allen-1
NES Member
I'm in CT, my presses are in GA.
So I bought some (more) .22 today.
And brass-ratted at the range.
So I bought some (more) .22 today.
And brass-ratted at the range.
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What did you do in the reloading room recently?
- Thread starter DW357
- Start date
Picked up a pound of Accurate #5 at Cabela's today, mainly just to play with. Loaded up 50 of my 158 grain Zeros over a range of charges in .357 magnum to see how accurate they are, and if they are, to chrono. I finally realized after several years now of chronographing while shooting groups, and all the fiddling with the chronograph to get it just right to make that possible, that I might as well just shoot the groups, and then chronograph only the loads that seem particularly accurate.
What are the muzzle velocities with that load?
BarnBuilder
NES Member
Avg. velocity is 2850 fps out of a 16" barrel
nstassel
NES Member
Hoover and I sat on the deck and primed spp .45 cases for lost brass matches.
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hijinx
NES Member
Added a Lee factory crimp die to my press. Definitely makes a difference. Made a test batch to shoot before I run the rounds I’ve already made through it.
pastera
NES Member
Factory crimp for bottle neck cartridge is great
For everything else needing it points to something else not running quite right in your process.
If rounds gauge but you need it for a tight chamber then nothing wrong with the FCD.
I prefer crimping with the FCD as well. I like doing this operation as a separate step. Sometimes depending on my caliber I want a slight crimp, or sometimes I want an aggressive crimp. Sometimes I use the FCD just to remove a fire formed casing flare and not apply any crimp. A great optional die to have.
I have 1k Magtech 140gr 6.5CM FMJ from before the pandemic.
The 140 FMJ has a terrible BC for a 6.5CM, so I’m now about to have ~1k 140gr ELD-Ms cartridges.
I haven’t shot the Magtech yet, but I’ve had good luck with the precision of 5.56 Magtech. I’m hopeful that these will shoot well.
The 140 FMJ has a terrible BC for a 6.5CM, so I’m now about to have ~1k 140gr ELD-Ms cartridges.
I haven’t shot the Magtech yet, but I’ve had good luck with the precision of 5.56 Magtech. I’m hopeful that these will shoot well.
i set my 6.5CM load on hornady eld-x 140gr and very happy with its performance. 41.7gr of R16, same hole at 100yds, 1/3MOA at 300. sensitive to the neck tension, kinda, to group well.
I picked up a .288 bushing for the sizing die. Hopefully they like that.
i run the same one, and it is doing 0.002" for me across all the brass i have left. there was some thicker one where it would be closer to 0.004" and i just threw it away finally as it was never in line drop wise at 300yds with the rest of what i had.
i should get a neck turning thing, probably, but, cannot get myself to that stage yet - neck turning, annealing, etc.
Probably bergara, or ar10 with aero 20” upper. When I work bergaras trigger properly I usually get close to 1/3 moa. AR gets usually to 3/4 moa, groups are bit more open.
To get best groups really takes more effort to brass prep than I want to do on a regular basis.
Here is bergaras good group at 300. I think horizontal shift is me overpressing the trigger, just need more practice.
kieron
NES Member
While not necessarily in the reloading room itself, I was finally able to shoot and chrono my first reloads for three guns. Everything cycled, no malfunctions at all, so I'm pleased with that.
Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to start fresh, as my crimp may not have been sufficient. Somehow, I managed to push five of the bullets back into the case while loading them into the magazine, I'm assuming all the way back to the powder. Those five went back into the box, as I didn't want to test my luck shooting rounds with a substantially short (.90 versus 1.100) COAL.
Now I have about 30 rounds with correct COAL with charges working up from 4.3-4.8 gr, and five with 4.7gr charge with .9" COAL. What is the recommended course of action? Can I back the five rounds out with a manual puller and reseat/recrimp at the correct COAL, then simply recrimp the other 30 as is? Or do I need to pull them all apart and start working up charges anew?
Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to start fresh, as my crimp may not have been sufficient. Somehow, I managed to push five of the bullets back into the case while loading them into the magazine, I'm assuming all the way back to the powder. Those five went back into the box, as I didn't want to test my luck shooting rounds with a substantially short (.90 versus 1.100) COAL.
Now I have about 30 rounds with correct COAL with charges working up from 4.3-4.8 gr, and five with 4.7gr charge with .9" COAL. What is the recommended course of action? Can I back the five rounds out with a manual puller and reseat/recrimp at the correct COAL, then simply recrimp the other 30 as is? Or do I need to pull them all apart and start working up charges anew?
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Not a good idea. Pull bullet out, run brass through a full size die to reset the neck.
Crimp is not usually that much needed if neck is set properly. Measure the loads you have with bullets in, the necks. Brass coming out from full size die should have necks 0.002”-0.004” smaller in diameter. That should usually be enough to hold bullets firmly enough.
