home loads more

[Killer]

just a matter of interest as I dont own a centre fire,why are home loads more consistent over factory brought ammo. It would be interesting to know.

[Guest cookoff013]

consistent as in?

grouping?

 

homeloads are developed through the gun, not just a factory produced load.

[Harnser]

The word consistent is the key to accurate ammo . Home loaded ammo properly prepared is the key to accurate shooting as is an accurate barrel .

 

A load can be tuned to a particular barrel by trial and error .

 

Harnser.

[Amazed]

And the option to use a better selection of components.

[henry931]

I think the main thing is with home loads you can spend a lot of time getting everything right.

 

e.g. Precise measurements of powder (sometimes a single kernel) and consistent seating depth (a thou).

 

There are also a lot of hand loading tricks that a factory couldn't do practically e.g. neck turning

 

If a factory churned out rounds at the same rate as I do, they would be broke in no time.

 

Also when reloading there aren't any strict rules to follow. You can load for your chamber / freebore dimensions and to whatever pressure you want. Then it's your fault if it goes horribly wrong.

[Redgum]

Home loads are only as good as the loader, factory loads will be consistant because machines are usually consistant so I would say that factory ammo in many cases are more consistant than home loads. What the home loader will gain is customising the bullet speed and weight to the harmonics of his rifle barrel to gain max accuracy. In saying that though I have loaded a few 1000 rnds and never had a duff one yet, my ammo is cheaper than the better quality ammo that my rifles like and probabley consistantly more accurate.

[kent]

just a matter of interest as I dont own a centre fire,why are home loads more consistent over factory brought ammo. It would be interesting to know.

 

Of old yes! However premium factory is getting better and better, there are some about that even the best hand-loader might struggle to better sub 300 yds and the likes of Lapua factory target rounds are competitive out a lot further - if expensive!

The biggest factor these days are cost, availability and the ability to tune to a particularly ammo fussy gun (rarer than many think once its fed a good diet most guns shoot)

[cooter]

As well as all the other points raised above, in my experience most factory ammo is set at the upper end of the charge scale, and it is not always the case that more is better.

A mid point powder charge will more often produce better results at ranges out to 300 yards.

[kent]

Actually most factory produces less than you expect (mostly less velocity than claimed on the box) I think this is manufacturers erring on the cautious side. There are exceptions to this, some Privi has been demonstrated to be on the hot side and I am sure there are others about likewise. A lot depends on the cartridge in question no doubt.

[njc110381]

I think it's more about matching a round to the gun than making them consistently. Making a round longer/shorter or changing the charge weight makes a real difference to how that ammo shoots. Factory ammo is made to a standard size and load and if that isn't what your gun likes it isn't going to shoot well no matter how accurately they are charged or put together.

 

I've never pulled factory ammo to see how consistent the charge weight is compared to my home loads. Has anyone else tried it?

[kent]

I think it's more about matching a round to the gun than making them consistently. Making a round longer/shorter or changing the charge weight makes a real difference to how that ammo shoots. Factory ammo is made to a standard size and load and if that isn't what your gun likes it isn't going to shoot well no matter how accurately they are charged or put together.

 

I've never pulled factory ammo to see how consistent the charge weight is compared to my home loads. Has anyone else tried it?

Yes its pretty darn good in the quality stuff ( I cannot remember how many I did and which brands now). One might suspect it gets more haphazard in the economy stuff. Funny thing is a good home load tends to shoot very well in most rifles of the same calibre as long as it is safe pressure wise and uses virgin brass for first firing, furthermore if truth be known many competitive shooters end up with very, very similar loads in the same cartridge even though they might try and gain a better load than their rivals.

In short there is less to this "tuned to the gun" than many suspect as regards exact change weight level and Jump length is nothing but a red Herring in most factory chambers IMO backed up by much testing (mostly all hunting bullets are not "jump fussy"). Problem is that's a big mental leap for a lot of people to make as is the fact that their gun shot a great group in testing with X special tailored load (it might well be they shot a better load badly or it caught wind the same day) These days I pay most attention to good construction and quality components after all said and done good fresh brass and a favoured bullet will always beat the most tuned load using poor brass and non favoured bullets for that barrel.