What are your top three factors ?

powdergun

powdergun

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From my experience I have ranked my top three factors in order as to how they affect accuracy. I was just wondering what you fellas have to say and if you've found other factors as important or more important. ( All practises fall well within safe ranges )

1) Bullet powder combo
2) Uniformity of brass ( weighing, sorting, trimming )
3) precision of powder quantity ( weighing to the exact kernel )

This applies to reloading for centerfire bolt action rifles.

Alway looking to learn more and listen to other oppinions:)
 
Here's what I think the top 3 are (IMO precise powder measuring is a given!):

1-Bullet/powder combo is #1 for sure

2-Bullet seating depth-makes a huge difference in most of my rifles. Always a good way to tighten groups after #1 is resolved

3-Uniformity of brass & bullets
 
Proper bullet and powder
Brass and seating depth
Third and probably most important, shoot a good quality rifle that is properly bedded with a free floated barrel.
You can't make a crappy rifle shoot even with good ammo.
 
Good bullet, seated straight, at an appropriate velocity. Seating depth tends to tweak accuracy, but if you have a crappy bullet seated crookedly at the wrong velocity, seating depth isn't going to help! :evil:
 
I don't think the powder/bullet combo makes that much difference. My rifles will shoot Nosler Competition bullets as well as SMK's or Lapua's or Bergers of the same wieght.
Sierra bullets are the most forgiving as far as seating deepth goes. They will shoot if seated into the lands or up to .050" jump.
Try weighing some match bullets and see how many lots you will get.:bangHead:
Sorting cases by weight really won't tell you if that +.7 grains is in the case capacity or an extra .0005" in the exctrator grove of the case. Measuring the case volume will tell you more. If you have that much time on you hands let me know.:p I might do this if I was a BR shooter, but I am not, nor do I play one on the internet:p

You might be able to weigh powder to the kernal in a labratory. Depending on the heat/humidity of your house during all your loading sessions, and the accuracy of your scale, I would think if you can get your loads to within .1 gr you are doing very well. Will one kernal make that much difference at 1000 yards? No, but .5 grains will.

You have to remember I shoot Target Rifle, prone, off my elbows with a jacket and sling. My hold is likely 1/2 MOA or better on a good day. So my way of thinking is how many points would I gain if I could sort my cases (about 2000 of them ) by volume, weigh powder to "0" tolerence, ream primer pockets etc.

Here is what I do:
I sort my cases by weight, all within one grain. (I know it is not scientific)
Everything is trimmed before I start, and I don't clean out the primer pockets ( it will not gain or lose me any points).
I throw and weigh 50 rounds at a time that all go into the same box once the bullet is seated, I use Redding compeition seating dies. I weigh the charges to "0" tolerence which is as close as my digital scale will weigh for that day. Hopefully it is within .1 grain of the day or week before.

What really makes the biggest difference is the mental masterbation that you go through in your match prep (including loading) . If you believe that weighing brass, primers, bullets and powder to the kernal will win you the match, it just might.

So what does this all mean in the way of accuracy? I have shot ammo I have loaded with different bullets (Nosler's and SMK's) All different case weights from 171 gr up to 174 gr. Shot them alternately from one box to another and they all fit into the bull at 600 yards. Would I do something like this in a match? NO.
 
I have not weighed a piece of brass for about thirty years and never did weigh any when I was winning BR matches. I also do not weigh brass for "F" class and don't see it hurting me (My inability to see a wind shift hurts plenty!).
I weighed powder chrges until 1972 when I bought my first powder measure. Since then, the scale is used to check the measure (or for loading a couplke to test for pressure/accuracy potential). I can throw charges of even the coarse grained powders very accurately and have seen no appreciable difference in velocity variations whether charges are thrown or weighed.
Important factors?
Component choice
Loaded round concentricity.
Seating depth
I agree with Maynard in that a good quality bullet, regardless of manufacturer, will likely shoot well. There can be, of course, variations in how a rifle performs depending on bullet weight. Keep in mind this is at TR levels of accuracy requirement which are only a bit more stringent than that for hunting. In TR the difference between a bullet which shoots .5 MOA or one that shoots .4 is (a) difficult to discern and (b) essentially meaningless. In short range BR, the difference between a bullet which produces .250 moa and one which acieves .150 is HUGE. In a couple of my rifles, the choice of primer make is more critical than the choice of bullet maker. Regards, Bill.
 
maynard said:
Velocity does not =accuracy. I really don't care if the load is running 2950fps or only getting 2900fps as long as it hits the middle of the target when I do my part.
Click to expand...

Consistency of velocity, rather than raw velocity, does play a part in accuracy (more so at longer ranges). A chronograph will give you the data for standard deviation.
 
1) Accurate bullets - crap in, crap out.
2) Clean burning consistent powder weighed to within .1gr - temp stable
3) match primers -matters at long range.
4) Fireformed, collet neck sized, Win brass of same lot - no/little runout in completed ammo.

Things like neck turning, primer pocket reaming, even trimming doesn't show up in the vast majority of rifles. Unless you build a rifle that has the potential to agg under 1/4MOA, alot of finicky stuff doesn't show up on paper.

Weighing cases is a huge waste of time. Want consistent volumes, measure the case volume.

Short range BR rifles being the exceptions, as long as they have the potential to shoot in the 0's and 1's. I think even the stock paint colour matters.

I do ream the inside of the primer pockets just because it takes a few seconds and you just never know.

I shoot mostly LR for hunting, target and F class. Here consistency over a wide range of ambient conditions is much more important then a tenth in raw accuracy. I can't tune my loads at the time of useage.

Jerry
 
Good to see varying view points from different disciplines, even differences amongst each group:rockOn:

I know a .5 grain difference of Varget in .223 will be a velocity difference of 50 - 80 fps (assuming my drop is set at 25 grains and I get anywhere from 24.8 to 25.2 grains in the case). It isn't about weight, its about volume. If I am stuffing the case full anyhow, I can (and potentially will) see very little change in velocity, and likely very little change on paper. If the volume is consistant, I could care less if there is a .5 grain swing in weight difference, as it doesn't matter, even at long (500m) range.
Case prep. is geared to making the gun go, not about accuracy, however consistant cases = consistant ammo. Case sorting for me = sticking to one headstamp:D.

So for me it is:

1) Bullet choice
2) Bullet / Powder combo
3) Concentricity
4) Primers

This is my view from a service rifle standpoint.
 
maynard said:
Velocity does not =accuracy. I really don't care if the load is running 2950fps or only getting 2900fps as long as it hits the middle of the target when I do my part.
Click to expand...

Velocity does equal accuracy in some cases. Like when you try to push a 155 SMK out of a 26" barrel while trying to keep them supersonic out to the 1000 yard mark. You lose velocity, you go sub sonic, your bullet WILL lose mucho accuracy.
 
I've always been intrigued by "loading density"

The old Nosler manual used to state loading density, as in how much volume the powder occupied in the case. Maybe the new one does as well?

I read an article years ago regarding this and seemed to make sense to me.

Maybe because most of my rifles are mags of some sort and I've found over time that they seem to shoot near the maximum charges better than reduced charges.
 
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