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Is rifle powder quantity so critical?


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Hi

Very interesting thread

Couple of questions I f I may

Firstly I shoot quarry with expanding heads however can only use solids at local range is it possible to reload to get the same point of impact from both types if so how

 

Second have two rifles same caliber one for daytime one with night vision

Will one round work equally in both

 

Sorry if I'm a pain asking

 

All the best

Of

 

I make a hobby of this!

 

did a write up on it

http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php/119191-Single-rifle-Alternate-Load-Tuning?highlight=load+tuning

 

Three different bullets, different weights, different powders, same POI at 100yds, minimal shift at 200yds

45gr SBK foxes

53gr Barnes XLC deer

60gr Hornady SP deer

 

IMG_3865_zpssulmrcr0.jpg

 

 

I also have three loads for my .270

100gr Speer SP (had 400 of them so figured I would use them

130gr Interlocks

135gr SMK

 

all zero at the same point at 100yds

the only difference is 200-300 with the 100gr which are clocking something stupid like 34-3500fps!

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Great thread.

 

As a relative newbie to reloading I just don't understand why any home loader would not strive to get the best out of your home loads ?. Why would anyone not take the time to work a load out that best suits the gun when you have all the tools to do so at your disposal.....I just don't get it.

 

The main reason I took up home loading was for accuracy, not cost. ( It is a bonus though) I was so disappointed with my outfit and how it performed with the many factory loads I tried, I could just not find one that I was happy with, I even started to question if my barrel was a bad one, the crown was no good etc! . The best of the bunch was Hornandy and I would really struggle to get these grouping inside a moa @ 100 yards, for the most part I would get one or two bullets outside of this. Since I've started loading my own and playing around with different loads,seating depths etc! I've got my 5 shot groups down to less than 1/2 inch at 100yards and I honestly believe I could shrink this down a little with a bit more playing. I'm so happy that I took the step of reloading my own and I'm really enjoying it.

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I make a hobby of this!

 

did a write up on it

http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php/119191-Single-rifle-Alternate-Load-Tuning?highlight=load+tuning

 

Three different bullets, different weights, different powders, same POI at 100yds, minimal shift at 200yds

45gr SBK foxes

53gr Barnes XLC deer

60gr Hornady SP deer

 

IMG_3865_zpssulmrcr0.jpg

 

 

I also have three loads for my .270

100gr Speer SP (had 400 of them so figured I would use them

130gr Interlocks

135gr SMK

 

all zero at the same point at 100yds

the only difference is 200-300 with the 100gr which are clocking something stupid like 34-3500fps!

Thank you nice to see it can be done looks like I've got a bit of experimenting to do 😊

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Professionally speaking, a lot more accuracy can often be gained from better shooting than hoping some magical reload will help. The subtle truth is thatvreloading often makes you shoot more with you mind 'off the ball' shooting wise and if you do have half decent technique, the subconcious muscle memory gets a chance to shine through yet you will give credit to the ammo for performance on target. Non of it is worth a damn if you are shaking like a ******** dog pointing off sticks at a 30 metre deer.

 

Spot on, practice is something many of us forget, I often wonder if the ' it takes 30rnds to get the barrel dirty to get the rifle accurate after a cleaning' comments are due to the shooter just getting better with practice. For the occasional stalker who doesn't get through 20 rnds a year bad grouping will mostly be through bad technique and maybe a bit of buck fever. Its expensive to use a lot of ammo but you will be surprised how much accuracy will improve on your larger calibre rifles by practicing field technique with yr rimmy.

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Great thread.

 

As a relative newbie to reloading I just don't understand why any home loader would not strive to get the best out of your home loads ?. Why would anyone not take the time to work a load out that best suits the gun when you have all the tools to do so at your disposal.....I just don't get it.

