Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Here's a test you can do at home

I loaded 198 cartridges to fireform the cases for my rifle. I used my hybrid system for all - Lee collet, body die, and Forster seater. These cases are once fired, and I checked half for runout - 0.001 to 0.002.

Once these are fired, I will check the runout coming out of the rifle. It should be almost zero. Starting with these straight cases, I will load 40 of each using the four die sets. I will be checking for case and bullet runout as they are loaded.

The 160 cartridges will go to the range and I will make holes in paper. The groups will be measured and I will declare the winner.

After I post the results, the fun will begin. I'll get advice from the cheap seats. They will have missed that it's a die test and tell me where my problems are, what I did wrong, etc. Welcome to the Campfire.

My guess is the Lee Loader will shoot the tightest, but it will be a fight between it and the Redding NS die. It's all for fun. If you talk to competition shooters, the older ones will tell you about the endless experimentation, chasing the bughole. I can't be bothered anymore. I'm happy with .5 to .75 of an inch @ 100 yd with my varmint rifles, and 1 to 1.5 inches with my game rifles. Playing with loads keeps me out of the bars.