Thinking of Reloading Operations as a "Pie Chart".

[amlevin]

Got to wondering, if all operations we go through to prep our brass and load our ammo were displayed on a Pie Chart according to their contribution to Accuracy, what steps would be the largest segments when only considering accuracy.

Here's all the Steps I could think of:
Cleaning brass
Neck Sizing
Trimming
Sorting by weight/volume
Sorting Bullets by Weight
Sorting Bullets by base/ogive measurement
Meplat trimming
Pointing
Primer Pocket Uniforming
Flash Hole Deburring
Hand seating primers to precise depth
Weighing Powder Charges

Of the items on the list, which would be the largest pie segments?
Which would be merely lines on the Chart with a small fraction shown off to the side?

Of the dozen steps listed above, should you only be allowed to perform let's say 5, which would they be, again thinking only of accuracy. What percentage of the Accuracy Pie Chart would those 5 represent.


Just curious as to what people think is most important and where the least return for effort invested begins.

 

[40X Guy]

I have a similar list but with 2 extra steps.

Annealing
Proper FL sizing with correct amount of minimal shoulder bump.
IMO those 2 steps are the largest part of the pie closely followed by sorting cases and bullets.

I do everything on your list except the pointing and meplat trimming, which will be the next things I get into.

Frank

 

[djtjr]

What about neck turning? I would love to see what some of competitive short and Lo grange guys have to say here and what the differences are between the two types of shooting.
I look forward to your replies

 

[chevi_guy]

amlevin

I have been looking at this web site for several years and your topic(question) has to be one of the best most important that I have seen.
I have only been shooting benchrest for a couple of years but have been reloading for 40 yrs. and benchrest shooting for pure accuracy gives a whole new meaning to reloading.
I would like to see a lot of the top BR shooters weigh in on your on your "Pie Chart" questions.
I think it would be very informative even for the experienced BR competitors.
Maybe even the site moderators could help getting experts to join in.

Ben

 

[Klong]

Depends upon the discipline.

 

[amlevin]

Thanks for bring up an insightful question. I hope, however, you're not expecting a concensus.

I knew, going into the post, that I wouldn't see a consensus. What I was hoping for was some sort of idea of what would be the steps that contribute the most to accuracy and which only add small increments.

Yes, BR will have a different approach than LR and both will offer different views than Hunters and plain Target shooters.

I guess the question was just an outgrowth of reading all the "I always do this step" vs "I never bother with it as it doesn't make the round more accurate" type of posts.

To me, the steps annealing, neck sizing, neck turning, accurately measuring powder, Sorting bullets by base-ogive measurement, and proper OAL all contribute the most to accuracy (and not necessarily in that order). From there the gains get small for each action performed.

I'd love to see what the more experienced view as the "biggest segments" and from each discipline, BR, LR, Target, Hunting.

 

[BlackEagle]

It depends on the particular batch of components you are working with. One batch of brass may benefit more from annealing than trimming while another may not. And some batches of bullets just need sorting while others may benefit more from pointing or meplat trimming.

 

[drumcorpschamp]

amlevin,

This is a great thread that you have started. I believe that the easiest way for you to collect data for this is to have the Forum Boss set up a poll in this thread or in the reloading section of the forum.

I am not familiar with the options available for poll posting here, but think that with a little back and forth between yourself and Paul, the two of you could probably come up with a great tool for you to get your data.

Interested in the results,
Jerry