A lot of what to do and how to do it wisdom has been presented here---along with what to me is a new term: "practical accuracy". I decided that term translates to "close enough". There was a time when I was happy with "close enough". That was a looooooooooong time back!!
It was a looooooooooooooong time back when I started handloading. I did it to save money. It worked.
Then I got the fever. It took awhile, but I got it bad enough to not care about saving money---only to care about accuracy----ULTIMATE ACCURACY!! Step One: Get one of those Ransom Rests--so much for saving money I thought, but that was before I even knew how much they cost. They cost less than pretty much any gun in your stash---then and for damn sure now. And the best thing about them is they don't lie. They show you what works, and what doesn't. And they also show you how REALLY GOOD your guns are----without you holding onto them. That can be embarrassing--and opens up whole new areas requiring improvement.
Peace of mind requires some decisions. You started off with all this business because you're a gun nut---you like guns---either because of what they are, or because of what you can do with them. Sometimes, with some folks, it's both. If/when it's both, you have to decide which is most important---simply having them, or using them. When it turns out to be both, you're pretty much doomed---but happy!
Most folks pick one or the other. I turned out to be one of those most folks, and chose simply having them---mostly because the quest for ultimate accuracy had become more like work than fun. The results were more than satisfying, but achieving those results had become, as I said, more like work than fun---and besides that, there was a new baby on the way---and what was the lunatic fringe ammunition developer's room was about to be the new baby's room---either that, or get a bigger house.
Of course, now we have a bigger house---and no babies, and more room and more time than we know what to do with, but it's too late to start over.
Ralph Tremaine
It was a looooooooooooooong time back when I started handloading. I did it to save money. It worked.
Then I got the fever. It took awhile, but I got it bad enough to not care about saving money---only to care about accuracy----ULTIMATE ACCURACY!! Step One: Get one of those Ransom Rests--so much for saving money I thought, but that was before I even knew how much they cost. They cost less than pretty much any gun in your stash---then and for damn sure now. And the best thing about them is they don't lie. They show you what works, and what doesn't. And they also show you how REALLY GOOD your guns are----without you holding onto them. That can be embarrassing--and opens up whole new areas requiring improvement.
Peace of mind requires some decisions. You started off with all this business because you're a gun nut---you like guns---either because of what they are, or because of what you can do with them. Sometimes, with some folks, it's both. If/when it's both, you have to decide which is most important---simply having them, or using them. When it turns out to be both, you're pretty much doomed---but happy!
Most folks pick one or the other. I turned out to be one of those most folks, and chose simply having them---mostly because the quest for ultimate accuracy had become more like work than fun. The results were more than satisfying, but achieving those results had become, as I said, more like work than fun---and besides that, there was a new baby on the way---and what was the lunatic fringe ammunition developer's room was about to be the new baby's room---either that, or get a bigger house.
Of course, now we have a bigger house---and no babies, and more room and more time than we know what to do with, but it's too late to start over.
Ralph Tremaine
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