Newbie Precision Reloading

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JNA

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Hello Everyone,

I have reloaded a little bit in the past (mostly milsurp cartridges such as 303), but wanted to get into PRS and wanted to ask if anyone had any recommendations on books/videos/websites that talked more in-depth about precision reloading and advised on steps that would be recommended and others that are a waste of time or something along those lines.

I have looked up some in the past, but not sure if they are reputable and dont want to risk or spend more money than I should to get my reloads better.

Or is it just one of those keep experimenting until you get the right load?

Currently have a RCBS Single Stage Press kit.

As well as bought some Forster dies, Sinclair Case trimmer, Sinclai concentricity gauge and a few other items.

Any advice is always appreciated.
 
In my experience, Prs is more about consistency. It needs to be accurate as well, but not bench rest accurate. You more than likely aren’t going to find a lot of prs guys neck turning or annealing every reload. Full length size, trim/deburr and load. Beyond that, and it becomes a hobby in itself. Not a bad thing if you have the time.
Books are becoming a thing of the past, but I still like to have a couple around. The Google remains my go to for most info. Usually end up on snipers hide or YouTube.
 
Just start out simple. Even basic hand loads will be better than factory loads. Get a little bit more advanced over time.
 
I presume your single stage press is cast steel? If not, get a cast steel press.

Are you sure you want to get into precision shooting? It can become a very anal/expensive addiction.

Is your rifle capable of precision shooting?

Is your scope capable of precision shooting under varying conditions and distances?

Do your bullets have consistent jacket thicknesses? Not as big an issue these days but only a few years ago jacket thicknesses would vary from one side to the other.

Do you want to get into blending your powder lots so that you have a supply on hand that is consistent for the life of your rifle?

The list goes on and on and on and on.
 
In my opinion, 3 things that affected accuracy the most when I started, was neck tension, match primers and precise powdering.

Uniform neck tension without run-out is dead simple, Lee collet die.
You can get a body die such as redding to bump back the shoulders.

Accurate and fast powdering you use FX120 + auto throw kit.

Match primers look at CCI BR or FED GM.

This will set you back 1200-1300$ maybe,
And then the rest of the details, such as neck turning, annealing, trim/deburr/chamfer 3 in 1, etc...
Only affects accuracy in very small increments.

Using the trio of precise powdering, repeatable neck tension and match primers made the huge jump for me,
It's my experience and your experience may differ.

Because like bearhunter said, once you decide to go all in it's a 6-7K dollar experience getting all the best tooling.
Which is not that much really, guys on the job spend more on their hunting/fishing/ATV hobbies every year.
 
For a more budget but still accurate powder measuring solution I throw under my charge weight with a standard powder thrower and then fine tune the charge with a Gempro 250 scale.
 
Have to agree about the consistency comment.

PRS doesn't demand the extreme precision the traditional benchrest guys dream about. Maybe F-Class does? Not too familiar with that..

Id recommend using what you have now, and then slowly adding specific gear as you think you'll need it. You can literally spend 10k on all the latest and greatest reloading snake oil, that won't necessarily make your ammo any better, until you have the basics covered.

Just as important is quality components and case prep.

You seem to have most of the basics for precision loading already.. it's a deep and expensive rabbit hole for very little measurable gain. If you load consistent rounds with the equipment you mentioned, I think you'll be more than fine for PRS.
 
I learned most of my reloading from friends, this forum, Accurateshooter.com, Ultimate Reloader, and other sites. The internet is a great resource now so books are not really needed IMO. That said I do have reloading manuals from Hornady, Lyman, and Lee. I found that trial and error is the best way to find what worked for me.

I guess you need to ask how accurate do you want to go? what you have should be a good start to get some good consistent reloads. I am using Lee press & dies. A Lyman Gen 5 powder dispenser that is accurate to +/- 0.1 grain. I use a trickler to top up the odd one that throws under the set weight. And the Hornady bullet comparator to ensure seating depth is correct. I neck size then salt bath anneal, full length resize every 4 reloads. I check case length every reload.

Not top end equipment but I am happy with the results. The only group I have a photo of is below. Ignore the flyer, that was all me. This was five shots at 100 yards with my RPR 6.5 Creedmoor. 140 gr Hornady ELD-M on top of 40gr of H4350. Hornady brass and Winchester standard small rifle primers. This equipment and these components work well for me and give repeatable results, the photo below is not a one off. As others have said consistency is what its all about.

You can, of course, spend much more than I did and get bench rest type accuracy. But I am happy with the accuracy I'm getting from the equipment I have

 
Last edited:
Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all of the replies. I should probably have given more information on what I currently have

Rifle: TRG-22 .308 WINCHESTER
Optic: Vortex Razor AMG with Spuhr 7mil cant mount

Press: RCBS Single Stage Press
Dies: Lee Collet Die, Forster Micrometer Seating Die, Redding body die.
Loader: RCBS Chargemaster.
Bullets: wide range, have a lot of 175grain SMK, TMK and some Hornady Match and AMAX as well as some Berger's and Scenars.
Powder: Varget
Trimmer: Sinclair
Brass: Mostly once fired federal, Hornady and some Norma. Will be buying 100 Lapua brass as per everyone's comments.
Chronograph: None
Primers: Federal Gold Medal Match

Think that's about it
 
JNA said:
Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all of the replies. I should probably have given more information on what I currently have

Rifle: TRG-22 .308 WINCHESTER
Optic: Vortex Razor AMG with Spuhr 7mil cant mount

Press: RCBS Single Stage Press
Dies: Lee Collet Die, Forster Micrometer Seating Die, Redding body die.
Loader: RCBS Chargemaster.
Bullets: wide range, have a lot of 175grain SMK, TMK and some Hornady Match and AMAX as well as some Berger's and Scenars.
Powder: Varget
Trimmer: Sinclair
Brass: Mostly once fired federal, Hornady and some Norma. Will be buying 100 Lapua brass as per everyone's comments.
Chronograph: None
Primers: Federal Gold Medal Match

Think that's about it
Click to expand...

My humble opinion and others may think different, RCBS chargemaster is the weak link if shooting past 500M... (other than brass but that seems settled)
Saw a huge difference once I changed mine out.
My load was 42.7gn of Varget.

Chargemaster would repeat the reading 42.70gn, if I transferred it to FX120, it would read from anywhere in between 42.62gn to 42.78gn, it's quite a spread.
I now use tweezers and remove a Varget kernel when I get 42.72gn readings, just because i'm that way!
 
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