Thread: Variables affecting precision

Originally Posted by 19Badger

While the reloading equipment can matter the consistency of the process, to me, is the biggest contributor to accuracy.
A straight press and dies that create straight ammunition is the foundation, if your equipment makes "bent" ammunition consistent process won't fix it.

I have made competitive ammunition with mass produced sizing dies, Redding f/l bushing die and a Wilson seating die.
Most of the "Custom" reloading equipment is nice to have but it doesn't make any better ammo than a good press and good mass produced f/l die and straight line seater.
The best thing about a lot of the Custom reloading equipment is its smaller, lighter and easier to travel with.
There are many people who still throw powder charges and win, but it is the consistency of their powder measure and the way they use it that allows this to happen.
I am talking about 100, 200 & 300 Benchrest, which is where I have the experience and knowledge, mid range BR and Long range is different.

I, and all the Benchrest competitors I know, use the powder charge and seating depth to tune their load to the rifle/barrel, not everyone seems to know how to do that or what to look for.
Read the following books, Book of rifle accuracy - Tony Boyer, Extreme Rifle Accuracy - Mike Ratigan, Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy - Glenn Newick, The Accurate Rifle - Warren Page, Reloading Guide - Precision Shooting, Precision Reloading & Shooting handbook - Sinclair International, the first two are the most recent publications but they all have relevant information about accurate rifles and reloading.

I do not expect the same results and consistency with a factory rifle as I get with my Benchrest rifle and even custom rifles aren't as consistent as my Benchrest rifles.

I will also add that some of the processes that are required to make accurate ammo for my Benchrest rifle, don't seem to have the same result or aren't a noticeable improvement in a factory rifle.

While br rifles are clearly very accurate, and the low recoiling nature does help remove variables, the fact remains if you have poor resolution on your output data(small sample size), you can not identify efficacy of your input variables, in this case charge weight or seating depth.

The br rifles being very accurate doesnt negate statistics and rigourous testing.

Its pretty easy to test. Just shoot a couple of said charge ladders. If the results are consistent, well maybe you are correct.