When do I stop tweaking a load and start practicing more with it?

[MMAJunkie]

First I want to admit I am a tweaker. I have been reloading for 27 years and am always shooting more and more looking for the one hole 3 shot group on every rifle I load for which is 223, 270 308 and 300 wby. The question I have for all of you is when do I stop tweaking loads and spend more time on learning to shoot that load?

I have shot countless .5 moa loads with many running .4moa and even an occasional .3 moa. I mostly shoot at 100 yards but on occasion shoot 200 or 300 max. I only target shoot so to me the search for the ultimate reload is just as much fun as shooting. Should I be happy with .5-.75" moa and spend more time shooting? What guide lines do you use for deciding when to stop tweaking and start shooting the same load more and more?

Thoughts?

 

[milo 2.0]

Apparently you like shooting groups or you wouldn't do it. Do you have access to a long range steel place? Heck, a .3" group will more than suffice to 1k, even farther.
For me, load development isn't the most fun aspect of shooting, especially this time of year. Even though it's been somewhat of a mild winter, most nicer days the wind is blowing pretty good, so it's not that much fun going to the range. I record my data, so if I had a decent group, not perfected, and want to shoot on the weekend, I'll load 30-50rds from the best group and run with it. It usually gets me by till I can work on it some more.
Most guys on here would scoff at my load development anyway, I don't do the OCW, or run ladder tests. I just pick 1 or 2 powders and shoot them over a chrony to find pressure and velocity, then figure at what velocity I want to run at. Then I'll just tweak my seating depth to find the most accurate load. Granted my long range precision rifles are all custom made guns, so getting a .250" group at 100 yards is pretty easy, if they won't shoot it, they need to be fixed.
So my advice, find a range with some 1200 yard steel and go bang em, it's still target shooting and you'll have a blast. But I'd definetly try to keep my groups under .5 moa.

 

[roggom]

As long as you are happy when you walk away from the bench, then it is worth it. I have no where the amount of reloading time as you, but I do enjoy shrinking groups. I do, however, focus less on the sub-half and concentrate more on various shooting positions, environments, and techniques.

If you spend most of your time at 100Y, try some dot drills to see how consistant your POI is.

 

[KYpatriot]

Unless you do this for a living, then it is a hobby. Therefore, do what makes you happy. You could compete in Benchrest if you are a tinkerer looking for ultimate precision, otherwise if you are into tactical style long range then your ammo is already sufficient and practice at wind calling and field positional shooting would be far more productive at improving your first round hit percentage.

 

[gixxer822]

i am also a tinkerer and love learning new tricks tht work and whts doesnt, atleast for me. are u turning necks, annealing, bullet pointing, meplat trimming,weighing everything etc. i ve done a couple when i have spare time but i dont persoanlly dont waste more then 5 rds at 100 yrds for a zero then i move out. if you dont have a place to shoot extended ranges then try a new technique. if u do have room i definatley recommend it, it really opens a whole new realm of the sport

 

[Dave-O]

I've often tell people that my hobby is reloading, the benefit to that is I have to shoot them.. Tinker away and keep shooting..

 

[Beef82]

In your situation I'd say when you're bored with chasing a perfect load, or when you start to suspect maybe you're not seeing the full potential of your loads because they're better than you are. It is obviously a decision only you can make. I like chasing loads, but every now and then I have to load a quanity of one that's good enough to work on me some.

 

[phreakmode]

My approach is simple, keep in mind I really dislike reloading even though I do a bunch of it. 2 questions I ask:

1. Does this load achieve my desired accuracy and consistency expectations?
2. Does this load achieve my desired and practical velocity expectations?

Yes, yes, load as many as my focus and patience will allow and be done with it. The only gotcha is keeping the expectations reasonably achievable, I can live with .75 moa with no heart burn, I hardly ever shoot paper and I only shoot groups to test/verify, not interest at all in making bugholes in paper..

 

[427Cobra]

You can do what you want, I tweek a load until it has spreads in the single digits and bug holes, that way when I show up to a match and when I miss I know it was me and not my rounds I made, I miss a lot, but not as much as I used to before I adopted this philosophy.