I believe this is 9mm correct? You only need to apply enough crimp to remove the casemouth "flare". The crimp is not used to "hold" the bullet in place. Makes sure your sizing die is screwed in all the way and touching the caseholder/shellplate when the ram is all the way up.
Also measure the diameter of the bullets. Are they undersized by chance?
I would not recommend using a puller to increase the OAL as that loosens up the brass/tension.
If you're concerned about losing the powder using a manual inertia puller (what I hate about inertia pullers), then you could buy a hornady cam lock puller. I had to pull like 300+ 9mm rounds last year because of a leading issue and used the cam lock puller and was able to salvage all of the powder.
And the 9mm collet/insert:
Amazon product ASIN B002L9A7O2View: https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-392154-Bullet-Puller-Collet/dp/B002L9A7O2?th=1&psc=1
Yeah, it is same puller I use - good stuff.
kieron
NES Member
Thanks for the replies and advice, @andrew1220 and @paul73!
Yes, this is for 9mm (Berry's 115 FMJ over W231). No visual flare, but I'll measure the case neck and bullet diameters to be on the safe side.
It looks like the cam lock puller and collets are going to move from the "future purchase" list to the cart.
Yes, this is for 9mm (Berry's 115 FMJ over W231). No visual flare, but I'll measure the case neck and bullet diameters to be on the safe side.
It looks like the cam lock puller and collets are going to move from the "future purchase" list to the cart.
like i said - crimp is usually not that needed, but if you run 9mm bullets that need crimping - you can use this die to be a one stop solution:Thanks for the replies and advice, @andrew1220 and @paul73!
Yes, this is for 9mm (Berry's 115 FMJ over W231). No visual flare, but I'll measure the case neck and bullet diameters to be on the safe side.
It looks like the cam lock puller and collets are going to move from the "future purchase" list to the cart.
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also, the amount of neck tension that holds a bullet in there is not indefinite. with a 0.002" tension if you take a round, press bullet nose at the desk and push well enough - it will slide in. therefore you choose amount of neck tension per particular bullet - that is why people buy type S dies that take bushings to set specific neck diameter.
but most (all) of that voodoo is for rifles, for a 9mm pistol it should not be that complicated.
My favorite ammo to make.....44 mag with nickel plates brass! They sure are Purdy.
265 grain Hornady jsp with 21 grains imr4227. These will go nicely in the ruger carbine. Making up a batch of 100. Gotta get this dialed in for deer season. That load should be excellent on deer as its a 265 grain going about 1300 fps out of the carbine.
265 grain Hornady jsp with 21 grains imr4227. These will go nicely in the ruger carbine. Making up a batch of 100. Gotta get this dialed in for deer season. That load should be excellent on deer as its a 265 grain going about 1300 fps out of the carbine.
Ok.....what cal is that?
duh.Ok.....what cal is that?
a 6 Dasher? berger 105gr hybrids on a 31.0 to 31.8gr varget, 5 rounds for 100yds and 5 for 300 yds to test.
i discovered an annoying thing about the full size type S redding die. its deprimer pin holder that is supposed to round up bended necks is somehow set by them to be rather large and was setting necks to 266 while i used a 265 bushing in the die. so i had to remove it, and do not like it much.
so any brass with bended necks will now have to be fixed separately before going into this die, annoying. i will probably try today fixing it in the dremel and working it at the sandpaper to take a 0.002"-3 off.
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These were gifted to me by a great guy at the club that doesn't load 44 anymore. 225 grain really interesting design that I've never seen. What's the consensus? Lyman 50th has load data for a 225 grain jacketed ftx.....just go with that? Anyone think it would make a good handgun deer load or will it not penetrate? Seat it to the top of the jacket or below it?
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Ok didn't realize 6 dasher was the calduh.
berger 105gr hybrids on a 31.0 to 31.8gr varget, 5 rounds for 100yds and 5 for 300 yds to test.
i discovered an annoying thing about the full size type S redding die. its deprimer pin holder that is supposed to round up bended necks is somehow set by them to be rather large and was setting necks to 266 while i used a 265 bushing in the die. so i had to remove it, and do not like it much.
I have never seen those before, but my inclination would be to lay the brass crimp right over the jacket crimp.
The Hodgdon site also has several loads for 225g jacketed 44 magnum.
No idea on its suitability as a hunting projectile.
The lead is swaged not cast so I'm thinking it won't take alot of velocity to get these to expand. Pretty cool design. I may have to shoot these into a row of gallon jugs to see if I can catch one and see what it does.
Looks like I found a winner for deer season in the ruger carbine. 265 grain jsp with 21 grains of imr4227. Funny thing is the worst groups were with factory ammo. Been working up load combos in that carbine for awhile now. A couple clicks to the right and I'll be good for deer hunting with the little carbine But I'll zero her later on in the fall.
That's 50 yards from a bench rest.
That's 50 yards from a bench rest.
