I wish to try to maximize my reloads accuracy potential but have a limited budget, so to any one who responds please temper your purchasing advice knowing I can not expend another $500 let alone $1k on new equipment. At least not to start and then not without justification based on significant improvement.
To begin with I feel it should be known I own 100% factory rifles all of which have proven very accurate, but it is the inconsistencies AKA unexplained flyers I'm trying to reduce as much as I can. I should add i do all my accuracy testing at 300 yards as that's the maximum range I can use often enough to be practical. I have two ranges where the distances go to 700-1000 yards but their distance (3hrs 1 way) from my home makes regular use impractical.
I strongly suspect based on the correlation between the occasional flyers I experience and the lack of inconsistent MV (my reloads have good not great but good SD & ES) of same my problem most likely lies with my reloads or more specifically my equipment's inability to make as near to perfectly identical reloads, and to narrow it even farther I feel the most likely cause for my inconsistent reloads is in my brass preparation. I Would rate myself and my equipment as intermediate.
I will add I will be coating my bullets and barrel in HBN before I do any more load development.
For all my rifle calibers I reload for I use the fallowing equipment:
Two RCBS Rockchucker II presses
Redding FL and body only dies
Redding bullet seating dies
Forster non-micro BR bullet seating dies
Lee Collet and Dead Length seating dies
Lee Deluxe quick trim case trimmer
Hornady hand priming tool
K&M primer pocket uniforming and de-burring tools
Lyman VLD champhering tool
Starrett Calipers
Stony Point/Hornady Headspace and case length comparitore for all calibers with anvils
Stony Point Over all case length gauge
Redding, RCBS 10-10 and 5-0-5 balance beam scales one checks the other on every loading
Redding powder trickler
Caldwell Ballistic Precision G2 chronograph
Salt bath Anneal neck and shoulder at 800-825*/F for 6 seconds +/- 1 second every third firing
I use brass from Hornady (80%), Winchester (10%) and Federal (10%). I plan on trying Norma or Bertram brass to help with my brass consistency.
I segregate all brass by lot#s and numbers of firings.
Obviously I don't own the equipment needed to measure for run out in either my brass necks or loaded rounds. For that I use a 18"x18" piece of marble tile on a dead level surface that I roll my reloads on under a very bright light. Works surprisingly well finding loads with run out but does nothing to diagnose let alone preventing the cause for same. I also don't own any neck turning equipment. I also realize I need to invest in a good quality micrometer at the least.
My reloads accuracy AVERAGE at present has been MOA or slightly better in all my rifles except in my Tikka T3 Lite, it has consistently been my most accurate rifle averaging sub MOA. The issue I'm trying to solve is not one of accuracy but one of CONSISTENT accuracy by eliminating flyers I know I didn't cause, and I feel the cause most likely will be inconsistency in my brass but I have only limited ability to measure my reloads to diagnose and determine the where the inconsistency is.
There are all kinds of reloading tools I would LOVE to buy, but #1-I can not afford most let alone them all, and #2-I don't yet posses the knowledge to know which tools given my situation of factory rifles I should buy first to spend my limited funds a wisely as possible.
I have been researching this for some time and my information is pointing towards buying a Redding case neck concentricity gauge and a Sinclair concentricity gauge to measure my case necks and loaded rounds and by doing so maximize my loaded rounds consistency and hopefully use these tools to identify at what stage of my reloading process I am imparting my inconsistency.
What i would like is input from those that have achieved a advanced level of reloading if purchasing these to items first before any other equipment is a good course of action or not. I also realize I might need to buy a neck turning tool as well but as i said I simply don't know what to buy first and that is why I am here requesting help from those much more knowledgeable than I.
I'm concentrating on brass preparation as my factory rifles are giving me IMO more than acceptable accuracy so I don't feel they need modification at this point. I use two some times three balance beam scales to double check the weight of my powder charges and again considering my circumstances of factory rifles and shooting to only medium ranges I feel that do this with every charge that should give me consistent enough powder charge weights.
I would love to buy along with the above tolls I mentioned, a Forster CO-AX press and a micro-meter primer seater from K&M as well as a 21st century concentricity gauge, a micro-meter case trimmer along with all new micro-meter bullet seating dies from Forster and the list goes on and on, but the only thing more limited than my budget is my knowledge as which equipment given my circumstances will actually help me to make more significantly consistent reloads and not end up being an expenditure that has little if any chance in improving my reloads consistency at least equal to it's cost.
So based on my circumstances of factory rifles and accuracy goals of medium long range hunting under 700 yards what brass preparation equipment should I invest in first with a budget of $300 to start with. If after the initial $300 is spent and I see a significant improvement but still see room for improvement I will be willing to expend more funds, but only if my initial expenditure bears fruit. What ever is recommended I will try at first on my most accurate rifle prior to any other.
