Reloading 2.0 Guidance Requested

fngTony

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Pardon facts,upsetting folks.

I simply shoot a goodly sized herd of 6.5 CM rifles,in both OEM and Custom guise.

I apologize for that being an issue..........
That right there is trolling for an argument with a passive aggressive tone. We’ve seen it play out too often and ruin a good conversation because sarcasm and humor doesn’t translate well in text form.
 

BigStick

Lil-Rokslider
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That is a fascinating "perception".

Alpha LRP is simply without peer,mainly because I shoot it all.............
 

BigStick

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That right there is trolling for an argument with a passive aggressive tone. We’ve seen it play out too often and ruin a good conversation because sarcasm and humor doesn’t translate well in text form.

Pardon wares that exist,while others pretend.

Lilja 8" dupe and shortened shank here.



Deviation of THE Theme in 6XC here(Lilja 8").



I've more than a "few" more................
 

Marbles

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I am 100% convinced Annealing affords an advantage to brass life. Not being wealthy like some I like to extend case longevity. I see that most, if not all PRS shooters Anneal and Full Length Size their competition brass cases. Good enough for them, good enough for me.
I think some of it is what a person is trying to achieve.

Annealing does extend case life. The question becomes by how much and what is the cost of the case. For a 28 cent case that will go for 5 reloads without annealing it would take a very long time to actually save money. Now, if someone is shooting something with hard to find brass that is over a dollar a case and will get say 3 reloads without annealing that math clearly changes. My personal approach would be to not shoot such cartridges.

Of course, there is also a margin for safety that is added back by annealing and reduces the likelihood of case failure. If one stacks enough ignoring of such things (match chambers, tight bores, hard brass, not full length resizing, not checking brass length, loading above max, Etc.) the odds of a catastrophic failure become very high. My answer is don't chase every ounce of performance and change cartridge if I decide I want more velocity from a given projectile.

I'm not convinced neck tension matters very much. If someone loads 60 rounds, 30 with consistent neck tension and 30 with no attempt at control, then shoots two 30 round groups I'm not certain anyone could tell which group was which. (Obviously too little neck tension that leads to bullet set back matters a whole lot). If someone can demonstrate otherwise I'll reconsider. For me, it does not matter enough to bother testing it. (If I was going to do the test I would shoot all 60 on the same day, break each set of 30 into 5 round lots, and then use a random number generator to set the order of firing those lots).

It appears to me that many of the things done in reloading are based on using statistically insignificant group sizes. Doing things that don't matter distracts from focusing on what does.

On a side note, there is a real possibility I'm wrong given that I lack statistically valid testing data to support my conclusions.
 

CatManDo

FNG
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Nov 10, 2023
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Location
Kansas
I think some of it is what a person is trying to achieve.

Annealing does extend case life. The question becomes by how much and what is the cost of the case. For a 28 cent case that will go for 5 reloads without annealing it would take a very long time to actually save money. Now, if someone is shooting something with hard to find brass that is over a dollar a case and will get say 3 reloads without annealing that math clearly changes. My personal approach would be to not shoot such cartridges.

Of course, there is also a margin for safety that is added back by annealing and reduces the likelihood of case failure. If one stacks enough ignoring of such things (match chambers, tight bores, hard brass, not full length resizing, not checking brass length, loading above max, Etc.) the odds of a catastrophic failure become very high. My answer is don't chase every ounce of performance and change cartridge if I decide I want more velocity from a given projectile.

I'm not convinced neck tension matters very much. If someone loads 60 rounds, 30 with consistent neck tension and 30 with no attempt at control, then shoots two 30 round groups I'm not certain anyone could tell which group was which. (Obviously too little neck tension that leads to bullet set back matters a whole lot). If someone can demonstrate otherwise I'll reconsider. For me, it does not matter enough to bother testing it. (If I was going to do the test I would shoot all 60 on the same day, break each set of 30 into 5 round lots, and then use a random number generator to set the order of firing those lots).

It appears to me that many of the things done in reloading are based on using statistically insignificant group sizes. Doing things that don't matter distracts from focusing on what does.

