Wachsmann
Well-Known Member
We all like to talk about our groups and how well a rifle may shoot or how small our groups may be but what about all the work it takes to get there. So what I'm looking at is ES under 20 and a SD of 10 or better.
For me this can be hard to get to the above standards with just standard reloading. I would like to hear what people have found that make a game changer in there reloading. Was it annealing the case necks every time, was it using bushing dies, was it trimming the outer neck diameter thickness, was it sorting brass, primers, bullet weight, bullet ogive length and the list goes on.
For me I like to buy Bergers bullets even though I will admit I have been shooting a lot of Hornady lately. I think Bergers are the most consistent (just my opinion). I don't sort anything.
I clean my cases in a nut shell media, I FL size bumping back the shoulder length about 1 to 2 thousands. I seat or try to seat the bullets to a consistent Ogive length. I don't have a good annealer but I try and anneal cases about every 3 firings. I weigh each powder charge on and RCBS charge master and then over to a balance beam to always double check my powder loads. I only use Federal match 210, or 215 primers, or BR2s. I use a VLD neck case reamer before seating bullets and I also will take the bur out of the primer pocket (I forget the term). It's a process which i did not put in order but everyone get the ideal. Not a whole lot of work but I still find it hard for a 10 shot string to keep in that 20 ES and 10 SD. Lately I've been backing off the powder charge thinking that speed is not everything. I usually push my loads and I shoot for sub MOA at 200 yards. I like to see .5MOA or better at 100 yards. But this brings me back to my reloading I still will see higher ES over a 10 shot string. I know there are other factors that can contribute to this like outside environment, soaking a round in a hot chamber, dirty barrel, etc, etc. But lets here some of the game changers you have found that really helped deliver those excellent numbers.
For me this can be hard to get to the above standards with just standard reloading. I would like to hear what people have found that make a game changer in there reloading. Was it annealing the case necks every time, was it using bushing dies, was it trimming the outer neck diameter thickness, was it sorting brass, primers, bullet weight, bullet ogive length and the list goes on.
For me I like to buy Bergers bullets even though I will admit I have been shooting a lot of Hornady lately. I think Bergers are the most consistent (just my opinion). I don't sort anything.
I clean my cases in a nut shell media, I FL size bumping back the shoulder length about 1 to 2 thousands. I seat or try to seat the bullets to a consistent Ogive length. I don't have a good annealer but I try and anneal cases about every 3 firings. I weigh each powder charge on and RCBS charge master and then over to a balance beam to always double check my powder loads. I only use Federal match 210, or 215 primers, or BR2s. I use a VLD neck case reamer before seating bullets and I also will take the bur out of the primer pocket (I forget the term). It's a process which i did not put in order but everyone get the ideal. Not a whole lot of work but I still find it hard for a 10 shot string to keep in that 20 ES and 10 SD. Lately I've been backing off the powder charge thinking that speed is not everything. I usually push my loads and I shoot for sub MOA at 200 yards. I like to see .5MOA or better at 100 yards. But this brings me back to my reloading I still will see higher ES over a 10 shot string. I know there are other factors that can contribute to this like outside environment, soaking a round in a hot chamber, dirty barrel, etc, etc. But lets here some of the game changers you have found that really helped deliver those excellent numbers.