When is it good enough?

You all are way better shots than I am. I went to the range this past weekend for load testing but took my proven load and my other match rifle. I shot a .567" 5 shot group with my addiction and 3 5 shot groups with my 6.5x47. They were 1.05", .98" and .47". All these were from a bipod and rear bag. I'm with backyardsniper, my misses in matches aren't my rifle's fault. It is because I got impatient, or I pushed a bit, or didn't build a good position to get steady, or missed the wind call.
 
If you're like most reloaders, you'll never really be "done." A new bullet or new powder comes out, your eye catches some new gadget, you'll have to check, just to make sure you're not missing something! You'll have your favorite load which all else will be compared to but if you could find one that shoots a couple thou better, you'd switch. It's a never ending quest, which is part of the fun, as far as I'm concerned!
Cheers,
crkckr
 
TRG65 said:
You all are way better shots than I am. I went to the range this past weekend for load testing but took my proven load and my other match rifle. I shot a .567" 5 shot group with my addiction and 3 5 shot groups with my 6.5x47. They were 1.05", .98" and .47". All these were from a bipod and rear bag. I'm with backyardsniper, my misses in matches aren't my rifle's fault. It is because I got impatient, or I pushed a bit, or didn't build a good position to get steady, or missed the wind call.
Click to expand...
Did you start with the 1.05 and work down? Doesn't really matter though...all three are respectable and be proud as hell on .47. Shooting is every bit as much of a mental exercise as it is physical! Just go to FEEL GOOD and the groups will follow. Any anxiety...walk away. It's supposed to be fun... shoot another day. If 1.05 is your worst....you'll kill anything you are shooting at.
 
skipglo said:
Did you start with the 1.05 and work down? Doesn't really matter though...all three are respectable and be proud as hell on .47. Shooting is every bit as much of a mental exercise as it is physical! Just go to FEEL GOOD and the groups will follow. Any anxiety...walk away. It's supposed to be fun... shoot another day. If 1.05 is your worst....you'll kill anything you are shooting at.
Click to expand...
The load work-up was with a different rifle than the 6.5x47. All three of the 6.5x47 loads were the same. It is a good load. The difference was 3 good shots and then I wouldn't exhale completely, or I had a finger that was pushing on the stock instead of my rear bag. The rifle and load isn't what needs the work. The rifle is only as good as the system. Even in very controlled prone it is easy to introduce disturbances. That's magnified when you're shooting from a hasty position or tripod. A 1/4 moa gun and load can still shoot 2 moa if you don't understand and know the best ways to control the wobble zone or don't have enough practice with that platform. I've been shooting and dry firing my 6.5 addiction almost exclusively. I shot my current load 3 rounds to warm up. Good group but didn't measure. Then I shot a bunch of RL26 test loads with it. Then came back and shot 2 more rounds into the first 3. That group measured a smidge over .5". Then I switched to my 6.5x47. The addiction is on a Sako Trg. The x47 is a Ruger RPR. They both can shoot, but a lack of practice and familiarity with that rifle turned a sub 1/2 gun/load to moa+ from prone. If a WEZ analysis is done by Litz all other conditions being the same what's the percentage difference in hit probability between a 1/2 and a 1/4 or 1/3. I think that makes less of a change than missing a wind call by a few mph and it doesn't matter at all if you can't hold on the target or time a wobble in a hasty position.
 
I normally set a certain expectation for a rifle (different for custom and factory). For a factory rifle I would like to get close to 1/2 moa starting at 100 yards just to see if it has potential, then punch it out further to confirm. Once I find that load I am usually done, and as Tangent stated, stop tinkering at the reloading table and start working on me.
 
All very good advice! One of the biggest dream crushers is people simply buy a high end rifle assuming that these 1/4" groups are the norm because of that money spent on them. And in many cases with top builders this is the case if the ammo is tuned correctly. However the biggest equation is simply the person driving it. I have seen it a lot, lot of times where the gun is a 1/4" gun but the driver is not. Then often times the finger pointing begins with equipment, or reloads. The most important part of a good shooting rifle is a driver who spends a lot of time behind it getting to know it. Pretty much no rifle is a one night stand kinda a girl but they make u work, it's more of a long courtship towards marriage! Lol
 
Remmy700 said:
All very good advice! One of the biggest dream crushers is people simply buy a high end rifle assuming that these 1/4" groups are the norm because of that money spent on them. And in many cases with top builders this is the case if the ammo is tuned correctly. However the biggest equation is simply the person driving it. I have seen it a lot, lot of times where the gun is a 1/4" gun but the driver is not. Then often times the finger pointing begins with equipment, or reloads. The most important part of a good shooting rifle is a driver who spends a lot of time behind it getting to know it. Pretty much no rifle is a one night stand kinda a girl but they make u work, it's more of a long courtship towards marriage! Lol
Click to expand...
Very well said Remmy...can't agree more! But you gotta pull the Christian mingle add...marriage?
 
My SD is 12 on this load at the moment but I have only about 50 roads down the tube. I will work on shooting positions and drops to a round count of 100 then run a group past my labradar again to see if the barrel has settled in and if I have to tweak powder or seating depth to improve consistancy. As I will use this from Temps of 90+ hunting hogs and varmints to lows maybe down to teens for deer. I Usally use Hodgen extreme powders to handle the temp swings.
 
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