Hey ya'll, ain't been around in awhile. I am starting back to precision shooting and was rolling a few .308s yesterday. I am wondering just how precise of a load is needed?

My load- 2.008" CL, 45.36g Varget powder, 2.234" OAL. 178g. A-max....
I am shooting a Steyr Tactical HB w/26" bbl and swarovski optics.

Am I being too precise? Do you reloaders load to the Thousanth? hundreth? ten-thousanth?

I don't want to waste time on thousanths if I only need tenths...

It seems to me there has to be a cutoff between presicion and overkill. At one time, I was indexing the rounds as i loaded them.... I would be sure the F in FC was at the 1 o'clock position before seating bullet. I stopped because my human error overrode the gain of it. But now I am back to shooting and rolling my own.

HELP!!!

blev-E

Case length seems a little long, trim length is 2.005, or atleast that is what I am trimming to.  I know some guys are trimming to 2.000 just because its easier to remember.  As far as powder drop .... Im loading to the nearest .1 grain.  And OverAllLength seems short unless that measurement is to the bullet ogive.  I am loading to 2.825 in length.  Its still a factory mag length load, but I am hoping to get a detachable bottom metal.  Looking into the Wyatt DBM, which will allow me to load to 2.880 in length.  I havent measured my chamber yet to know just how far I am loading off the lands in my rifle, but from what I can tell most guys are loading to .010 off the lands.  Some bullets seem to shoot better with more jump than others.  I have red that the Hornady Amax's dont really mind more jump than less jump.  People say that the Lapua Scenars like a little more jump than others.  

So I'm not being anal with precision by loading to the nearest .001th?


Sorry for the typo, 2.834" OAL......

NO not at all loading to the nearest thousands.

Ivve only been reloading for a little while now, but I have done a metric fuck ton of reading.  

Some guys are going to the length of taking a shot case in their rifle, then filling it full of water with a dropper at the very end to find out just how much the case will hold and weighing it before and after filling.  Take the full of water weight and subtract the unfull water weight and that give you case capacity.  You will notice that some military brass is going to be thicker and hold less powder than a commercial case which is going to be thinner and hold more powder.  What does all that mean?  the same charge loaded in a piece of military brass might show signs of pressure where the same load loaded in commercial brass will not.

Some guys will go as far as to weigh each case and then sort by weight.  I havent gone that far yet but I do atleast sort by headstamp.  Right now most of my brass is Winchester made.

I just neck size the case, not full length resize.  Anybody else here do that?

As for the seating depth of the bullet, I place it just almost touching the lands and grooves.

All of this equals a tight fit when chambering a round, but the group size reduces dramatically.

I havent got to neck size yet, I am still in the process of fire forming the brass I have to my rifle.  This is the only downsize I have found to neck sizing only is that you can only shoot brass that has been fire formed in the rifle its been fire formed in.  So if you had multiple rifles, what fits in one may not fit into another.  

I know that we are talking about precision ammo but for just general reloading for multiple firearms its best to full length OR keep the brass separate, if you shoot it in one rifle only shoot it in that rifle.  

I full length resize mine, and my buddy was shooting .5 moa easily with them at our 100 yard range.

YEP! I DO! I don't think I own a full length sizing die.

blev-E

I neck size only.  While seating the bullet, half way through the seat, I rotate the case 180 degrees then complete the seat.  It helps the runout, without neck turning.

Yes, I have lots and lots of brass fired in my rifle.  Too much of it really.  I was keeping it in lots, and my wife decided to "help" and dumped it all into a plastic bag.  



She is always helping like that.

YEAH, Mine knows that the man room is just that, the man room.  She is allowed in but if she touches anything she must ask for permission first.