New to reloading...this is my plan...

[clownbuster]

Yes, I'm getting a good complete list of individual products and getting things priced out, thanks to all the advice given so far! One of my biggest hangups is a scale. I don't know that I can justify the cost if an fx-120 to get that .01 accuracy. And if I don't do that, and want the accuracy that I'm getting, is it worth getting into? The cost of that scale alone could keep me shooting custom ammo for years...

Mossyhorn, you do not need an analytical balance to produce winning hand loads. Trickling anything more than to a tenth is a waste of your time. You will likely be measuring slow-burning, extruded single-base powders for magnum cartridges and tenth of a grain accuracy will get you there. All the latest high-dollar gadgets won't make you a better shooter. Buy good, proven equipment and spend your money on enough same-lot powder, bullets, primers and brass to last the life of the barrel of your rifle, and spend time perfecting the shooting art first.
I have three RCBS ChargeMasters with the dispensing adapters to control over-throws and they are spot on every time when checked against my Ohaus PA84 analytical balance.

 

[ar10ar15man]

well there is one not to listen too.
documented long range testing showing less vertical with more accurate powder weight.
anyone loading to .1 will typically be an also ran at 1000 or more.
if you are only hunting at short range and plinking at short range yes .1 will do

Mossyhorn, you do not need an analytical balance to produce winning hand loads. Trickling anything more than to a tenth is a waste of your time. You will likely be measuring slow-burning, extruded single-base powders for magnum cartridges and tenth of a grain accuracy will get you there. All the latest high-dollar gadgets won't make you a better shooter. Buy good, proven equipment and spend your money on enough same-lot powder, bullets, primers and brass to last the life of the barrel of your rifle, and spend time perfecting the shooting art first.
I have three RCBS ChargeMasters with the dispensing adapters to control over-throws and they are spot on every time when checked against my Ohaus PA84 analytical balance.

 

[clownbuster]

well there is one not to listen too.
documented long range testing showing less vertical with more accurate powder weight.
anyone loading to .1 will typically be an also ran at 1000 or more.
if you are only hunting at short range and plinking at short range yes .1 will do

LOL, tell that to my 10" groups at 1400 yards...
You have no idea what you're talking about. So you think .1 gr accuracy is for short range plinking? Please define your capacity for short range.
#1 What do you think we were loading up 300 rounds with night before a competition and winning, before the analytical balances were the thing? #2 For what HE is going to be doing, it will give him the results he's looking for right now. #3 He's already made it public knowledge price is a limiter. To alot of people, $1500 for a balance isn't alot, to some, it is, as the OP has let on. This is all supposed to be info within his theoretical budget which he has set. If not, then shut this discussion down and tell him go buy 2000 rounds of $4.25 loaded ammo. Jesus...

 

[benchracer]

well there is one not to listen too.
documented long range testing showing less vertical with more accurate powder weight.
anyone loading to .1 will typically be an also ran at 1000 or more.
if you are only hunting at short range and plinking at short range yes .1 will do

Maybe this is true in benchrest? It's certainly NOT true in F-Class, nor is it true in the field. If you have a load developed that sits in an actual node, .1 grain either way will have no measurable effect on muzzle velocity average, ES, or SD. It isn't difficult to manage vertical dispersion while measuring to the nearest .1 grain. I have NEVER been kept from the X or 10 ring @ 1000 by vertical dispersion. Wind? Different story. What separates the men from the boys @ 1000 is wind doping, not time at the loading bench.

Given that this is a hunting site, and not a benchrest or competition site, who gives a rip if your loads will win a match or not? In the field, there is only one standard: Go/No-Go first round hits on vitals. You either hit the vitals, or you don't. There is no 10 ring. There is no X ring. Nobody is competing to see who can shoot the smallest group on the side of an elk. Powder measured to .1 grain WILL NOT cause a miss @ 1000 yards. Misreading the wind by 2 mph can, and does. No one can learn how to dope the wind sitting at their reloading bench, counting powder kernels.

