Accuracy Vs Clean cases?

[slowr1der]

So I decided it was time to work up a load for a rifle that I've never reloaded for. It shoots decently with factory ammo, but nothing special. 1"-1.5" groups. For my load I was using Hornady bullets, so I decided to use all of the specs in the Hornady manual to start with and work from there, with the exception of the OAL listed in the manual as it had me seating the bullet so deep the cannelure wasn't visible. I played around with my rifle and backed the bullet right off of the lands. To my surprise my first load I worked up shot a .553" group. This load just kept stacking one bullet on top of another. Knowing the Hornady book usually is on the low side as far as recommend powder charges I started with the middle recommendation and worked up from there. The problem here is the accuracy was more than I could have hoped for here, but the cases were coming out looking filthy especially the the necks. This lead me to believe they may not have been loaded hot enough and may not have been sealing in the chamber all of the way.

As I tried the hotter loads, the cases became cleaner, but the accuracy started dropping off. The second load I tried was averaging .75" groups, but the cases were still looking dirty. As I got to the max load in the Hornady book, the cases were coming out look pretty clean, but I was also getting 1.5" groups. I also tried a grain over the max in the Hornady manual which was still well below the max in all of the other manuals I have including the load data from Hodgdon. The cases came out looking extremely clean here, but I was getting consistent 2" groups. So it seems like this rifle likes light loads. Is there any issue with having the casing not full seal in the chamber upon firing? Should I stick with the most accurate load and just get used to the dirty cases which don't bother me too much since they clean up easily when tumbling? Or should I bump the load up to get a compromise between clean cases and accuracy?

On the plus side, I don't have much brass for this rifle and was thinking about buying some, but to my surprise someone left 80 pieces of Remington brass laying on the ground at the range before I got there. I was the only one there upon arrival, so I got to pick it up. I really lucked out there.

 

[witchhunter]

Do you want accuracy or velocity? What caliber and bullet weight is it. Maybe another (slower) powder would burn better and give you both accuracy and velocity. Give us more details, but I could live with .5 MOA in most instances.

 

[gamestalker]

Yepper, every weapon is different, some like em hot, some don't.

What powder did you use, and what were the charges you tested. Was the brass necked, or FL sized? Feel free to include in any other pertinent facts too, like what rifle, and what is it chambered in, is it a stock action, is the barrel floated or pressure bedded, and so on.

As for my barrels, most group better at the upper end of the load tables. But that's with the powders I use, bullets seated at the lands, and brass prepped to fit my chambers, and what not.

GS

 

[243winxb]

Had an old 8mm with the throat shot out that acted the same. Light load would not expand the neck on firing. This helped accuracy.

 

[x_wrench]

it could very well just be that powder. i would certainly NOT abandon .5" accuracy all together. but i would try a few different powders to see if a faster or slower powder would equal the results with a cleaner burn.

 

[41 Mag]

Myself, I would take accuracy over a clean case any day.

When I pull the trigger I want to know that the bullet is going to hit where I want it to, and not in the general area. So to me, the neck being dirty means it stays in the tumbler another 15 minutes or so, but I will have hit what I aimed at.

What you might also try, drop back down to the lower end of the data, then seat the bullet out to just fit and function in your magazine, and work back up. I usually start out with the longest OAL that will feed out of the magazine. This is usually still short of the lands in the bore in most of my rifles. Once I work up to the top end and depending on what I find whether groups or pressure issues, I will start to seat the bullets down in .005" increments. This will usually either open up groups or tighten them up. I have gone as far as .125" deeper than I started with and found they shot 5 times better. This isn't the norm but was with that particular rifle.

So you have to decide if you want top end velocity or accuracy. Sometimes you CAN have both but of the two the latter is MUCH better in most cases.

Also I wouldn't recommend loading over the listed charge weights, they are there for a reason and it's not just a lawyer thing. Pressure testing equipment has gotten much better in the last 20yrs over what it used to be, and some of what used to be published has been found to be higher than what it should have been in the first place. That said, you firearm, your face and fingers. Just remember 60,000 PSI is still 60,000 PSI no matter whether it's inside the case and chamber or blowing them apart. Myself I would rather it stay where it is supposed to be.