What 3 reloading factors most affect accuracy...?

A

ATPBULLETS

New member
As stated in title.....

i am brand new to the firing line forum... been observing for a while and reloading for about a year and i load for 3-4 rifle calibers, and 2-3 pistol
calibers....

What 3 reloading factors most affect accuracy...??
what do i need to "dial in" and keep dialed in for good "hunitng accuracy"
Rifle vs pistol ...... if your factors are different...

Thanks for the replies...:)
 
The single greatest factor I can think of at this time is the shooter being familiar with thier weapon. As long as your loads are consistant practice more with them. One of the secrets of hand loaders is not just the loads. We tend to shoot more often, and know the weapon, and its performance well.

Other than that I say budget, and time are the other two.
 
Bullet stability is one that is nearly guaranteed to be left out.

The relationship between rate of twist, bullet velocity and bullet weight/length affect bullet stability in flight. If a load causes identical bullets to leave an absolutely perfect barrel at exactly the same velocity every time, if the bullet yaws because the spin rate does not stabilize it, you will never get good groups.

Another overlooked factor is case volume. If you have one case with more brass in it, there is less free volume for the powder and combustion, so pressure will be higher. Seating a bullet deeper (or less deep) affects that volume. Depending on your charge, powder and fill ratio this COULD introduce more variation than varying the charge weight.

With a low fill ratio, the position of the powder inside the case can introduce a significant change in pressure. I read a first-hand account of blowing up a Thompson-Contender that is certainly attributable to powder position. It was while fire-forming with very light loads of a fast powder, but a pressure spike destroyed the gun (no injuries, thankfully). I myself have seen 10% velocity variations with light loads of Trail Boss in a 500 S&W (around 800 fps) depending on the powder position.

Crimp strength will affect the shape of the pressure/time curve. This in turn affects muzzle velocity and the length of time the bullet takes to reach the muzzle. Barrel whip, (bullet leaving the muzzle at a node or away from a node) will certainly affect accuracy.

I don't really have enough experience to say if these are greater than other factors, but those are my nominees at the moment.

Lost Sheep

p.s. Post #2 came in while I was composing. It reminded me. Consistency is paramount. Consistency in all and any factors.

I assumed from the beginning that the shooter would be "ideal" and we were talking only about the relationship between the gun and the ammunition. Loose (or lousy) sights would be high on the list otherwise.
 
1) The shooter
2) The gun
3) The bullet

If you mean in terms of reloading steps,
A) Bullet seating to optimum COL
B) Bullet seating to be co-axial to bore
C) Case expansion to aid in (B)--which requires more than simply flaring the case mouth...
 
Brass prep. (consistency/uniformity)
Bullet. (consistency) Good bullets are a lot better than cheap bullets.
Bullet seating. I take great care in seating bullets so it doesn't start into the case cockeyed or shave lead.
 
awesome answers.....yes, the question is just "reloading variables"....not the gun, shooter, etc.....just variables on the bench...while reloading....thanks.
 
Bullet selection - always a guess, but try to match to gun and purpose.

Case sizing - Fit to chamber has a big effect on rifle accuracy.

Powder charge - for a given set of load parameters, I need to try 4 or more charge weights to know I'm the best I can be .

All else will have less than a 10% group size effect, is managed well.
 
what do i need to "dial in" and keep dialed in for good "hunitng accuracy"
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Consistency is the key to good reloading practices. I note that you put "hunting" in quotes, so let's talk about that for a minute. I'm a hunter and an informal shooter. I make no pretense at pretending I'm a benchrest guy, or a competitor, nor even a sniper. I'm simply a guy who likes to shoot informally, and likes to bring venison home. I don't need a benchrest rifle for my purposes, nor do I own any heavy rifles. My heaviest rifle weighs in at less than 9 pounds with ammo, scope, and sling.

Consistency, again. Good brass, good bullets, weighed powder charges, it all makes a difference. We can learn a lot from the precision shooters because they've all made the same mistakes and they've learned from those mistakes. The guys who can shoot a half-inch group consistently know what they're talking about. Learn from them and apply what you've learned.

I know that I'm a 1.5 inch/100 yard shooter. I can make a shot at 100 yards from nearly any position with my rifle and it will fall within 1.5 inches of my aiming point. I'm NOT talking about the bench, but from field shooting positions. Now, lots of guys would scoff at that level of accuracy, but that's my level of expertise, day-in, day-out. I've flirted with tighter groups, and I've shot some magnificently small groups, but those were statistical anomalies. Knowing that about myself, I strive for the best ammo I can obtain. I buy good bullets, process my brass consistently, try to do all the things to give me good, consistent ammunition and blame the results on myself.

Probably the most important part of the equation is shooting the ammo you reload. I believe that the guy who shoots 1000 rounds per year, and learns from each session will be a better shot than the guy who shoots 20 rounds per year. Once I've settled on a load, I quit obsessing about it, strive for consistency on the bench, then take the rifle out and shoot it. I shoot spring, summer, fall and try to keep my level of competence. Practice makes perfect. Get out and shoot.
 
If "The Land Between the Lakes" is very cold in the winter I would surely check to see how any of your loads shoot in sub zero temps. Over the years I've had to switch to magnum primers or just change powders to get best results in extreme cold weather. Right now I shoot a 300 win mag for all big game and have a load that does not vary from 115 degrees here in the desert at near sea level to 10 below zero at 9000 feet elevation. I remember Red Dot being a problem in light loadings in cold weather especially in my shotguns.
 
