I think they have two styles of tool head, one floats one does not.

http://www.whiddengunworks.com/dillon-toolheads/

http://www.whiddengunworks.com/floating-dillon-toolheads/

From what I can tell, they need to make an extended length die for use with their products if they know there is an issue. If they know and they dont post or notify you there is a compatibility issues that is not cool.

I am ready to spend money with whidden but if they wont help you....

Pretty sure they weren't aware of the issue.
I'm sure they will make it right. Just waiting to hear back.

They sent me 2 complete decap assemblies based on my loosing one of the pins and easily being able to pull each pin out of my 2 sizer dies.

I appreciate you guys holding the thread together while I finished the bathrooms and continue to look for a job!

You mean continue to stray to the lil .224

Now it's all clear, you are cheating on us and the 260

Ah, come on, you know better than that, those fad calibers come and go but the .260 is here for the duration!

Okay, this is the only gun related stuff in my reply.  I was conversing with the AB guys about the .260 and they were just great. It's not often you get to dialog with the boss but we had a great back and forth. Sorry, can't kiss and tell but they did turn me on to some new stuff they're working that has been approved for public release dealing with advancing sniper capabilities:

Applied Ballistics ESSO

They're also out at the World's Longest Shot Challenge:

AB at WLSC

I finished both bathrooms and I think they look great. Household 6 is back from Florida next week and I hope she appreciates the colors and work that it took to get this done (I even drove to frigging Baltimore to pick up a piece of furniture that was OOS in VA). Darn if everything I touched needed fixing so it took much longer than I expected. I was also brave enough to pick the colors, but we still need flooring and I was not brave enough to go that far!  I have all the samples so hopefully she will pick a color of "Luxury Vinyl Plank" (what marketing genius thought that name up?) so I can put the finishing touches on the project.

Today and tomorrow will be warmer, so I moved to outside work to get the lawn done and the beds ready. Home Depot had mulch on sale for $2 bag so I went in to order 100 bags.  Nope, 60 to a customer and we can't tell you when you'll get delivery until we complete the order and put it in the system.  I was like at that stupidity and just made five trips back and forth for mulch and top soil. I had to change the garage from winter spec to summer spec, get the mower tuned up and then do the lawn, so that basically took me most of the day.  So, tomorrow will be mulch laying and I'm going to re do a spot in the back the wife wants to now be her flippin meditation / yoga area.  Hell, maybe she needs to get out and find a damn job! I think I got a few more than the 60-bag limit, hard part is moving them so many damn times (on the cart, on the truck, off the truck, on the wheelbarrow, then to the beds), but it is great exercise!



I'm a baseball fan and since it's now the season, I watch the games at night. It gives me plenty of time since we all know ho fast the games move. I'm a Red Sox fan and their games all seem to go 4 hrs no matter what. Anyways, it's four months into the job hunt and I've only gotten one inquiry (they want to hire me, they just don't know it yet). My concern is that the stats for older workers are not good with 4 months being a watershed. Employers want our experience, but they don't want to pay to get it. They're also worried about age discrimination suites so when they see you have 35+ years of experience, that tells them how old you are and you simply don't ever get contacted. It gets very frustrating, but I'm always a half full not a half empty guy. However, I have been rethinking the entire strategy (baseball lets you do that) so I redid my core resume and created versions 2 and 3 around ancillary skill sets as well as made a solid 100-Day Plan I can quickly customize.  I'm again reaching out to the network and hoping this won't be an extended stay sitting on my ass.

Red Sox / Yankees are in a rain delay so it's time for some music videos as I again read, re-read and contemplate my resume.

I know Etta isn't everyone's cup of tea, but "At Last" is still a beautiful song:



I'm still a rock and roller and I'm in a DC5 mood:



Paul McCartney on the Beatles (Merseybeat) versus the DC5 and their Tottenham sound:



Tom Hanks doing a fantastic job inducting DC5 to the R&R HoF in 2008 - check out Joan Jett's cover at 20:30:

What did AB have to say about the .260 and where it may be headed? Any other interesting things they had to say about it?

And they are working on a new round?

They said it requires a 1-in-7.999999" twist.



.

You mean Larue missed the dead center of precision by .000001?
No wonder I can shoot one ragged hole with 3 shots!

Brunos Shooter Supply in Phoenix has Lapua brass on sale for $88 per 100. Their normal price is $94.
Went in to buy 1 and got 2.
They also sell Lapua brass by each piece. Found it odd that you can buy one case if you wanted to.

