Hey guys I've got a bizarre situation wondering if any of you guys big into reloading have experienced.... my dad was heavy into reloading and maticulously would find the "perfect" load for every rifle we owned. He passed away in 2014 and I inherited all his equipment and started reloading myself. Well here's my situation.... I'm currently working on the perfect load for my Winchester model 70 .308.... dad ordered a ton of lapua and I think arma brass supposed to be the best of the best and I've been loading it with different bullets and powder weights and can't get anything under a 1 1/2 group. Well I found some older Remington brass he had case prepped and primed and I loaded it with the exact same recepe as I used in the lapua brass and I'm threading the needle half inch groups all shots touching. Whose had this happen? I never imagined brass would make such a difference and would expect that high dollar brass to shoot better not worse.

If ur using unused brass (new brass) then I would check sizing and length


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Trim your brass(cases will stretch from firing especially if your crips are very tight, and take an unfired bullet from the batch that was good and set your dies to that. Be careful not over crip your reloads. From reloading .222 Remington to 300 Weatherby Mag. seems to me for better grouping - cripping to the minimum, case length, weight each powder charge, and take your time to check neck of each case before and after reloading it. I found little things like my 30-06 Bar groups 1/2" at 100 yds by changing to 165 gr. boattails, it just didn't like the 150's. My .222 rem likes 50 gr. a lot more than the 55 gr. and at over 3600 fps it make a crow at 200 yds a poof of feathers.
Btw each rifles chamber by make and model, and individually could vary a few thousands. Just having the bullet chamber as close to the rifling as possible greatly improves your grouping.

Is the rifle new?

The rifle is like new, only been shot a few times previously by my dad. the new lapua cases were already trimmed ready to prime and load, the older Remington cases I trimmed to same size. I think what happened is the older cases had already been shot in that specific gun and formed to the chamber. I'm going to neck size and trim those once fired lapua cases and reload the same recepe and see if they shoot as well as the others being only shot in that specific gun and formed to the chamber. Other thought I had was maybe the lapua cases are thicker than the Remington and causing more case pressure. What you guys think about that

Cypress I don't crimp precision rifle hunting loads. Just standard seat the bullet

Also I seat the bullet out as close to lans and grooves of the barrel as possible but still being able to fit in magazine of the rifle

You are thinking exactly where I was headed. The old brass was form fired to that chamber. I've seen brand new rifles almost out of spec with way too much headspace. If you neck size brass that's been fired in a specific chamber, it may not even fit in a different chamber. And yes, not all brass is created equal. I had one rifle that loved Federal brass but wouldn't do shit with Remington brass. Seating the bullet on the lands doesn't always produce the best accuracy, that's a starting point. Many calibers are a free bore design and shoot very accurate. It's all in finding the sweet spot. I like to start .020" off the lands and work back from there jumping 10 at the time until you see the group tighten up. Sometimes .005" can make all the difference in the world.

But to get back on the main topic, I agree with only neck sizing your Lapua brass and doing everything else exactly the same and try it again. If it still doesn't do good, change brass. Good luck and have fun, you have stepped into something that will either frustrate you and you'll quit, or you'll get highly addicted. I dont think there is anything in between. haha

I've been reloading for a little while. The first thing I noticed with my 338 lapua mag. Is the brass is where the accuracy comes in to play. Make sure your brass is all the same size. I full length resize and measure the length. Also make sure the measurements from the rear of case to the end of chamfer is the same. My brass would stretch the chamfer about .001-.002. This was causing heavy bolt lift and bad groups. As far as bullet seating I don't crimp. But set the ogive at .010 off lands. Powder charge is another thing. If you seat the bullet out .010 from lands then you may beable to use more powder. But you really need to watch your pressure signs on brass. Bolt lift especially. A factory load is at SAMMI specs. So it can be shot in multiple rifles. The bullet is seated deep with less powder. The ogive may be .100 jump but case pressure is good. A bullet on lands with the same powder charge may be the same or close to pressure due to the friction the bullet sees earlier as it has to overcome the lands before the bullet leaves the neck. Also try to measure the velocity of each load. Write down everything you do and review after each test run. I had a lot of trial and errors when starting but it pays off.
I can shoot my hand loads out of my 338lapua at 600yds and keep a 3/4-1" group. Last weekend I was able to get 2 kills at 510yds and 480yds. This weekend the weather is going to be perfect for the next attempt at 979yds and 780yds. Here is a pic of a doe at 510


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Yeah I do crimp my rifle loads slightly for the fact I am shooting an Browning auto and the same bullets in a Springfield 1903 and also with my 300 weatherby mag, there is a lot of recoil and I want to make sure the bullets do change length. BTW crimping increases chamber pressure and help more consist powder burning and also slightly increasing muzzle velocity.

For finding the perfect load for a rifle-- load in groups of 5 various powders, bullets, crimps, cases and bull barrel or not 2-3 minutes between shot with new target with each group.

I fill my doe tags with head shots and distance in not a factor, yeah I do miss but my hits greatly out number misses.
Not everybody can shoot the eye out of a flying crow at 100 yds. with one eye closed.

I start with 500 rd of brass from the same lot number. I load all at minimum specs of crappy rounds. Fire form the cases and then only neck size from there. I use an oal gauge and head spacing gauge to find my head space. I start at .010-.030. Then use multiple powders. I anneal all brass to prevent the casings from becoming brittle. <1/2" 3 round groups at 200yd with vice and pneumatic trigger


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