New Precision Rifle? Now The Work Begins – Introduction

I don’t always feel excited about going down to the cave to start case prep or begin load development for a new or new to me rifle. It often seems like there are many more important, more pressing tasks that should receive attention. Not to mention the inherent tedious nature of preparing and assembling precise ammunition. To further complicate matters, there is always the nagging issue of time. Time to devote adequate attention to the process at the bench, and time to get to the range on a reasonably fair day to test the output data of the previous input efforts.

However, the reward in the end for toiling at the reloading bench is a chore well worth the effort and is what keeps so many of us pounding away at minutiae, trying to milk out every last drop of advantage that we can get. High level precision requires high level practices, and this applies to both loading for your precision rifle and operating it.

Enter my latest projects: a slightly finicky 6.5 SAUM, a brand new 6.5 Creedmoor, and one of my favourite rifles of all time, an early eighties Remington 700 Varmint Special in .308. The owners, three of my closest friends, have entrusted me to apply my process to their rifles. And bless their hearts, they also understand my work obligations and limitations on time.

My process with the preparation and load development for these fine machines will follow a well proven method refined over years and that is not unlike many other methods out there in the precision shooting world, though some of my methods may differ slightly. I will go into detail about this over several blog entries in the weeks to come. In writing these entries, I will make the assumption that readers already possess a reasonably advanced understanding of precision handloading. Having said this, if any reader of these ruminations has any questions about anything – and I mean anything – I am more than happy to address them in the comments or your emails to info@ffpp.ca. I sincerely hope every reader will find something of use here.

Sean and I are ecstatic that you’re here reading this and we hope that you will make your way back for the next several entries of what I consider to be a highly technical, highly engaging topic. Take care in the meantime and stay in love with our sport, gunnies!