Looking for the top 10 keys to accuracy

[abbiboy]

Gentelman, i'm a middle of the road at best reloading guy with some pretty nice guns that i'm sure with some tip i could get the most out of my rifles.

What are some of the keys to building a good rifle and building good ammo that the average guy doesn't do.

Ty

 

[Boyd Allen]

As far as the rifle goes, buy the very best barrels. The difference in price, spread over the life of the barrel is small.

Pick a gunsmith who has a record of producing successful competition rifles, even though that is not what he may be building for you.

Pay a lot of attention to the relationship between brass, chamber, and dies. Work with actual numbers, not terms like SAAMI minimum, or a short throat. Know the numbers, and why they are what they are.

Spend the money for the best bedding.

When you mount the scope, lap your rings, instead of deforming your scope.

Invest in a good trigger.

As far as reloading goes, get a concentricity gage, so that you have a way to measure how straight your ammunition is.

Pay a lot of attention to seating depth, and be aware that the majority of loads produced for bolt action rifles, for match, or accurate varminting use, have the bullets loaded longer than touch. This is not to say that an accurate result cannot be achieved any other way, but you should be prepared to explore in this area.

Have a way to accurately measure shoulder bump, and by that I do not mean using your rifle as a feel gauge.

Learn how to properly clean a barrel, in the least destructive manner. Use a cleaning rod guide, and a good one piece rod, no alluminum rods allowed, except for field emergencies to clear an obstructed bore.

At the range, have something(s) between you and the target so that you can see what the wind is doing.

Try different ways of supporting and holding your rifle when shooting at the bench. Know that a good bench setup will produce a situation where the reticle is not moving at all as the trigger is being pulled.

Do your load development by loading at the range.

Strictly speaking, not all of this is about rifle building, and loading, but accuracy is like a chain that is no stronger than its weakest link.

 

[benenglish]

What are some of the keys to building...good ammo that the average guy doesn't do.

Read.

I've seen people suggest that nearly all the info you need to reload can be found on the internet. There's plenty of info in html format, to be sure, but anyone who believes that a web search and some freebie manuals constitutes an adequate reference library is doing themselves a disservice.

Everybody has favorite books to recommend but the one I suggest for reloaders who know what they're doing but just want to do it better is Zediker's Handloading for Competition. The book is far from perfect; I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, actually. The binding isn't durable and the writing style sometimes lapses into a faux-down-home vernacular that's difficult to read. My favorite opaque passage? The author makes some point about reloading press quality by describing a squirrel running into a tree. Despite re-reading that passage a hundred times, I've never gotten past my initial whiskey-tango-foxtrot reaction and figured out just what in the sam hill he's trying to say. That said, the book is densely packed with insightful jewels of reloading savvy and well worth the modest effort required to read it.

 

[kansasvet]

The primary key is practice. The best equipment in the world will not buy you a match if you can't shoot and read conditions.

 

[alinwa]

Read.

I've seen people suggest that nearly all the info you need to reload can be found on the internet. There's plenty of info in html format, to be sure, but anyone who believes that a web search and some freebie manuals constitutes an adequate reference library is doing themselves a disservice.

Everybody has favorite books to recommend but the one I suggest for reloaders who know what they're doing but just want to do it better is Zediker's Handloading for Competition. The book is far from perfect; I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, actually. The binding isn't durable and the writing style sometimes lapses into a faux-down-home vernacular that's difficult to read. My favorite opaque passage? The author makes some point about reloading press quality by describing a squirrel running into a tree. Despite re-reading that passage a hundred times, I've never gotten past my initial whiskey-tango-foxtrot reaction and figured out just what in the sam hill he's trying to say. That said, the book is densely packed with insightful jewels of reloading savvy and well worth the modest effort required to read it.

Good post Ben!




al

 

[Wilbur]

Chicken and egg thing

The primary key is practice. The best equipment in the world will not buy you a match if you can't shoot and read conditions.

You can't learn to shoot and read conditions without the best equipment in the world.

I'll take "best" equipment over ability if given a choice. Gotta have both to be win these days.

 

[Winchester 69]

My favorite opaque passage? The author makes some point about reloading press quality by describing a squirrel running into a tree. Despite re-reading that passage a hundred times, I've never gotten past my initial whiskey-tango-foxtrot reaction and figured out just what in the sam hill he's trying to say.

Ben,

If I may help interpret, I believe the implication is that the squirrel is blind and the event is random. This juxtaposes to stating that the production of a good press, for the referent unit, is random.

Working from memory here; I wasn't able to locate the passage. One of my gripes is that the book doesn't have an index, making it a poor reference.

 

[realm-aw]

Boyd, a question

"Spend the money for the best bedding." Boyd, please expand on this subject. Thanks!!

 

[benenglish]

One of my gripes is that the book doesn't have an index, making it a poor reference.

Thanks; your interpretation makes sense.

As for the lack of an index, you're absolutely right. I think that's pretty inexcusable in this day and age when computers can instantly search whole manuscripts for text strings. Many book publishers, even in the computer/technical field, are wedded to MS Word and Word can even generate an index automatically. Yet this book doesn't have one. My solution? My copy of the book has a couple of dozen Post-It notes sticking out the sides, marking pages I want to be able to find.

 

[abbiboy]

Thank you gentelman for some of the tips / plenty more are welcome / i'll stop back soon.

Jerry

 

[Boyd Allen]

Since this is the General Discussion board, I made no assumption that the thread starter was asking about Benchrest rifles and/or loading. For just about everyone else, the best bedding available is pillar bedding, properly done. To arrive at this, you should be entirely focused on the reputation of the gunsmith for that specific kind of work, and not be beguiled away from where that leads you by the difference of a few dollars, or the inconvenience of shipping the rifle.

 

[kansasvet]

Good post Wilbur, you said it better than I did. Although, I have seen people buy the best in equipment and not put any effort into learning how to use it.

 

[Big Al]

"Looking for the top 10 keys to accuracy" I think I lost them in the parking lot?