Best way to make your "good enough" load better?

[pretzelxx]

What do you guys do to customize your load to be a tack driver? Have you ever lapped a brand new barrel in a pistol (match grade barrel) do you put more crimp? Load a little deeper? I know I can get them almost on the same hole, and I want a really accurate load, just looking for some in depth pointers if you great folks don't mind spreading the love.

I currently am loading for my brand new 1911 (now with 200 cast rounds fired) it's a 228 grain round nose from a 1 cavity Lee mold. Powder coated and ran with titegroup. (groups are 3 inches at about 24 feet with no rest)

[Yodogsandman]

No expert here but, 200 gr SWC (H&G 68 clones or 452460) are considered by many to be more accurate. Try some other boolits to see what your gun wants to shoot best.

Many have posted that powder coated pistol boolits are just as accurate as traditionally lubed boolits. Try them both ways and decide for yourself.

[Kraschenbirn]

Refining a load is usually more 'trial & error' than anything else. I usually start with an 'accepted' load that I've lifted from a reloading manual or similar source. If it performs with my expectations of 'acceptable', then I start working at really dialing it in. The best advice I can give on 'tuning' your load is to only change one thing at a time; once you've developed a basic load that feeds reliably, you might want to tinker with the powder charge, increasing in .2 gr. increments (but staying under the listed "MAX LOAD". Changing the hardness of your alloy might help...or it might not; same for O.A.L - loading that boolit to the same length as G.I. ball works just fine for me but I know others who load their .45 ACP RNs to the max. length that will function in their guns. Basically, it comes down to whatever works is what works, you just have to keep trying 'til you get it right.

Bill

[Scharfschuetze]

To be honest, most of the old 2700 bullseye shooters usually just shot a standard and proven load. Granted they used the same make primers and brass with best quality boolits consistently, but the loads shot by each shooter from one end of the line to the other were generally about the same. 230 grainers for the DCM (now CMP) Leg Match and 185 or 200 grain SWCs for the NRA course of fire.

With that said, competitive shooters would spend a bundle on getting their 1911s tight and uniform v. spending time on tweaking a load. The eight steady hold factors, a well built gun and consistently good and proven loads were the three keys to really good shooting... still are.

The IPSC and Action Shooting guys all load to make a power factor, for reliability and then accuracy in the 1911. Priority is in that order for them. I've done well in this game with a 1911 that would perhaps hold Expert class, but not make master class in the 2700 game.

Recently made 1911s of good quality generally shoot about as well as the old built up "Hardball" Government 1911s or Colt 1911s from back in the day although you can still spend a bundle for a guaranteed good shooter.

My suggestions would be to buy some very good quality factory ammo to establish an accuracy standard for your 1911 at 25 yards and 50 yards from a solid bench rest. Once done, you'll know where you are at with your handloads.

[pretzelxx]

I think the bench advice will surely help. Especially since my rear sight is adjustable, so I will grab some of the good stuff and let it fly. I appreciate the help guys! And the one thing at a time is always good to remember. I changed a few things at a time on the last loadings (oops)

[MT Gianni]

If anything I would experiment to find the least amount of crimp necessary. Try panlubing some if you don't have a sizer, lube can play a huge part in accuracy. As a friend says "Lube doesn't matter until it does". If you only try one you never know. Scharfschuetze, said it best. Use a rest andtry factory ammo to find a standard.

[TenTea]

One part science.
+
One part art.
+
One part luck.
+
One part voodoo.
=
Better loads.
or
Use precision tools and master them...scale, micrometer, sizer, caliper, press, measure, mold and die.

[Love Life]

Consistency being numero uno....

As said above, bench it at 25 and 50 yards. Shoot known good ammo to get a standard.

I dig into the minutia of reloading when it comes to loading for accuracy. No stone left unturned here, lol. Follow that all up with good practice at 25 and 50 yards. Being good to decent at those ranges will make you the champion of the range when you shoot at 8 yards again.

[country gent]

Work with one change at a time. and work in one area of the load at a time. Start with powder charge and work up in .2-.5 grn increments shooting groups with each see where the firarm wants to function feed and best accuracy all meet up. then seating depths of the bullets Cartridge overall length can make a diffrence. These are the 2 major areas of experimentation. try diffrent primers, maybe diffrent makes of brass, and diffrent case preps techniques, with some brass uniforming primer pockets and deburring flash holes can make a diffrence. Another area of experimentation is neck tension of the bullet. Work in one area to find the best and then start the next area. A big help to this is a note book and detailed notes as to what when where and how for each change tried, This documents what you have done the results and allows the good to be duplicated ad the poor to be by passed. A detailed note book on what you load will after several years of loding become invaluable to you.

[GhostHawk]

My SA 1911 will shoot a tighter group than I can normally hold.

I have had it put 10 in a group smaller than a pop can at 20 feet, offhand.
Doesn't mean I can do it every time, or when I want to. Some days it just all comes together, and some days it won't.

Focus, concentration, good sight alignment, all seem to matter more to accuracy than anything I can do to the gun.
My Springfield Armory is total stock except for a little feed ramp polish.

[Kosh75287]

When I crimp as a separate step and use a taper-crimping die in pistol and revolver loads, it usually helps. Sometimes it helps lots, sometimes it helps a little. Seems to work best in large cases with magnum-level charges of slower-burning powders, but I've never seen a load whose groups didn't tighten up at least a little from it.

[Wolfer]

Someone recently asked me if I thought a new pistol shot better after a couple thousand rds. My reply was that if you shoot the rds yes. If per say you hired someone to do it maybe, maybe not.

I've often thought I was the weakest link