Tips for Reloading Bullets - By: Bruce Mackay

The field testing you have to do yourself, since no two guns shoot exactly the same and you will understand so much about shooting. It’s a good idea if you write down your findings when targeting your own hand loads, because this can be some of the greatest reloading data you will ever get. The basis for this is the rounds form fit to your gun once you fire them from your gun. This should always be done first with new brass because this has a vast affect on the accuracy of your rifle.

I have found numerous places in pistol shooting forums and shotgunners mention it, the first thing that most learn is the big increase in accuracy. The technicians I have read articles from say the reason is the gas pressure created when shooting is what controls the energy of the round. This is why the better the bullet fits the more uniform the pressure and the tighter the groups.

Setting the bullet as tight against the lands of the barrel is the other part of the gas preasure effect that you need to be aware of. The technique I used is to use a candle and smoke the lead or just use a felt pen and coat the lead then just check and recheck until the lead is just marking the ink or smoke on the lead. I then make a dummy round so I have the length for my next trip to the bench.

Another check that can be done to improve the precision is a runout test; this can be done by rolling a loaded round across a mirror. By watching closely as the loaded cartridge rolls, the reloader can clearly see .003 inch runout, and a .006 runout looks like a bent axel. Factory rounds are typically set to be within .007 by using your press to set the round half way and then turning the round half a round and reseating the bullet. This usually brings the round to under.005 and a round of .003 to .005 should not make a significant difference in your accuracy.

I am not going to get into the actual bullet reloading data because there is so much done professionally already out there. You can find a lot on various sites on the internet.

Hi, I am Bruce Mackay and I am promoting reloading bullets on my web site at reloadingbench.ca. I just want to give an idea of the better tricks and benefits I have found in reloading bullet data. The biggest gain is the accuracy you can attain and the understanding of how to accomplish this. In my Hodgdon manual I have found most of the knowledge to accomplish this.

The reloading manuals and data for reloading I promote at reloadingbench.ca. http://www.squidoo.com/reloadingbullets
http://hubpages.com/hub/Reloading-Bullets