Most Important Thing to Do?

[alinwa]

Aside from wind and aim, etc.,

Which aspect of reloading, individually, have you found to have the biggest effect on accuracy?

i.e.
Weighing a charge down to a kernel or two.
Neck tension.
Seating depth.
Other reloading practices.

And I am aware that the best product is a combination of everything.

As is my wont....... takin' it a whole nuther way

The single most important thing is a good gun.

Some will say "good barrel" but IMO it takes more than a barrel.

I think you need a gun that starts out at or under 1moa. Then you've got something to work with. If the gun shoots good from the get-go you should be able to make it better. It's dead easy to make a 1/4moa gun into a 3/4moa gun by reloading and visey varsey.... but ain't many 3/4 and under guns out there... Those guns that "throw a 1.5inch flyer" are bad GUNS, not bad loads.

"flyers" are basically incurable.

It took me years to learn this.

Without a good gun NOTHING matters because you can shoot better than the gun. 99% of all people are limited by their rifle and ain't NUTTIN' you can do reloading-wise to turn a 1.5moa gun into a 1moa gun.

WITH A GOOD GUN..... my single biggest effect will be found with varying the powder charge while starting with the bullet firmly jammed into the lands.

Second, once I'm knotted up good will be seating depth to change the shape of the knot.

opinionby






al

 

[Webster]

Aside from wind and aim, etc.,

Which aspect of reloading, individually, have you found to have the biggest effect on accuracy?

i.e.
Weighing a charge down to a kernel or two.
Neck tension.
Seating depth.
Other reloading practices.

And I am aware that the best product is a combination of everything.

If you don't have good shooting personal skills you cannot tell a somewhat average load from a very good one. If you have 3 shoots in a cloverleaf and 1 or 2 a 1/4" or 1/2" out you need to know if it was your fault or else your batting your head against a wall.

I agree with other posters a good gun/barrel is necessary to get small groups. I have a Kreiger barrel on both my varmint rifles. One a 6BBR and the other a 6BRX chosen because they are inherently accurate. Bought a Rem 700 in 22-250 to get the bolt face diameter. Replaced the barrel without firing a single shot.

If several load are giving you 3/4" to 1" groups you have a deer hunting rifle. It won't get a lot better. Look at the NRA magazine test groups for various rifles. Typical groups with factory ammo by very good shooters.

 

[Puzzaz01]

I am another who agrees with seating depths make more of a difference than just about anything..

Darrin

 

[johara1]

There is no one single thing..... it is a triade.... What you are capable of, what you rifle is capable of, and your ammunition is capable of........ jim

 

[Mulligan]

Seating depth, like @BoydAllen said.

Then I would take a hard look at the information Donavan shared in the link below.
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/ladder-testing.3894169/

CW

 

[K22]

You will learn that the most significant variable is the shooter. With that said, in my experience it's bullet selection assuming that you are using a powder that's suitable for the caliber you are loading.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

As far as reloading is concerned, learning how to find powder weight range that yields minimal vertical spread. I try for .3-.4 range on the small calibers double that for weights over 40 gr.

 

[cw308]

Aside from wind and aim, etc.,

Which aspect of reloading, individually, have you found to have the biggest effect on accuracy?

i.e.
Weighing a charge down to a kernel or two.
Neck tension.
Seating depth.
Other reloading practices.

And I am aware that the best product is a combination of everything.

 

[cw308]

Case prep , the right accurate powder charge and seating length . All three are equally important . Just screw up one out of the three will show on your group size . It takes time finding that pet load sorry there's no short cuts . One step , trial and error at a time .

 

[Bojo]

Beginner here , my problem is trying to figure out the problem is and just what to do to remedy it.

 

[Bc'z]

Beginner here , my problem is trying to figure out the problem is and just what to do to remedy it.

There are a lot of members and down right good shooters here that live in your neck of the woods.
Reach out to them, I'm sure they'll be happy to show you the path to the RABBIT hole.
And as your peering into the depths of darkness they'll give you a shove....

In the right direction.

 

[perry42]

Consistency in loading and at the range.is key. Depth of seating, neck tension, brass prep, etc. CONSISTENSY

perry42

 

[MikeMcCasland]

If we're talking about a good shooter, with a quality rifle, and you're using known good components, then in my experience, seating depth absolutely makes the most difference.

It's amazing how much difference a few thousandths can make.

