When loading for a reasonable balance of accuracy and power, what reloading component do you vary first?

Assume you're starting with a reasonable powder, bullet, primer, etc.

For me it's seating depth. What do all y'all do?

9.3

If the bullet you chose is at least it's diameter in the case and not a mile away from the riflings, I change powder charges first. If that fails, I change type of powder. the primer is the last thing I change. Seating depth on a hunting rifle is dictated by correct feeding through the magazine while still being as close to the riflings as possible. If the load completely fails then I would change bullets. If all the above fails , then I go to the gun.

I choose a bullet. Choose an OAL dictated by chamber throat length, mag length (if applicable), and at least having one dia. of length in the case neck (some of my single shots are looong throated). And I choose a powder to start with and play with the charge weights. If the bullet still looks promising but the powder doesn't seem to be giving me all the velocity I think I should get with good accuracy I switch powders. Sean

After you've been reloading for awhile you'll pretty much know which powders and bullets "should" perform well in a rifle. Lately I load by muzzle velocity. Fox example I will load my .22-250Rem. as follows: 50gr. bullet=3700fps, 55gr. bullet=3600fps. Whichever amount of my selected powder gives me that velocity is my starting point. In the .224 calibers I use Sierra 52gr. HPBT and 50 and 55gr. Nosler Bal. Tips. I've had great success with these bullets. The Sierras are for the bench, the Noslers for the field. I check my chambers with a Stoney Point OAL guage and seat to the lands, but softly, not jammed. Finally I'll vary the powder dose as required. Works for me. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I seat .01" off of the lands, then look in the book for the most accurate powder or Waters pet loads for suggestions. Then I load from starting to max and take to the range. I shoot from low and take notes on velocity and group size. If I find a good group with acceptable velocity, then I'm done. If the groups are terrible, I'll change powder, then a different bullet. Once a reasonable group is obtained, then you can tweak length and slight powder variations. If I'm under an inch at 100, then I'm done, I don't need anything more than that.

I load at the range beteen shots.

For a bullet and powder in a rifle:

1) I load up until the brass starts to expand at the extracor ring and brass life is short.

2) Then I back off a few % in powder charge.

3) Then I vary the OAL until I get a good group.

4) Then I reduce the charge until the group improves.

I write everything down and write all over the targets and take them home. At home I may decide to try another powder / bullet combination next time at the range.

I like .224" 55 gr Vmax and .257 75 gr Vmax and IMR4895Bulk for .223 Rem and 257 Roberts AI repectively.

All my rifles are hunting rifles, thus OAL is dictated by the magazine. I use the same primers always. I will pick the powder listed in the Manuals as most accurate, and work from there with various weights. I want a tough hunting bullet, usually I find a North Fork that will do the job. Good shooting.

I'll let You be the judge.
At times I load the same load;5ea. at 5 different oals. Sometimes I see a difference, sometimes I think there's a difference and sometimes there is no real difference.
Other times I keep the powder and the charge at what has shown promise in the past and load 4 to six different bullets. Useually 1 or 2 bullets really stand out.
The powders take a little more doing:
one experiment everything remaining the same and with a bullet that is a known performer I select a powder and vary it some times by one grain at a time sometimes by 1/2 gr.The results show that there are powders that never really click no matter what charge ( in that rifle).
Other powders very somewhat(if bench resting a lot if hunting insignificant) with charge variation.
Than again some powders vary little at all with small powder weight variations.Again as with the bullets I have found some real performers.

There is another quick test I have used to find an adequate powder for hunting trips.Take the bullet you are comfortable with for the type of hunt. Load it with 3 to 5 different powders at near your determined max. load. See what 5 ea. will do.There will be a noticeable difference unless you test 3 dfferent 4350s and 2 different 4831s at the same time. Even than there will be some difference.
You be the judge but the last scenario is the one that makes most sence to me. Roger

Powder

Im probably the odd man out on this notion, but great accuracy with mild loads is simply unacceptable to me, so I cut down a lot of fiddeling around by going right after the max load first thing, loading one at a time on sight and chronographing the loads and watching for pressure signs. If I reach max at an unacceptably low velocity then I will immediatly abandon that powder/round combination.

Once that much is done, (which doesnt take long) I narrow down the powder adjustments to within about 2 grains under max and go for accuracy. If its not there I try another bullet, and another. If it (accuracy) still eludes me I will go to a different powder or rifle improvments.

I also find it rather comforting to know that while I am testing loads for accuracy that I am sure that I wont exceed the maximum, since Ive already found it.

I'm sure that many if not all who have responded so far (some good responses) have years more experience than myself.

I find that when I realy want top accuracy in a rifle, after I find the load I want to use I will weight every powder charge to ensure that every case has the exact same amount of powder as the others.

I try to avoid putting myself in that position in the first place. When I start working up loads for a new cartridge, I glean all the manuals for the 2 powders that stand out. There are almost always a couple that consistently show the highest velocities. Then I select my 2 preferred bullet makes for that cartridge. Leaving all other components the same, I load 3 rounds with each bullet for both powders for every charge weight of powder (12 total loaded rounds for each powder charge increment), and work up slowly, allowing the barrel to cool sufficiently between shots. When I've reached max with each load, I gather the targets and look for pairs that are close together. That usually indicates the rifles preference for a particular powder and bullet, and the rifle may decide upon a different choice than you expected.

This is all I'm looking for the first time out: which powder and which bullet.

Then I shoot five shot groups and fine tune with smaller increments in powder charge, looking for similar points of impact for the group (looking for the "sweet spot"}. Then I go to seating depth, and lastly, primers. This is for hunting rifles.

Nothing sacred here. It's just the way I do it.

I like to keep it simple.
I always use H4831sc.
I always use Federal match magnum primers.
Always use Winchester brass.
Always hunt with Nosler Partitions, usually one bullet weight down from the heaviest partition available in the caliber.
This is in various calibers from 25-06 to 300 win mag.

I work up a max load and if accuracy is not acceptable I try different seating depths.
I usually start with an oal length that has the bullet well off the lands.
This is normally far as I need to go to find acceptable hunting accuracy of appx. 1" groups.

In general loads that burn the powder well yet are not too hot are consistant. So I try and find a reasonable load right away. If this does not work then it's usually always the rifle and since I have checked for loose stuff the the bedding is most suspect.

If it gets frustrating then I fall back on Sierra bullets and IMR 4350 for a slow powder or IMR 3031 for a faster one. If these changes don't work there is someting wrong with the rifle.

I am using CCI Br2 primers however for almost every load.