Thread: .243 load development part deux

The biggest difference to accuracy with reloads I have always found was the bullet itself. If it didnt shoot reasonably well, then messing around with loads, or changing OAL rarely made it suddenly shine. Better to try a different bullet.

I have seen not much difference to report on messing with seating depth, either jammed into the rifling or making large jumps with big freebore - either way has worked, so nowadays I tend to do as Gimp has suggested and seat them just off, and not be fussy about it - except for with the Barnes copper bullets. They can shoot terribly till you get the right OAL, which I have experienced myself. (I have not seen seating bullets deeply inside the case to raise pressures either, if anything it lowers then a lot. But it will raise raise pressures if you stick bullets into the rifling.)

I have observed the biggest difficulty to overcome with reloading and testing loads is the ability of the average shooter to shoot off a bench. Most people dont do it enough, or do not know how to do it consistently.

Chasing a good load is interesting and worthwhile, but at the same time I have come to understand that accuracy is overrated in a general-purpose hunting rifle. I have never lost a deer that I could attribute to a poor shooting rifle or load.

One of my favourite rifles is a little lever-action that will not shoot better than a 1.5 - 2 inch group at fifty metres. Maybe worse, because if I did Gimp's ten shot tests it would end up being something horrific, because after five rounds it starts heating up and spraying like a Sten gun. I just dont shoot at things further than a hundred yards away. So far so good. But I wouldnt cry if I came across something at 200 metres and missed it; it's a tool with limitations, and I like it for what it is.