dicehorn
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Everything posted by dicehorn
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Lubing cases........... ( Rant one of two!) This subject always amuses me. Why do some reloaders put themselves through hell using these greasy lubes - throwing the cases in a clear sealable bag, spray in an aerosol cans worth of 'glue' , shake bag to ensure totally smothered both outside and inside of case, put through their die hoping they wont get a case stuck because of an excess of 'glue' on the case, put into tumbler to clean glue off, bang out tumbler granules that have stuck inside the case chamber because of the glue. Its like they have decided reloading is a punishment. Th
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Powders I expect there are many reloaders out there with quite a few different makes of powder ( I have 14 different tubs to hand at any one time) My tip to these reloaders is this - if you bring XY powder from your cupboard/drawer to fill your measurer, DO ensure that that powder stays on your reloading bench (being the only one on the bench) whilst you are using that powder - decant the surplus back into the tub and put away. Reason - you may by mistake decant it back into the wrong tub or indeed if there are other powders on the bench, use the wrong powder to top up the me
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Slipper - if you intend to jump from 23.7 gr to 27,8 gr in one go - that is one hell of a leap (4 grs) in such a small case. I would honestly suggest (for safety reasons) that if you feel it is so important to cram that much into the case you move up at least in 1 grain increments - even 1 grain increments sounds OTT. As you shoot them, examine the headstamp - not so much for flattened primers but bolt marks on the headstamp.
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Deburring Did I hear some one say "I 've got one of those work stations" well bully for you. I had a go with a friends work station - personally would not be interested - it takes away the 'feel' of what you are trying to do. I would imagine if you were in a hurry (which is why you would buy one in the first place) you would end up taking more off with the trimmer than you intended to. Right - couple of tips here. Using the trimmer to shorten your brass. This is not a race to see how fast you can turn the handle (well maybe it is if you have got a hundred to do!) trim slowly - you dont
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Trim or Neck/full length size first? I know lots of people trim their cases before they neck size or full length - why? Well because that is what is written in quite a few reloading manuals. Now, if you always trim to near the minimum book length, this is not an issue. However, A lot of reloaders like to keep their cases near the max length so as to have a perfect fit to the rifle's chamber. The reason why I trim AFTER neck/full sizing is this and you can prove it yourselves. Take a case, measure it then put it through the die - measure it again - its grown!! You can appreciate that th
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I am just putting this one in as it hopefully will serve as a warning to ALL of us reloaders. My R93 has had a little over 2500 shots since I bought it new and I recently noticed that it was starting to open a little (Shooting Charlie on here shot a 5 shot group sub .2" two years ago) and was drifting now out around .6". I decided yesterday that perhaps to revive this old barrel I should do two things - create more space in the case by seating it from 222 thou back to 150 thou back and to compensate, I would increase the powder charge from my usual 46.5 to 47.5 gr. I had prepped 23 cas
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Keeping a record of your procedure I find myself reloading my and other people's ammo quite regularly, but there are times when I dont get to do any for a few weeks. In the reloading process you must have a system/sequence of what you are doing and when you do it during the reloading process. If you dont reload very often, it is easy to forget one process and sometimes impossible to correct once you have made up your batch. What I did was take an A4 sheet of paper turn it side wise and wrote down my process in the left hand side, then repeated in the middle and finally on the right
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Bullet Seating Simple process - bullet into top of case, handle down and ram pushes bullet into case - job done? Yes and no. One of the (many) things that can affect accuracy is what is called 'bullet run out' . In the perfect world we are trying to get the bullet to seat perfectly in the case neck so that when the bolt is closed on the round the bullet is perfectly aligned with the bore. If this does not happen then apon firing, the bullet will touch one side of the bore before is straightens out on its journey down the bore - this slight deviation can and does have an affect on accuracy
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Powder into the case. I used to pour my powder into a funnel whilst the cases were in the loading block (see piccy) but had many occasions where after seating the bullets and putting the block away, I noticed that powder was still in the block having spilt out the sides of the funnel - Ah but which case did it come from!? Not the biggest deal in the world if you are filling a large case and 1/2 grain goes missing, but a major issue accuracy wise if you are filling small cases like 17, 20 or the small 22 calibres My tip therefore is to fill your cases away from the loading block a
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I thought I would over a few threads, pass on various tips that I use, simply posting one at a time with photos to support where appropriate. The tips (hopefully) will be of interest to the novice or the more experienced and I will try to justify each tip - comments welcome!! These tips will not be calibre specific (I reload for 9 different calibres from 17 Rem to 30.06) Some tips will perhaps be more of my thoughts so that you can come back at me!! One thing you wont find is any shortcuts - that is not how I reload! In no particular order - just as they come into my head ........
