PRS Talk Reloading for prs

[4dds]

How much accuracy do you chase when loading for prs. In theory targets are 1-2 moa so if your loads are less than 1 moa you should be good, but I realize that at .25 moa you have a bigger error budget. I know a big portion of the guys are shooting custom rigs but that won’t be in the cards for some time. I shot my first local match last weekend with my howa with an internal mag (243win .5 moa handloads) and only got 37 of the possible 76 sent before time was up. I did manage 21 hits out of the 37. Been working on a load for my Grendel and was going to try another match with it. I was just wondering if there was a point where you would say I wouldn’t attempt it without xxx moa load.

 

[b6graham]

just think about the difference 5mph makes in a wind call. looking at 147 data, 5mph to 10mph is .5mil at 500 and 1mil at 900

if you look at that we're looking at 9" wind at 500 and 32" wind at 900 just by misreading from 5mph to 10mph.

that 1/4" MOA you 'may' be getting from a normal .5MOA to a .25MOA would only be 1.25" and 2.25"

would the 50 rounds you send down range at 100yards trying to get a group from .5 to .25 be better spent practicing wind calls or positional shots?

 

[4dds]

I will most definitely get better results learning the wind. And time management. My question is more what is considered good enough when loading. Now I know if it were f class stuff every .001 you can get better is worth it. Is 1 moa sufficient enough? Does it need to be .5? Where would you call it good enough.

 

[b6graham]

I will most definitely get better results learning the wind. And time management. My question is more what is considered good enough when loading. Now I know if it were f class stuff every .001 you can get better is worth it. Is 1 moa sufficient enough? Does it need to be .5? Where would you call it good enough.

Frank routinely shoots Prime or other factory and aside from ELR stuff it seems more than acceptable. you can see the same results posted all over on the Hide.

I think for about every platform/brand commonly seen here .5 MOA isn't all that hard to achieve...even with factory ammo it's common, and its not uncommon to see SD in the teens. no chasing lands, nothing super long, no development, but the factory match ammo we use now is good

another thing to consider, would the money be better spent on 100 rounds of load development in an already short lived barrel, or on a chassis/DBM

 

[Rob01]

I shoot factory ammo at matches and it's solid .5 MOA in my rifles so if you load at a solid .5 MOA then that is more than good enough to shoot and win a match. You still have to read the wind, get in the positions and hit the targets.

 

[Mudlol]

If you are shooting local matches a sub moa rifle should good. Focus on practicing.

 

[Rob01]

Even national matches the .5 moa rifle will be more than accurate enough but yes local matches definitely help. Practice is what is needed.

 

[4dds]

Thank you all for your input. After the match I sat down and went over everything and wind was the biggest factor in the misses. And time, the last stage my squad leader gave me his rifle so I didn’t have to reload during the stage and I still only made 5 of the 9 before time expired. I finished that stage 7-9 with the 2 misses being my error. I was just thinking about using the gas gun to try and save a little time.

 

[Keyst0ne]

Thank you all for your input. After the match I sat down and went over everything and wind was the biggest factor in the misses. And time, the last stage my squad leader gave me his rifle so I didn’t have to reload during the stage and I still only made 5 of the 9 before time expired. I finished that stage 7-9 with the 2 misses being my error. I was just thinking about using the gas gun to try and save a little time.

Count the time you spend running the bolt (maybe 5 seconds?) and compare to the time you spend getting into and out of position and I think you will see where the most time can be gained.

 

[Rob01]

What he said. If gas guns helped that much then everyone would be running them. They don't. You have enough time to do it with a bolt gun but you need to be able to practice the getting into and out of positions as that is where you lose time. People try and get a perfect position and go super slow to find it and they lose time. Also your sight picture needs to get on target fast and then on the trigger fast. It comes from practice and experience.

Here is a video of a .22 match but gives an idea. It's 9 positions in 90 seconds. I did it in about 73 seconds. No messing around with positions. I looked at everything a head of time and had a plan about what positions from what spots and went and did it.

 

[Shoots 700's]

What was the time limit per stage. Usually we shoot 10 targets with 90 second limit. These are out to 1000 yards. Practice will make you better and most of us are dialing for each distance.

 

[Rob01]

What was the time limit per stage. Usually we shoot 10 targets with 90 second limit. These are out to 1000 yards. Practice will make you better and most of us are dialing for each distance.

You talking to my post? That was a .22 PRC match just to show the OP movement per stage. Time limits were 90 seconds for that match.

 

[Shoots 700's]

Sorry, no to the original poster. Wanted to know what time frame he was shooting in.

 

[Lofty]

just think about the difference 5mph makes in a wind call. looking at 147 data, 5mph to 10mph is .5mil at 500 and 1mil at 900

if you look at that we're looking at 9" wind at 500 and 32" wind at 900 just by misreading from 5mph to 10mph.

that 1/4" MOA you 'may' be getting from a normal .5MOA to a .25MOA would only be 1.25" and 2.25"

would the 50 rounds you send down range at 100yards trying to get a group from .5 to .25 be better spent practicing wind calls or positional shots?

I hear people make this argument all the time and it makes no sense to me.

Yes, I agree, if I had to pick one or the other, I would take awesome wind reading ability and positional stability and settle for 1 MOA accuracy all day long. But accuracy, wind reading and positional efficiency are not mutually exclusive. You can have your cake and eat it too.

Attend a K&M competition train up class and look at the work shooters like Brian Allen, Bradley Allen and Shannon Kay put into chasing accuracy and obtaining accurate DOPE.

They understand it matters and that a miss by a 1/4 inch is still a miss. When you have guys winning PRS matches having dropped 5-7 rounds the entire match, you cant afford to throw away any points at all....not one.

Point is, you need both to be competitive.

 

[4dds]

What was the time limit per stage. Usually we shoot 10 targets with 90 second limit. These are out to 1000 yards. Practice will make you better and most of us are dialing for each distance.

It was 90 seconds. Longest stage had 5 different ranges 600-1080 with 12 shots.