The hunting handload add more to your hunt

Guns Magazine, Dec, 2007 by Holt Bodinson

The success of the hunt is typically decided by a single shot, so it's just good sense to lavish as much care as possible when assembling a hunting handload. Quality ammunition is one variable of the hunt we have total control over. The loading process may require more time and the use of a few more tools and gauges, but at least you'll be going afield with utter confidence in the products of your labor--the finest hunting ammunition in the world.

The overall objective of producing a premium hunting handload is to minimize variables from one round to the next. We're looking for low shot-to-shot variations in velocity coupled with sub-minute of angle accuracy with premium bullets so trajectories and impacts out at 300 or 400 yards are consistent and predictable. Here's what it takes.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Fresh Components

Components deteriorate, so I recommend starting out with fresh primers, powder, new brass and even the latest batch of premium bullets. Why new bullets? Quality control at the bulletsmiths simply gets better every year.

Big game hunting is associated with temperature extremes. Stick or extruded powders have tended to be less temperature sensitive than ball powders, especially at lower temperatures. Hodgdon, for example, even advertises the lack of temperature sensitivity in their new "Extreme" series of extruded powders. Stick with stick powders if temperature extremes will be a factor during the hunt.

By all means, weigh each charge to the nearest 1/10 of a grain. We're only going to be loading 20 to 60 such cartridges each season, and being spot-on with the powder charge is just another variable we've licked.

Primers And Pockets

Primers are still made by hand and certain employees excel in making consistently uniform batches of primers. As a result, these primer lots are segregated and marketed as "match grade" primers by Federal and CCI. I recommend using them.

Primer pockets deserve some attention. I recommend using Sinclair's one-piece tungsten carbide primer pocket uniformers to cut the pocket to a uniform SAAMI depth. It squares the bottom of the pocket with relation to the head of the case and never gets out of adjustment.

Flash holes, too, need a bit of work. Removing the internal burr insures the primer flame passing through the flash hole is evenly distributed to the powder charge. Uniform ignition is further assured, and vertical dispersion caused by ignition variances is minimized. I recommend the universal caliber flash hole reamers marketed by Sinclair and Hart rather than incurring the expense of caliber-specific types.

Primer seating should be carried out with a separate tool permitting you to "feel" the primer bottom when it is fully seated. Two tools I've found with a nice "feel" to them are the RCBS bench-mounted Automatic Priming Tool and the handheld Lee Auto-Prime. Bullets

Here's the most expensive component in our match-grade hunting ammo.

Don't get cheap, though. The projectile gets the job done. The problem for many handloaders is the selection of premium hunting bullets available today is simply staggering.

My thought is to pick a bullet designed to penetrate and hold together regardless of how good or bad the shot placement might be. That means a bullet mechanically held together like the Nosler Partition, a monolithic type like the Barnes Triple Shock X or bonded like the Swift and Accubond. Selection really becomes a question of what bullets are readily available and which prove to be most accurate in your rifle.

Brass

Nosier now offers premium brass, fully prepped and sorted by weight. It's precise and it's expensive. If you have the time to do some prep work, I find bulk brass available from Winchester and Remington, and usually in stock at your local gun store, is just as good.

Buy at least 100 cases with the same lot number, and then examine them case-by-case for visible production flaws. Do any case shoulders exhibit creases? Are any necks badly dented? Remember, bulk brass has not gone through a final factory inspection process to cull out these misfits. You can weigh your brass on an electric scale and sort it out into batches with uniform case capacities.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The next step is to completely full-length resize the brass. This step is absolutely essential for two reasons: It establishes a uniform headspace dimension (you would be amazed of the headspace variances in bulk brass) and it straightens out and squares the case neck with the body.

And while we're on the subject of headspace, I highly recommend the use of the Stoney Point Headspace Gauge Tool or a RCBS "Precision Mic" to measure some fired brass from your rifle for the purpose of adjusting your full-length resizing dies. Without a gauge, you are completely in the dark when it comes to matching the headspace of your resized cases to your rifle's unique chamber.

Hunting ammunition must feed without a hiccup. I would suggest adjusting the full-length sizing die so it sets the shoulder of your new brass back .005" from the headspace measurement of your fired brass.