how much can non-optimized handloads hurt accuracy?

[idek]

I've loaded 38 special and 357 magnum ammo for a while (have asked several questions about it here), but I haven't loaded or shot big volumes of cartridges.

I know many people experiment with different combinations of bullets, powders, and powder weights to get the best accuracy/performance out of a cartridge. I've only loaded cast lead bullets using just two kinds of powder with "starting" powder weights. When I have shot them from my revolver and Marlin 1894c lever action, it's mostly been at steel targets or what I would consider plinking... no real serious thought about pinpoint accuracy.

Last week I took the Marlin out with the purpose of shooting the best groups I could from a prone position. I attended a Project Appleseed event recently, and it really improved my marksmanship with my 10/22s, and I wanted to see what I could do with the Marlin.

I was disappointed with the results. At 25 meters, my groups were about four times bigger with the Marlin than I'd get with my 10/22s (they have factory barrels and aren't target rifles).

The Marlin has nice Skinner peep sights, the Wild West trigger kit installed, the comb raised for a proper cheek weld, and I was using a sling, so it was nice to shoot, and I don't know that I can blame the gun.

I'll take some blame for just not shooting especially well, but it seems odd that if I can shoot a 10/22 with Tech-Sight peep sights reasonably well, that I would do so much worse with the Marlin. Also, there didn't seem to be a trend to my poor shooting... no linear stringing. Shots were just scattered.

So, finally getting to the point, could my ammo account for some of the shot inconsistency I experienced? I don't have any factory ammo at the moment or I'd try that out and see what happened.

 

[wogpotter]

Quite a lot, & The further you get from optimum the worse it gets!

EXAMPLE:
I use 150 Gr Hornady bullets in my .303 British, which is designed for 174 gr ones. I use the Hornadys because the shape closely mimics the bullet the rifle was designed for, but in a different weight. During the recent shortage I got some Speer 150 Gr bullets as I couldn't find the Hornadys. They have a very different profile. Group sizes more than tripled, under otherwise identical circumstances. Then I had to substitute a different powder type as I wasn't able to find my preferred variety, sizes expanded again!


Top Speer, Middle Hornady, bottom 174 Gr Mk VII ball.

The combination went from a 1 1/2" group to a 7" one @ 100yds.. Switching back to the original load eliminated the problem & I'm right back to 1 1/2" groups.

 

[serf 'rett]

Ammo can make a sizable difference. The shooter can also introduce errors which expand group size.

I always test loads from a bench with sandbags. This helps me to reduce shooter error. Trigger control is also very important.

You could buy a couple of different types of ammo and see if the groups tighten up or you could load a series, with different charge weights, and do some testing.

 

[buck460XVR]

Accuracy with lead bullets in a handgun caliber carbine comes down to how the bullet fits the barrel and whether the gun has the correct rifling for lead. Most times start load recipes are not the most accurate. In the majority of my guns the best accuracy comes from upper mid level loads to almost max.

 

[WESHOOT2]

"GOAL"

I start every load with a goal. It always include some kind of accuracy standard.

It almost always includes an accuracy mandate.

 

[pete2]

First off, I'd test with factory loads and see how well they shoot in the particular gun. Then I strive to make my hand loads as good or better. If a gun doesn't shoot well with factory stuff you may have a gun problem. Your center fire may never match the 10/22 in accuracy.

 

[mehavey]

In a cast-bullet rifle load, optimization means everything.

The group below (using a Marble's tang/peep) was preceded by groups the size of ho-hum
to outright minute of pie plate. Just awful.

I finally figured out it liked near-max loads of V-N110, a .359 bullet, and MBW's
hard-cast flat-nosed gas-check design

Then things settled down.

I've since found several other combinations that will perform well, including my own heavy castings
in Lyman#2 (some gas-checked, some not), other powders and other lubes, but cast pistol cartridges
in a lever action are a graduate course in careful thought and optimization

 

[Unclenick]

Your 1894C barrel is long enough and light weight enough that there is time for it to bend and deflect the muzzle while the bullet is heading down the bore. Handguns, not so much. So while rifles are capable of more accuracy than handguns, they are pickier about what ammunition they do it with.

In the lever action two-piece stock designs, you also have forestock contact with the barrel through the magazine hanger. I've seen slings pull point of impact significantly in this arrangement, making the consistency of your sling pressure and the barrel time of the bullet more important than in a gun with a floating barrel.

Note that there are a number of accurizing steps that can be taken with lever guns. M. L. McPherson has written a good bit about them, so you might want to consider some of that kind of work.

Paramount, though, for cast bullets will be the condition of the bore. You need to learn to slug the bore and feel for constrictions, especially near dovetail cuts in the barrel. Those constrictions from cutting too fast or with a dull cutter are common and can be disastrous to cast bullet accuracy. If you have constrictions they will need to be lapped out by one of several methods if you are to achieve best accuracy.

Then you have the bullets themselves. Cast bullets are hard to make as mass symmetrical as jacketed bullets or as swaged .22 bullets. It's easy to get inclusions or to have the bullet wider at one diameter angle than another. So the quality of the cast bullet is important. Sometimes a gas check design, or a card wad can help.