What did you do in the reloading room today?

[joemax55]

I loaded a fire forming load in 50 new Lapua 22-250 cases to get them ready for load development of a 52gr Sierra MatchKing.

The rifle is already pretty accurate for hunting and general purposes, but I'm using this opportunity to go for ultimate target precision. I'm not breaking new ground with the combo (probably with Varget) so it's only a matter of arranging the variables to what shoots best for me.

I recently got 500 53 gr match kings from a family friend for free with over 500 22-250 cases so I'll be doing this myself. The brass looks like it's only been fired once so I started trimming today.

 

[wyosam]

Today, I reinforced a cornerstone principle of reloading. After running a normal rifle load workup routine where a clear accuracy winner was established, I instead chose to work with a less accurate charge weight in the hopes of tweaking it for better accuracy. I did this because the most accurate load wasn't "as fast as I wanted".

After about 50 extra rounds of lackluster performance, I followed my intuition and applied those same tweaks to the most accurate load the first time around, resulting in a 3-shot .470" group at 100y, one of the smallest I've ever fired with a rifle.

For all of us, and especially if you're new to reloading, accuracy is THE final word in this hobby. Goes to show that no matter how long you've been doing it - and I've been at it for most of my life - you can still get seduced by irrelevant flashy statistics.

Particularly annoying when you realize after chasing your tail for a while that velocity gain you were chasing is essentially one less click waaaaay out there.


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[wyosam]

For reloading a wildcat cartridge, like 6x45, what is the normal method people use to make it easy to distinguish between that and the parent cartridge? Should I be marking the heads with a distinctive Sharpie? Or is there a better method?

I try to use a different brand/headstamp, though even that could be tough at a glance when they’re close like a 6x45. Maybe use 5.56 for one and .223 for the other? Those are close enough I sure wouldn’t mix them in the tumbler etc.. I got rid of my 6 rem Ackley because it was just too much of a pain with a 257 Ackley in the safe next to it (was using 7-57 brass for both).


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[Castle Rock]

Today, I reinforced a cornerstone principle of reloading. After running a normal rifle load workup routine where a clear accuracy winner was established, I instead chose to work with a less accurate charge weight in the hopes of tweaking it for better accuracy. I did this because the most accurate load wasn't "as fast as I wanted".

After about 50 extra rounds of lackluster performance, I followed my intuition and applied those same tweaks to the most accurate load the first time around, resulting in a 3-shot .470" group at 100y, one of the smallest I've ever fired with a rifle.

For all of us, and especially if you're new to reloading, accuracy is THE final word in this hobby. Goes to show that no matter how long you've been doing it - and I've been at it for most of my life - you can still get seduced by irrelevant flashy statistics.

I know that this is an older post but it was just quoted.
Not trying to be critical but a spectacular 3 shot group is not proof that you have the winning recipe.
A load that shoots consistently small is way more important than a small sample that shoots tiny.

Load 10 of the same and 10 each of the flankers if you want to get really serious.

 

[wyosam]

Loaded some more dasher for my new love interest (tikka Dasher 18”/RSLite/OG6s) with some hammers and some 112 Matchburners. I expect 3k or so life out of that barrel before I’m ready to retire it, and think I better get its replacement ordered this year on the Black Friday sale- it has about 60 rounds through it. Dug around looking for loaded 223 to make sure I shoot everything up before I swap my 223 tikka to the new 223ai tube (already have a ton of fireformed brass). Looks like another 150 and I can swap barrels and throat the new one. With summer busyness in full swing made sure I have some hunting bullets loaded for anything I might want to grab out of the safe.


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[Sinistram]

I recently got 500 53 gr match kings from a family friend for free with over 500 22-250 cases so I'll be doing this myself. The brass looks like it's only been fired once so I started trimming today.

Good score! We'll have to compare results when finished. What powder were you thinking of using?

 

[Sinistram]

I know that this is an older post but it was just quoted.
Not trying to be critical but a spectacular 3 shot group is not proof that you have the winning recipe.
A load that shoots consistently small is way more important than a small sample that shoots tiny.

Load 10 of the same and 10 each of the flankers if you want to get really serious.

I see this a lot and there's sound reasoning behind that, so I agree with you. However, a load that consistently shoots three shots better than other loads over time can't simply be discounted, especially when other ballistic factors show promise (ES, SD, etc.).

For the record, and to keep everyone at bay, I did shoot 10 shot groups with this load and while it naturally expanded, it was still the clear winner for accuracy at 100 and even 200 yards.

 

[joemax55]

Good score! We'll have to compare results when finished. What powder were you thinking of using?

The best 2 I have are h4895 and varget. I think either would work well. Also have a lot of h335 but I think that's too fast. I'll probably try both but would prefer to save the varget for other guns. He gave me 3000 85 gr .243 game kings too so I bought a .243 barrel while I was at it.

 

[Harvey_NW]

A guy brought it up at the range, which ironically he was complaining about ELDM's which I use and have had success with. These were Noslers that were marked down significantly at two local big box retailers. I thought I'd roll the dice and ended up with 500 or so. I feel for Nosler as they're local and we have a big shooting scene and they can't sell them here even.

I'd be willing to bet that 1gr variance in bullet weight would make about the same difference as a .003" seating depth bump people obsess over with small samples. In reality, it probably doesn't make a measurable difference. If they group tight, load on.

 

[Sinistram]

The best 2 I have are h4895 and varget. I think either would work well. Also have a lot of h335 but I think that's too fast. I'll probably try both but would prefer to save the varget for other guns. He gave me 3000 85 gr .243 game kings too so I bought a .243 barrel while I was at it.

