NFOA MEMBERS FORUM
General Categories => General Firearm Discussion => Topic started by: Dark Helmet on September 03, 2009, 02:45:56 PM
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as the title states, are there any folks in Lincoln that do a lot of reloading.
I need some help getting a couple of things set-up right, and was hoping to consult an expert.
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I am experienced with 9mm, .45 ACP and way too many 12 gauge target loads, but I am a neophyte in the bottle necked rifle area
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What do you need to know? I am not some mountaintop guru, but I have done a bit of reloading.
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I need to set some dies up for partial-full-length resizing...
been FL-sizing everything and want to stop taking that much of a toll on my brass... especially the 35 Whelen... the '06s (25 and 30), I'm less worried about brass life, but moreso about the SUPER SLOPPY chamber in the 30-06. figured partial sizing would be the best bet to mitigate those worries.
I would also love to borrow an electronic powder scale... my wife's kitchen scale won't do "grains" or I'd just steal it!
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I do a bit of every type of reloading; I have a couple MEC progressive for the shotguns, a single stage for the rifles, and a Hornady progressive for the handguns & .223. The best investment I have made so far is the RCBS electronic power measure. The one that augers out the load. The new style is fast and very nice when reloading 500+ 22-250 rounds for prairie dogs! You just have to use the ?stock? tray and then it automatically runs out the next charge, about as fast as I can get the bullet seated and put in the box. Most loads are spot on with a few within a tenth of a grain. If it goes over just dump back out and let it go. I think I had 4-5 that were over the 39.4 grains I was loading of Varget on the 500 I just did. And Varget is a tough power to meter well.
http://www.huntchat.com/archive/index.php/t-39795.html is a good discussion on neck sizing with full length dies?..Just back them off some, and do it. I usually do that for the 22-250, all the same brass goes back to the same tight gun. As for the hunting loads, use some good case lube (imperial) and full length is the way to go. I don?t want a gun to jam up because I can?t chamber the second round on that 6x6 buck, he will already be running away!
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I use the Lee Collet die for neck sizing. Works great and does not cost an arm and a leg.
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The best investment I have made so far is the RCBS electronic power measure. The one that augers out the load.
YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE!!?!?!??!
I'll buy the beer if I can come over and use it for an hour or so... it'd save me about 3hrs vs my old balance-scale!!!
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What do you want to reload? I have a Hornaday press (both single and progressive) if you have the dies and shell holders or shell plate, we could throw them in and away you go. Loaded and ready. Let me know with a PM.
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The best investment I have made so far is the RCBS electronic power measure. The one that augers out the load.
YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE!!?!?!??!
I'll buy the beer if I can come over and use it for an hour or so... it'd save me about 3hrs vs my old balance-scale!!!
Someone needs a powder drop. Hornady makes a nice one, but I'm happy with my Lee Auto Disk.
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What do you want to reload? I have a Hornaday press (both single and progressive) if you have the dies and shell holders or shell plate, we could throw them in and away you go. Loaded and ready. Let me know with a PM.
working with a 30-06... I need to work on a headspace issue here briefly, but will PM you with more info.
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Toaster... check your PMs.
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Someone needs a powder drop. Hornady makes a nice one, but I'm happy with my Lee Auto Disk.
have one, but its not 100% perfect with extruded powders..
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Are you shooting paper in competition or hunting delicious animals? If it's for hunting, a ball powder should meter fine in most powder drops and will be plenty accurate for most large game hunting. You should be able to get a very accurate load with proper load development.
Also, consider some of the newer short stick powders, such as Varget. They meter better than the older stuff.
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Hodgdon has a "Short Cut" version of some of their extruded powders...... H4831SC worked exactly the same for me as H4831 (YMMV). I think I saw an IMR powder (7828?) that was labeled similarly.
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I'm using 4064... my measure is consistent once I get it calibrated to the charge, but I have to meter 5 different charges this time... once I have the final charge I work with the drop to get the setting dead-on for that charge...
hand-measuring a bunch of individual loads is kinda like a root canal for me.