@Blaster7R

ABM, now that they are Berger Ammo, won't be loading the 130gr Bergers for the .260, only 139gr Lapua and 140gr Bergers.  

Okay, I'm 2-hrs into the index update and only at page 29!  So, you get a cheap update for today, another weight arrived. I found a good deal on a 100g class F1 weight so I bought it. I actually forgot I ordered it and it showed up today! These weights are designed to be handled gingerly so I guess I'll have to go find a white glove so I don't add any weight by depositing a fingerprint.  

No updates until Monday and by then I hope to have made it through all 55 pages and updated the index.

That seems like they are shooting their own foot so to speak

Is your scale sensitive enough to weigh out the oils on your fingers? Holy cow

I asked the sales department to consider loading the 130s, but it's probably a bang for the buck thing.

Supposedly it is. The was a guy on another forum who weighed the oils that two of his fingerprints deposited.

Ha, ha, just found this again while updating my Index.  For the record, I never received anything.

Alright, I've made it to page 45 for the index update - whose bright idea was it to update this thread daily - I'm taking a break!

Send them a PM.

They are also doing another 2 rifle giveaway tonight.

Lapua brass onsale and free shipping if anyone needs some:
https://www.brownells.com/reloading/brass/rifle-brass/260-remington-brass-case-prod105671.aspx?avs%7cSpecial-Filters_1=Salezz1zzClearance%7cRebate&psize=96

Decent price considering free shipping. Mile High Shooting usually has Lapua .260 brass for $99 and they have a Mil/LEO program that chops off a bit more, but no free shipping.

Alright, I've updated the Index to be current through Page 55.  I need to go back and redo the Page 1 - 25 Index to include the Poster and a description.  I may tackle that today, maybe not. I got roped into dog sitting for my niece, who is in the process of moving to Alaska of all places. Paging MDW - @mdw

I also need to verify the links are correct by clicking each one.  

Looks good!

Your link to "D3  QL Nodes for Varget and H4350" is bad.

Okay - thanks. I'm going link by link right now and updating.  Sometimes I hit the wrong "Bookmark."

Thinking I'm going to start at 41.5gr and work up to 43.5gr of H4350.
Will start with once fired Hornady brass and 130 ELDMs.

Then try again with Lapua brass.

QL is telling me 43.5grs of H4350 is at 4% compressed load and over pressure at 2.800, and worse if you load lower. I'd reduce that max to no more than 43grs and consider going lower since your shooting a gasser.

I went through most of the reloading links in the OP and they all seem close with this powder.
Like this.

From the looks of the looks of websight the are loading the 130gr ar hybrid in .260

http://www.bergerbullets.com/products/ammunition/

Good catch, I didn't look down to the Tactical Section!

Okay, the Index has been updated to Page 55!

Time for a break...

I'm stuck dog sitting for my niece, darn thing only has one mode and no off switch; four hours of sleep and I got up "early" not remembering it was a spring forward day!

I was cruising YouTube looking for some good .260 reloading videos, but the value was minimal; everyone trying to be a star and taking two-minutes of real content and stretching it to 87 minutes. I did stumble across this gem though, how to hacksaw cut your barrel and recrown it with your power drill:



For some reason that got me to thinking about buying a mini-lathe, which had this gem along the sidebar. Hey Mark, how big a bucket do you have for broken endmills?  



Then there's the self taught machinist - included because of the AR-15 lower fail at 1:48:



And finally, here's one where the machinist takes a coffee break. I like how he uses his hand as a note pad:

@Joshpuh

What base is that you're using with the LabRadar?

It's actually my buddy's Labradar. I'm pretty sure he built the base himself

Okay, thanks!

Is everyone bumping the shoulder back .003 to .005?
Whidden recommends .004 to .005.

Great video on how to set up their resizer die:

JMHO, but go .001 more than you want to account for the brass' spring back. So, if you want 0.003, go to 0.004.

Thanks. I'm right in the ball park at .0045. Having a hell of a time getting a consistant reading with calibers. Even twisting the bras to get it flush doesn't seem to be consistant.

Well, I can see where twisting her bra could be an issue.  