Yep, those are the two I was eyeing up, too. I'll probably with Varget first, as it seems to be the de facto 'accurate' powder.

 

[06 SB]

I loaded up some 30-06 for my National Match 1903. I am trying to duplicate the original military national match ammo yet tailor it to my rifle for best accuracy. I am using IMR4895, Lapua brass and either 168gr Sierra MK or Hornady HPBT bullets. I also have Varget if IMR4895 does not work well enough. If all goes well, I hope to stretch its legs to 1000yds or as far as my eyes can see.

 

[joemax55]

Yep, those are the two I was eyeing up, too. I'll probably with Varget first, as it seems to be the de facto 'accurate' powder.

The barrel I got is a 26" so if I can get good velocity and accuracy I'll probably load up all the brass with the 4895. Might be a little before I can give it a test since I spun the 243 on first but once I get the brass prepped I swap it out and give it a shot. I probably have closer to 800 pieces of brass that I'm working on trimming.

 

[Long_roof_94]

I'd be willing to bet that 1gr variance in bullet weight would make about the same difference as a .003" seating depth bump people obsess over with small samples. In reality, it probably doesn't make a measurable difference. If they group tight, load on.

thanks for weighing in (pardon the pun)

I stay pretty curious about what is measurable and how many factors are interacting in a lot of what we're doing shooting

I dove real deep into seating depth a few months back. Built these huge ladders. Had a lot of fun doing it. Ironically I don't think it makes a lot of difference on the particular gun I was testing. Always depends on what exactly you're chasing. This place seems very hunting oriented and cold clean bore is it's own standard which I really respect. Strings of fire, size of groups can be chased. Chrono metrics like SD, XS, and MV can also be chased. I've had some success out there but I've also gotten pretty frustrated at times, so we keep trucking on, living and learning.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I try to use a different brand/headstamp, though even that could be tough at a glance when they’re close like a 6x45. Maybe use 5.56 for one and .223 for the other? Those are close enough I sure wouldn’t mix them in the tumbler etc.. I got rid of my 6 rem Ackley because it was just too much of a pain with a 257 Ackley in the safe next to it (was using 7-57 brass for both).


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Thanks. I thought about this as well. So, what I settled on is using my 5.56 brass for the 6x45 and I am going to experiment with a colored ink pad to mark the case head.

I am not as worried about it for myself as I am for someone else who might end up using my stuff.

 

[Harvey_NW]

thanks for weighing in (pardon the pun)

I stay pretty curious about what is measurable and how many factors are interacting in a lot of what we're doing shooting

I dove real deep into seating depth a few months back. Built these huge ladders. Had a lot of fun doing it. Ironically I don't think it makes a lot of difference on the particular gun I was testing. Always depends on what exactly you're chasing. This place seems very hunting oriented and cold clean bore is it's own standard which I really respect. Strings of fire, size of groups can be chased. Chrono metrics like SD, XS, and MV can also be chased. I've had some success out there but I've also gotten pretty frustrated at times, so we keep trucking on, living and learning.

Good one, lol. I've done the same. I did some basic research and learned the traditional methods, but I wouldn't lie to myself about the results and noticed my "tuned" groups weren't repeatable, and went down the rabbit hole. Between Rokslide (a lot from Form), Bryan Litz/AB, & the Hornady podcast, I learned about the statistical side of things, and load development got much more painless. Pun intended.

 

[Long_roof_94]

Good one, lol. I've done the same. I did some basic research and learned the traditional methods, but I wouldn't lie to myself about the results and noticed my "tuned" groups weren't repeatable, and went down the rabbit hole. Between Rokslide (a lot from Form), Bryan Litz/AB, & the Hornady podcast, I learned about the statistical side of things, and load development got much more painless. Pun intended.

Bryan Litz and his approach with AB has really been the backbone of what I use. I'm just digging into his latest book. I think there's a point where we find what works for us, yet are open to others having different experiences, and also always willing to experiment to get better. I wanted to scream to all my shooting friends, this is the way when I first started reloading. Now I realize I'm a nerd and that's part of what I like about reloading and shooting long distance. Not for everyone. Can be hard to watch as I have one friend who struggles with his path to hit 1,000 yards. I had a really good shooter talk me into a target at 1,000 yards on my first day shooting a rifle. But, I already had some really good solutions software and a decent system for getting on target.

 

[HGL]

Loaded up some rounds to pressure test in my new 7 SAW type II.

150 BT, 140 AB, 120 BT over Varget. It will be interesting to see the MV data on the 18" tube.

 

[wind gypsy]

Welp, the used Dillon 550 I asked about a while back got marked down substantially, so went and grabbed it for $550. Unsure which model of 550 it is, and for sure needs primer pickup tubes. Will go over it this weekend to see what else it may need.
Came setup for 45acp with about 2#s of Accurate no 5 brand yard fertilizer. Some other stuff like tumbler, media separator, a few hundred each 12 and 28 ga shotgun hulls, some 223 and 45acp cases, a few pounds of no8 shot, so on, so forth. Warms my little hoarding heart.
That single stage can kick rocks from here on out!

View attachment 1082091

If you dont have something like this yet for filling your primer tubes, you want one:

Amazon.com

That was the most economical setup when i was looking and it works well. I'm not familiar with altneratives.

 

[Feral Jared]

Loaded up the first rounds I'll shoot in my incoming Kimber Mountain Ascent .243. Finally found a use for the pound if 4166 I've had forever!