What's more important pertaining to accuracy when doing load development?

Both.
Some powders will not shoot well in some guns. Some bullets will not shoot well in some guns, and even some weight bullets just won't shoot well in some guns.
 
Of the two choices, it's the bullet.

The old saying is the 3 B's of accuracy are bullets, barrels, & bedding.

And I've always said you can't force feed a bullet the barrel doesn't like.
 
The reason i as is this. I've been reloading for the better part of 25 yrs. In my early years i seemed to have lucked into my load development. Loads came together rather easily with little work. Acceptable hunting accuracy, no benchrest type stuff. Usually moa +or-. Jusy picked a bullet and powder and i was off to the races. Never checked velocities, just focused mainly on accuracy.
Fast forward 15+ years (im alot more detailed and foxused) and it seems like every gun i try to load for is a royal PITA!. Im not one to buy a thousand different powders and bullets. I try to find a powder that has multi caliber possibilities.
The latest culprit is my Savage BA stealth chassis gun. I wasn't really impressed with the accuracy of the factory barrel with factory ammo or reloads so i had it replaced with a Criterion and im still pulling my hair out. Powder is h4350 and bullet is Nosler custom competition 140gr.
But I've also run into this with several newer guns as of late.
Maybe ive just gotten more picky? Seems like the more i try and get "technical " the more things go awry. I've all but lost the enjoyment i use to associate with reloading. It's now just a dreaded necessity.

Just venting here. Never mind me cowering in the corner.
 
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crapshoot said:
...Maybe I've just gotten more picky? Seems like the more I try and get "technical " the more things go awry. I've all but lost the enjoyment i use to associate with reloading. It's now just a dreaded necessity.

Just venting here. Never mind me cowering in the corner.
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I get it. Once you have a rifle that shoots 1/2 MOA, you expect all of your rifles to do it. It's hard to stop at "good enough".
 
Once you get the best accuracy you can with a bullet/powder combination then diddle with the OAL. I had a nice coyote load for the Sierra 30cal 110gr HP in my .30-06 go down from 3/4" @100yds down to 3/8".
 
Case prep can be a massive factor. If you are using brand new brass and want to shrink groups down you can use neolube #2 inside the case necks. Once the cases have been fired try to avoid over cleaning them. Using neolube again will help with second reloading. You can even use graphite powder mixed with alcohol to coat the inside of the necks.
Annealing brass every time will make a huge difference along with learning how to set shoulder back about .002" instead of full resizing.
Another trick that I figured everyone knew was to seat the bullet in about 4 or 5 stages of the handle. In other words press the bullet in a little, then rotate case 180 degrees and seat it a little deeper, then rotate 90 degrees and seat it a little deeper, and go another 180 and seat it all the way. Now this doesn't have to be a super precise protocol. The idea is to spin the round while seating the bullet so that it will correct any out of concentric issues with the die and bullet alignment.
I have also seen seating depth shave almost 2" off of a group so I start with that before I try powder ladder tests.
Lets say that you start with a 2.450" OAL for seating depth. Then try 2.420", 2.390", 2.360", 2.330". I have a 223 that will shoot tiny bugholes at the right OAL. The same combo at different OAL can get up to 2".

Here is a good place to figure out how to get the smallest groups you can get.
 
crapshoot said:
It's not even that. I'm having a hard time with even moa let alone less. Not sure if its my loading, my shooting, my eyes? Regardless, its me....and it sucks!
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Did you switch to a wet tumbler? The inside "slickness" of the brass neck can be horrible on accuracy. The neck needs to be "slick" inside. A super clean neck can devastate a good load.
 
crapshoot said:
It's not even that. I'm having a hard time with even moa let alone less. Not sure if its my loading, my shooting, my eyes? Regardless, its me....and it sucks!
Click to expand...
Yep understand....
Although I have went away from what my old accuracy standards was. To minute of Prairie Dog, which is a easier goal, and helps my personal sanity. For some that would equate to minute of Coyote.
 
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