Thread: Keeping it Simple for New Handloaders

I've never worried about where the lands are. I just use mag length as a starting point and if it doesn't shoot then it doesn't shoot. Can get most projectiles to shoot at some kind of acceptable level of accuracy using this method and only worrying about powder charge. The only time I've had loads that just plain won't shoot is when the projectiles is completely wrong for the twist rate. With hunting rifles it makes me laugh a bit when guys get a good load going and then start playing with seating depths and tell themselves that a . 1" improvement in group size is because of the change in seating depth, I guarantee your ability to shoot the rifle has more of an affect on group size, choose a "good" load and load up a dozen or so projectiles all at the same seating depth and go shoot groups with a hunting rifle, your group sizes will vary the same or more than the variations "found" in your seating depth tests because unless you're an excellent marksman and the rifle is a bench rifle you're never going to get enough consistency to actually believe those variations are directly accredited to seating depth. Some fellas seem to like making things hard on themselves

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

I've never worried about where the lands are. I just use mag length as a starting point and if it doesn't shoot then it doesn't shoot. Can get most projectiles to shoot at some kind of acceptable level of accuracy using this method and only worrying about powder charge. The only time I've had loads that just plain won't shoot is when the projectiles is completely wrong for the twist rate. With hunting rifles it makes me laugh a bit when guys get a good load going and then start playing with seating depths and tell themselves that a . 1" improvement in group size is because of the change in seating depth, I guarantee your ability to shoot the rifle has more of an affect on group size, choose a "good" load and load up a dozen or so projectiles all at the same seating depth and go shoot groups with a hunting rifle, your group sizes will vary the same or more than the variations "found" in your seating depth tests because unless you're an excellent marksman and the rifle is a bench rifle you're never going to get enough consistency to actually believe those variations are directly accredited to seating depth. Some fellas seem to like making things hard on themselves

You make some valid points, and yeah .1" very likely is variation in shooter rather than load/seating depth variation.
Still fun to play with and good to know that seating depth can make a difference depending on the projectile.
I will play devils advocate for a second.....if I loaded to mag length in my fierce rem mag I would be jamming my projectiles into the lands by a considerable amount so not one rule for all by any means.
Definitely agree that loading to sammi spec you should be able to find an accurate load in most hunting rifles if you stick to bullet weights that will stabalise with your twist rate.
I like to play and I like to understand what I'm doing so don't mind fiddling to see what/if any difference is made and how to interpret what my rifle is doing.
It's not for everyone and yes I do get over complicated but it's only out of interest, I know I can load accurate hunting rounds without all the fuss.

Originally Posted by dannyb

You make some valid points, and yeah .1" very likely is variation in shooter rather than load/seating depth variation.
Still fun to play with and good to know that seating depth can make a difference depending on the projectile.
I will play devils advocate for a second.....if I loaded to mag length in my fierce rem mag I would be jamming my projectiles into the lands by a considerable amount so not one rule for all by any means.
Definitely agree that loading to sammi spec you should be able to find an accurate load in most hunting rifles if you stick to bullet weights that will stabalise with your twist rate.
I like to play and I like to understand what I'm doing so don't mind fiddling to see what/if any difference is made and how to interpret what my rifle is doing.
It's not for everyone and yes I do get over complicated but it's only out of interest, I know I can load accurate hunting rounds without all the fuss.

Yea but you're feeding yourself bullshit basically... There's definately a sweet spot where you're gonna see good performance but it's exactly that, a sweet spot, and it's larger than your ability to shoot is able to measure. I challenge you to load up several different seating depths, load 6 of each, and then go and shoot two 3 shot groups with each of them, I guarantee that there will be variation between your two groups of the same seating depth, in some cases this variation will be greater than the variation between loads of different depths. Consistency is the key here. I have a load that can shoot under 1/4 inch, it will be more than enough for all the hunting that I ever want to do, out to further than I will ever shoot an animal, but will it shoot that every single time? Nope. Why? Because there's a big floppy piece of meat and bone with a heartbeat hanging onto the trigger which will make more of a difference in consistency than anything else.

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Yea but you're feeding yourself bullshit basically... There's definately a sweet spot where you're gonna see good performance but it's exactly that, a sweet spot, and it's larger than your ability to shoot is able to measure. I challenge you to load up several different seating depths, load 6 of each, and then go and shoot two 3 shot groups with each of them, I guarantee that there will be variation between your two groups of the same seating depth, in some cases this variation will be greater than the variation between loads of different depths. Consistency is the key here. I have a load that can shoot under 1/4 inch, it will be more than enough for all the hunting that I ever want to do, out to further than I will ever shoot an animal, but will it shoot that every single time? Nope. Why? Because there's a big floppy piece of meat and bone with a heartbeat hanging onto the trigger which will make more of a difference in consistency than anything else.

You may call it bullshit, you may be right.....but I'll bet if you can find a consistent speed node that doesn't shoot well in your rifle, you could tune it by fiddling with seating depth.
Granted it might take a while at 3 thou increments but I am picking you could get it shooting better.
Anyway the original point of this thread was about keeping it simple for beginers so I guess maybe I got off track
No matter what you do and how you do it, if your getting results and doing it safely then do what works for you

Originally Posted by dannyb

You may call it bullshit, you may be right.....but I'll bet if you can find a consistent speed node that doesn't shoot well in your rifle, you could tune it by fiddling with seating depth.
Granted it might take a while at 3 thou increments but I am picking you could get it shooting better.
Anyway the original point of this thread was about keeping it simple for beginers so I guess maybe I got off track
No matter what you do and how you do it, if your getting results and doing it safely then do what works for you

And if it ‘spins your wheels’ then have at it

I think whiskey is rubbish and is best burnt in an internal combustion engine, but I bet there’s a heap of you that disagree with that