What 3 reloading factors most affect accuracy...??
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Each stage of reloading is important to accuracy, I don't think you can narrow it to just 3. As stated above consistency throughout the entire process is key.

what do i need to "dial in" and keep dialed in for good "hunitng accuracy"
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Time and money! Most of my guns have been accurate enough for hunting with pretty much any bullet/powder combination I run in them. The problem is I keep trying different combinations to sqeeze a little more out of them:eek:
 
In my opinion for a hunting rifle. . . . . .

First off, forget the barrel. What ever's in the rifle you have is what you'll use. Most of the USA commercial rifle barrels are more than capable of shooting 1 MOA at a hundred with a few bullet weights and load recipies. It helps if the barrel's groove diameter's a bit smaller than the bullet by a few ten thousandths, but it ain't critical.

The next three apply directly to the reloading process:

Second, forget weighing charges. If commercial centerfire match ammo with metered charges with a 3/10ths grain spread can shoot under 1/3 inch all day long at 100 yards in a good barrel, why weigh charges?

Third, forget prepping cases. Brand spanking new ones are used in the above mentioned ammo.

Fourth, for the longest case life as well as accuracy as good as it gets, use a full length sizing die with a bushing sized correctly for your case neck. Bushing diameter should be 3 thousandths smaller than a loaded round's neck diameter when the ammo's used for hunting. Use an RCBS Precision Mic to measure your cases so the die can be set in the press to bump fired case shoulders back no more than 2 thousandths.

This last one applies to testing your reloads:

Fifth, and probably the most important, test your reloads properly. Shoot at least 10 shots per test group and 15 to 20 is a whole lot better. Evaluate your reloaded ammo's accuracy by remembering what the largest group is that it shoots with the load under test. That's the worst you can count on all the time and gives you an idea as to what the furthest distance you'll miss your point of aim is. If they show you'll miss point of aim more than you want, try another load. Forget the small groups; they only happen the smallest percentage of the time and you may wear your barrel out trying to get one smaller than one you already have.
 
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Just remeber the first shot is probably the only one you will get when hunting.

I care more about where the first shot goes than any of the others. My testing of hunting loads is to make sure they are not over pressured.

My go to 30-06 I to this day have never shot the same target twice with it. I have killed over 60 deer in 28 years with it.
 
yes, the question is just "reloading variables"....not the gun, shooter, etc.....just variables on the bench...while reloading
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Consistency
Consistency
Consistency

From component, to process, to storage; consistency is the most important variable.
 
Consistency in all things?

mrawesome22 wrote:
Consistency. Times three.

Consistency is ONLY important if what you do is consistently good. Many people trim their 9x19, .40S&W, and .45Auto brass, to be consistent. However, all they are doing is increasing head space and making consistently inaccurate ammo.
Most rifle shooters have heard of performing a "ladder test" at 200-300 yds and finding the charge weight range where all the bullets group into one group. Thus, they KNOW that a range of charge weights will still place the bullet into a moderately small group out to 400 yds. Thus, sweating consistency by measuring your charge weight to 0.1gn (or as some say, 0.02gn), when most rounds will have a random number of grains of powder that will be unburned, is NOT really gaining anything.
I doubt there has ever been a single round go off where ALL powder has burned. Chemical reactions are not 100%.
It would be nice if people all did their own tests on what factors really need to be consistent and published the results.
 
ALL (yes, all) other things being equal, case prep. This is assuming everything is good quality to begin with.

"Secrets of the Houston Warehouse"

Read the whole thing, all the way to the end.
__________________


WOW.....:eek:
 
Consistent ignition, this is how the primer lights off the powder.

Consistent pressure profile, this is how the hot gasses push the bullet down the bore. The consistency of bullet to bore fit is key here.

Clean and consistent exit at the muzzle. Not only does the muzzle need to be concentric, but the bullet needs to exit at the same point of muzzle whip.

Changing any single component (primer, powder, brass, bullet) affects all three pieces required for accuracy.

Jimro
 
Consistency is ONLY important if what you do is consistently good. Many people trim their 9x19, .40S&W, and .45Auto brass, to be consistent. However, all they are doing is increasing head space and making consistently inaccurate ammo.
Most rifle shooters have heard of performing a "ladder test" at 200-300 yds and finding the charge weight range where all the bullets group into one group. Thus, they KNOW that a range of charge weights will still place the bullet into a moderately small group out to 400 yds. Thus, sweating consistency by measuring your charge weight to 0.1gn (or as some say, 0.02gn), when most rounds will have a random number of grains of powder that will be unburned, is NOT really gaining anything.
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So... you're saying that absolute randomness is the most important factor in reloading?


While I understand that you're trying to point out that there are some variables that reloaders cannot eliminate; your argument is not clear and really does seem to be saying that you can just randomly toss a bunch of crap together, because consistency at the reloading bench will be outweighed by uncontrollable random factors.

It would be nice if people all did their own tests on what factors really need to be consistent and published the results.
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Come take a look at my reloading notes, one of these days. I do perform my own testing, and I do publish my results ...in my notebook. ;)

But... there are many resources available today, that allow reloaders to get a good idea of whether or not they need to care about any given variable. From online forums, to professional articles, to YouTube videos, to blogs, to e-Magazines... there's a ton of information online, detailing the tests other reloaders have performed. And there are, of course, the classic magazine articles. One of my favorites, Handloader, is not only a great resource, but unbiased. More than 50% of the articles are written by freelancers ... guys like you and me, just sharing our knowledge.


One of the biggest reasons many of use reload, is because we want nearly perfect ammunition. In order to achieve that, we often have to weed out the undesirable loads, as well.
Don't dwell on the "failures" or variables you have no control over. Take anything you can from any test you perform, and apply that knowledge to future endeavors. Don't chase frustration. Move on, and pursue a load that will make you happy.
 
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