Reloading Techniques

[nbshooter]

Just wondering what the top guys are doing as far as their reloading goes. I shoot FTR with a Savage Model 12 in .308. I currently do not anneal my brass and I neck size only. I've seen an article that does a poll of some of the top tactical shooters and most of them anneal, but I have not seen anything about neck sizing versus full length sizing. Also no mention of whether the top shooters are using concentricity gauges to get their bullets seated perfectly centered. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jaychris]

Just wondering what the top guys are doing as far as their reloading goes. I shoot FTR with a Savage Model 12 in .308. I currently do not anneal my brass and I neck size only. I've seen an article that does a poll of some of the top tactical shooters and most of them anneal, but I have not seen anything about neck sizing versus full length sizing. Also no mention of whether the top shooters are using concentricity gauges to get their bullets seated perfectly centered. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

I'll give you my opinions on the subject. In the end, reloading comes down to consistency - you want to control everything that you can control, because when something goes wrong on target, you'll have fewer variables to have to consider. For example, maybe you don't need to load to the exact kernel - but, it's relatively easy to do so and if you do, you'll have zero question in your mind that powder charge is an issue when you see that weird vertical flyer on target.

So - control the things you can control and make things as consistent as possible. Every firing on your brass changes (work hardens) it to some degree - which is a change. So, anneal every firing if you can.

FL-size your brass - in F-Class, at least, FL-sizing far outstrips neck-sizing. If you don't, you'll end up body sizing at some point and you'll end up with the annoying "click" at the top of your bolt stroke... which will disturb your rifle in the bags. It's also just plain annoying when there's too much resistance in the bolt stroke (IMO). So - FL-size your brass on each firing.

Measure your powder out as exactingly as you can. Again, you are aiming to eliminate variables here. If you can measure it out to a kernel, without overly burdening yourself (and it can be done easily), then do it. A large part of the game is mental and being certain of your powder charge will contribute to that.

A lot of guys measure bullets, in one way or another. I'll leave it at that because there's a lot of voodoo here. The same goes for weighing brass. But if it helps you feel better about what you are doing, I say do it.

Prep your brass - trim, chamfer, clear out the primer pocket. I believe in those things, though I know guys that have tons of success that don't do anything to the primer pocket. <shrug> But you do need your brass to be consistently prepped, IMO.

Make sure your seating depths are consistent. Personally, my tolerance is < .001" total variance from ideal. Making or acquiring a tool to measure this can speed this up significantly.

Try different primers, where no other variables change. You'll be surprised.

I've tested concentricity for myself - my own experience is that it doesn't make a difference on target. I've shot rounds that are as much as .010" - .015" eccentric and I could find no difference on target. Other guys swear by it. Remember that F-Class is a different animal than benchrest though - concentricity might mean the difference between a "0" group and a "1" group, which means the difference between winning or losing, or setting a record in a benchrest match. Does that matter for score shooting on an F-Class target with a half-MOA X-ring? Probably not. <shrug>, YMMV.

I think these are the big things, but the key is, be consistent with whatever you do. My process has changed and evolved (adding/removing/updating) a lot over the years, based on experience and input from other shooters. So, I'd say be willing to experiment and figure out what things have enough (or any) impact to be worth your time.

 

[walker2713]

What He Said^^^

I think Jaychris is right on target about the importance of consistency, and powder measurement precision in particular.

My only difference would be that I find that there's a lot to recommend using neck sizing dies...in particular Wilson's products.

JMHO

George

 

[Rust]

A few thoughts

Note that these comments are not the complete be all of reloading, just some basic commentary.

1. Bullets - For long range the current king of the range is pretty much the 185 Berger. For mid range I go with the 155 Lapua Scenar which is just a personal quirk.

2. Brass - Strictly Lapua for my match rifles. I buy a box of 100 and check them all and if they're good I order a bunch from the same lot. Sometimes brass is in short supply but when a new shipment arrives it's not a bad idea to do this.

Winchester hasn't been too bad, but it takes more cleanup work.

3. Primers - I use CCI plain LR primers. Trying bench rest primers didn't make a bit of difference excepting slightly different charge weights between CCI and Federals.

4. Powder - I use RL-15. Some like Varget. Most powders around the same burn rate will work. Pick one and work with it but once you settle on a powder get a bunch from the same lot number. There have been lot to lot differences in virtually every powder made so with a new lot number you'll want to recheck your load.

5. Dies - Get a micrometer floating pilot seater up front and locking die rings that don't screw into the die threads but clamp the ring instead. That way when changing dies the seater is real close when put back in the press. I prefer Redding but the Forsters are another good choice.

6. Press - I have Redding and RCBS, no problems, keep em clean and lubed they last forever.

7. Powder measure - RCBS chargemaster. I slowed mine down. Turn it on at least 15 minutes in advance, use a good surge suppersor/filter like you'd use for your flat screen TV, always close the door when throwing a charge. Otherwise a Redding manual measure has worked well for me.

8. Load development - Change one thing at a time that way you know what makes a difference. In a .308 I generally go 0.5 grain increments to ball park and once I find a node fine tune the powder charge to the middle of the node.

9. Seating depth - Most folks seat somewhere between 0.010" and 0.025" of the lands depending on what provides the best accuracy. This after determining the powder charge.

10. Assuming your rifle is good to go, bedding, scope mounts, scope and all, practice. Then practice some more. Work on your technique, consistency from shot to shot. Same hold, sight picture, position, breathing, shot release, preload on the bipod.

11. Don't stress, relax and enjoy yourself.

 

[rkittine]

I have been loading since the late 60s and thought I kind of knew how to do it, but then I got into Benchrest and learned a great deal. A few weekends ago I attended the Williamsport 1,000 Yard Shooting School. Most of 1/2 day was spent on reloading. Brass Prep through load development. In addition to what has already been posted, "crushing" primers is something that is also done. CCI recommends 4 thousandths crush for their 450s. Bumping Back the shoulder is another. I was brought up reloading on the premise that you fired to your chamber and then just neck sized for tension, but now have Whidden Custom Dies on order that Full Length Size, Bump the Shoulder and have neck bushings for neck sizing.

Tony Boyer's book on precision shooting has been extremely helpful.

I now have a new Hobby / Pass Time as I will be spending more time at the loading bench than actually shooting. Sinclair, Whidden, Bench Source, K&M Precision and a few other suppliers now have a lot of my money too!

Bob

 

[cdn.v.bull]

The rest of the posts have pretty much mailed down the variables that make the biggest improvements to your ammunition.
After purchasing an Annealeeze annealing machine and annealing my brass before each full length sizing, I found that there was at least a .1" improvement to group size at 100yds. It does not sound like much, but take it to 600 or 1000 yds and it can be the difference between "thanks for coming out" and "the trophy goes to..."