime after that. the groups arent even close in size. one will be under a quarter inch and then 4 groups in a row will be close to and inch and a half.