I am pretty happy right now! So I have to share this with the HTF:
My quality ammo supplies have been getting getting dangerously low and the manufacturer (Nosler Custom) has been out of stock since the election of the Obammunist - and they have no idea when it will be available again. To make matters worse, our fellow HTF member "VarmitMister" won't load me up some more of his match ammo (he has other issues to deal with these days). So, I decided to try to roll my own ammo. I tried to keep it as cheap as I could. I also don't have much space to put everything, so no RL650 for me!
I got Forster Benchrest dies which I figured would be a good investment since I will keep them even if I upgrade the other stuff. I got a Lee hand press kit, bought new brass (to avoid having to buy a tumbler), and got all the other little bits and pieces I would need for less than $260 at Midwayusa! I finally got a chance to do my first loads this weekend. For my starting load, I used a Lee powder dipper to load about 24.6gr of Accurate 2230 powder... 205M primer, Remington case, Nosler 55gr Ballistic tip...
Range report:
Gun: AR-15: 16" Fulton Armory M-4 profile bbl, 1-9", chrome lined, 5.56 match chamber, free floated.
Avg. velocity: 2,928 fps
Best 5 shot group at 100 yds: 0.80" -
Yeah baby!
Wow! I am rather enjoying this new challenge! But on the other hand.... this is exactly what I
don't need....
....another hobby!