 

The main reason I took up home loading was for accuracy, not cost. ( It is a bonus though) I was so disappointed with my outfit and how it performed with the many factory loads I tried, I could just not find one that I was happy with, I even started to question if my barrel was a bad one, the crown was no good etc! . The best of the bunch was Hornandy and I would really struggle to get these grouping inside a moa @ 100 yards, for the most part I would get one or two bullets outside of this. Since I've started loading my own and playing around with different loads,seating depths etc! I've got my 5 shot groups down to less than 1/2 inch at 100yards and I honestly believe I could shrink this down a little with a bit more playing. I'm so happy that I took the step of reloading my own and I'm really enjoying it.

 

Spot on. So is the point made by Fister above.

 

I know a good many people that reload but very few who practise technique , except perhaps at the range. Things like dry firing from off-hand standing, kneeling and sitting positions to train muscle, practice with a rim fore etc, plinking at steel in the areas you shoot at various ranges, these all help. There's a few on here I know who will recognise the term "Pokey Drill" too (no sniggering at the back...it's not what you think it means ;) ) and just why it was practiced. Steady rests are a help but not always deployable in time.

 

Hands up how many would contemplate a sub 100 yard off hand shot these days? Not many I'm willing to bet, yet with the right technique, you can drop a deer with sufficient accuracy if needs be. Needs did indeed "be" yesterday for me, and even with a stalking outfit of some 12.5 lbs, a nice deer was taken at 70 yds offhand yesterday. Had the sticks been deployed, the deer would have been gone.

 

If landowners are ok with it, it's a good thing to regulary hone your shooting skills, say once monthly by having things like steel up against suitable backstops at the range you shoot. Technique and practise will help your shooting, especially if you don't get out as often as you'd like. Home-loading is really just the icing on the cake.

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Professionally speaking, a lot more accuracy can often be gained from better shooting than hoping some magical reload will help. The subtle truth is thatvreloading often makes you shoot more with you mind 'off the ball' shooting wise and if you do have half decent technique, the subconcious muscle memory gets a chance to shine through yet you will give credit to the ammo for performance on target. Non of it is worth a damn if you are shaking like a ******** dog pointing off sticks at a 30 metre deer.

 

I grew up shooting my dad's .270 with norma factory ammo (red deer, always 50-150yds)

zeroing groups were size of an apple

anything within an inch of the bull was fine

 

that was just the expectation, no one reloaded that I knew, no-one shot in competitions or was in a club

You shot paper in farm fields

 

never could any of us managed to shoot a sub inch group with that ammo

First thing I did when I started reloading was make a load for that rifle

1/2" groups with holes touching or near enough not to matter with same scope, same style and same shooters

 

some ammo produces groups that just can't be improved on

especially prevalent in larger calibres I find

 

simplest hand loading can immediately improve your chances and enables the shooter to really see "their" errors.

can't see your technique faults with ammo that gives a 2-3" group

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hands up how many would contemplate a sub 100 yard off hand shot these days? Not many I'm willing to bet, yet with the right technique, you can drop a deer with sufficient accuracy if needs be. Needs did indeed "be" yesterday for me, and even with a stalking outfit of some 12.5 lbs, a nice deer was taken at 70 yds offhand yesterday. Had the sticks been deployed, the deer would have been gone.

 

 

 

 

I regularly shoot off one single stick

that is the fastest aspect of my quad sticks pre-deployment

 

its basically no slower than raising the rifle to shoot "off hand" but infinitely steadier

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I regularly shoot off one single stick

that is the fastest aspect of my quad sticks pre-deployment

its basically no slower than raising the rifle to shoot "off hand" but infinitely steadier

 

 

I usually now carry a lightweight tripod which is configurable to a bipod, or one section can be removed and used as a monopod Ed, but for close woodland stalking, especially where munty are concerned, nothing seems to beat being practised at off-hand shooting for speed (personally speaking). Admittedly, any aid to act as a steady is better than none, but with some stalking situations, I just don't want to be carrying more than needed and in thick woodland is one of those occasions. It's what you get used to and what you are comfortable and practised at that counts I guess.

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