new reloads, whats next?

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I shot my reloads again last night and getting decent 1 inch groups off a bipod and shot them off a set of Caldwell bags and still got 1 inch groups.

I'm wondering what the next step could be to tighten those groups up a bit. for some reason say in a 5 shot group 2-3 would touch holes or almost touch then the other 2 would be within 1 inch square.

I'm only at 22gr of h335 cci450 primers with 55gr v max all cases trimmed and set to book OAL.
 
Blue68f100 said:
Do a complete load workup if you have not. Once you find the best load start tweaking on the OAL.
Click to expand...
I shoot quite a lot and do quite well with certain factory ammo but reloading to have more options and not have to find store ammo.

I will start again, groups got better the higher up I went. I still have more charge rates I can go up so will try that. thanks.
 
What kind of rifle is it? I haven't tried this yet but if it's a bolt gun I'm told that you can just "neck size" your cases vs doing a full length resize and that is supposed to help with better accuracy and extend the lifespan of your brass.

If it's a semi-auto your supposed to always full length size them though...

Another thing to maybe tinker with is bullet seating depth.
 
Neck sizing or partial FL sizing is good for brass life but I doubt it will affect accuracy to a noticeable degree. Changing OAL also doesn't do much except with certain bullet shapes. It's worth playing with a little bit after you have found the optimum charge weight. Charge weight will almost always make the most difference to accuracy so I would always suggest that first. If you ladder up and still cannot find a load you're satisfied with, try a different bullet or powder. Sometimes a single component change can make a significant difference (as you saw with primers I think).
 
I've had poor luck with H335, CCI #41, and 55gr pills in my AR. More of a shot gun pattern than a group. Using the crony, the number kept getting better as the charge goes up. Ended up with single digit numbers and still had poor accuracy. Which I have determined is mainly due to my cheap barrel, cheap bullet, with a long freebore chamber. With that said I have seen groups shrink with as little as 0.005" OAL change. With an magazine feed gun you limited to what you can do with the OAL. As far as starting OAL I always start with the recommended/book spec. The bad thing about adj the OAL is how your measuring it. The tips can get damaged very easily which impacts your OAL and give large swings. So use any tool that will give you a reading away from the tip. Use this as a reference for adj OAL. When testing always use the same headstamp (mfg). Internal volume can vary greatly from mfg to mfg. Even with mil brass, use the same year. You will find that some yrs are a lot more consistent than others.
 
Food for thought.

A different bullet brand, style, or weight may make all the difference in the world as far as accuracy goes. Generally the more expensive the bullet the better the accuracy. I know first hand that the bulk .224 bullets are NOT known for accuracy compared to premium bullets. You pay a premium for match grade bullets for a reason.;) Using premium bullets shrunk my groups in half in many different calibers. Twist rate of barrel also dictates what weight bullet is most likely to be the most accurate. Also the different bullets will not necessarily all work with the same accuracy with the same load and do require a separate workup. When those options are exhausted the next step is the time for neck sizing and playing with bullet depth or trying crimping IMHO.

You state that you can do well with certain factory ammo. Trying that particular weight/brand/type of bullet is where you should start and then try different propellants. Work up charges and find that sweet spot.:D That will be your biggest bang for your bucks invested IMHO. FWIW I have always been able to better the results of factory loads with my reloads. Sometimes it takes a bit of work but other times I got lucky and hit it with the first or second load I tried.
 
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A few of things come to mind.

1. better or more solid rest (and watch the wind conditions)
2. use the same brand of brass for group testing
3. uniform the primer pocket and debur the flash hole (may make minor improvement)
4. concentrate on seating the bullet straight (I've traced a lot of fliers to crooked seating)
5. try different bullets (don't expect fmj bullets to shoot great)

How do your loads shoot compared to your best ever factory? Some rifles won't shoot as good as yours is shooting now. You can try different powders and different seating depths. Find out other shooters favorite powders for your caliber.
 
My factory 50-55gr v max will shoot half inch groups or better. Reloads doing 1 inch.

Can't copy and paste it but I have a thread shot my first reload, got?? It has pics in it of groups
 
well went to the range last night and shot off my Caldwell cinder blocks (dead shot bags) last reloads stopped at 22gr h335 cci450 primers and groups were within the 1 inch squares.

I upped the charge last night to 22.8 I believe it was, with cci450 primers and OAL a smidge higher than book specs. All rounds FL sized and didn't feel any resistance when chambering.

I started off with 22gr 5 shots and got the same 1 inch group, 22.3-tighter, 22.6-tighter,22.8 was the last group almost all touching. IMO if I had a better set of bags I could have pulled it off.

the first photo was 5 shots but I only see where 4 bullets met the same holes. I have to say I'm pretty excited. I will be loading them up tonight at the same charge and OAL and test them again and go higher to push a little more speed out of them for my long range woodchuck hunting.

Oh and that little red dot is only about the size of a dime! woohooo
http://s1030.photobucket.com/user/martpjin2011/media/IMG_0547_zpsd409b1qt.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

http://s1030.photobucket.com/user/martpjin2011/media/IMG_0552_zps0uhqpup7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
 
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Try different powders and different bullets. That has been what makes the most difference for me. Brass prep can help, but I am generally pretty thorough when I trim, clean, prime, load, etc., so that doesn't change from session to session of loading, but change bullets and/or powder; now that changes things.
 
Forgot to add....of course, changing the load in .2 gr increments can also make a huge difference. I'm surprised sometimes just how much difference it can make. And, practice!!
 
ohihunter2014 said:
I'm only at 22gr of h335 cci450 primers with 55gr v max all cases trimmed and set to book OAL.
Click to expand...
With a 55gr bullet and H335 I use a heavier charge and get very tight groups. When using a CCI#41 or 450 primer I charge 25.0gr H335. I know every gun is different but I think the group's might tighten a bit more with a heavier charge.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
With a 55gr bullet and H335 I use a heavier charge and get very tight groups. When using a CCI#41 or 450 primer I charge 25.0gr H335. I know every gun is different but I think the group's might tighten a bit more with a heavier charge.
Click to expand...
That's in the works tonight. I'm going to load up 5 in .2 increments till I get around hodgdons data and see what happens.

picked up 1k of cci-450 primers last night and a couple hundred cci-400 to try with benchmark.
 
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