 

[clownbuster]

Maybe this is true in benchrest? It's certainly NOT true in F-Class, nor is it true in the field. If you have a load developed that sits in an actual node, .1 grain either way will have no measurable effect on muzzle velocity average, ES, or SD. It isn't difficult to manage vertical dispersion while measuring to the nearest .1 grain. I have NEVER been kept from the X or 10 ring @ 1000 by vertical dispersion. Wind? Different story. What separates the men from the boys @ 1000 is wind doping, not time at the loading bench.

Given that this is a hunting site, and not a benchrest or competition site, who gives a rip if your loads will win a match or not? In the field, there is only one standard: Go/No-Go first round hits on vitals. You either hit the vitals, or you don't. There is no 10 ring. There is no X ring. Nobody is competing to see who can shoot the smallest group on the side of an elk. Powder measured to .1 grain WILL NOT cause a miss @ 1000 yards. Misreading the wind by 2 mph can, and does. No one can learn how to dope the wind sitting at their reloading bench, counting powder kernels.

So good. Words right out of my mouth.

 

[ar10ar15man]

so you have missed the part where it says SHOOTING.
it does not say hunting only, it does not say no benchrest shooting.
it does not say f class but no 1000 yd br.
i shoot 600/1000/2000 yard GROUP AND SCORE matches.
a pc of steel tends to be much bigger than the middle of a 1000 yd br target...(3")
a f class target is bigger than an 1000 yd br target (5 vs 3)
that is 2.8 times more area than the br target....so your accuracy requirement is aprox 1/3 of a br shooter.
weighing powder past .1 makes a difference in long range PRECISION target shooting.

 

[ntsqd]

Un-watched. No interest in watching one poster argue any point he can.

 

[benchracer]

so you have missed the part where it says SHOOTING.
it does not say hunting only, it does not say no benchrest shooting.
it does not say f class but no 1000 yd br.
i shoot 600/1000/2000 yard GROUP AND SCORE matches.
a pc of steel tends to be much bigger than the middle of a 1000 yd br target...(3")
a f class target is bigger than an 1000 yd br target (5 vs 3)
that is 2.8 times more area than the br target....so your accuracy requirement is aprox 1/3 of a br shooter.
weighing powder past .1 makes a difference in long range PRECISION target shooting.

Not at 1000 yards, it doesn't. I shoot with national level competitors who THROW their charges, rather than weigh them. You are full of beans. Giving the advice you have to a BEGINNING reloader is nothing short of malpractice.

The post of yours that I quoted, does not say any of the things you are now trying to add. I missed nothing. You can try to play with phraseology and change the subject, but the site you are on is still LONG RANGE HUNTING. Aside from being complete horse puckey, your argument is both dishonest and invalid.

You have ZERO business telling someone else who should be listened to. You deserve to be ignored and that is precisely what I intend to do. Let the reader use discernment...

 

[ar10ar15man]

and you are still WRONG
the name of the site is
long range hunting and SHOOTING.
get someone to read the big words for you.
which 1000 benchrest shooters did you shoot with that threw charges in the last 5 years ?
i am the 600 yard national champ in 2015, and had high score at 1000 for the same nationals.
i actually compete, not just run a keyboard

Not at 1000 yards, it doesn't. I shoot with national level competitors who THROW their charges, rather than weigh them. You are full of beans. Giving the advice you have to a BEGINNING reloader is nothing short of malpractice.

The post of yours that I quoted, does not say any of the things you are now trying to add. I missed nothing. You can try to play with phraseology and change the subject, but the site you are on is still LONG RANGE HUNTING. Aside from being complete horse puckey, your argument is both dishonest and invalid.

You have ZERO business telling someone else who should be listened to. You deserve to be ignored and that is precisely what I intend to do. Let the reader use discernment...

 

[Mossyhorn]

Maybe this is true in benchrest? It's certainly NOT true in F-Class, nor is it true in the field. If you have a load developed that sits in an actual node, .1 grain either way will have no measurable effect on muzzle velocity average, ES, or SD. It isn't difficult to manage vertical dispersion while measuring to the nearest .1 grain. I have NEVER been kept from the X or 10 ring @ 1000 by vertical dispersion. Wind? Different story. What separates the men from the boys @ 1000 is wind doping, not time at the loading bench.

