The Reloading Thread

I now have 5 each @ 42.4, 42.5, 42.6, 42.7, 42.8, 42.9. 
Looks like I'll need probably need another box of these fmjbt hornady jobs before I get it really dialed in. Maybe going in tenths is overkill? Once I figure the right charge, I'll see what I can do with the head spacing, not that I have much room in these pmags. If I can keep under 1moa I'll be happy. 
Going to the range tomorrow, but I think we're sticking to mostly 22. I'll need to get a proper target and rest before I take these hand loads out for testing. But the process is getting more comfortable. TAC seems to be in decent supply, the everyone local stocks these 150s. When I do go out for testing I'll post pictures. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

For something the size of .308, you can often dial in a lot with .5 grain jumps. Most digital scales are .2 accuracy, despite .1 precision. I often very carefully weigh to just triggering a tenth, but coming back another day can result in .2 off on a reweigh. A good compromise is .3 jumps and then play with COAL.

Range day. 
 

prone, cradled, measured 100y, no wind, 50*f. Best chances I'll get. 
150gr Hornady FMJBT, starting with 42.4gr Ramshot TAC, going up in tenths. Groups of four or five. 

42.5-42.9. COL 2.735. And a control using Winchester 150gr soft points from the gray box. 
 

42.8 seems to be a good spot. That big hole on the left is actually 3. I'm thinking the L/R variance is in my trigger finger. So I'll load up some more of those, and go up a bit in 3/4 tenth increments. Max is 44.3 iirc, but I don't think I'll need to go that high. 
Progress. 
 

I tried to buy this secretary last September, but the seller changed his mind. I have been trying to find another with as many little drawers (no luck at all) and supports for the desk face as deep (difficult). I was planning on paying more to get less when the seller put it back on the market. I brought this home today. This will become my reloading station in the house rather than in the shop, so I don't have to decide hobby or family.

Next up is getting real cabinet locks. Anybody know a good source for the locks furniture pretends to use? Do I have to make my own? Amazon and eBay searches to start with...

It maybe just my rule, but I usually disregard left to right variations when building a load, if I feel like it wasn't my fault. 
 

Verticalstringing is usually the load. The .8s and .6s would get  my attention. 

In reply to Folgers :

.6 showed so much improvement I got a little rushed in my shots. .8 was way better, so I'll load some more of those to get a bigger sample and then I'll go up and see if I hit another sweet spot. 

The hottest I got was 42.9, and I can load to 47.1 so there may be another, possibly better, spot. Or maybe I'll just use the .8 load and fiddle a bit with length... I don't plan to buy more of these 150bts, so I don't want to spend too much time at it. Maybe. It was noticeably "crisper" than the Winchester gray loads. And my brass came out cleaner... might be good for just cheap target time. These hornady jobs are cheap and easy to find. I've even been seeing primers on shelves recently. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

Just a thought, since it is a mistake I have made before, are the scope rings tight to the rail? They can loosen during shooting and that can result in left right shift when vertical is still very tight.

In reply to matthewmcl :

No. I checked. I've had that happen on this gun before so I'm pretty wary of it. I'm just shaky and have poor trigger habits unless I really concentrate. Doesn't help that this trigger pull is exceptionally long, but I'm not blaming the hardware. New trigger inbound. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

New trigger will definitely help. In the meantime, focus on taking up slack so that the trigger almost breaks. You likely still have some crunch after that, but focus on holding it on the threshold.

Pertinent info for budding reloaders. 
LUBE!

LUBE! LUBE!

You'll get a shell stuck in the sizing die. It's bad, mmmkay. I thought I used adequate lubrication, but we learn the hard way sometimes. 
 

These Lee dies I'm using has a sizing/depriming step. There's a tapered pin that rounds the neck of the cartridge and presses the primer out as the shell is pressed into the die which compresses the whole shell back into spec. Insufficient lubrication jammed up the works and broke the decapping pin. Or, I broke the pin during extraction. Anyway, don't do like me. Lube the pin and the shell. Worst case is you'll have to clean the brass again after sizing. 
 

Notice how the neck has been drawn out. The die is salvaged, and all I need to buy is the pin which midway has for $2.99. Lesson learned. 

That happens, I keep four or five around just in case. 
 

what tool did you use to remove the stuck case?