 

[JohnKielly]

Putting the bullet in pointy end first.

 

[LGKLAS]

Tough question to answer. One because i am comparatively new to reloading. Two because there are many other steps not mentioned. To try to answer your question- for me, it is finding the right charge weight. My accurate loads started with finding the right powder charge. So the first item on your list. But I have never , til now, tried to quantify what steps of those I do make the most difference in the accuracy of my loads. Each I think is important, equally, and along with consistency. Repeat the performance.

 

[Homerange]

Had a guy at my range that really struggled to get any sort of 1/2 decent group with both rifles he owned.

Well I thought it just best to leave him alone and let him get the trigger time he sorely needed. Explained the basics and left him to it.............

Frustrated he threw some good dough at a Nightforce scope and still couldn't shoot any better.

Ok let's watch this turkey to find any obvious errors in his technique.......
Well you wouldn't believe what he was doing..........all stemming from his old man kicking his arse some 20 years earlier for not removing his finger from the trigger after squeezing off a shot !
Before he squeezed off his trigger finger was like a coiled spring, ready to be flung away from the trigger once the sear broke. Poor bugger didn't even know he was doing it !

I didn't tell him straight away, instead asking him to hold a real good steady bead on the target and watch the crosshairs while he dry fired.

Well you should've heard the expletives and watched the dance of frustration after realizing why he couldn't shoot for shit.
3 more dry fires learning to keep his trigger finger under control and he went on to shoot the best group of his life.......but still nothing flash from a quality sporter spitting 'run of the mill' factory loads.....~3/4"

He was sure a few $k lighter but learnt a lot and now has some nice gear.

#1. Technique !

 

[msinc]

This is a tough question. Not by and of itself, although it appears almost the entire first two pages missed the boat {what part of "reloading" didn't they all get???} and chose to talk about skills, guns, etc.
The problem is that the single act of reloading itself is so dependent on the other two. Here's what I am driving at...I have some rifles that will shoot real nice groups given the right reloads. About a month ago I put together a Model 7 in 223. Nothing to write home about, nice Claro walnut custom stock, Timney trigger, Muller barrel, glass bedded, etc.
This is truly the barrel I have been looking for for quite some time. It is currently the only rifle I own that will shoot very small {most of the time one ragged hole} groups with just about any bullet and reasonable load I feed it. Everything on your list, as well as everything I have either tried or continue to do reloading wise don't make any noticeable difference to this rifle.
Now, drop back to before I stumbled upon a Muller barrel and I would have said "the right bullet" because prior to owning/shooting this thing that is what sure seemed like the single biggest effect reloading for me. Why do I place so much importance or give the credit to this barrel?? Because this rifle is the end of the trail in a pretty long quest for an accurate 223 hunting rifle. I have two others that almost made the cut and I am glad I didn't settle. With either of these two I can do a bunch of reloading "tricks" and they will shoot a good group, but not like the Muller barreled gun and for certain not with just about any ammo I feed them. Regarding these two rifles...the single one thing accuracy wise and reloading wise is the use of Berger bullets.

 

[grovey]

I think consistent charge weights have had the most effect for me, but I've had different guns for which the most important aspect of reloading for one did little for others. I think learning what a specific gun likes and then consistently applying the process and components is probably the most important, regardless of what you do.

Also, an aside, fundamentals of marksmanship and practice depend on what type of shooting you are doing. Pretty basic and not really requiring practice for benchrest, for example, (other than wind/mirage reading), but they are life or death for across the course or PRS type shooting.
~Gary

So benchrest is so easy you don't need to practice? My guess is you'd be at the bottom of the score sheet with that thinking.

 

[dcali]

I totally disagree with those saying that fundamentals trump equipment for benchrest, F class, and other disciplines that have lots of support. (for High power and silhouette, I agree- it's mostly shooter).

All you have to do is go to a local F class match and see what happens when a shooter gets a new better rifle - they shoot way up the standings. You simply cannot compete without getting the technical details right - it's half or more of the sport. The best shooters in the world cannot get a whiff of the hardware with the average F class rifle.

That said, as far as reloading goes, I've found seating depth most important, followed by getting charge weight right. And using appropriate, high quality bullets *and not over spinning them*. If you do that, you're 90% there. I'm also a recent convert to tuners. They make a big difference for my rifle in terms of keeping the rifle shooting well.

 

[fatelvis]

In regards to reloading, I think using quality bullets is the most important part.