That's a darn good price. Mile High used to have sales at like $90.

Remember I said a page or so ago sometimes you're in the box?  Well, I think I'm still there.  I was humping mulch yesterday and decided to take a break since it was time to feed the cats. I head to the basement and son of a gun, the hose bib was spraying water like it was a 1940's submarine movie in the depth charge scene.  I shut off the valve and luckily it must have just sprung a few minutes before I came inside. I wet vac'd the carpet and floor and put out the heavy duty shop fan. It's pretty much cleared up but the son's chemistry books took the brunt and couldn't be saved. It's pretty impressive how much water a box load of books can capture!  I humped another 60 bags of mulch this morning and decided to take a break and cut out the pipe and fix the problem.  I allotted 30 minutes for the job, and just like mulch, you always need to double what you think so it took an hour.

Once again, the LaRuler comes in handy.  Okay, back to your normal programming...

Funny. Today must be hose bib day. I turned my hoses back on today and one of the hose bibs wasn’t working. It’s the frost free style. It took me 20 minutes to get the cartridge out and then the plumbing supply place was closed. So no hose until Monday.

Yeah, mine was the frost free type also. I just cut it out and went to aisle 17, bay 15 of Lowes.  

Please refer to the part of my post about no kissing and telling.  

Fair enough. At least you acknowledged the question

Can anyone explain why I am getting gouged necks all of a sudden?
I went to resize the 1st case and ripped the end of the neck off. Forgot I put the neck bushing in the other die-stupid move on my part!

Inserted the neck bushing and got the gouged neck. Cleaned die and bushing and got the same.
Attached File

If you check with a light, you’ve probably got some brass still in the setup. I’ve had that to occur in the past, and it took some Flitz, cloth and a drill to get the brass removed.

The striations look very symmetrical to be random dirt or debris.  I'm looking at the picture and they look to be on the outside and the inside.  Are they also on the inside of the neck or is that a shadow I'm seeing?

You're both right. There are scuffs in the case and there was material in the bushing.
Also brass on the mandrel (forget whats it's really called), see attached photo compared to a new one.
Must have happened when I ran a piece through without the bushing. Stupid!
I tried to clean the inside of the bushing but it looks like it's ruined. I used a brass brush in the drill and a cloth patch with semi-chrome to try and remove the brass and polish the interior. I was able to remove the brass but there are grooves as shown on the necks that appear to be permanent inside the bushing. Can't get a good photo but they can be seen on the end that touches the brass 1st as well as felt with a pick.
Seems odd a stainless bushing can be ruined by brass. Are the 2 pieces of brass shown in may last post usable?

Good excuse to order from Brownells. Will get two .288 bushings, one for each die. Maybe try some Berger 130's-anyone tried these? I've been using the Hornady 130's with good success.
What else is on sale over there

Attached File

And of course the bushing are on backorder

Looks like Bruno's has them in stock and way cheaper that Brownells.
May be able to get two tomorrow assuming their web site is accurate.
http://www.brunoshooters.com/product/15879.html

I see...what you did...there

spit it out D3

Dune that scoring on the case neck happens a lot. That is why I try and seperate each step and for sure clean before I size and de prime.

You can debur the die/bushing, I would suggest a lap(aluminum) and some 3 to 5 micron diamond dust(amazon). The diamond will embed in the lap, just slowly spin it in the die/bushing in the places you feel the burs.

Boom!

Did you order some?

D3- I see last year you got some Berger 120's. Did you ever try them?
Also anyone tried the Berger 130's?
Headed to Bruno's and wondering if it's worth picking some up.

The Berger 130's shot very well in mine. They're not cheap, but truthfully I'd say they're worth it anyway. High BC and sub 1/2 min.

What powder and charge?

I think I sent the 120s to Mark. Felt they were too light, but JMHO. Buy and box and let us know how they work!

Varget, believe it or not. It was when I couldn’t find H4350. But it worked pretty well.

I picked up some of the Bergers (who is now located in Mesa, AZ!) but they are the AR Hybrid OTM Tactical versions.
I called Berger to make sure the above listed charge weights would be the same and they are. I'll be using H4350 for now.
Hornady 130 ELDM has a BC of .554/.279, these bergers are .560/.287.