Thanks for your time and advice,
Art.
To begin with I feel it should be known I own 100% factory rifles all of which have proven very accurate, but it is the inconsistencies AKA unexplained flyers I'm trying to reduce as much as I can. I should add i do all my accuracy testing at 300 yards as that's the maximum range I can use often enough to be practical. I have two ranges where the distances go to 700-1000 yards but their distance (3hrs 1 way) from my home makes regular use impractical.
I strongly suspect based on the correlation between the occasional flyers I experience and the lack of inconsistent MV (my reloads have good not great but good SD & ES) of same my problem most likely lies with my reloads or more specifically my equipment's inability to make as near to perfectly identical reloads, and to narrow it even farther I feel the most likely cause for my inconsistent reloads is in my brass preparation. I Would rate myself and my equipment as intermediate.
I will add I will be coating my bullets and barrel in HBN before I do any more load development.
For all my rifle calibers I reload for I use the fallowing equipment:
Two RCBS Rockchucker II presses
Redding FL and body only dies
Redding bullet seating dies
Forster non-micro BR bullet seating dies
Lee Collet and Dead Length seating dies
Lee Deluxe quick trim case trimmer
Hornady hand priming tool
K&M primer pocket uniforming and de-burring tools
Lyman VLD champhering tool
Starrett Calipers
Stony Point/Hornady Headspace and case length comparitore for all calibers with anvils
Stony Point Over all case length gauge
Redding, RCBS 10-10 and 5-0-5 balance beam scales one checks the other on every loading
Redding powder trickler
Caldwell Ballistic Precision G2 chronograph
Salt bath Anneal neck and shoulder at 800-825*/F for 6 seconds +/- 1 second every third firing
I use brass from Hornady (80%), Winchester (10%) and Federal (10%). I plan on trying Norma or Bertram brass to help with my brass consistency.
I segregate all brass by lot#s and numbers of firings.
Obviously I don't own the equipment needed to measure for run out in either my brass necks or loaded rounds. For that I use a 18"x18" piece of marble tile on a dead level surface that I roll my reloads on under a very bright light. Works surprisingly well finding loads with run out but does nothing to diagnose let alone preventing the cause for same. I also don't own any neck turning equipment. I also realize I need to invest in a good quality micrometer at the least.
My reloads accuracy AVERAGE at present has been MOA or slightly better in all my rifles except in my Tikka T3 Lite, it has consistently been my most accurate rifle averaging sub MOA. The issue I'm trying to solve is not one of accuracy but one of CONSISTENT accuracy by eliminating flyers I know I didn't cause, and I feel the cause most likely will be inconsistency in my brass but I have only limited ability to measure my reloads to diagnose and determine the where the inconsistency is.
There are all kinds of reloading tools I would LOVE to buy, but #1-I can not afford most let alone them all, and #2-I don't yet posses the knowledge to know which tools given my situation of factory rifles I should buy first to spend my limited funds a wisely as possible.
I have been researching this for some time and my information is pointing towards buying a Redding case neck concentricity gauge and a Sinclair concentricity gauge to measure my case necks and loaded rounds and by doing so maximize my loaded rounds consistency and hopefully use these tools to identify at what stage of my reloading process I am imparting my inconsistency.
What i would like is input from those that have achieved a advanced level of reloading if purchasing these to items first before any other equipment is a good course of action or not. I also realize I might need to buy a neck turning tool as well but as i said I simply don't know what to buy first and that is why I am here requesting help from those much more knowledgeable than I.
I'm concentrating on brass preparation as my factory rifles are giving me IMO more than acceptable accuracy so I don't feel they need modification at this point. I use two some times three balance beam scales to double check the weight of my powder charges and again considering my circumstances of factory rifles and shooting to only medium ranges I feel that do this with every charge that should give me consistent enough powder charge weights.
I would love to buy along with the above tolls I mentioned, a Forster CO-AX press and a micro-meter primer seater from K&M as well as a 21st century concentricity gauge, a micro-meter case trimmer along with all new micro-meter bullet seating dies from Forster and the list goes on and on, but the only thing more limited than my budget is my knowledge as which equipment given my circumstances will actually help me to make more significantly consistent reloads and not end up being an expenditure that has little if any chance in improving my reloads consistency at least equal to it's cost.
So based on my circumstances of factory rifles and accuracy goals of medium long range hunting under 700 yards what brass preparation equipment should I invest in first with a budget of $300 to start with. If after the initial $300 is spent and I see a significant improvement but still see room for improvement I will be willing to expend more funds, but only if my initial expenditure bears fruit. What ever is recommended I will try at first on my most accurate rifle prior to any other.
Thanks for your time and advice,
Art.
-Al
