• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

How critical is runout at 100 yds

I only shoot at 100yds. I have a Rem 700 action and a Hart barrel with a Jewell trigger in 22-250. I have 34 targets over the last 3 years under 1/4". At this range what would be the acceptable runout. I am getting about .004 runout. Is this amount of runout OK? I average 5 shot groups most of the time under 1/2". Lapua brass annealed after each time I use them. Ammerman bullets in a 1-14 barrel vv150 powder
 
Never been able to detect a difference in runout in my groups. Don't think it really matters. As Alex Wheeler said on a pod cast with Erik Cortina once the cartridge is in the chamber with the minimal clearance surrounding it there can't be much room for it to be crooked.
 
I periodically check neck runout after sizing and bullet runout after seating on my rudimentary concentricity gauge. I'm loading Berger VLD's and Hybrid bullets in Alpha cases. Necks are within .0005 and bullets are in around .001-.0015. That makes me happy. I have shot factory match with as much as .005 and the groups were within 3/8 moa. Concentricity gauges are like bore scopes, sometimes they are your friend and sometimes they will drive you crazy! If I was shooting .1XX" groups concentricity might be a concern, but most likely to do that I would be jamming the bullet and then runout wouldn't much matter.

So because it's convenient, I now and again check runout, to more or less check uniformity of my setup. If I didn't have the concentricity gauge it wouldn't be a big deal. Find a flat table surface, slowly roll a cartridge and watch the bullet point, don't get to close. If you can detect the bullet wobble there may be a problem in the setup. Then examine the target, it's a much better gauge.
 
Average of 5 shot groups 1/2 moa and under with a 22 250! That is supreme varmint / predator level hunting precision.

As guys much smarter than me in the shooting sports have said, "Believe Your Target." I would just keep doing what you're doing.

Don't invent a problem to solve. Or other words, "if ain't broke, don't fix it." ;) ;)
 
Take ur loaded rounds and while u are checking the neck/bullet runout, mark (index) the high or low spot on the brass with a sharpie. Now take these marked rounds and load them in your rifle with the indexed mark either all at 12 or 6 o'clock. See if the indexing of the rounds changes your groups any.

I would say that if your TIR on loaded rounds is .0015" or less, you have nothing to worry about. Any of the loaded rounds greater than that, try indexing them like I outlined above.
 
The affect of loaded runout has nothing to do with bore misalignment.
Instead, varying results manifest with chambered ammo interference fitting.
In other words, with excess runout (w/resp to chamber), barrel pressure points are created.

So the affects of various runout numbers across this industry are no more consistent than chamber clearances w/resp to ammo straightness, and build sensitivities to chamber pressure points.
 
Not to derail but, let's say we are running 2 thousandths neck tension and seating to "jam". Would this not correct any issue with run out?
In my opinion you're correct and that's basically the gist of what's happening in my video above. I don't even think you'd need a hard jam to get this effect to occur, in my video I was off the lands. Let's call it 'chamber straightening'. I suppose you could argue that you'd need a good chamber and properly loaded rounds to get this to happen but I figure that's a given with this group. In the end, bad loads are bad loads whether perfectly concentric or not.

Edit: None of this is to say we don't care about runout/concentricity nor should we TRY to load ammo with excessive runout/concentricity. It's simply to say that if you're loading good ammo and you're seeing a little variance that there's probably a good handful of other issues affecting your accuracy or precision that are far more detrimental than a little runout/concentricity.
 
Last edited:
Yea, when setting up a new die is about the only time I mess with the concentricity gauge to make sure nothing wonky is going on.
This.... I tried it like everything else and it ended up taking up space on my bench and gathering dust... Waiting on the economy to move so I have plenty of clean up these kind of things and put them back in their original box for the move.... Haven't missed it a bit... I will probably unbox it again one day or it will end up in the latest and greatest box... I have found out over the years why reloading companies don't let you try before you buy things...lol
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
166,264
Messages
2,215,479
Members
79,508
Latest member
Jsm4425
Back
Top