Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Define "good load"...killing or accuracy

Some say "I've got this great load that will shoot 5 in a 1/2"dia everytime". But they later metion they track every animal over God's creation to recover it. Others say their load "drops "em in their tracks" & they're happy with a 2" group @ 100yards. So let's see what your "good load" consists of & how it performs. Should be interesting!

Yes

It feeds and unchambers - loaded- reliably 100% of the time. If I can hit a pop can virtually every time from any of the usual field positions at 150 yards, then I'm good with it. That's my basic expectation for the rifle and load. There are, of course, additional expectations for what I will do and the bullet can do.

Somewhere in between sounds right to me, but if you can find tack-driving accuracy from a bullet that'll perform appropriately at the velocity its likely to impact game, so much the better. It adds to my confidence knowing that I can put it right where it needs to be.

Even so, if it is between a Sierra Match King that'll knock wings off of flies at 400 yards or some game bullet suitable to the game hunted and velocities expected that "only" delivers 1.5 MOA I'll take the latter.

Here is a great load for deer:


200 gr Speer Hot Cor, 53 gr RL-15, pretty conservative velocities (2600 fps probably?)

and here is one that'd be great for deer, elk, and moose:


215 gr Sierra Game King, 57.5 gr BLC-(2), about 2700 fps

If you can't get some pleasing "middle ground" with the rifle you have, buy a new one.

Art and efw kind of nail this one for me.

I do try to avoid temptation though. I don't even bother testing a bullet that I wouldn't feel comfortable hunting with. Likewise the only time I underload is when I fire a few to work up to speed and make sure I am not getting pressure signs while doing so. This consolidates the velocity node testing and the accuracy testing. In the end I don't know what the accuracy is 3 grains light because I don't want to know.

Bottom line: 1 1/2" is my comfort zone. Standard factory velocity is my comfort zone. A load has to do both for me to call it good. I'll work a little to get accuracy better than that and have done so successfully.

I never try to beat book velocity. I don't try to make my 06 into a 300 and I don't try to make the 7-08 into a 280. I am very comfortable with what they can safely provide.

Will

With the advances in bullet technology, there's no reason why you can't have the best of both worlds. There are hunting bullets that will deliver close to target accuracy.
As posted, if you have a working,hunting rifle, why bother to develope a load using a target bullet. I've read the post where folks planned on using target bullets because it gave them 1/4" better accuracy and wondered "why"?
One problem I see is folks decide what bullet they are going to use based on the hype they read instead of letting the rifle determine which bullet it likes best.

Any time you hit the game animal or target that you're shooting at you have any accurate gun and an accurate shooter. Precision, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. I'd rather have an accurate shooting rifle and BE an accurate shooter in field situations and only delivers 1.5 MOA precision from a bench than a rifle that delivers .2 MOA precision that I can't use in most field situations.

A guy can have his cake and eat it too,which is easily arranged.

Leave concessions to the other guy..............

For me, an inch at 100 is a standard for accuracy that I hold to for every rifle. If the gun won't do that, I won't hunt it unless it's a muzzle loader which will be used at not over 100 yards.

For fifty years the only bullets I have used are what I have believed were the best for what I intended to do with them. If I couldn't get an inch out of the bullet/rifle combination I put off using it until I solved the problem.

I do this to have the greatest margin for error I can get with the bullet and as much forgiveness as I can reasonably expect to get for any aiming mistakes I might make. It's what I am comfortable with and what gives me confidence that when I pull the trigger that everything will come out the way I want it to. So far it seems to be working perfectly which is starting to give me assurance I am on the right track.

When I get a new rifle ( few that I do) I have always worked upa load with Match Kings to see what i twill do.Then I select the hunting bullets I deem appropriate for the game I want to hunt and work up a load for that bullet. I have never found a bullet that I wanted to use that did not do better than 1&1/2 " groups at 100 yds,and most do an inch. With this method,I have a true comparison for that particualr hunting bullet, accuracy wise and I am fairly confident that the hunting bullet I select will perform moer than adequately in terms of killing.

Yup. Gives you an idea of the accuracy potential of the rifle, and narrows down the field of candidates when questions of bullet weight and powder arise.

I opt a high load density,opt the bullet for the application,kiss lands and rock on.

Things are easy as you make them...............

Great idea guys!

My idea of an ideal load is one that will put the first shot from a clean, cold barrel exactly where I want it to go. That might be 2" above point of aim at 100 yards, if that is where I want it.

Near ideal is if the next two will go 1/2 inch or thereabouts from that first one, or even an inch, from that first shot, in the event a follow up shot is needed.

So far, on a deer or antelope standing still and broadside, that follow up shot has never been needed.

I don't think there is any one distinct definition for a good hunting load. There are so many variables (animal, terrain, conditions) that a good definition must encompass those variables.

First, the load has to feed, chamber, and extract flawlessly in the gun it was worked up for (different guns will accept different COL and pressure levels). It must be accurate enough for the game it is intended to take (varmits require more accuracy than say a moose). Finally, it must exhibit enough penetration to go completely through the game it is intended to take at the ranges and shot angles expected to be encountered (consider broadside deer at 25 yards versus angling away follow-up shot on a wounded brown bear at 150 yards).

All I know is 75 grains of RL22 gives me .2 with my current 300 WM and that is good enough for anything I do.

more accuracy and velocity than factory ammo. My current 25-06 will do .55 at 100 yards with a 100 grain bullet but it will only hold that accuracy at 3250. I want more zing while keeping that accuracy.

Re-22 is your huckleberry..............

Give me a premium bullet at decent speeds and sub moa (huge prerequisite regardless of type of hunt and distance). I am good.

It seems logical that one would rather have a 1.5" groups from a premium hunting bullet that .5" groups from a match bullet for "killing" situations. However, there's an element of confidence that comes along with a rifle/load that will hold little tiny groups from the bench.

That being said, give me consistent 1" or smaller groups at 100 yds with a quality bullet and I'll go hunt it.

For example, I have an older BDL 6mm Rem that didn't do much to inspire my confidence (1.5 to 1.75" groups with most of the bullets I tried). I was at the point of using it as a donor action. Finally found a load with RL-19 and the 85TSX that shoots 3/4" groups all day long. I seem to be grabbing that one out of the safe more often now.