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Posted: 1/20/2013 12:07:43 AM EDT
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for those of you who didn't see, i posted a topic (here) a few days back with intentions of gathering information on reloading. after all your help, i placed an order for a hornady LnL press and all the necessary things to go with it.
most of my reloading equipment came in from midway the other day. just waiting on my .223 dies, #1 shell plate for .308, case tumbler, case trimmer, case length headspace gages, and chamfer/deburring tool to arrive. they all shipped separate due to back orders and not remembering to add some of them to my original order. i went to a local gun show today and picked up a bunch of primers and some bullets. i got 6000 federal gm205m primers, 4000 gm210m primers, 1000 215 magnum primers, 200 hornady match 168gr 30 cal bthp's, 100 hornady 225gr .338 SST's, and a pound each of accurate 2230, 4350, and ramshot magnum powders. i also ordered 500 77gr SMK's for .223, 100 hornady A-max 155gr 30 cal's, 100 155gr SMK 30 cal's, 5 pounds of reloder-15 powder and a pound of varget. my cousin and i also spent about 5 hours welding up a sturdy ass work bench from a bunch of extra 2x4" c-purlin and 3/16" wall 2x2 steel tubes we had at our shop, that we are going to mount everything to. i'll get some pics up of our setup tomorrow evening when it's all up. so anyways, i'm going to be loading up the 30 cal stuff for my remington 700 sps tactical, in .308 obviously. it is a 20" bull barrel with a 1 in 12 twist, original junk hogue stock, 4-16x50 millet TRS-1 glass. of the 150gr, 155gr, and 168gr bullets i got for it, all things equal, which should be more accurate? i was planning on using the varget for my .308. what are you guys loading up? as far as the 77gr SMK's, those will be loaded with the reloder-15. i will be shooting these with my AR...spikes lower, spikes NiB trigger, 16" middy upper from palmetto with a 1 in 7 twist, aimpoint PRO. i've done a lot of reading on all the various supplies i've purchased, and have heard mixed reviews about using the gm205m's with an AR. what is your guys' opinions on this? Has any of you actually had a slam fire occur? any and all input/advice/critism is welcome! thanks! |
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good luck, do you know anyone that already reloads and can give you hands on help? That would be the best advice so far. Little things adjust dies, seater depth, etc will be mysterious and sometimes frustrating at first I suggest making dummy rounds first to see if they cycle through your guns, then you can pull the bullets after makeing any needed adjustments and reuse the case and bullets. You bought a bullet puller right? |
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I load almost exclusively from load manuals. I can count on two fingers the number of times I've asked for advice on component combinations. Both times I received advice that didn't filter.
What I needed was later released in Hornady edition 8. dc. btw, I've never outperformed Sierra's accuracy loads. Brand X press, Brand X dies. Brand X bullets, Brand X manual. |
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My advice: Speed is your enemy right now. go slow, irritatingly slow at first, your eyes and fingers will be there to thank you later. Setting it all up will be a PIA at first. get it right and don't skip any steps. Drop each round you make into a Dillon case gauge to make sure they are correctly sized etc. Make up a small batch in .2g increments at first to test out a load. Example: starting load is 25g and max is 27g Make 10 rounds at 25g, 10 rounds at 25.2, 10 rounds at 25.4. Stay low in the range and stay away from max until you have more time into reloading. Clearly mark each group and take them to the range. Function test and fire them and figure out what is best in YOUR gun. That way if something doesn't cycle properly you are just pulling 10-30 rounds. I like the RCBS collet puller to pull bullets, they usually come out unscathed. Use a kinetic puller for a cheap alternative to start if needed. There are a thousand other things to learn but that is my basic few. |
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