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I have been shooting my Bergara HMR B-14 308 for a year and it has not let me down. I have tried IMR 4895, Hodgdons H335 and IMR 4166 all with 168 gr Sierra Match King HPBT and Hornady Match 168 gr HPBT. I shoot once a month at 100 yards and 200 yards and my groups are fairly consistent with .5 MOA to .75 MOA at both distances. I don't have a chronograph (Lab radar is on the list), so I do not know my speeds, SDs or flat spots. My primers look great, brass looks excellent after 6 firings (I am retiring them after 6 firings). Neck tension is tight and I am bumping the shoulder back. I am adjusting my seating depths after ladder testing, so I think I am on a good path. Well for person who enjoys their hobby.

Two of my club members place 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the F-TR Class at Nationals in the team event shooting out to 600 yards. I have shot their guns before and it does not take much to place 5 shots in the same hole at 100 yds. A custom 24" barrel with a defiance action and 8 to 15 oz trigger is a dream to shoot.

Once I get my groups to 1/4" MOA. I will try my hand at a 600 yard match. My longest hits on paper so far has been 500 yards and the groups were horrible, 6.25 MOA.

Should I get the chronograph and move toward OCW or just stay on the same path of consistent shot placement, proper technique and improve my reloading technique?

Deitz83 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:32 pm

Once I get my groups to 1/4" MOA. I will try my hand at a 600 yard match. My longest hits on paper so far has been 500 yards and the groups were horrible, 6.25 MOA.

It must have been a big piece of paper.

Get a chronograph if you are about precision. In long range shooting, you minimize vertical spread with precision loading and range estimation and you minimize the horizontal spread with wind calls.

Consistent loading will reduce velocity extreme spread (ES). Vertical spread can result from many things, only one of which is variation in velocity, which can only be measured by a chronograph. Despite how many steps go into reloading, the one thing you are actually chasing is low velocity ES. If you look at where the holes land, you likely have a low ES if there is minimal vertical spread (but you might have velocity variation AND wobbly aiming that counteracts it.....you cannot really know without measuring velocity). If you do have vertical spread, then you have no way of diagnosing the cause without a chronograph.

This is why I love being a member here. I know that I will, more than likely, never try precision shooting at distances over 200 yds, and then only rarely.
Also I am less than a neophyte, when it comes to hand loading. But at least, after reading through threads like this, I can at least learn the lingo associated with these activities, and won’t have the deer in the headlights look, when encountering those more in the know. Many thanks to those who impart their knowledge, to those seeking it.

I don't know if you've ever seen the article, or if it's even relevant to your interests, but if you've not read about the "Houston Warehouse" you should take the time to read it. Very interesting read. A quick search turned up a link here. If that doesn't work PM me, I have a local copy.

Very nice article. Thanks for the read. This made my day.

lfinsr wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:57 pm I don't know if you've ever seen the article, or if it's even relevant to your interests, but if you've not read about the "Houston Warehouse" you should take the time to read it. Very interesting read. A quick search turned up a link here. If that doesn't work PM me, I have a local copy.

ok....now i feel like a newbie....great article. will need to read, digest and read again many times. what a great place to work the experiments.
thanks for sharing the link

lfinsr wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:57 pm I don't know if you've ever seen the article, or if it's even relevant to your interests, but if you've not read about the "Houston Warehouse" you should take the time to read it. Very interesting read. A quick search turned up a link here. If that doesn't work PM me, I have a local copy.

Wow that is some article.

When I went to this thread, I assumed from the title, it would be about handgun shooting situations.

I'm actually afraid to get into this sort of thing as I suspect it would cost me a lot of money.

This such a cool post, it’s now missing from active topics.