To Re-Load or Not???

GMC man said:
After careful consideration ( running smack into a wall ) lol I went ahead and purchased a chronograph

Amazon.com: Chrony Beta Chrony: Sports & Outdoors

this looked like a good one and not to expensive
Click to expand...

I have the Green F1 by Chrony...it is great, if you get the remote control you will find that it will store info for like 20 or more shots plus give you the average and the deviation. BHarada built his, I was going to but I didnt have the right parts so I bought it. Come to find out they turned out super similar, Piece of 1/2" pvc and a small stereo plug and a micro pushbutton switch. There is a thread here on how to do it as far as which wires go where. You can send it in for the upgrade for all of this but the only thing they do is send it back with the remote. Check it out it really is handy, I can sit at my shooting table and completely do everything with my chrony plus I dont have to write down the data after every shot or get up to reset the chronograph. JMO but it is great to have, I have used it for all of my handloads for all of my rifles. Also you will want to set it up at least 10ft in front of your rifle or the muzzle blast will knock the shades off (from experience) LOL
 
Well I cleaned and polished about 300-400 .223 rem brass last night with my new tumbler. It worked like a champ with the Walnut desert blend.

The Lee classic press and all the dies for .223 rem and .45 ACP along with the rest of my reloading equipment is on the UPS truck to be delivered today!

I will be like a kid in the candy store tonight setting it all up.

Just wanted to thank everyone in this thread for all the help and advice. I will keep you updated on my progress.:D
 
I actualy did a first on Monday

de-pimed and sized 120 cases. then checked all Lengths and Primer pockets, then tumbled again

only 8 outa 120 where even close to needing trimmed
and after cleaning/tumbling again i didnt hardly see any difference with using the primer Pocket tool to clan it More...

So... what did I learn:D


I can blow thru 120 cases de-prime and size in like 20 minutes, maybe even less... So once all are done, It should speed up my loading alot. I just got an additional plate for my lee pro 1000 turret and placed the Die in it. Then left the other 2 in the other turret and can swap the turrets back and forth.

Also the did seem a bit cleaner in the Primer pocket and could notice the sizing oil not on em either.

So a good learning try, and i will be doing it this way from Now on... Will speed things up for sure....



Oh and a GREAT Range day yesterday.... weather is cooling down nicely.... Even managed to crash 2 planes.......LOL




..
 
I've reloaded for several decades, and I've found the secret to accuracy and cost is the bullet.

For example, depending on how much you like to phutz with stuff, range scrounged brass can be tumbled, weighed by lots, trimmed, have the necks cut concentrically, have the primer pockets re-punched, etc. It's your time to waste.

Things like powder and primers can be purchased in bulk and in lots. That's about as cheap as you can get it. Same way for things like varmint bullets.

Buy in bulk.

But what about practicing? I cast my own bullets out of linotype. I had found a printer going out of business, but I salvaged every wheel weight I could find, plus pure lead from my telephone company friends, and ingot bars of tin and solder. I made my own linotype.

When I cast, I cast all day. I used multi-ganger molds, culled like crazy, and became quite popular amongst my friends.

There were periods of years where I spent nothing on shooting. Nothing.
 
here is a good deal for wolf primers if anyone needs primers
Widener's Reloading and Shooting Supply INC :)

Today I am pulling bullets and am going to set up a ladder like Grover. One thing is I have already weighed my new bullets so I will be using the same weight bullet for the charges.
 
GMC man...I am glad you are doing it also, That way I before I set up my next series we can compare notes. With two of us working on the same powder we will have more information, especially with 16" barrels than any of the reloading books or internet sites for CFE223. Like you I really like the powder but need to do a little more research considering all the reloading manuals use 24" barrels.
 
Anyone here use TAC for their .223 rounds? I've been reading some good reviews about it. The Hornady book for 55 grain bullet shows a starting load of 21.5 gr. to max of 24.7 gr.
 
Lee me also add that I use an old Lee turret that I updated to auto index. I am very pleased with it. I load mostly .45 Colt. With .45 Colt you DEFINITELY save a LOT of money. Dick's here sells .45 Colt Cowboy loads for $49.95 /50!!!Cabela's is cheaper but still about $40/50. I buy my bullets from Missouri Bullet, and buy my powder and primers either at Gun Shows or Cabela's. Trail Boss is a great powder for .45C0lt, very hard for ever a newcomer to screw up. I also use the Lee Scale. It's inexpensive and accurate, but a little hard to read. The nice thing is every round you start, you finish, one at a time. Great if you get interrupted a lot.
 
Haven't used TAC, but I hear good things about it. I'm using Varget for all my rifles except 30-06 right now. I was using different powders for each caliber and even different ones for different weights of the same caliber and it just got crazy. Varget works well for me in every caliber and every weight. I could probably work up a load for the -06 if I could stand to shoot it more than a handful of times!
 
I got my tangodown mags today plus a Magpul MOE pistol grip and anti-walk pins, traded a matech sight for them, seeing as I do not have a front sight nor anyway to mount one on either of my rifles. Installed the anti-walk pins and the MOE on "Homebuilt" and the anti-walk pins in the "Cybersport". That MOE pistol grip is comfortable....any way while I was switching bullets around so when I quit taking these horse pills (antibiotics) I can go test the TangoDown ARC mags. I also preloaded and labeled all of my test series mags, 10 rounds each from 25.8gr to 28gr in .2gr increments, made sure I had a new battery in my chrono, and GMC man in case you didn't know, those things mount to a camera tripod really well, my brother gave me an old one of his that I use. I am hoping that once I find the range that gives me the best accuracy at range then I can tweek that load for 53, 68, and 75gr bullets. but my next series will be with FMJ's, mostly to see if the loads transfer from one bullet type to another at the same bullet weight. I hope so, I would hate to have to load another 120 rounds to find out. Its already going to be bad enough having to wait till the barrel is the same temp for each series of 10. LOL A question though, I read about people doing a fouling shot in their rifles, I understand its purpose in a muzzleloader but in a smokeless rifle I am not sure. I am already going to shoot 5 shots through it before I start just to bring the temp up. How/What do you all think about boresnaking between sets?
 
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You can get started for < 200 if you go single stage first.
As to price of progressives, you can shop used or start with a turret.
Midway has the hornady for around $400'for pistol rounds. I advise against the lee progressives, but that's based on reviews, not first hand experience.
Most of us wouldn't think twice about spending $600 on a new gun, so just forego your next purchase. It's kinda like hi efficiency heating & cooling, startup is high and ROI may take a while.
 
I don't know about the physics of a fouling shot, but I know something happens to the first shot after I get my rifle 'space shutle' clean. My hunting rifles always get shot 2-3 times immediately after I clean 'em during hunting season because then it's the first shot that counts.
 
So I will clean my rifle, then fire some warm up shots (making sure my chrono is set up right) and then start my tests. Would you all shoot 10 shots at a time or break it up into 5 shot groups. Testing like this is new territory for me and I don't want to mess up and have to do it again. Thanks for the input!!
 
oneyeopn said:
So I will clean my rifle, then fire some warm up shots (making sure my chrono is set up right) and then start my tests. Would you all shoot 10 shots at a time or break it up into 5 shot groups. Testing like this is new territory for me and I don't want to mess up and have to do it again. Thanks for the input!!
Click to expand...

I'd go with 10 shot groups and go with the best group out of that 10 rounds allowing for a couple fliers out of each of the differently loaded 10 rounds you are testing. Like best 5 outa 10. It allows for barrel temp and other factors that might play in. I'd also bore snake after every 10 rounds just for a clean start for every new set.
 
There are probably as many ways to do this as there are people who do it.
Here is my method: I shoot 4, 3 shot groups then take the avg. of those groups. I will then take the top 2 or 3 of those loads and do it all over again. I like the 3 shot groups because that's how many I can shoot before the barrel gets too hot and I don't wait for the barrel to cool between shots either. Shoot 3 of load X, then let barrel cool, shoot 3 of load Y then let barrel cool, etc., etc. IMO this simulates the vast majority of my hunting situations. If I miss there isn't time for the barrel to cool and I won't get more than 3 shots at any self-respecting critter either. Not the right way, just my way.
 
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