On a side note, there is a real possibility I'm wrong given that I lack statistically valid testing data to support my conclusions.
I like to consider those things that "might" make me a better target shooter. I don't hunt that often but I do punch paper. I'm a fan of one particular World Class Shooter; Eric Cortina. I try to follow what he does including buying his Micro HS FL Sizing Die. Pricy but I sold some other stuff so I could get it.
I Anneal after every firing as well as making sure the trim length is consistant. Reamed the primer pockets and make sure the primer it set properly. I don't have the $600 primer fixture, but I see it's merits.
I'm retired and these activities help consume my time. I'm 78 and enjoy the process as much as shooting.
 

Marbles

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I like to consider those things that "might" make me a better target shooter. I don't hunt that often but I do punch paper. I'm a fan of one particular World Class Shooter; Eric Cortina. I try to follow what he does including buying his Micro HS FL Sizing Die. Pricy but I sold some other stuff so I could get it.
I Anneal after every firing as well as making sure the trim length is consistant. Reamed the primer pockets and make sure the primer it set properly. I don't have the $600 primer fixture, but I see it's merits.
I'm retired and these activities help consume my time. I'm 78 and enjoy the process as much as shooting.
I'm close to the opposite, 35, busy with kids and work, and shoot to hunt. I'm also prone to overcomplicate things.

If not for the price and availability of ammo locally and the inability to cheaply ship ammo to Alaska, reloading would still just be something I wanted to try rather than something I do.

In the end, I need to shoot a whole lot more than I currently do to extend my hunting range. I've rung steel at 500, but in field positions 200 is stretching it for me on game at the moment.
 

BigStick

Lil-Rokslider
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Annealing and Nodes are rather humorous.

'Nother here.



In "fairness" however,I've not owned one longer than 30",nor shorter than 18"................
 

BigStick

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Pardon wares that exist.

Your feelings REALLY matter to me.............
 
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Long story short I tried reloading for 2-3 years about 5 years ago. Everything was self taught via YouTube, forums and Hornady reloading manual.

I was able to produce safe ammo that functioned but was never able to get consistent results (group size and velocity would vary more than I liked). I kept buying gadgets like Hornady comparator, different FL dies,etc while I chased my tail trying to get consistent results. So I sold all my reloading stuff and went back to Hornady ammo.

I am now getting the itch to get back into it but I want to keep my tools to a bare minimum (while still producing consistent long range ammo). I would like to start with my 6.5 creed hunting rifle that loves the 143 precision hunter factory ammo.

Am also looking for good resources on how to simplify my reloading process

Please recommend what basic tools you’d suggest (6.5 creed) and what SIMPLE reloading resources you’d recommend. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don’t know where you live, but if you’re anywhere near Coburg, Oregon, I’d be happy to show you how I do it. I’m sure there are many with much better skills than I have, but I like to think I do okay.





P
 
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Op, appreciate the response. It is a wild card, in a sense, that you have never loaded for the 6.5 however, your experience with other cartridges honestly is par for the course. When you do it yourself there is experimenting and time put into the process. Certainly the perfect load (i.e. meets your velocity, SD and accuracy goals) is sometimes found right away but if it's sporadic with respect to the amount of time you are able to devote to the reloading process, it can be frustrating because it isn't one-size-fits-all and can take time to work through the basic variables even in a KISS approach.

On a side note, it's not good form to continue raising a hand saying "me too, me too" and getting into a urinary Olympiad over this stuff. Most here I would venture, don't give a flying screw about how many calibers guys are loading for. Many of us have loaded for a damn good number of cartridges and keeping it to a simple process is the best advice and that advice was given by a poster before things got out of hand. There is an acronym called "WAIT"... "Why Am I Talking". Works great and is a simple process as well for forum etiquette.

OP, go with processes that have been tried and are true, and you'll have the best shot at realizing your goals. Annealing does extend case life as has been said. However, that's far down the list of what I've never done, actually, and loads realize very good groups and SD. If case life is an issue, maybe worth doing. From my experience, don't.

Whether it's worth the cost of admission to get started up again or not, is a good question. You know what factory ammo works very well for you, buy it in bulk to have the same lot number and you could be set for decades and not have to ever lift a finger loading again and spend a similar amount of $$$ vs. gearing up again.
 
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