THA thing you did to your ammo to help your precision is ?

[dakota1tn]

You also need a good trigger!!! I like less than 2 lbs. I know this can be dangerous but not if its an accutrigger. I have one thats set on 8 oz. it shoot a 5 shot group that looks like one perfect bullet hole!! With no wind will shoot a 1/2 in group @ 600 yrds. (if I can hold it). I shoot 22-250s to 300 win mags. I use H4831 H4350 Varget and Retumbo powders. Twist in the barrel tells you what weight bullet will shoot best. nosler seems to be the most accurate bullet on average. Ive had guns I have to shoot over 300 rounds to find the right one but most is within 150 rounds.

[herbeapuce]

thanks everyone for trying to help me. I am listening to all you are saying.

I did free float my tikka t3 varmint stainless ( 24"barrel, 1 in 10 twist ) it is very easy to do with sandpaper and masking tape btw. I also changed the aluminium recoil lug for a stainless steel one. I also open the synthetic stock ( Tupperware stock some call it) where the lug is sitting and bedded the lug into the stock.
I have a nice wiha German made torque screw driver and I the gun is torqued to tikka's spec.

my trigger is really good. it's light and crisp. I love it. it's always a surprise when it goes

I have a good choice of powders for my caliber. I had H 4831 but it's now empty. I do have a pound each of IMR 4831, Retumbo, reloader 22, IMR 4350, and also some H380 for my 22-250..
Last time I loaded Retumbo with magnum primers it wasn't good at all . I ended up not finishing my box.

I hear what you are saying abouth OAL and I will start playing with it now... maybe my gun doesn't like a bullet almost touching the rifling, and this is how I did all my bullets...I did them all as long as possible..

I will also try more bullets. I tried the hornady sst 117, wasn't any better.

one thing that I did not do is cleaning every other 11 shots or so. now could you describe what kind of cleaning are you doing ? are you cleaning mostly carbon build up or going after cooper fouling also ? how many strokes of bronze brush, if any... etc..I would appreciate if you could share your cleaning drill after each series..

@ dakota1tn -- I quote you:
"I also aneal my brass after 4 fireings "

I just wana make sure I understand you correctly ( English came late in my life...) By this are you saying you aneal the same case many times ? every 4 shots ? or should I understand this as that you aneal your new cases after their 4 th shooting, but only once?

thanks guys . I learned many things here ....

stef

[dakota1tn]

I aneal after every 4 shots. After 4 fireings they start to get harder again. this will also make your brass last longer. Sounds like your on the right track. Good luck and enjoy

[DaleJ]

Throw away my Lyman Universal case trimmer and replace it with a Wilson. Then I bought another Wilson to use a fixture mounted 22 degree inside neck chamfer tool. This helped with neck tension and reduced bullet run out. Straight ammo shoots great!

[desertbull]

How are you determining your seating depth?

[herbeapuce]

Originally Posted by desertbull

How are you determining your seating depth?

I measured the closed bolt with my cleaning rod from the muzzle, then measured the tip of a bullet in the land.
I get maximum OAL at 3.157" with Hornady 117 interlock.

I then went with what dakota1tn said (2 touching lands then 2 @ 10 thou. 2 @ 15, 20, etc...)

tonight I reloaded a series with different length for the first time. I will test at the rang tomorrow.

and Yes it is driving me crazy because I don't measure the ogive, I measure the tip and the number changes all the time. I'm thinking about buying a overall length gauge with bullet comparator..

Funny tonight I tried to use a small socket from my ratchet kit so I wouldn't measure the tip of the bullet for my AOL... wasn't reliable...

another question since I am on the subject of measuring max AOL... is there something wrong with measuring max AOL by simply feeding a case with a loose enough neck and a bullet, then closing the bolt ? this method is cheap and simple if you have the right neck tension ... what do you think ?

stef

[Lone Hunter]

Stef, Not trying to be a smart Alec but it is like anything,if you don' t have the proper tools to do a job then you are not going to do a good job. You have to make everything consistent. You will have to get some tools to do this. Don' t try to do it on the cheap, You will not like the results. Seat to ogive not the tip. Get good cases and make everything consistent. Good Luck on your search.