So I'm appealing to those with greater wisdom than I to help solve a problem I'm having. I am newer to reloading, and just started reloading for 38 sp in the last few months. The problem I'm having is that the loads I've been turning out are probably the most inaccurate rounds I've ever seen in my life. I mean I'm not the worlds greatest shot or anything, but these are just ridiculous. With factory ammo I can generally shoot this revoler (4" 686) fairly well, say 4-6" groups at 20 yards or so. With my handloads though, I'm having a hard time keeping 12" groups at 10 yards.
So what gives? I've been shooting a 158 gr LSWC over Unique, and I started the load at 3.7 and have worked it up by tenths to 4.0. I'd keep progressing, but I just get the sense something else wrong. My dies are RCBS, and I'm loading on a Lee Challenger Press.
As far as other information that might be helpful, my OAL is consistently 1.475 and I've checked a fair number of rounds with digital calipers to make sure that they are in fact consistent. I've also seperated my cases out by headstamp to eliminate that variable, and I've checked them for consistent measurement. Thinking it might be a crimp issue, I've measured the crimp on these founds and found that the rounds are consistently about .001 tighter at the mouth than the rest of the case (.0375 case, .0374 at mouth).
I don't know what gives here, but any help is sure appreciated...
So what gives? I've been shooting a 158 gr LSWC over Unique, and I started the load at 3.7 and have worked it up by tenths to 4.0. I'd keep progressing, but I just get the sense something else wrong. My dies are RCBS, and I'm loading on a Lee Challenger Press.
As far as other information that might be helpful, my OAL is consistently 1.475 and I've checked a fair number of rounds with digital calipers to make sure that they are in fact consistent. I've also seperated my cases out by headstamp to eliminate that variable, and I've checked them for consistent measurement. Thinking it might be a crimp issue, I've measured the crimp on these founds and found that the rounds are consistently about .001 tighter at the mouth than the rest of the case (.0375 case, .0374 at mouth).
I don't know what gives here, but any help is sure appreciated...