While I believe the bullet is the primary / greatest contributor to an accurate load… I find it difficult to separate bullet from Charge weight… So my vote for bullet should be married to Charge weight

Grüße jeder, hoffe ich, daß alle gut füehlt.

I would say bullet, powder type, and powder grain wieght. I to keep detailed records and I worked up a data card for when I'm testing loads at the range to use as a quick ref along with my original load data back home. Here's a not so good example of the card I use at the range (I had to shrink it so it may come out a little fuzzy)

I'm working on another data card that will have chrono data, and slots for case type, measurments, etc, just need to finish it, like a million and one other things.

Ok how about this one, they fit 2 to a page (cut at the line between them ) and should fit into a small notebook (I use an old dayplanner type note book) I added case type, OAL, lot # (if you care to use that) Date of reload make, and MVfps, let me know what ya think.

opps lets try again to post the pic sorry was still to big to post the full page with 2 of them on it, oh well technology

I like your idea Virginia Hunter and thanks for posting your target/info. In fact, I'm going to add some info onto my targets, as I make them myself.

Just a comment on the target itself, specifically the infamous 'bullseye'. I make my bullseye actually a diamond, then run the crosshairs through the corners. I like that much better than a circle. Of course, if you're using a #1 or circle crosshairs, that won't work, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

I have worked up a couple of other data cards with siloutes(sp) and different targets, see below, but I need to update the others with the additional info:

So, back after plenty of time to vote, the votes cast fall in line pretty nicely. Powder Charges and Bullets are key elements. Of course, you have to have Jupiter aligned with Mars to be a complete one ragged hole shooter :cool: I actually think you have to either pay extremely close attention to everything or else just get plain lucky. Thanks for voting, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

PS - Roy, thanks for voting for the Case! You win :D


Primer 1 - 1.72%
Different Powders 13 - 22.41%
Bullet 17 - 29.31%
Case 1 - 1.72%
Off the Lands, Ogive Adjustment 8 - 13.79%
Powder Charge Changes 18 - 31.03%

I couldn't decide whether to choose bullets or varying the powder charge as the biggest single influence. I voted for bullets (i.e. meaning different brands and/or weights) but I have found varying the powder charge seems to make nearly as big of a difference, at least based on my reloading experiences. Sometimes going to a different powder can make a big difference.

I guess if you keep eveything else constant the powder charge would be the determining factor. It is true that different rifles of the same model like different loads. That is why reloading is so great you can mix and match and fine tune it and get them all to drive tacks. Some thing that wasnt mentioned but is a big factor in accuracy is your trigger pull. I never thought so until I did a trigger job on my muzzle loader. The difference is night and day.