And a really really important one while I'm thinking about it, and since it was kind of a topic for my last range trip.
14. Define what an accurate load is FOR YOU AND YOUR PURPOSES.
This is kind of a key one because you can go chasing rabbits down holes and trying to herd cats really really quickly when you start trying to reload. Every single person on the internet has a sub-MOA load that they worked up and swears will work in -50F to +150F and one time their pa-paw picked up the rifle they loaded it for and shot a target so well at 3000 yard that ladies in 4 counties got pregnant.
Me? I'm not like that (generally). I want a safe, predictable round that will meet either "minute of deer" or "minute of bad guy" accuracy. If I'm developing a hunting load, I want 1-1.5 MOA and anything better than that is awesome. I define Minute of Bad guy as a term for 223 and similar rounds and I count that as 4-6 MOA.
The reason for me is simple --- if I assume that I load all the thousand of pieces of brass for common calibers I have, then honestly, they will all react different. Because I'm not going to load common calibers on a per-gun basis. I have multiple AR's and 9s and 40s and blah blah. I'm going to try to find a really solid load that works on what I define as my "SHTF I better pick something and bug out" guns (there are two of those long and two shorter) and then hope they work well in the others. Once I have that first load, I'll try to recreate the same velocity and POI with a different powder and primer combination so I have a few recipes that keep me on target in event that my favorite powder or primers disappears from store shelves (I'm looking at you Alliant Unique!!!). Even then, I assume that if I actually shot all those rounds the guns themselves would start to shoot slightly different over that course which would affect perfection anyways.
Now, for hunting loads, I assume I'm not going to be firing thousands of rounds. I'm going to make them in a more controlled manner. Generally I'll weigh all powders and check them rather than using an automated drop for instance. I'm going to make sure my brass is all trimmed the same. There are bits of prep I'll do that I simple won't for common calibers that I expect are going to result in better performance when I do my part behind the trigger. And I'll just say I am not the world's premier marksman. I get to go to the range precious little between work and spending time with my daughter and that is fine by me. Combine that with the plethora of different calibers and types of guns I have and I don't specialize in any of them. So I want to be good behind each, but don't aim to be sub-MOA perfect on each.
Now, that's not to say I don't have things that I will get really picky about. Two of my favorites that I have are Savage 110 BA LE 338 Lapua Mags. I fully expect that each of those can be a sub-MOA rifle. I expect my processes to get me to sub-MOA with those and I will absolutely chase those. Because that is fundamentally a precision rifle. I've never had an animal charge me, but I think I'm safe in the assumption that in that time frame you want the bullet to go pretty close to point of aim, but that you're probably not going to have time to control breathing and get the perfect shot off. If I'm shooting the 338LM on the other hand I fully expect I'm at a controlled range, prone with a good bipod and time to account for wind and other factors to get the perfect shot off. And so I just have a higher bar for that.
Each of those categories is a ME thing though --- every member here will likely have a different take, or different set of definitions and priorities. But in the real world this is how my last range day went:
1. 375 H&H - Started good, was inside .6" at 25 yards until it suffered rifle failure. I was happy with that because I was just using "burner rounds" to test with as function check. These were rounds that I had made and tested with in the past, but they just didn't make the cut for "I'm going to make more of these but they are still fine to shoot" so being at 2MOA (extrapolated out) was groovy.
2. 416 Rem - About the same as the 375 --- was showing real promise till some lingering rifle issues shut the testing down. But all tested rounds were doing really well and showing promise.
3. 338LM --- I was trying a brand new load on a new-to-me rifle setup with literally a complete guess on load and bullet. When I got a pretty solid .8-1.2 MOA at 100 with it I was pretty darn happy. It's not where I want to be, but it's a very solid starting point considering I was taking guesses. With this one, my next step will be to work that load up with the same bullets and brass in .3gr increments till I find the happy node.
4. The happiest test of the day was AR based. I had loaded up some more complete guess/test rounds and got about 3-4 MOA out of them at 100. That one meets my personal criteria for workable. It's not preferred, but it's workable. I've got like 5 other test combinations built that I didn't get to take that day, so I'll keep playing, but I came away from that going "if I had to mass produce these for SHTF, well, they'd be MOBD" so that was a win.
It's all a bit subjective.
15. Whenever you are trying something new, try to have a friend with you in case something goes wrong. There are a lot of variables, and we're humans. When testing loads, try to have a friend with you. Having some basic first aid knowledge would be great too. I keep quick CAT's in my range bag, as well as first aid/trauma kits in my truck for general purposes for instance.
16. Never ever trust someone's else's reloads completely. If you acquire reloads, you can make a determination if you trust them, but generally...don't. The other instance I've had where I never blew up a gun came from someone's else's reloads. I acquired a bunch of reloading stuff from an estate where it was fairly clear that the person knew a thing or two and wasn't a novice. Old school loader for sure. In that was a 220 swift and a decent amount of rounds for it. I let myself slack in this case just like the story above because of that. In this story I fired a round and saw it impact the target, but the report didn't sounds right. I took out the bolt, barrel checked it and saw daylight at the other end. The POI was low but I'd fired three and counted three holes. I decided to move on. Put the bolt back in and tried to chamber a round but couldn't get it in the barrel. Found that the case head had blow off the case, and left the rest of the brass stuck in the chamber. That shut down that rifle for the day, and when I post-mortem'd I found that the rounds that the dude who again was not a novice had made were about 1.5mm too far out, and had probably jammed the lands and caused a major pressure spike. So I just ripped all the rest of those rounds right apart for components and counted myself lucky that me and the rifle were in good condition.
