Anither accurate load question

[chief99]

Thanks for all the replies on my accurate load question. Still trying to process and understand all the replies. Another question, still learning . Loading 380 , 95 grain , plated . Oal on my reloads is around .980 . Factory load Remington Oal is around .960 . My reloads chamber and cycle well but are not as accurate as the factory loads . Should I try to duplicate the factory loads pertaining to Oal ?

 

[LiveLife]

You should use the OAL that works best for your barrel (fully chambers without hitting the rifling and feed reliably from the magazine).

Walkalong has an excellent illustrated thread to determine max and working OAL - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=6294790

Many of us reload because we can get smaller shot groups with our reloads than factory ammunition - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=748320

 

[Blue68f100]

Did you do a full load workup min to max? Did you find the sweet spot that gave you the best accuracy? If you have done all of that you can start varying the OAL but you can not do this at Max load. Meaning you will have to reduce the charge for a shorter OAL.

You did not mention what powder your using. If your using a powder that does not meter accurately you will need to weight each charge to confirm it's not a powder variation causing the problem. I normally do this anyway when working up a load. Just don't need an unknown when your looking for small changes.

Plated bullets are harder to find the sweep spot in. You have to be careful not to damage the plating when crimping. Most have a soft core so you can actually swedge the bullet if over crimping and/or using the LFCD if your not careful. Doing so will cause you to loose neck tension. I always use a rest when I want to check for accuracy. Also shoot at a distance that you can see the target clearly.