Given that this is a hunting site, and not a benchrest or competition site, who gives a rip if your loads will win a match or not? In the field, there is only one standard: Go/No-Go first round hits on vitals. You either hit the vitals, or you don't. There is no 10 ring. There is no X ring. Nobody is competing to see who can shoot the smallest group on the side of an elk. Powder measured to .1 grain WILL NOT cause a miss @ 1000 yards. Misreading the wind by 2 mph can, and does. No one can learn how to dope the wind sitting at their reloading bench, counting powder kernels.

Thank you for this. I have read so much in here about getting .01 accuracy in your charges and how important it is for long range shooting. So it's good to hear, from a few people now, that it's not necessary, at least for what I'm after.

 

[Axl]

and you are still WRONG
the name of the site is
long range hunting and SHOOTING.
get someone to read the big words for you.
which 1000 benchrest shooters did you shoot with that threw charges in the last 5 years ?
i am the 600 yard national champ in 2015, and had high score at 1000 for the same nationals.
i actually compete, not just run a keyboard

The name of the site is " Len Backus' Long Range Hunting Magazine"
says so right at the top of the page.
The web address is longrangehunting.com
This is the reloading thread.
You can post all the winning you want not too many people here care after your 500+ posts in 8 months of misinformation and arguing EVERY thread into the ground!

"Girl don't go away mad Girl just go away!"
-Motley Crue

 

[del2les]

.... If you have a load developed that sits in an actual node, .1 grain either way will have no measurable effect on muzzle velocity average, ES, or SD. It isn't difficult to manage vertical dispersion while measuring to the nearest .1 grain. I have NEVER been kept from the X or 10 ring @ 1000 by vertical dispersion. Wind? Different story. What separates the men from the boys @ 1000 is wind doping, not time at the loading bench......

Not that I wish to enter into any argument, but just from my years of experience, I do have to agree with this. In my early days of precision shooting, I was obsessed with weighing every load, but as I noticed more and more of my thrown varmint loads shot extremely well, I began to play with the same in my BR loads.

EUREKA! After some experimenting, I discovered no appreciable difference with weighed loads vs thrown from a properly set up BR powder charger. Weighing numerous thrown charges of ball, spherical or flake type powders gave very accurate results, and even with a +-.1 grain from the standard, I could not discern any difference over the chrono nor the targets, 100-1,000yd. Actually, the best group I ever shot in short range BR was with a thrown load of H335.

Since those years, the only time I weigh charges for every load is with the thick sticks, and even then, it is after I throw the load to within +-.5 or 1, and then I only spend enough time to get it +-.1 or so. When it comes time to pull the trigger, there are a lot of other factors that will determine the outcome of the shot. YMMV

 

[benchracer]

Thank you for this. I have read so much in here about getting .01 accuracy in your charges and how important it is for long range shooting. So it's good to hear, from a few people now, that it's not necessary, at least for what I'm after.

You are quite welcome! I came on board this site when some of the true long range hunting pioneers were still here. I learned a lot from some great people and will always be grateful for that. I STILL have a lot to learn, but I also try to pass on what I have learned in the same spirit that many of those old heads helped me.

The best advice I can give is that 1000 yard shooting, and preparation for the same, is not complicated. But, it is demanding of the shooter. High dollar gear can be helpful, but it is not required. For several years, my entire reloading setup was something I carried around in a .50 cal ammo can. I loaded a LOT of match ammo with that. My equipment and ammo were NEVER the weak link in my shooting. It has always been me, the nut behind the trigger, that is the limiting factor. It is true that competition quickly becomes a battle between checkbooks for someone focused on winning the competition. For someone whose focus is long range shooting in the field, none of those things are necessary. Anyone who tries to tell you different should set off your BS detector. IMO, trigger time is more important than any other factor. Well known people in the shooting community, such as Bryan Litz, have written articles about that very subject, so this is not an original idea on my part.

If you desire some help with the basics, without a ****ing match, please feel free to PM me. I am glad to pass on what I have learned and not afraid to admit it if I don't know the answer to a question.

Good Luck and Good Shooting!

 

[Tuffcountry]

What helped me when I first started was I sat down and read the nosler reloading book from the beginning. All reloading books will explain the whole process. It breaks down not only reloading but also the process of ammo being fired inside the chamber, what takes place, how variables effect the process. It gives you a great understanding.