Too much lube crushing the shoulder a bit?  Too little lube not providing consistency?

I don't lube the necks.
I got it figured out. Cleaning cases now.

I've got a couple hundred used cases that I got from a bolt gun guy right after I ordered this rifle. It's been resized and bumped back anywhere from .006 to .009+ over my once fired brass. What to do with it?

I'd be concerned about case head separation with that kind of headspace.

D3 thanks for all your work in the thread. It's such a great resource for everyone. Lots of good stuff in here.

Hodgdson's load data suggests a 2.780 COAL at 39.7 to 42.7gr on H4350. Maybe I'll start at 39.5 and go up in .5 incriments.
What is everyone mainly using for a COAL with 130's?

D3- did you ever measure how far from the lands is ideal for these 130 ELDM's?

I also have some Lapua 108's coming for a Grendel I may try in this .260.

Also has anyone tried Hornady 123's? I've got a bunch of those.

I don't think anyone is using COAL, people are loading to BTO. If you can't measure your BTO, then the 2.780 is a good place to start, but I believe FRBaseball was loading even shorter.

Load at 39.5 and go up to 42.5, you'll find a node for your rifle. Then you can play with seating depth a bit.

I don't think anyone has loaded a 108 and I know that my testing (albeit minimal) of the Nosler 123s didn't produce great results. Load some up and let us know!

No but I'm probably going to order up some of these:

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00004mm65123/match-monster-6halfmm-point264-diameter-123-grain-boat-tail-hollow-point-500-count

Can use them in the grendel too.

Today's update is a look at the Lee Collet Die. When you fire a round it expands the neck so, you need to resize the neck to gain sufficient tension so the bullet is held in the case. Most dies use an expander, or a neck bushing in conjunction with an expander.

The diameter of a .260 projectile is 0.264. To retain the bullet, you would reduce the neck of a fired case by 2-3 thousandths to obtain 0.262 to 0.263 for sufficient tension to retain the projectile in the case and provide a consistent hold while the bullet is fired. However, most dies use a bushing that applies pressure from the outside, which seems would transfer any imperfection to the inside of the neck where the bullet is actually held, as well as introducing run-out. I did some reading a came upon the Lee Collet Die. People were universal in their praise for the system that uses a mandrel to size the inside of the neck while the collet's petals hold the outside of the case neck. I found a Lee Collet Die for a great price and decided to test the die as reloaders also commented the die greatly reduced run-out.

I disassembled the die and cleaned the components of the oil from the manufacturing process. The system included the die body, the collet, a collet bushing, a mandrel and the top cap. I also bought another smaller mandrel in case I needed more tension. I decided to use some once fired Peterson brass to test the die. I set the die in my Forster press, but I'll say I may give the Redding T-7 a try as the Forster has a definite cam-over action, more on that later.



A fired case contacts the collett:



The collet bushing contacts the petals and applies equal pressure to the outside of the neck as the mandrel is drawn through the neck:





After cleaning I used a bit of TW-25B grease on the top of the collet petals to ensure it wouldn't bind with the collet bushing.



The die is installed and run down to where the bottom impacts the shell holder. I marked the top of the die as you then dial the die down an additional 1.5 turns as a starting point for the process.



Sliding a H130 ELD-M into the Peterson once-fired case shows how easily a bullet enters prior to re-sizing.



I ran the case up into the die and camed-over the press handle.



I measured the inside of neck and found the cam-over was too much pressure for the process and reduced the neck too much - however, I did create a new wildcat I think I'll call the 22-08!



I adjusted the die and did not cam-over the case this time and obtained better results, but I have to go a bit more:





I re-adjusted and again ran the case and obtained the designed 0.001 reduction.



I want more tension since this is a gasser and readjusted one more time and ran the case again. This time I obtained another 0.001 reduction which will provide the 0.002 neck tension I think will be sufficient.  If not, I'll go another thousandth to 0.262. I checked to concentricity of the neck and it was well within 0.001, which I think is quite acceptable.









I may or may not be doing daily updates, it just depends on job-hunting.

