Reloading newbs, pay attention to detail!

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Posting this to hopefully help other newbs avoid similar errors. Please be gentle...

So I finally got my new DIY bench moved in to my basement and Redding press re-mounted. I've only reloaded straight wall rounds in the past, and its been several years. I couldn't remember the process for setting your FL sizing die depth, so watched a video from Gunwerks where they said simply screw down the die until it just touches the top of the ram in the up position.

I followed the instructions, and while I noticed I was almost out of threads on the die when it finally touched the ram, I thought I was off to the races! Except I quickly found the once-fired .25-06 brass to be extremely difficult to de-prime and size. At fist I thought maybe I didn't use enough one-shot in the die and on the cases. I added some additional lube and persevered, grunting out cases at turtle speed and straining more on some than others.

After one stubborn case absolutely would not size without a donut neck, I finally I stepped back to reassess what the heck was going on... Then it hit me!

When I set the sizing die depth, in my excitement and zeal to get cranking, I didn't have the shell holder attached to the top of the ram! Thus the reason why I was nearly out of threads on the die body and why I had little leverage on the ram when attempting to resize the cases. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

After a few minutes of cussing myself out, I unscrewed the locking collar on the die, backed it out of the press, raised the ram, and reset the die depth with the shell holder in place. This time I had lots of threads to spare on the die and re-tightened the locking collar.

I slapped that donut necked case back in the shell holder and cycled the ram. "VOILA!" I was able to resize the case with little effort at all, and it looked perfect. For good measure, I resized all the brass I'd already muscled through the press with the incorrect die depth, and the consistency of all pieces was good.

Next I hit 10 once-fired .30-06 cases with one-shot and gave them a minute to dry. Although I'd read on here and elsewhere that the .25-06 FL sizing die would be fine to convert .30-06 brass, I was a little skeptical it would work. I put the first case in the shell holder, cycled the ram, and it resized with little effort. The reformed case was consistent with the .25-06 brass, and I was pumped! I ran the remaining 9 cases and lubed and resized another 10 before calling it a night.

I'm sure this mistake makes the seasoned reloaders on here chuckle, and I hope it helps other newbs avoid making the same bonehead error in the future.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I once loaded up some 300 WinMag and did not crimp it. I had also made the mistake of using brass that had the bullets pulled without re-sizing. After firing two rounds I popped the mag out and noticed the bullets were being pushed into the cartridge by the recoil. Derp. Don’t know what would have happened if I fired those rounds but seems kind of dangerous.

It’s a hobby that requires your complete attention. Don’t do it when you are tired, distracted, or under the influence.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

It’s a hobby that requires your complete attention. Don’t do it when you are tired, distracted, or under the influence.

100%, this right here...

 

[wind gypsy]

Haha ouch on ruining multiple cases!

On Sunday i grabbed the "300" seating die off the bench and proceeded to seat a 215 Berger deep enough that the ogive almost reached the 300wm case mouth before stopping and confirming it was a WSM die rather than a WM die. Goes to show its been too long since I've loaded for the magnums.

 

[Harvey_NW]

I couldn't remember the process for setting your FL sizing die depth, so watched a video from Gunwerks where they said simply screw down the die until it just touches the top of the ram in the up position.

That's a rudimentary setting for sizing dies, and in some combos with sloppy tolerances it can induce too much work hardening into the brass and cause case head separation. On bottleneck cartridges you'll work it less and get better results by using a headspace gauge to measure shoulder bump, Hornady has a cheap kit and you can get the bullet inserts to measure base to ogive as well.

I've stuck cases and folded shoulders on both the sizing and seating operations. Learning dues, lol!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

That's a rudimentary setting for sizing dies, and in some combos with sloppy tolerances it can induce too much work hardening into the brass and cause case head separation. On bottleneck cartridges you'll work it less and get better results by using a headspace gauge to measure shoulder bump, Hornady has a cheap kit and you can get the bullet inserts to measure base to ogive as well.

I've stuck cases and folded shoulders on both the sizing and seating operations. Learning dues, lol!

Thank you for the recommendations and understanding!

 

[SloppyJ]

When I first got my setup I practiced on some subsonic 300blk to get my feet wet. I loaded up 100 over the course of a few nights after my son went down and proceeded to go to the range that weekend. When I got to the last 25 or so I loaded a new mag and went to town. About 8rds in I shot and something didn't seem right. My rifle jammed and upon inspection I had a case that didn't eject and a round that tried to load and pushed the bullet back into the case.

