Shane Tuttle
Staff
I peruse through a couple of reloading pages on Facebook time to time. My question comes from a couple of guys arguing neck tension, there. So, consider that source for what you will.
Someone was in the middle of working up a load on a rifle cartridge for target. I believe he was working at 300 or so yards with the ultimate goal of dialing in at 1000yds. Started with COAL, a known good powder/bullet/case/primer brands for his cartridge, etc. to get a good baseline. His rifle was grouping quite well after figuring the right powder load and bullet leade. Looked like it was just under 3" at 300yds. Another poster piped up and said powder charge isn't that important as long as you're under max load. But neck tension is key for the tightest groupings. Everything else is secondary. The debate went downhill from there.
So, if that's true, why is that? I can see having sound concentric case necks and consistent neck tension would make a difference to a certain degree. But this guy was talking about it making a bigger difference in tight groups than powder charge and COAL. My mind is thinking; how is a couple of pounds difference in tension relevant to tens of thousands of psi generated when firing?
What am I missing, here?
Someone was in the middle of working up a load on a rifle cartridge for target. I believe he was working at 300 or so yards with the ultimate goal of dialing in at 1000yds. Started with COAL, a known good powder/bullet/case/primer brands for his cartridge, etc. to get a good baseline. His rifle was grouping quite well after figuring the right powder load and bullet leade. Looked like it was just under 3" at 300yds. Another poster piped up and said powder charge isn't that important as long as you're under max load. But neck tension is key for the tightest groupings. Everything else is secondary. The debate went downhill from there.
So, if that's true, why is that? I can see having sound concentric case necks and consistent neck tension would make a difference to a certain degree. But this guy was talking about it making a bigger difference in tight groups than powder charge and COAL. My mind is thinking; how is a couple of pounds difference in tension relevant to tens of thousands of psi generated when firing?
What am I missing, here?