First time reloading rifle

[RC51kid]

I ahve done a lot of reloading pistols and straight wall 357 Max over the years. Using a sime Rockchucker. For pistols i didnt trim cases and used a simple Lee powder thrower.

I am considering reloading for my 6.5 Creedmoor. I only need to reload about 60 rounds a month, not high volume. I think I will need to measure and trim casses. What is the best reasonably priced tool for that? Also i think i need a better way to mesure charges to getthe accuracy i want. Is it worth trying to get a accurate powder throwing device or just use a trickler on a scale? I have a RCBS tripple beam but question its accuracy. That is mostly due to possie operator error.

Anything else different about reloading rifle?

 

[Vern400]

I use the Lee cutter and lock stud. It works fine, and it's dead simple. I just spin it with a cordless drill. It does as good as the expensive stuff for me. Get a good ID and OD chamfer tool that's double-ended. And you might as well get a flash hole deburring tool. I do all of those four operations in one setup for each case.

Going from straight wall pistol cases to bottleneck rifle cartridge? Welcome to a new world. I do both also.

There are tons of tools for case measuring and prep. Probably the most important one is a headspace measuring gauge. Hornady has a decent one that sits on a pair of calipers. You can use the resizing die like it's a pistol and cram that case all the way home every single time you load. But they're going to stretch every time you fire them and your brass life will be poor. Being able to measure how far you're pushing the shoulder back during the reloading process is pretty important in my opinion. For a long time I didn't do that, but I learned real quick when I made a couple of hundred rounds with random cartridges mixed in that wouldn't fit my gun. It was the first time I had let anybody shoot my ammunition in a different gun and his chamber was 0.002 different from mine.

With bottleneck rifle cartridges you can make them go bang, or you can get the most out of your rifle, or you can go so far that you get totally off in the weeds with detail

 

[A382DWDZQ]

For your scale, I would recommend getting a weight check set. It’s either accurate or it’s not, and that’s how you know. When I adjust my weight say from 40gr to 70gr on my RCBS beam scale, I calibrate it with the weights because it can be off a little bit. I get a throw that is close, but short, & then trickle into the pan. Same thing for your calipers, get a calibration block, or a couple. 2” & 1/2”. Then you can trust your calipers.

 

[TaperPin]

I would highly recommend the Lee case trimmer as well - the kit comes with a deburrer and is dirt cheap - there’s no case measuring with it since the pilot sets the length.

If you don’t have one, a dial caliper is a must have - even the Harbor Freight model with mechanical dial is ok. Stay away from cheap electric calipers.

A check weight is good just to reassure yourself the scale isn’t wonky, but it doesn’t have to be fancy - I used to have a few bullets with their exact weights written on the side that was measured on a friends scale that was known to be good (he had check weights).

One of the big differences with rifle ammo is the case neck is expanded as part of the sizing stroke - lightly lube the neck with a nylon brush rolled lightly on your lube pad. Just enough lube so the sizing button doesn’t drag hard - you’ll get the hang of it after a few hundred rounds.

I will be in the minority by saying the overall length competitors are optional. After 40 years I have never felt the need for one, although they are faster to use. Without one I check the distance to the lands with a fired case - lightly bend the case neck so it’s out of round just enough to hold the bullet - it doesn’t take much. Then insert a bullet so it’s overly long and chamber it carefully - as it’s coming out push on the case so the bullet isn’t pushing hard on the side of the chamber/action. Measure overall length and repeat a few times until you see a common measurement - that’s your distance to the lands. Every brand and weight of bullet has a different shape so you simply repeat this for each bullet.

When loading, going by overall length to the bullet tip rather than to a comparator works good enough unless your rifle is really fussy or super accurate. It’s ok to simply seat bullets to lengths given in the manual when you’re starting out.

With all reloading grab a notebook of some kind for a log book and record all the information needed for that load and how many you made up.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[RC51kid]

Thanks for all the good info guys. I have been traveling for work for the last 10 years. Move every 6 months. So my reloading stuff is in storage. We are thinking of planting roots and so I have been contemplating breaking out the press. But it wont be anytime soon. But planning.