I got that cleaned up and I had a moment of brilliance, a true rare occurrence. I decided to take the upper off and make sure everything was fine. I held it up to the sky and couldn't see through it. I had a squib round stuck in the barrel so I packed up, collected my brass and went home.

Well the bullet went maybe 3" into the barrel. I didn't want to push it the other 6" to get it out of the muzzle so I pushed it back. That was a whole ordeal but then it was time to figure out what happened.

On my turret press, you can turn the powder fill on or off. Well I had forgotten to turn it back on when I started reloading again so once all of the powder that filled the bottom part of the funnel was used, that was it. Basically I used a primer and maybe a dusting of powder to fire that bullet.

Moral of the story, take your time and stop to do some QC every now and then. Most of us probably won't have that problem if we are only loading for our hunting rifles because we weigh each load for those but there are plenty of other opportunities to screw something up.

Thanks for making the thread and putting yourself out there. We all can learn from each other's mistakes.

 

[keystone112]

Reloading is easy.

It’s easy to do and it’s easy to screw it up.

 

[4090Sharps]

Next I hit 10 once-fired .30-06 cases with one-shot and gave them a minute to dry. Although I'd read on here and elsewhere that the .25-06 FL sizing die would be fine to convert .30-06 brass, I was a little skeptical it would work. I put the first case in the shell holder, cycled the ram, and it resized with little effort. The reformed case was consistent with the .25-06 brass, and I was pumped! I ran the remaining 9 cases and lubed and resized another 10 before calling it a night.

You may already be doing this, but be sure to measure the thickness of the brass in the case neck when you're necking a caliber down like that. The brass in the neck is going to be thicker than standard .25-06 brass, and could give you higher pressures. This can be remedied by reaming the case necks or turning the outside diameter.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

When I first got my setup I practiced on some subsonic 300blk to get my feet wet. I loaded up 100 over the course of a few nights after my son went down and proceeded to go to the range that weekend. When I got to the last 25 or so I loaded a new mag and went to town. About 8rds in I shot and something didn't seem right. My rifle jammed and upon inspection I had a case that didn't eject and a round that tried to load and pushed the bullet back into the case.

I got that cleaned up and I had a moment of brilliance, a true rare occurrence. I decided to take the upper off and make sure everything was fine. I held it up to the sky and couldn't see through it. I had a squib round stuck in the barrel so I packed up, collected my brass and went home.

Well the bullet went maybe 3" into the barrel. I didn't want to push it the other 6" to get it out of the muzzle so I pushed it back. That was a whole ordeal but then it was time to figure out what happened.

On my turret press, you can turn the powder fill on or off. Well I had forgotten to turn it back on when I started reloading again so once all of the powder that filled the bottom part of the funnel was used, that was it. Basically I used a primer and maybe a dusting of powder to fire that bullet.

Moral of the story, take your time and stop to do some QC every now and then. Most of us probably won't have that problem if we are only loading for our hunting rifles because we weigh each load for those but there are plenty of other opportunities to screw something up.

Thanks for making the thread and putting yourself out there. We all can learn from each other's mistakes.

What you described is why I didn't go for a turet press. Just additional potential failure points for me.

If I ever got into high volume reloading for pistol rounds, I may invest in a turret, but for low volume hunting rounds, I'm gonna stick to my single stage. Thanks for sharing!

 

[SloppyJ]

What you described is why I didn't go for a turet press. Just additional potential failure points for me.

If I ever got into high volume reloading for pistol rounds, I may invest in a turret, but for low volume hunting rounds, I'm gonna stick to my single stage. Thanks for sharing!

Even with that hiccup, I'm still beyond thrilled with the turret press. About 90% of the time I take the rotational parts out of it and just use it like a single stage but with the ability to have 4 different dies installed at once. Really I only need two or three. It's also nice to be able to leave the dies installed in the turrets for all of the calibers I have and they're ready to roll and at the correct depth when it's time to reload that cartridge. I obviously double check though.

Either way, just breaking the barrier of entry into reloading is great whether it's a single stage, turret, or even one of the more fancy setups. I find it oddly soothing to get lost in the calcs and process. Sometimes I look up and I've spent 2 hours just loading away.

 

[rayporter]

sit down to shoot at a match and look down at the ammo laid out............ and see no primers!!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

sit down to shoot at a match and look down at the ammo laid out............ and see no primers!!

Now that had to be a punch in the gut.

 

[rayporter]

oh, its a sinking feeling.

but i learned to always keep ammo enough set back to grab and shoot just for when it happens next time. worst is no powder. ya kinda have to guess at the problem then.