A couple of reloading questions from a beginner.

[PredFan55]

First of all:

I took great care to make my loads consistently the same in all 40 of the 30-06 I just made. My very first btw.

My question is how does this compare to the factory made stuff? Are the rounds I used to buy in the stores consistent?

[Bang]

Read, read, read, read. Then balance the extreme against the practical.

Benchrest competition are the professionals. They conform to methods either known or believed to gain or maintain an edge to extremes that approach a belief system approximating a religion, meanwhile ever on the alert for a chance to improve what is.

Handloading years ago was hands-down superior to factory crank-em-outs.
Today, not so much. Just as automotive used to manufacture to tolerances of .001" and today it is to .0001", cartridge manufacturing equipment has improved, and manufacturers offer Premium lines that frequently produce less than MOA depending on the firearm.

I have obtained all-touching at 100 yards by finding the load the rifle likes. I sort cases by weight (to have a group of five with the same internal volume) but I do not worry about neck tensions and flash hole diameters and such. Your experience may vary.

We live in expensive but exciting precision times. The fun will always be delving deeper and deeper into a hobby.

[PredFan55]

Thanks. The cost of shooting 30-06 will keep me reloading. I was just wondering if I was also going to get some advantage on the range as well.

I've seen glimpses of what you are talking about, I got a hint when looking up how far to seat the bullet. Some people prefer to bullet to start already in contact with the rifling, some prefer it doesn't touch until firing. I can't see how it would make any real difference as long as they are the same each time.

Which brings me to my other question:

I approach reloading with the singular thought that consistancy from bullet to bullet is the goal. Am I off base or focussing in the wrong place?

[Bang]

Oh, no. Sorry. I missed the pertinent question. Consistency is paramount.

I didn't mention it, but I too pay close attention to seating depth. The reloading that lists a powder in grains is basing it on a specified seating depth because of the different pressures generated by different case volumes. Seated depth affects that volume. I also have found where the lands touch a particular bullet at what seated depth.

In a surprising session one day last year, I was shooting a .308 and noting any differences between depths in .005" increments. .005" off the lands and
.020" off produced near-identical close-group results while .010" and .015" produced a more open group. But, I cannot verify that the differences were not hugely me...which is why machine rests were invented.

I can cite an example of factory v. hand loading in the "old days". In about 1971 a friend gave me an Arisaka 7.7 action. These actions had the reputation of being the strongest bolt action of WWII. Anyway, I sent it off to a company I believe in Oakdale, Pennsylvania requesting they replace the straight bolt handle with a knurled/bent one, and install a barrel 30 inches by 1-1/8 inches in .22-250. ($70 shipped)!

I then mounted a 12-power Leupold on it, installed a Timney trigger and bedded it in a Fajen unfinished stock which I left pretty much as it came from the lathe up front and cleaned up mid to rear. The barrel is free-floated (still have the rifle).

I purchased a couple of boxes of factory rounds and tried it out. The bullets printed into a group of what seemed a seven-foot circle to my disappointed perception, probably 3 or 4 inches if memory serves. I know this...I was about to quit my job, leave for France and join their Legion driven by the degree of disappointment.

I bought some Sierra 53 grain HP and a few different pounds of rifle powders, some primers, a Herter's C-press, RCBS dies and shell holder, a powder measure and a Lyman-Ohaus M5 scale.

I got lucky. If memory serves, I think I found the perfect powder/load in less than ten trials, producing touching POI at 100 yards. I always balance-scale-measure rifle loads beginning with then.
I don't believe I ever came across ogive-to-lands gapping back then, but I know that I didn't do it. I made COAL whatever the book said to do.

So, there is an example of hand loading being the answer to factory rounds that produced a buckshot pattern. Basically, it's about barrel vibration/harmonics and the burn rate that burns in tune. Theoretically, any correct barrel should be a candidate.

[PredFan55]

Interesting. I'll have to check my seating depths when I get home. Fortunately for me, not knowing what I preferred, I set the seating pretty shallow and only cared about the total length of the round. If I need to seat them lower, it can be done.

[Bang]

Loads given in manuals with accompanying COAL are based on standard chamber dimensions, SAAMI standard cartridge dimensions and known magazine dimensions thus assuring feed.

"Standard chamber dimensions" may be a little misleading. I have seen a chart illustrating something like eight different .223 reamer dimensions depending on company making or specifying it. This is one of the reasons several reloading manuals can seem to disagree....all of which is resolved by following the caveat that a percent-reduction in the powder be a starting point, working up cautiously until satisfied the load is safe.

[Stooperzero]

as already stated.. READ, take your time, dont get distracted and Learn the signs of poor loads/high pressure/bad casings.

I have multiple reloading books and Cast bullet specific books I use constantly as I'm loading for probably 21+ calibers.

[cephas]

For those interested SAAMI rifle specs: http://www.saami.org/specifications_...wnload/206.pdf
Have had best results just seating off the lands, and consistency is the name of the game! There are no hard and fast rules. There are basic processes to start with. I think Jack O Conner said only accurate firearms are interesting. I think making a firearm accurate is interesting. However sometimes it takes some effort.
Edit: realize factory rounds are made for every rifle out there. Your loads are made for your rifle.

[PredFan55]

Loads given in manuals with accompanying COAL are based on standard chamber dimensions, SAAMI standard cartridge dimensions and known magazine dimensions thus assuring feed.

"Standard chamber dimensions" may be a little misleading. I have seen a chart illustrating something like eight different .223 reamer dimensions depending on company making or specifying it. This is one of the reasons several reloading manuals can seem to disagree....all of which is resolved by following the caveat that a percent-reduction in the powder be a starting point, working up cautiously until satisfied the load is safe.

I began my first batch of round by consulting two different sources. For my IMF 4895 powder and 150 grain bullet I used 49 grains. It was the lower end if the range. I'm only on a 100 yard range so I shouldn't need too much powder. The only reason I used the 150 grain bullet was because that's all they had in stock at Bass Pro Shop at the time.

[Twoboxer]

First of all:

I took great care to make my loads consistently the same in all 40 of the 30-06 I just made. My very first btw.

My question is how does this compare to the factory made stuff? Are the rounds I used to buy in the stores consistent?

Consistency is important to insure each round shoots as closely as possible to the previous round. But consistency alone doesn't mean that the load you've chosen is the best one - or even a good one - for your rifle.

Normal factory loads aren't all that consistent, but some - eg Federal Gold Medal Match - may give you a box where all completed cartridges weigh within 1 grain of each other, and seem to shoot good and sometimes extremely well out of many rifles. Often better than normal factory rounds, but maybe not as well as we think the rifle (and the shooter) is actually capable of.

So often we find it fun - and a challenge - to find the best load we can . . . bullet, powder, charge, primer, case and assembly . . . something the rifle likes better than most anything else. There are several ways to do this, one of which is called "OCW - Optimal Charge Weight". You might find it ineteresting reading.