Chronographs and Reloading

[yobuck]

Funny :)

Some days I really hate the wind. Swirls all around and no pattern to them. Frustrating.

We have some guys who shoot long range informal matches. There are days where they are happy if they hit a 3ft x 3ft backer at 1000yd.

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Double that distance and they might not hit a Volkswagen van Charlie, and im not joking.
We can talk all we want about precise loading, quality guns, quality scopes, and whatever else you care to add to that.
But the fact is that at long distances even the very best and experienced shooters will shoot as well as the prevailing conditions permit.
The luck of the draw for a day or even a relay when conditions are good will win most matches.
It’s not all that uncommon for even an experienced shooter not having all their shots hit the target at 1000 yds.
But those are the little things we dont hear much about.

[NF1E]

May not be absolutely necessary, but it sure is nice to have tools and eliminate some of the variables. Whatta Hobby!

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[PhilC]

I agree, especially with current limited component availability, having a few tools (toys?) makes my efforts more efficient.

[charlie b]

Double that distance and they might not hit a Volkswagen van Charlie, and im not joking.
We can talk all we want about precise loading, quality guns, quality scopes, and whatever else you care to add to that.
But the fact is that at long distances even the very best and experienced shooters will shoot as well as the prevailing conditions permit.
The luck of the draw for a day or even a relay when conditions are good will win most matches.
It’s not all that uncommon for even an experienced shooter not having all their shots hit the target at 1000 yds.
But those are the little things we dont hear much about.Yep. There are lots of stories about someone winning on a bad weather day just by hitting the target board a few times.

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[Texas10]

I have found that developing the load for accuracy first, then chrono-ing it to produce a fairly accurate drop chart will give me the results at distance that I'm looking for.

[yobuck]

I have found that developing the load for accuracy first, then chrono-ing it to produce a fairly accurate drop chart will give me the results at distance that I'm looking for.
Well there is an old cliche that says nothing will ruin accuracy more than velocity.
But there is accuracy, then there is accuracy.
And it depends upon what type each individual needs to satisfy his needs.
Im very old school, and a firm believer that real accuracy starts and pretty much ends with the barrel.
A load will only improve a poor barrel to a point, and no more.
Possibly today that might not be as true as in the past, thanks to better machining, but none the less it is still a factor.
As for velocity, it is far more important as the distance increases.
The faster the bullet reaches its destination the less it will be affected by conditions such as wind.
So what will affect the accuracy more at the longer distances?
Wind or powder?
The key is to have maximum velocity, and find ways to make it work.

[want2ride]

In the 90's i used to have a buddy reload for me and he would pick a load out of a book, load it up and if it shot good enough, he would break out his old chronograph.
Then i started reloading and had no chronograph. I would load up lots and lots of regularly spaced rounds and picked the one that shot best and borrow my buddy's chrono to find out how fast it was.
I had a seldom used magnetospeed sporter as my first chronograph for about 2 years before i saw a video on the Satterlee method, and it totally was a game changer. it has saved me huge amounts of resources and made better results than i ever thought possible. I don't compete, but even for me a modern chronograph has paid for it's self in time and resources. Yeah, you can do it without a chronograph, but why?

[Fuj']

I agree, especially with current limited component availability, having a few tools (toys?) makes my efforts more efficient.

Efficient is the key word here. I'm a wild catter and have done a few, years
back on the Ohler33. Nowadays, a Lab Radar is on the bench. It's nice over the
old days to see in real time a result on the screen and what the target says
thru the scope. My advice is.....If your more then a casual shooter, get a good
chrony.