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does anyone else tend to load for max accuracy, and

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does anyone else tend to load for max accuracy, and

Old 01-11-2018, 11:56 AM
  #1  
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Default does anyone else tend to load for max accuracy, and

does anyone else tend to load for max accuracy, and
not really really give much thought to using a hand-load,
that may be slightly slower than the listed max reachable predicted velocity's?

I had a guy I hunt with come over to B.S. and plan next seasons hunt, while I was reloading last evening.
as I was in the process the guy was flipping through several of my reloading manuals and comparing loads and predicted velocities.
now over the past 4 plus decades ,I've tried a dozen different bullets and powders and found a very consistent load using the h4831 powder, a federal 215 primer and and a 250 grain hornady bullet , but I was loading the new 270 grain low drag bullets

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...70-gr-eld-x#!/
when he looked up the potential velocity , he looked like he was having a minor stroke!
he repeatedly pointed out that I could have easily loaded a 225 grain bullet and potentially gained an easy 350 fps-500 fps
when I pointed out that the loads Id used for decades were not cracking the 2800 fps barrier he seemed to think Id lost my mind!
" why would you carry a 340 wby mag if your not going to load it to well past 3000 fps was his main concern"
honestly I can count the number of times I've even seen a legal bull elk that looked like it was worth shooting, on public land, at ranges over 300 yards in the last 46 years on a single hand and still have unused fingers.. In my experience a 338 caliber, 250 grain bullet pushed too just under 2800 fps kills anything I've ever used it on.
yes in theory I could gain a bit flatter trajectory and a bit more impact energy by boosting velocity with hotter loads... but I don,t see any benefit!
now I'm not suggesting loading down to lower velocity as a goal,
but if my most accurate load happens to be 50 fps-100 fps slower than the max listed velocity you can find listed in the manuals,
I don,t, miss a minutes sleep worrying about the rifles lethality.
I'd bet he would totally flip out if he knew my back-up rifle was a 20" sako 375H&H carbine that barely brakes 2450 fps with a 270 grain bullet and that both rifles have a long very successful record of dumping elk!



http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/de...=Rifle&Source=

http://www.accuratereloading.com/340wby.html

https://load-data.nosler.com/load-da...58c69-0-ab_gsb

Last edited by hardcastonly; 01-12-2018 at 08:31 AM.
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Old 01-11-2018, 06:01 PM
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I myself have always tried to find the fastest yet most accurate load. As long as I am within MOA accuracy I pump up the volume to get the most bang for my buck. But I never sacrifice accuracy for speed. To me, that is the main purpose of rolling my own ammo. To get the utmost out of my equipment. By utmost I mean accuracy and power both. I have rifles that can be one hole shooters with certain loads but still within an inch when pumped up another 100-200fps. Still acceptable for hunting. I don't compete much anymore. That was the old man's thing and all my rifles are for hunting and banging the gong occasionally with the siblings. So within MOA is perfect for my uses and I load to that usage.
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Old 01-11-2018, 06:24 PM
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There is a downside of running a larger, more capable case at a level beneath its max, is the wasted powder required to do it. When I started reloading ~25yrs ago, it was still en vogue to run 30-06 loads at 30-30 levels for practice... If a guy goes all the way down to be able to use a pistol powder, sure, but if you're only going down a little, you'll end up using considerably more powder than the lower level round would have.

When I do load work up for a rifle, I look to develop an accurate load within a grain of max, sometimes closer, depending upon the cartridge. If I can't find something, either I have a bad powder choice, or poor bullet choice. Part of that work up is to find a wide window of forgiveness too. For me, a low extreme spread and low dispersion on target with small changes in powder charge are worth a lot - looking at the largest contribution for each, velocity is a powder choice, precision is a bullet choice, but consistency is a combination of both. So I want something accurate, but only if it's fast too, AND most importantly, only if it's consistent.
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Old 01-12-2018, 07:13 AM
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Like Hunters Life I try and load the fastest but most accurate load I can get. And like you I will gladly suffer loss of speed for increased accuracy. I've found that very few of my rifles ever shot max loads with the best accuracy.
IMO shooting a fast load that isn't accurate means you're only going to miss faster.
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Old 01-12-2018, 08:02 AM
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I agree with what Bronko said. I will add to that if you use a fast inaccurate load and gut shoot something it will go just as far as the gut shot animal with a slower round. I personally get a little iffy around max loads a max load on a hot day may be too hot if you tested on a cool or cold day. That can easily happen here in Alberta with a temp range any where from -40 to90 degrees. I am not saying none of my hand loads are ever max loads but they do make me nervous at times. Hand loading is an art not what a lot of people think you just find the fastest load in the manual and slam that bullet and powder combo together and go. These are the same guys who bad mouth hand loading saying factory ammo is better.
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Old 01-13-2018, 11:46 PM
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wild bill g, the max loads in the books are pretty safe for the most part in any temps. They take all that into consideration when publishing. There are a lot of loads that are published that you can go way over in a modern rifle because they have to publish loads that are safe in an older rifle. But even the modern rounds published are normally well within safe SAAMI specs so temp variances, while accuracy may be different, the pressures will still be within safe operation pressures.
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Old 01-14-2018, 08:30 AM
  #7  
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Another thing to consider is the stupidity of people today and all the law suits out there resulting from it. I've been handloading for well over 50 years and loads in my old manuals that were under maximum and I used for years are suddenly very close to or over maximum in the newer manuals.
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Old 01-14-2018, 10:12 AM
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yeah! I noticed that also, especially if you compare manuals from the 1960s-1980s, and you'll undoubtedly see that the manuals state that this is the result of much more precise pressure measuring equipment , and not building in a law suit safety margin.
the C.Y.A. mentality is strong in business its almost got to be, but it you have a few micrometers to measure case expansion and a lick of common sense you can rather easily find out that in a few cases the suggested loads are well under the pressure levels that even some factory loads produce.
every rifle will have a slightly different max pressure and velocity it will safely tolerate, but what many people don,t seem to grasp is that in most cases a difference of even 100 fps with the same projectile has a negligible effect on the rifles lethality, after all if you use the same rifle at lets assume 200 yards youll see a difference in impact velocity at lets say 300 yards thats even greater and I doubt most guys will think they could use a rifle at 200 yards but it would be totally marginal or useless at 300 yards

Last edited by hardcastonly; 01-14-2018 at 10:23 AM.
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Old 02-03-2018, 05:41 PM
  #9  
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I run my loads about 85% of max for several reasons. First of all I don't shoot at long ranges at game; my loads have never bounced off of a game animal. My load accuracy tends to be very good. I don't beat myself or my rifle up. Blown primers, cracked necks and split case bodies don't thrill me. Lastly, I can sometimes make 100 brass last the life of a rifle barrel.
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Old 03-07-2018, 04:53 AM
  #10  
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I want both. Yep I'm greedy. Anything going as fast as I can push it and stay 1/2" to 3/4" MOA. That's my standard sorry I'm not a benchrest guy. That's under 3 MOA at 600 yards without human error and 500 other variants. Yes I poke fun at everything it's a day to day type world we live in. When I see a nice big ole bull creeping through the timber on the other side of the mountain I get a smile on my face. Plain and simple he's mine if I so choose it. Confidence in your equipment is worth more than all the gadgets and ft lbs in the world.
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