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If it is your intention to always use the mod whether for stalking or target use, then I would say yes use the mod for your testing - knowing the difference to POI is easy to adjust. You may also wish to consider that by putting the mod on it could affect the harmonics of the barrel which in turn could affect the groups you are getting - making them better or worse - please note I say 'could'
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Ye I wondered that, or is he just talking tough from the corner of his mouth,after 8 pints of worthingtons? It is a well known fact that more foxes and deer are killed in the pub !!!
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Rick 200 from a friend been reloaded 12 or 13 times - some friend - sounds like a gift box with adders in it. Your problem with this sort of gift is the unknown factors, yes you know 12 or 13 times, but were you aware if after say 4 reloads at neck sizing he then full lengthed them or did he full length them each time (some rifles like them 'full lengthed' each time - my 6.5 does).Some peoples set up with their dies need extra pressure to draw the expander on the decapping rod back through the neck causing unnecessary pressure between the expander and the shellholder which can be the m
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Will reply tomorrow - knackered!!
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Look forward to that as I have just done a OCW for a friends 308 using 168 gr A Max and N140 - one weight gave a .385" and another .392" so now fine tuning it with the lands distance.
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AOL - ah that sounds better - you originally put COL ! Good luck with the OCW targets - You may want to make your own but if you want the one I made up - here it is <a href="http://s438.photobucket.com/user/wyndog/media/OCWTARGET_zps7d2ab781.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq101/wyndog/OCWTARGET_zps7d2ab781.png" border="0" alt=" photo OCWTARGET_zps7d2ab781.png"/></a> If you decide to make your own it really is essential that you include the black lines - as in mine. If you line the black lines up with your crosshairs, it will
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Thanks Andrew - that is kind of you. I am told that I am a good shot, but I prefer to think that I make very good ammo instead so the people I make ammo for, in turn become good shots!! Well Peter when I start reloading I will be very pleased to get twice the group sizes you do. They are outstanding. I hear what you say about the low residue powder - means less cleaning, which although some take pleasure out of cleaning their rifle (I do) its good to have less dust n clag. What is the "OCW" method ? Andrew Hi Andrew This is the link to the Guy who developed this method - on the
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Sorry, but I am assuming a 308. I seem to recall that the purpose of you using a 168 gr A max was to extend your range out to 1000 yds? If so, based on your various powder weights above, by my calculations (BC at .475) in order to keep your bullet above the speed of sound to maintain stability you are going to have to generate at least 2650 fps which from your figures suggests a starting load in the region of around 44 gr. As your above weights vary widely (.2 to over 1 gr) can I suggest perhaps now is the time to do the OCW test using 1/2 gr increments starting at 44 gr going up to 46
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Thanks Andrew - that is kind of you. I am told that I am a good shot, but I prefer to think that I make very good ammo instead so the people I make ammo for, in turn become good shots!!
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I do not have a .223 but have developed loads for it for two people. The last person was last month but not with 52 gr A Max but with 50 gr V Max using N133 (I am a big fan of Vihtavuori powders - they burn so cleanly) Using the OCW method I went up in .3 gr increments - here is the target I shot at, which you will see by seating the bullets at 30 thou back showed promise in the 25 and 25.3 gr loads (although for some reason (me!) shot 3 on each was a little wayward) <a href="http://s438.photobucket.com/user/wyndog/media/Bradley223_zpsb6b15213.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="
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You did not say if you use the OCW method, however if you do not use this method, can I suggest if just using two targets that you alternate your shots - fire the first load at target no 1 then load the next load and fire that at target two then load the first load again and fire at target 1 and continue like that till the rounds have all been fired - really a min of 4 shots is what is required. Alternating the shots gives a better representation of what the rounds will do - ie takes into account 1st and 2nd shot from a clean barrel, and wind variations etc Bearing in mind your case volum
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Rick - I assume you did this test on the OCW method? To be honest I cannot understand how .5 of a grain can make a difference of more than an 1" (" 40.5gns 2438 fps .321" 41gns 2473 fps 1.357" 41.5gns 2530 fps .160") Am I to assume that each case was more or less the same weight, same distance from the lands and when seated all bullets felt that they were seated with the same neck tension? I cannot get your photo(s) up so assume each target had 4 or 5 weights shot at it?
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Well Rick, if you read your first post again and see the scant information you gave the forum, it was only natural that members would only give cautionary advice. Now if you had give the information as above plus calibre/weight of bullet/intended powder/twist rate, perhaps you may have been given advice such as reference to various printed data on safe compressed loads for the bullet and to be aware of signs that you are getting too much pressure like difficult extraction, flattened/cratered primers and bolt face marks on the headstamp.
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Agree with this post - if the OP must go down the road of a compressed load (I fail to see why though)you should use a powder dropper to ensure that the powder sits evenly in the case. If all this is about the dreaded 'flat shooting' and mega speed nonsense - bear in mind that in 90% of cases the fastest/'flattest' bullets are the least accurate. If you are after something that shoots 'flat' to 300 yds (nothing will) just zero at 300 yds, you can then brag its flat to 300 yds
