Olon
Member
I wasn't sure if my rifle or reloads were capable of it, but today I was proven wrong. Did my first ladder test for a .270 load with H4831 and Hornady 130gr. soft points, and all but the starting load were sub-MOA for 4 of the 5 shot group (gave myself the liberty of one flier per group). I'm still in the bottom end of the load data though, so I'm going to keep trucking and find something with a little more power.
Things I did differently this time:
I'm hoping to continue improving my reloading methods and marksmanship skills until I'm getting the full potential out of my hunting rifle. I'm learning that the devil's in the details
Things I did differently this time:
- Cleaned my gun... for real
- got all of that copper fouling out, and there was a lot. Btw, Hoppes Benchrest seemed to do a good job though I had to let it soak overnight.
- Upped quality control on brass
- the lengths were all within 5 thousandths
- primer pockets cleaned
- all the same headstamp (Winchester)
- Different Powder
- Last year (my first foray into reloading 270), I used H4350. This time H4831
- More accurate scale/charging
- Last year I used an $8 jewelry scale and threw my charge using a dixie cup. This time I had a Hornady autocharge and I think having a more reliable scale made a big difference.
- Better rest
- I rested my rifle on sandbags (cornhole sacks) this time. Last time I used an ammo can and a hoodie
- More skillful shooting
- Over the past year, I've shot a lot more than I used to, mostly because I started reloading. I know I've become a better rifleman since a year ago when I made my last load for this gun.
I'm hoping to continue improving my reloading methods and marksmanship skills until I'm getting the full potential out of my hunting rifle. I'm learning that the devil's in the details
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