Load Development:. Where/When does it end?

[bazineta]

...and it was then that Stilly invented the sport of AK Benchrest.

"How'd you do at the tournament today Bob?"

"I was doing great; almost a clean target, then those two flyers. Man, without those, I'd have had nothing in the black, but those two sunk me. One in the 9 ring, one in the X. Just a trainwreck."

[tonyjr]

The 270 = 5 shots in 5 inch black at 100 yards [ for hunting ] - years ago .
The 45 acp / 50 AE = 5 in a 3 inch black at 15 yards
The 25 acp one magazine - happy with 3 rabbits

[stilly]

...and it was then that Stilly invented the sport of AK Benchrest.

"How'd you do at the tournament today Bob?"

"I was doing great; almost a clean target, then those two flyers. Man, without those, I'd have had nothing in the black, but those two sunk me. One in the 9 ring, one in the X. Just a trainwreck."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Man that has got to suck... If only those last two rounds had not been fired... I feel for ya.

HEY!

Why does my AK take a 30 round mag?

So when I go do that long range shooting thing with Lynn and JMP, I can use the first 29 shots to walk that 30th right in...

:O

[RandyD]

As others have written, the type of shooting you are doing will dictate the level of precision. Benchrest and competitive shooting will require more finely tuned loads, as compared to short range hunting and informal shooting with friends in the desert. Also, your personal interest in accuracy will be a factor. If you don't find reloading interesting or desirable, then there is no need to pursue the finer adjustments available in reloading. Some people reload for only one reason, to have cheaper ammo, not necessarily more accurate ammo, which is my view on reloading handgun ammo.

To find an accurate load for a precision rifle takes me three range trips. The first range trip is using virgin brass, and each shot forms the brass to the rifle's chamber, I then use the measurements on this brass to correctly adjust my headspace die. The next trip to the range is with various in powder charges so I can determine the optimal powder charge for the bullet and primer that I have selected to use. The next trip to the range is with various bullet seating depths to determine the optimal bullet seating depth, and I then finalize my bullet seating die's settings.