Index marking for accuracy

[stangfish]

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[missed]

Subscribed....

[fgw_in_fla]

I know a guy at out local range that does it. I've had the pleasure shooting next to him & the honor of walking down range to hold the ruler for him while he takes a pic of his group(s) to log into his book.

Typically, there'd be a circular shaped hole in the paper about the diameter of the caliber bullet he was using that day. The times I asked how many rounds was that, he'd get a half smirk & say 5.... maybe 6.
He had the extreme case of chronic reoccurring bench shooters OCD.

He placed emphasis on "no one thing will improve your groups - it's a combination of ALL things, including the shooter... and sometimes a little luck doesn't hurt."

[stangfish]

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[MacDR]

I would also be interested in hearing about indexing.

[fgw_in_fla]

I'm interested in hearing about it as well...
Its not something that really intrigued me. My OCD isn't that far gone. At least I don't think it is.

And it only half a page. Just making conversation on this 85 degree Florida day. In the middle of December. With my A/C running....

[stangfish]

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[foxx]

I'm in.

[Apache]

Case indexing as I'm familiar with it:

......Using a indicator to check the wall thickness of the brass in the BODY area of the case to see where it is thickest and thinnest, marking the case in such a way as to orient it n the chamber the same way...for every piece of brass, every time.

For instance (theoretical) the brass case wall is .030 thick on one side and .031 on the other. Load the thickest side into the chamber in the same position (say 12:00 position) every time.

This is ONE of a myriad of precision reloading techniques that are used like "black magic" to shoot smaller groups. Some swear it works....others don't.

......it may be something different to someone else.

After looking at the article......that is exactly what I was referring to.

[stangfish]

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[earl39]

Ok i can understand the theory behind this but, and there is always a "but", how can one be certain in a bolt rifle that the case does not move, rotate, when you close the bolt? I can see this working perfectly with a break action such as a contender but i can also see my bolt moving my case a little as i close the bolt and not doing it consistently with each case. That's right the old gas cloud just threw a monkey wrench in the finely oiled machine.

[82boy]

If you have to index you cases, you have junk brass or something severely screwed up in your loading set up. There is no competitive Benchrest shooter that index's cases, that I know of. (I think that says it all.)
I think grabbing random loaded brass, and tossing them in the chamber works good enough, 5 shots at 100 yard in competition randomly loaded, and thrown in the chamber. The hole will support a bullet.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d145/82boy/first0group001_zps3ea01f4e.jpg (http://s34.photobucket.com/user/82boy/media/first0group001_zps3ea01f4e.jpg.html)

[stangfish]

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[82boy]

Glad you joined in. This was for ranges much further than 100 yds and was intended to cover cases for longer calibers than are typically seen in Benchrest like the 30-06. I have recently seen it in the 308 as well.

This was for sake of conversation and these questions are serious... Am I to apply all Benchrest theory to 1000yd F class with the larger calibers? Is German Salazar full of it?

To start, I don't know of anyone that competitively shoots 600 or 100 yard Benchrest with a 308 or a 30/06 cartridges. (6 Dasher seams to rule the game for the most part) As far as I know German Salazar doesn't shoot Benchrest, he shoots high power. I would state that High power is not Benchrest or remotely close. Yes German Salazar is a highly regarded gun writer, and is a competitive high power shooter, but I must say many of his articles I don't know if I would agree with his opinions. Not that I am some great Benchrest shooter, but I know some great Benchrest shooters, and know what they do, and many times this contradicts what German Salazar is doing.

[barrel-nut]

I think Stang was referring to F class calibers. May be some different calibers than what are typically used in BR.
My view on this topic is that this is somewhat voodoo-ish. Falls under the heading of "well, I guess it can't hurt, and if it makes you feel better, then it might make you shoot a little more confidently.". I also agree that if there really is any benefit to be had in doing this, that it would apply more so to the long action rounds, like full sized magnums or the '06 variants. Just my opinion. And we all know about opinions... Lol

[yobuck]

i have an old friend who won the year end agregate award twice at williamsport.
with a lefty savage action no less. that was years back before all the sophistication we have today.
he did index his loads and felt it was important. he spun the loaded round and marked the high spot.
he then loaded each round exactly the same way. he also weighed his bullets and sorted his cases.
if it didnt help for sure it didnt hurt either. i dont think anybody else ever won that award twice.