What did you do in the reloading room today?

Loaded some more 77 TMKs and then went to re-zero since I swapped scopes. This is the last 8 shots. I think that will do. Im pretty anal and was going to move it .1 mil to the left but then it would likely be the same degree off but on the other end. 🤷‍♂️ dot is 3/4 an inch. Group was .82
 

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About to start experimenting with the NAS3 cases.

I bought 20 round of loaded ammo so I could pull bullets and hopefully see what type of powder they are using.

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Charge weight with 150 NBT bullets is 50.5 grains of unidentifiable powder. Looks like a flattened ball powder with either a copper removing agent or a temp stabilization agent. Has that tan/green color like Varget or H4895.

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Factory ammo on left, reseated one on right. I pulled the 150 NBT with my RCBS collet die with about the same effort as a brass cased cartridge. The I ran it through my Redding bushing neck die with no issues, set final neck diameter with a mandrel then seated the 168ABLR with no perceivable additional effort above a typical brass cased cartridge.

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Velocity data forthcoming.

Results.

This is where I topped out. The cases hold 2 full grains more powder than Alpha SRP.

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Topped off my supply of 6.5 cm and 7-08 ai range ammo, put my 223 back together (temporarily, 223ai barrel coming) after action nitride/rokstock arrival. Realized I’m short a set of sportsmatch highs and ordered another set.


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It's windy as hell today, so not worth doing any range work. I have a huge bin full of fired 223/556 range pick up that's been begging for prepping. Counted out 500 and got them all swaged. Will work on this batch over the next week or so and get them loaded up with 55 gr SP and 62 gr FMJs for my AR. Prairie dogs should be out in full force over the next couple of months.
 
Put my new V4 thru it's paces using H4350 today. Took me about 5 minutes to calibrate it and create a profile for H4350. I might be able to speed it up a touch, but the accuracy is so awesome, I will likely leave well enough alone.

Loaded 50 rds of 6.5 and ran a quick speed/accuracy test on the V4 vs. Chargemaster. Test consisted of throwing and dumping 5 charges of 42 grs of H4350. After charging the rds, I dumped out the charge masters rds and weighed them on the fx-120. It was eye opening.. I knew it was happening, so lately before I got the V4, I was double checking every or every other charge on a beam scale.

Top # is time, bottom #'s are charge weights thrown. 20260308_141704.jpg
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I would be interested in the difference!!
Ran quick pressure test on the ADG brass. I hit bolt lift with the Hornady brass at 66.5. I loaded 66, 66.5, 66.7, and 67. I have ejector stamps on .7 and 67 but no bolt lift. I’m gonna load 67.5, 67.7, and 68 and see how far I get.

Empty weight of the fired ADG brass is 230.2 grains. Full of H2O, weight is 311.2 grains for 81 grains total. That is 1 full grain more than the Hornady brass.
 
Ran quick pressure test on the ADG brass. I hit bolt lift with the Hornady brass at 66.5. I loaded 66, 66.5, 66.7, and 67. I have ejector stamps on .7 and 67 but no bolt lift. I’m gonna load 67.5, 67.7, and 68 and see how far I get.

Empty weight of the fired ADG brass is 230.2 grains. Full of H2O, weight is 311.2 grains for 81 grains total. That is 1 full grain more than the Hornady brass.
Got up to 68 with light ejector stamp and no bolt lift. MV was 3179. I’m gonna stop there and load 10 and see how it shoots.
 
I’ve always liked the idea of having an RCBS
Summit press to bring to the range since they brought it to market. I will inevitably try a set up to bring to the range. The only thing holding me back is when I see two others. Hard to decide between the three. Sinclair,Harrels or Summit. I figure the one that gives the least runout will win. One thing against the Summit is the handle not centered; which likely doesn’t affect the press too negatively considering they have developed a reputation for low runout. Still , I like symmetry when you are measuring thousandths (even tenths) of an inch. And I like those nifty and compact C types. They seem so practical. I love that about reloading in general. All the nifty compact tools ( miniature sized) we get to work with. Very cool indeed.

I used to have a Harrells combo press which is different than the press they sell now but has the same clamp. I think they're best with custom dies or just light sizing in general because the clamp isn't all that robust. I haven't used the Sinclair but I see them alot at BR matches but you're limited to 308 length cases. The Summit is the most versatile obviously.

At the range I've used arbor presses, Harrells combo, Rockchucker, and currently been using an RCBS Partner for a number of years now and it's by far my favorite of those four. It's a light duty press but robust enough for doing what I need at the range while light enough to easily move around. The Rockchucker works fine but it's noticeably heavier to carry around. I don't know the weight of the Summit but I'm guessing it's similar to a Rockchucker give or take so I'm thinking it's probably not the most convenient thing to haul arouond. For me though, I have a lot of hand dies and there's an arbor press conversion for the Summit so it could be a one press for everything even if it's less than ideal wieghtwise.
 
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