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

Here is a jump ahead to make things easier. Don't replace the pin, get a dedicated depriming die. That lets you pop the primer on a dirty case, and resize with a clean case ready for loading. It is easier when you separate the two steps.

If you do it all with one die, you should be able to set the die height to do it in two steps, anyway, but your sizing die stays cleaner with a dedicated depriming die.

In reply to matthewmcl :

Most of the brass I have was deprimed before cleaning. This was the first time I'd used the die to deprime anything. The very first shell got jammed. 
I may go back to depriming and tumbling, but that setup is accross town so I'd have to do a bit of planning. 
This pin is roached, the shank is all bugged up where the sizing die holds it. I could conceivably sand it down but for $2.99 I'll just get a shiny new one. 

In reply to Folgers :

I actually had a coworker do it since he's done it before. Snapped the pin with a hammer, and drilled out the base of the shell to use a punch to push the pin out the top. Then a punch from the other direction to remove the casing from the die. Brass punches and hammer and a careful hand. I can't find a mark on it. 

matthewmcl said:

I tried to buy this secretary last September, but the seller changed his mind. I have been trying to find another with as many little drawers (no luck at all) and supports for the desk face as deep (difficult). I was planning on paying more to get less when the seller put it back on the market. I brought this home today. This will become my reloading station in the house rather than in the shop, so I don't have to decide hobby or family.

Next up is getting real cabinet locks. Anybody know a good source for the locks furniture pretends to use? Do I have to make my own? Amazon and eBay searches to start with...

I think I used Olympus ones(it's been years since I've done mine). I think National was okay, but I didn't have a supplier nearby so I've just went with Olympus. For the life of me I can't remember how this specific model was called though...

Tired of the heavy and poorly built wooden box I was using, I cleaned up dads old craftsman box. 

Everything is in and easier to access than the old box. 
 

Spent an hour prepping brass tonight after kids went to bed. Clean, trim, lube, size, yadda yadda. Takes way longer than actually loading. But I knocked out 30, with 20 more just needing primed. I don't think I even have that many bullets left... but it's all starting to feel familiar and routine now. 
I think I want to run different and slightly heavier projectiles. Or at least work up a load I could use for hunting, as these hornady jobs are not recommended. Probably a Sierra Spitzer or  HDY A-max. We'll have to see what's easily available locally. 

Now a question. 
These PRVI pieces seem to almost all have this deformation. I don't think I want to reuse them. 

I'm no expert, but I'd say it was from the ejector. None of the Federal or Winchester brass has that. All of the brass I have has gone through my PSA rifle. I've kept all of it, and will recycle what I can't use. 
 

Should I use these or scrap them?

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

I have brass like that from a commercial case prep place that had a machine setting wrong. If it won't cycle, then obviously recycle. I have a fair amount that will, so I load that up as "range ammo" for use in places that keeping your brass is a pain.  If that was factory ammo and it did that in the gun, then either the factory load was a little hot, the brass was a little soft, or both. I would assume soft brass and therefore only run starting loads in the ammo.

Hmm. Soft brass is not worth risking the trouble. Just recycle it. If you run out of brass I can send you some.

In reply to matthewmcl :

I have plenty. I'll chuck it in the bucket. 

Finally got some more projectiles to load for grandpas rifle. Loaded 40 rounds for testing. Getting low on powder so I'll have to grab some of that too soon. But not too soon. I'm not a frequent or high volume shooter. Eager to see what this lever gun likes. It's always done pretty well with just Winchester white box, but I'm betting it can do better. 

I've heard on YT that some ammo (9mm & 223 ball) are "cheap" right now, but I never hear anything about exceptional deals on components.  If anyone sees/hears of any, please post them here.

Looking to work up alternate loads for my rifle since the TAC seems to be hard to find locally and I don't buy in quantities large enough to justify hazmat shipping. 

In reply to stroker :

9mm isn't too bad, 5.56 is quite salty right now. 
I need to upgrade to a Dillon progressive if I want to load those however as doing bulk on a single stage is awful.  

Going to try some 2460, since my book has it listed for almost every bullet available and the local stores all have it. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

Nice, I need to find an alternative for 4350 & 4895 as both are either hard to find locally or hilariously expensive before hazmat online.