I have found that 41.5gr of H4350 works well at about 2700fps out of my 22" rifle.
From the chart above it appears 41.5 will be about the same with these Bergers. What can I expect to see different with the slightly different BC?

Nice!

Use your ELD-M DOPE and adjust if there is any difference, which could be more due to the overall bullet design vs the BC.

Nice shooting!  What BTO did you use?

Thanks.  Haven’t listened BTO much. More of a Led Zeppelin fan.

Ok, so I basically just stayed around mag length.  I think my OAL is about 2.812 on avg.  I haven’t used comparators and the like since my shooting buddy that owned that equipment moved away.  And I mostly shoot auto loaders now anyway, and thinking I’m basically restricted with what ever the mag will hold.  Although, now that I’ve finally broke out one of those LaRue mags that I picked up from buying a gun or two, there looks to be more room to play with OAL a little.  I may want your advice on measuring equipment at some point.

Took the LT260 along with a JP 6.5 Grendel and a Ruger American 22Mag with a new scope out today.

Tested Factory Hornady 130 against my loads with H4350 @41.5gr using Hornady 130 ELDM's and Berger 130 AR bullets.
I'll try the Bergers again since I have them but think I'll stick with the Hornady bullets. Not sure what hapened on the 1st group.


Tested some loads, adjusted the scope & gas block on the Grendel. Got it shooting better but it's harder to get a decent group with it vrs the LT260.
Two 6.5's ready for work:


Then I tried to out shoot the shootist again with the LT260. Can't seem to get the holes touching each other on these targets like I can on the shoot-n-see targets. Dunno! White vrs black?


I down graded scopes on this Ruger 22Mag from a Nightforce 2.5-10x42 to this Burris MTAC 4.5-14x42 and it's a very nice scope for $199! Clarity is pretty close to the Nightforce. It is sporting a Larue bipod mount

I’ve played around with different target configurations and colors, seem to be most consistent on a black target with diamond bullseye indicators.

Maybe it’s the intimidation of the LaRue targets, but my results mimick yours more often than I’d care to admit - smoke my setup/sighted target and then go to print some holes on the LT target and my groups open up substantially. I’ve got a decent stack of LT targets in the cabinet that have been delivered with purchases that I might get enough courage to work on some day

And I agree on the Burris 4.5-14. I’ve got a couple that I’ve picked up over the years for a steal, and one has made its home on my Tacsol 10/22. The other I keep for a proven performer in the event I think I’ve got a rifle/load that isn’t acting the way I think it should.

I've played around with a bunch of targets and I think somewhere in the thread I showed some links. For 100 yards, I prefer a target like the LaRue that have grid markings, it seems easier (for me) to get a good sight picture and shoot a better group.

I guess there was some poison ivy in the brush I cut out of the back yard this week.  I didn't see any and I thought it was still a bit early in the season, but I guess not!

Don’t rub that on any sensitive areas

yikes...

Today was a good day!  I finished the backyard, some 230 bags of mulch, 20 bags of top soil and 30 rolls of sod. I made the wife her "solitude" space as well as two new beds for flowers and vegetables. Now I just need her to tell me what she wants planted. She's due home Monday so maybe I can get her decision on planting and put this in the mission accomplished file.

Her solitude space with co-located garden (one of two).



The best news was TQ #2 (the early adopter 1/2 price model - thanks Mark!) was released from jail today. So, I was able to pick up the TQ and a LaRue lower that had come in last week. I got home and found order #1 of the NOLO dillos had also arrived, with Swag - Thanks again Mark!

Nothing of note to add....except the Tranquilo on my TMR does a great job.

Shwacking steel out to 800 was a breeze with Hornady 130gr ELD-M ammo.

For those of us who don’t wish to reload prime ammo is having a good sale on their 260 ammo, it is 250 a case with free shipping on 2 cases. I have had good luck with it In my gun although d3 has had some issues with temperature sensitivity when leaving mags in the sun. Look back in this thread for details.

This is the cheapest I have ever seen them run and I’m stocking up. Ymmv

Pete

I saw they were having a sale but thought it was to hot for these semi-auto's?

I grabbed a couple of cases. Will try some in the LT260 and some in a Tikka 260.
Ordered at 3:46, got shipping notice at 3:51, crazy!

@ $1.25 a round it's almost as cheap as Lapua brass.

The director of operations, John Fillman, is part owner of my go to crack dealer (FFL).