I have been coming here for some time and find that many of the steps some of you take are darn near worthless in reloading to hunt, but after reading many posts the light came on many of you don't hunt you just punch paper and closing that group down 1/16" to you is same as a hunter taking a BG animal.

Question:
So my question is

Choices:
I reload to hunt
I reload to punch paper
I reload to do both

 

US1

I reload to test cast bullets in rifles and to improve my marksmanship.

Jim

Your premise that smart reloading for hunting as apposed to smart reloading for paper punching need not be the same, is correct.These two reasons are not only, however, why many of us reload.

Is it necessary for the brown bear hunter to use the same reloading techniques as the fella gearing up for impala or long range antelope? I think not.

Does the paper punching varmint hunter getting ready for a hunt go through the same throws as a BR shooter? Mostly not even close.

Many years ago ,when living in poverty, I picked up and reloadede every piece of 30-06 brass I found. These were never segragated yet we had our elk and deer every year. I doubt if this ammo would have made very small groups.

Than there is another breed; The technical, quasi scientific reloader. This guy likes to try out stuff( powders, bullets, primers, cases, OALs, barrel twists,rifles, etc.--) looking for results, effects , limits and assertaining quality. Our hayday arrived with the instant information exchange given to us by the computor and forums such as this. Prior to that we were somewhat in the dark and relied on the gun rags.

The reason for this long posting is I didn't go shooting today. Next week I'll post the results on the Wolf small rifle primers. roger

As the junior member to reply so far, I reload to hunt but punching paper is part of making sure the ammo is good enough that it doesn't add yet another variable to the hunting equation.

The only difference in the load or care in preparing it for paper or hunting is the bullet. the rest is exactly the same. My loads have to be fast enough to stay within one inch of my point of aim to two-hundred yards. They have to group to sub MOA consistantly (usually to 1/2 MOA). I use the same loads for everything and I practice with the same bullets that I hunt with. My rifles are sighted 1" low at 200 yards and hit just short of 1" high at 100. There is nothing that I change when shooting targets.
I would say that as a rule of thumb target shooters have the right idea - they load for optimum accuracy - and their ammo is a bit slower than most hunting bullets and the bullets that they use are not made to withstand the impact of killing an animal. The target shooting public could switch to a hunting bullet and get the best accuracy from it and hunt with the best of us. I have used target bullets and they are a bit more accurate in my guns BUT my loads are for hunting. I just happen to punch holes in targets with them too.

I am a stickler for precision, and it doesn't matter if I am concocting a load for punching paper or punching out a big game animal: I want my loads to be as accurate as possible, and I don't settle for average.

Granted, one can't shoot in the field as well as from the bench, but it's nice knowing that a high degree of accuracy is available -- and that if I miss, it is not the fault of the load or the gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
I want my loads to be as accurate as possible, and that if I miss, it is not the fault of the load or the gun.

Exactly!!!!

I reload to hunt.

once my gun or should I say outfit gets to a degree of accuracy and that degree is what ever that gun can shoot best I stop fooling with it and work on where the first and maybe second shots go and out to long ranges 400 to 500 yards.

After that I try to find a cheaper bullet then say a NP, one that will come as close as I can get to it in accuracy without changing my POI to much from say a Nosler, if my gun shoots 1/2"-1" groups i'm a happy camper if it 1.5" that's fine to as there are so many variables in the field that are far more important then a rifle that won't shoot 1/2" too many hunters strive for that sub MOA off a bench and rest and forget the field shooting.

You need to put as many bullets as you can downrange in wind and weather that you will encounter in your hunting area you can't drag that bench along.

I reload as much as possible as it´s a way to wind down after a rough day.

Precision is better, choice of bullet/powder combo etc is mine.

But I´m hooked on the monotony of it.

Shooting is the thing for me.
I reload because I love to shoot.
They don't make enough animals for me to shoot.
I am sure not going to eat that many critters either.
If you shoot enough, a game animal is not much of a target to hit or kill. Especially with a modern setup that is lethal to 400 yards. In my mind there is not much challenge to reloading just to shoot a white tail. Almost anything will kill one if you place the shot properly.

It depends on what you hunt and what your standards are. I hunt ground squirrels, coyotes, prairie dogs at 500+ yards, I use the paper at different distances to tell me when I have reached the optimum load for my rifles.

The procedures and habits that I develop reloading for my varmint guns carry over to my big game guns and so I use them there also. To me the key to reloading is consistency so I am as consistent as possible in all my reloading.

I have my 375 H&H shooting into 1" groups at 200 yards and it would probably do even better with a higher power scope.

There are enough variables in hunting with range estimation, wind, mirage, etc. why not rule out inconsistent accuracy as one of the variables?

I've never had a problem hunting because my rifle and loads were to accurate.