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Bullet Seating at a Match

I went to observe the TN F Class State Match this weekend and now have a bunch of questions. It's been about 13 years since last shooting F Class so it looks a bit different now.

The first question is simple but I just don't remember the specifics. A couple of shooters were seating bullets between matches and I remember "loading for match conditions".

1. Are they adjusting the seating depth?
2. What conditions would a shooter be adjusting for?
3. How do you determine the adjust amount, longer or shorter?
4. Is it just for a compressed load to prevent a change in seating depth?

Thanks for any help clarifying this.
 
F-Class shooters rarely do any loading at a match. We shoot too many rounds per string and there's typically not enough time, so the vast majority load before the match. I have never actually even seen someone loading rounds at an F-Class match, although that doesn't mean it never happens. Sometimes at larger matches, F-Class shooters will load before traveling, seating the bullets slightly long, then re-seat bullets to the desired seating depth in the hotel the night before. The advent of e-targets and not having to do pit duty at ranges which have them might possibly free up a little more time and enable this practice to become more commonplace at F-Class matches, but I doubt you'll ever see a lot of it.

The type of loading done at a match you described sounds more like what BR shooters do. Because of the differences in the formats of F-Class and BR shooting, reloading for F-Class typically has a slightly different emphasis. Although good precision is critical, the goal is not necessarily a load that will shoot in the zeros at 100 yd, but one that will maintain good precision over the long strings of fire (20+ shots). During the 10 to 15 minutes most F-Class shooters require to complete their 20 shots for record, changes in the wind conditions are far more likely to become the limiting source of error in terms of scoring. Very small differences in precision that can make a huge difference in BR shooting don't have as much impact when a missed wind call can easily put your shot out into the 8-ring, 7-ring, or even worse (i.e. wind deflection of 3 to 4 MOA, or greater). In an actual F-Class match, a load that can consistently shoot 0.25 MOA groups in calm conditions at 100 yd is capable of producing the same scores and X-counts as one that will shoot 0.1 MOA. In other words, pure precision of the load is no longer the limiting factor. Thus, maintaining consistent velocity ES/SD over long strings of fire is something F-Class shooters pay more attention to.

If you're interested in learning/understanding the approaches BR shooters use to adjust their loads for specific conditions, this is a great forum in which to ask that question. Hopefully a few will chime in on what they do and how it pertains to specific conditions.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I should clarify that the rounds were loaded. They appeared to be setting the overall length of the rounds for the next relay with a LE Wilson arbor press.
 
I have loaded up to 400 rounds in advance of two matches I was planning to attend but was out of town up until the match dates. Left my bullets long and seated them with a Lee hand press when I arrived early. Not quite so worried about it these days but then I am a sling shooter so my accuracy requirements are not s stringent as F-shooters these days.
 
Assuming they were merely adjusting to the final seating depth, that would obviously take less time than loading from scratch. FWIW - I have loaded ammunition days, weeks, sometimes even a month or more in advance and it shot just fine. The "cold welding" phenomena some describe where the bullets stick to the inside of the neck will not normally occur during a short time period of a few days or weeks. It may be that the concern about proper seating depth had more to do with a potential effect of bumping or jarring of the loaded rounds that might occur during travel to the match, as opposed to trying to adjust seating depth for the specific conditions that day. As I mentioned before, some people that travel a fair distance to matches might seat the night before in the hotel room for that reason. I always load well in advance and with proper packing/storage of the ammo, have never had any issues during travel. Nonetheless, there are usually several different methods you can use and end up at pretty much the same spot. Pick the one that you feel works best in your hands.
 
Yes, we were paired with someone that was doing this on far right end shooting F Open. He was seating deeper after sighters and looking at group.
 
Well, I've seated bullets the morning of at the hotel, haven't had to do it at the range. I quit the seating long routine, I've shot rounds loaded 6 months ago next to loaded that day. Zero difference. I'm sure others will disagree, so do whatever works for you.
 
I have seated long and do a final seating the night before on week long events and seat a thou' or two longer near the end of the week. I don't do that any longer. I'm with Dean....I seat to final position when I drop the charge regardless of how long in advance. This works better for me also.
 
F-Class shooters rarely do any loading at a match. We shoot too many rounds per string and there's typically not enough time, so the vast majority load before the match. I have never actually even seen someone loading rounds at an F-Class match, although that doesn't mean it never happens. Sometimes at larger matches, F-Class shooters will load before traveling, seating the bullets slightly long, then re-seat bullets to the desired seating depth in the hotel the night before. The advent of e-targets and not having to do pit duty at ranges which have them might possibly free up a little more time and enable this practice to become more commonplace at F-Class matches, but I doubt you'll ever see a lot of it.

The type of loading done at a match you described sounds more like what BR shooters do. Because of the differences in the formats of F-Class and BR shooting, reloading for F-Class typically has a slightly different emphasis. Although good precision is critical, the goal is not necessarily a load that will shoot in the zeros at 100 yd, but one that will maintain good precision over the long strings of fire (20+ shots). During the 10 to 15 minutes most F-Class shooters require to complete their 20 shots for record, changes in the wind conditions are far more likely to become the limiting source of error in terms of scoring. Very small differences in precision that can make a huge difference in BR shooting don't have as much impact when a missed wind call can easily put your shot out into the 8-ring, 7-ring, or even worse (i.e. wind deflection of 3 to 4 MOA, or greater). In an actual F-Class match, a load that can consistently shoot 0.25 MOA groups in calm conditions at 100 yd is capable of producing the same scores and X-counts as one that will shoot 0.1 MOA. In other words, pure precision of the load is no longer the limiting factor. Thus, maintaining consistent velocity ES/SD over long strings of fire is something F-Class shooters pay more attention to.

If you're interested in learning/understanding the approaches BR shooters use to adjust their loads for specific conditions, this is a great forum in which to ask that question. Hopefully a few will chime in on what they do and how it pertains to specific conditions.
^^^^^this is a great answer from beginning to end^^^^
Just my .02, but I think a lot of f-class shooters would improve their scores focusing less on their loads and more on the wind!
 
Yes, we were paired with someone that was doing this on far right end shooting F Open. He was seating deeper after sighters and looking at group.

That was one I was watching. I didn't want to ask questions while he was getting ready to shoot, but did leave me with questions.
 
I went to observe the TN F Class State Match this weekend and now have a bunch of questions. It's been about 13 years since last shooting F Class so it looks a bit different now.

The first question is simple but I just don't remember the specifics. A couple of shooters were seating bullets between matches and I remember "loading for match conditions".

4. Is it just for a compressed load to prevent a change in seating depth?

These are my three reasons to seat at a match
- Item 4. running slow powder i have noted if i seat the bullet 36hrs before the match my bullets would walk out from my desired seating depth... and if you have been up here you would have seen me seating in the morning and at lunch :)
- Traveling to an out of town match the gosling around packing an unpacking, plus the travel itself car or air plane may affect seating depth. I seat long if i am going to an out of town match
- Lastly depending on the type of match, testing "positive compensation" seating depths at distance. Most folks don't have convenient access to 1,000 yard range. So they may be testing various seating depths to get dialed in for an up coming bigger match. Usually both loads are good but one is always better.

Cheers
Trevor
 

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