Okay so now that you have tried that, do you think that the whidden expander ball kit will do the same thing with way less fuss?

In conjunction with the bushing die of course

Well, maybe that's going to be an episode in the continuing saga, patience grasshopper...

I had planned to use the collet for factory brass that was dinged or damaged as a way to easily rehabilitate it, but finding some of the discussions on-line, this may be a way to get the same results without over-working the brass through the bushing/expander ball process.

D3-good info, thanks!
I measured some resized brass from the Whidden die w/ a .289 bushing. ID is pretty cosistant at .2610.

Which brass? Was that an inside measurement?  Did you use the bushing with their expander ball?

The thickness of each manufacture's brass may cause some fluctuations. I hope to get around to the Whidden dies shortly.

Once fired Hornady brass, yes ID measurement like you showed.
I'm not sure if it has the expander ball. It's their size die with the neck bushing. Pretty sure it's the same one you have from them.

Excellent - thanks!

Processed 50 pieces of brass and made a few loads. Was able to push one of the bullets in by hand after seating. Still gonna run it just feed them one at a time. I have another neck tension insert on the way but it will be a good week.

Used a rock chucker supreme for the 1st time today. Quite different than a 550! Don't see myself using a single stage much longer. The 550 works great as a single stage if needed.





Had to pull a few of these out. The steel media works well especially on the primer pockets but it's a pain in the ass to not get all over the place. I use the shown gold mining pan with a 5 gallon paint bucket strainer attached to it. It gets all the pins that fall through the pan but there's a fair amount that stay in the pan edges as some get stuck in some of the larger cases. Never had one in a .223 case.

Nice! I've processed a bunch of brass using the FART and stainless pins and can't say I've had one stick in the neck. Let us know how your Hornady loads perform.  I'm working towards loading the WFLs while I continue to shoot the factory Hornadys.

Oh, let us know when you find some gold in AZ, I'll be right out to help start a new reality show.  I mean really, what could go wrong with two noobs in the desert?  

Theres no gold out here Tony Beats got it all already

As a longer term project, I'm going to continue to update the Index, but with additional details on each post so you might be able to find a topic faster. I started this morning and updated a few titles going back to page 52 and FRBaseball's updated reloading information. I also cross-referenced so the data appears in other applicable sections. I'll continue to cross reference, but not with abandon since the Index would become a living entity.  I'll do a bit at a time to make it easier on the three of us still in the thread.  

Today's update coming soon.

Perfect day for testing. 65ish degrees, cloudy, and no wind.
Tried to Outshoot the Shootist again before trying the reloads. I didn't put an orange dot in the center and I shot about the same as previously. Not even worth showing because I know I can do better. Got to remember to put a dot in the center of the target next time.

Made 6 each of Hornady once fired brass, Federal primers, Hornady 130 ELD-M using H4350 powder at 2.795 COAL. Charges were from 39.5 to 42 grains in .5 increments.
I shot 3 of each starting at the lowest charge up to the highest then repeated.
Since neck tension was questionable on 2 rounds I hand fed each round.
I screwed up saving a couple of the strings in the Magneeto Speed.

Between the 2 targets it's hard to say which is best but the 41.5 gr seems the most consistant.







Walking back from the target I noticed the glare from the scope. Sun angle must have been just right as I've never noticed this before:


Also tested the Larue 14.5" stealth barrel with factory ammo. I tested it yesterday with similar results but today I used a new Lantac E-BCG. Didn't shoot it enough to notice much of a difference. I loaded a 10 round mag and shot at the left target for 5 rounds, then the right for 5 rounds. Semi fast fire. Testing Freedom Munitions 55gr and IMI 55 & 77 HPBT. The IMI 77 shoots excellent in my JP-15. Appears to shoot pretty good in this rife as well.

Well heck all that shooting looks pretty dang good to me.

Those 55s dont look happy at all though.

Very nice!  It's back in the 30's and 40's here for the week so it's indoor time!

41.5 looks good but try that 40gr node again. It's a node since there was no real velocity change between the 39.5 and the 40grs. Maybe you can play with seating depth a bit to fine tune the 40 or 41.5.