Reloading for accuracy, bang for buck

[Oldbloke]

Like most, I'm currently spending a lot of time in the man cave due to covid. Has got me thinking. (dangerous lol)
I have been reloading for years but never got into the nitty, gritty.
Mainly FLR
Weigh powder.
Do the other basics like trim, clean etc. Nothing fancy.

But I get good ammo usually a tad under moa. Good enough for short to medium range hunting. But with more time on my hands I'm thinking maybe do a bit more to improve it.

Just wondering, to improve accuracy what do the experts here think are the best "bang for buck" ways to improve accuracy/consistant ammo. Not too much extra time or money. I do enjoy reloading but not really OCD.

In case it matters 30-06 & 223. But I doubt it does.

[animalpest]

FLR to bump the shoulder to have .002 headspace. Find the right spot for bullet jump - most of mine between .01 and .02. Sort cases for weight.

[JimTom]

I am far from the expert mate however one variable that has the potential to improve accuracy without additional cost is of course variation in the seating depth.

[Tilb004]

Like most, I'm currently spending a lot of time in the man cave due to covid. Has got me thinking. (dangerous lol)
I have been reloading for years but never got into the nitty, gritty.
Mainly FLR
Weigh powder.
Do the other basics like trim, clean etc. Nothing fancy.

But I get good ammo usually a tad under moa. Good enough for short to medium range hunting. But with more time on my hands I'm thinking maybe do a bit more to improve it.

Just wondering, to improve accuracy what do the experts here think are the best "bang for buck" ways to improve accuracy/consistant ammo. Not too much extra time or money. I do enjoy reloading but not really OCD.

In case it matters 30-06 & 223. But I doubt it does.

Hi oldbloke

Ive been reloading for a year or so and have gone through the read every thing there is possible .

After watching Erik cortina youtube channel he does seem to simplify thing .
Not saying he knows everything and there is a lot of good info on the net also .
His youtube vid on chasing the lands is interesting .Get your jam measurement then back off 20 thou, then work back in 3 thou increments till groups tighten up.
Of course getting powder charge right first.
He fls and bumps shoulders 2 thou every time .

I have starting to do things this way because it seem simple , so far so good .
If these F class shooter want to share things with us , i'm willing to listen .
With case prep i just put brush inside case with couple of turns .
Clean primer pockets , debur inside and outside neck and trim when need to .
Dont tumble brass , not phased if it looks shiny or not .
I'm just trying to make steps easy for me still with precision .

Only my 2 cents worth .

Happy reloading

[Skinna]

here's how ive done it bang for buck.

With new batch of cases. (all same batch)
Uniform primer pockets & ream/ream flash holes, light chamfer/deburr
Weight sort cases.
shoot twice to stretch cases/form to chamber.
Trim chamfer/deburr neck size
Wipe carbon off outside of necks & a quick brush out of inside neck & primer pocket before each sizing
Neck size only with collet die now. (Dont shoot hot enough loads to warrant FL sizing every time--just graphte necks if use wobble die)

Every 4-5 shootings, do a full clean & anneal...trim, chamfer/deburr, size (FLS here if ness) & wet tumble.
Re-weight sort & do it again.

After the third firing you should have an idea of the crap cases that give you fliyers, which i leave at the head of the box of 50 for sighters/checkers/fowlers/plinkers or close easy ferals.

[TassieTiger]

When I bought my 260 - the previous owner had a load dialled in...it was .5-1 moa any day of the week with 120 or 140gns. After some advice on here, I went back to previous owner and asked if he had played with seating depth - he said, no, why would I bother...He had simply ensured thst the bullet would feed from mag and then some...
I bought a Hornady mod case to get exact measurements - then sat the bullet 10 thou off lands and...if the bullets don’t touch on that rifle now, it’s my doing. It can make a decent difference...

What I wonder now though - would a charge weight that has been previously ruled out, maybe outperform another charge weight, if seating depth was altered ?

[Wm.Traynor]

When weighing my 223 cases I put them in batches with a difference of 0.2 grains. Others measure case volume instead.

[Oldbloke]

1. Have never sorted by weight. Is it too late to do that?

2. All are 0.020 off the lands. So looks like I will try some say, 0.015 and 0.010. And watch the pressure, but all indication atm low.

3. Always FLRs the minimum bump. e.g 0.002"

4. I always trim, and deburr.

5. All have tested various weights of powder. So done.

[marksman]

put my POV to what you have said OB

1. sorting by weight is more about case spring back apparently, internal volume is about capacity

2. seating depth is about fine tuning, eg.. when Eric Cortina is testing seating depth it is after he has found the velocity he is after if his barrel will allow it and he is using VLD bullets that can be very finicky to get to shoot in some barrels, some liking big jump's some jammed but more because of the throat shape eg... l have a 1.5 degree throat angle when getting a reamer made for VLD bullets

3. this can be problematic to tune in some chambers, it works best with chambers that are the same as the die made from the same reamer, if your chamber is sammi spec and your die is sammi spec they will not be the same, not even close, sammi is to sloppy
the best way to use this setup is to jam the bullet so its like a dog wagging its tail, if you get what l mean, other wise your case may be laying on a very minute angle that can cause the bullet not to be in line with the bore, as discussed in the banana cases are no good thread
what Eric Cortina is using for reloading l guarantee the average reloader is not

4. good idea for a square case mouth and easier bullet seating

5. testing the powder charge for precision is the best way IMHO, an OCW test

what l can add is that IMHO doing everything the same, having everything the same should give you the same outcome,
but every rifle should be looked at as different you can learn how to shortcut but no voodoo

Ocw tests are what l have always used but l have been playing around with the Scott Satterlee 10 shot load development recently as seen in the vid below by the 6.5 guys that is really what Eric Cortina is doing looking for a velocity sweet spot. after finding the sweet spot, velocity flat spot l do an OCW test around it to prove the node, l have found it shortens the testing period and have found that is a lot of bang for your buck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACyfeeBHVOA

with both my 6.5 x 284 and my 6mm dasher l knew before l shot these rifles what case, neck thickness, primer, bullet, powder, velocity and very close to the exact powder charge that l would be using, there is that much data about them out there,
its no different than the comp guys who are all using the same thing when a barrel wins the championship guess what everyone is using next year
when it comes to reloading for a factory rifle it is a different story, and techniques used by guys using custom rifles and reloading gear may not work

[in2anity]

Good info above already. One thing that sprung to mind - when using the Lee Collet die, rotate each shell twice by 120° for a total of three "clamps" per shell. I find this helps with neck tension and run-out. Consistent neck tension is a fairly crucial factor once your brass starts to age. If you will be recycling your brass heavily, it's best to occasionally anneal. Not really an "easy" thing to do though, granted. Alternatively, just don’t recycle your brass excessively, for a modern high-pressure round, replace after say 3-4 reloads.

[Oldbloke]

Have completed OCW test.

Think I will have a play with the jump to the lands.

[SCJ429]

The best bang for your buck is a quality barrel, this makes everything much easier.

Then get the best quality brass you can get your hands on, Lapua is a good start.

Then direct your attention to neck tension, it is easier to apply low amounts of neck tension consistently. The Lee Collet dies are an easy way to try controlling neck tension.

Then document your load development so you can see what is working and not go off on a tangent when you happen to fluke a good group and convince yourself that was the magic load.