At what point are you done with load development?

[Win.308Stealth]

.........and then your choice of bullet gets discontinued or you cannot just buy any. Gotta start all over with second choice. Happened to me quite a few years back. Had a real good load for my .300 RUM with A-Maxes, but then couldn't find anymore, had to switch to 212 gr. Bergers.

 

[TxAggie94]

Glad to hear i'm not the only one.

 

[drags]

My experience is that if a rifle doesn't show promise right away it most likely won't be a shooter, there are exceptions but not many.
Drags

 

[Bigaldepr]

So many calibers, bullets, primers, powders and loads, and so little time & $. Oh my.

 

[theosmithjr]

Anyone else have a hard time setting a rifle to the side and saying you're "done" with load development for it? Early on I was happy getting a box of 100 bullets and getting them to shoot MOA or better. I think I had lower expectations at that time and now seem to be on the extreme other end with very high expectations. More and more I find myself unable to stop tinkering with things in the never ending search of that undefined "perfect" combo. I can't be the only one with this affliction.haha

I'm sure you can all relate and also have countless test loads worked up that are at or below MOA. However, I am not happy with my results unless I'm half-MOA or better. ...and then when I do manage to get a rifle to shoot half-MOA, it's either not repeatable or this devil on my shoulder tells me to tweak the seating depth further, try a crimp, don't crimp, crimp more/less, try a different primer or brand of brass, tighten/loosen the action screws, maybe it'll like a different weight/profile bullet better, and on and on the cycle seems to go.

I'm not a PRS shooter and the main goal of my load development is for hunting purposes. I obviously don't need to be going this far down the rabbit hole.lol For those of you perfectionists out there, at what point do you call it good enough or feel happy with your results?

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

.5 or under and at an acceptable velocity.

 

[Stokesrjsr]

I surely have the same affliction. My sheep rifle is a Prairie Gun Works Ti18 in 6.5STW, or it was in 6.5 STW now it is 6.5-300 Weatherby because I couldn't quit tinkering with loads until I burned out the 6.5 STW barrel. Right now I'm still thinking of new things to try for the 6.5-300 barrel although I have several .3-.5 MOA loads. I finished my grand slam with that rifle and probably will never go on another sheep hunt again in my life. But I just can't quit.
On the other hand, my driven game rifle is a Blaser R8 in 9.3X62 I found a good load for it, killed a few animals with the load, was happy with how it performed and loaded 250 rounds. That is probably a lifetime supply for me now, and I am happy with that one. For driven game 2 moa is sufficient, and this one shoots well under 1 MOA, kills them dead on the spot and doesn't mess up too much meat. There isn't anything left to do. But if I think about it too much, I might just talk myself into trying a new bullet anyway.

 

[Toolhand]

1/2 MOA with under 10 SD and I'm done... until I decide to tinker and try a new bullet then back to square 1. Lol.

 

[parshal]

My experience is that if a rifle doesn't show promise right away it most likely won't be a shooter, there are exceptions but not many.

I came to this same conclusion recently. I've consistently gotten the best accuracy within the first 20 shots of a barrel. I then spend 500 rounds trying to improve upon that and rarely do. I've now decided to simply rebarrel if it doesn't show what I want right away.

 

[theosmithjr]

For me I'm not ever FINISHED! I set the HIGHEST STANDARD from my rifles, optics, accessories, hand-loads, and MYSELF! With my custom built bench guns, I strive for SCREAMER GROUP loads. That's a 5 shot string, group NO bigger than 100 thousands than the bullet diameter I'm working with. On my hunting rifles I've got loads that shoot 1/4" groups and under at 100 yards. Perfection is and always has been MY GOAL! However it's UNOBTAINABLE, so I'm FORCED to keep Tinkering & Tweaking my loads. Conditons are NEVER EXACTLY PERFECT, so therefore NO LOAD is always 100% PERFECT for me. That's WHY I personally am NEVER FINISHED! However being SATISFIED is another story!
Theosmithjr

 

[BLK]

Personally I don't plan on stopping until I same hole 10 shots in a row at 100 yards. I would not be reloading at 75 yrs. old if I didn't love to play with big boy toys.

 

[Bob Wright]

I built a rifle for my retirement gift to myself, a nice hunting rifle. I was chasing the magic bullet and found all combinations of components would only get .5 to .75 moa. After 320 rounds of hunting and load development, I think it performs well on hunting and its not going to get any better. I figured I have 700 elk and deer hunts left in this barrel and I'm 62 years old. Plenty of hunts, not enough hunting years.Good to go!

 

[Greyfox]

After decades of handloading for both competition and hunting, I have pretty much standardized my system for the last 15 years or so. As opposed to continually looking to improve(or playing around) with a load which I had the tendency to do, I start with a fairly high standard. Once I get it, I will make an effort to acquire sufficient components to last the expected barrel life. This may not always be possible though. Whether for competition or LR hunting, my basic criteria are similar:
-sub .5MOA, 5 shot performance to the maximum range of use.
-ES <15 FPS for 10 shots
-Temp Stability < .5 FPS per 1F
-Hunting bullets are chosen for terminal performance over the range of use.
Over time I have established a familiar group of components and reloading parameters that I tend to stick with. Same with my choice of cartridges. If I can't reach this standard in 200 rounds or less, the barrel(or rifle?) usually goes.

 

[The Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Interesting thread! And clearly some folk are, in my opinion over the top in this area.

Less then ten years ago, I bought a new RUGER American 30/06 for a loaner rifle and surprisingly with the first test series I was done. Great group that would take anything out to the reasonable range of such a rifle, given someone good behind the trigger. Sub inch group.

But then there is my 45/70, a RUGER #1 that in my hands IS AND WILL BE a cast bullet rifle. While I love MOA groups or better, what is the point? No matter what I do. no mater how good the group, the reasonable hunting range for this cartridge is being maxed out somewhere around 200yds. While I'd like MOA or smaller groups, in reality they weren't needed to take a pile of deer and three elk, the most distant - 161yds. 465gr Wide Flat Nose cast at 1650fps.

With my RUGER 77/44, also in my hands a cast bullet rifle, and it reasonably maxing out somewhere close to 125 yds., well again I'd love MOA groups but in reality what is the point. 2017 season two deer taken, both dead where they stood with a Wide Flat Nose cast bullet of 275gr at 1750fps.

I know that the "thing" today is taking game at extended ranges, but in reality just how many times and places is that a reasonable endeavor? Just how many of us are that good or hunt in places/conditions where such shots are ethically reasonable?

I have no problem with someone striving for the best accuracy possible, but in a hunting reality is it needed?

Far more important is a rifle that provides reasonably good accuracy and yes I like MOA of less, but more importantly is 1st shot consistent, meaning it can be depended on to place that first shot at the point of aim.

Will likely get some stones thrown my way for this post, but at almost 76 years old I've been around the block a few times, won't be making anymore on foot trips into canyon country and it has been many years since I successfully made that one shot kill on a mule deer at 500yds. RUGER #1 - 7mm mag with a 160gr Nosler partition.

Today I own a RUGER 300 Win Mag Hawkeye that nicely exceeds the accuracy of that long ago 7mm mag., the 300 shooting a 165gr Nosler Partition at 3318fps. But I still won't being having any need for taking a game shot at extended distances and the joy of having that rifle is not in the taking of such a shot, but that I could.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot