Success!

[SAFireman]

Well, after much thought, and thoughtful family members giving me reloading equipment....I finally loaded (and subsequently fired) my first home brew rounds....my 30-06 was outstanding (cover 3 shots with a quarter) and that was out of a 60+ year old gun with a scope bought at the same time/store (Sears) way back when...I think that I did okay for the first time...except that my oal is too long for my bullets - I went to open the bolt (guy next to me was doing stupid stuff so I decided to take a break) and the shell came out, but no bullet...thank goodness I had my cleaning kit and could remove the bullet easily...otherwise everything else went exceedingly well (makes me think that I did SOMETHING wrong....)

...Second half...I loaded my first pistol rounds the day before the rifle rounds...the first one was a total failure and I seated the bullet all the way into the case (ooopssss)...well, I figured out how not to do that, so I only goofed once more when I dumped the powder out of a shell while putting into the press (not to terrible...).

Now for the best part (and the one that really stressed me out....) ...we went off to the range today, and I was going to fire my reloaded pistol rounds....well, the scary part is that the two choices of pistol were big $$$ and Bigger $$$...and I sure did not want to damage either gun, or myself, or the bystanders.....all went well, and the 210 gr lead semi-wad cutters were super accurate.

I don't think that I could have had a better day. And I spent most of the day with my dad, who no longer lives very close to me, so range time for the two of us together is extremely limited.

What can I say? It was a good day all around.

 

[Dan Cash]

Welcome to the clan of alchemists and cartridge creators. Read instructions, procede carefully and methodically and all will be well. Just waid until you start casting your own bullets.

 

[sonny]

Glad you had a good time with your dad. Your reloading days may be long before you, but your dad will be too soon behind you.
Be careful loading; buy a good reloading manual. Have fun; life is short.
Sonny

 

[s&wchad]

I’m glad you’re still with us, 50,000+ PSI right next to your head is nothing to take lightly.


Seating bullets so they engage the rifling can produce excellent accuracy (benchrest shooters sometimes do it), but it generates higher pressures and is unsafe with a hunting class cartridge and rifle. I strongly suggest you not chamber or fire any more of your .30-06 reloads until you’ve seated the bullets to the correct depth. If you don’t have a reloading manual and a dial caliper, obtain them before you load more. I trust you had an accurate way to measure the powder charge and went with a published load.

Altering cartridge OAL to improve accuracy is really an advanced reloading technique and not something a beginning reloader should attempt. Don’t seat bullets past the maximum listed OAL and make sure the cartridges fit in the magazine. Work your way up to the published maximum charge (if you feel the need) and watch for flattened primers and sticky extraction which are signs of excess pressure.

 

[SAFireman]

OAL

I’m glad you’re still with us, 50,000+ PSI right next to your head is nothing to take lightly.


Seating bullets so they engage the rifling can produce excellent accuracy (benchrest shooters sometimes do it), but it generates higher pressures and is unsafe with a hunting class cartridge and rifle. I strongly suggest you not chamber or fire any more of your .30-06 reloads until you’ve seated the bullets to the correct depth. If you don’t have a reloading manual and a dial caliper, obtain them before you load more. I trust you had an accurate way to measure the powder charge and went with a published load.

Altering cartridge OAL to improve accuracy is really an advanced reloading technique and not something a beginning reloader should attempt. Don’t seat bullets past the maximum listed OAL and make sure the cartridges fit in the magazine. Work your way up to the published maximum charge (if you feel the need) and watch for flattened primers and sticky extraction which are signs of excess pressure.

Well, I DID follow the directions, but according to my gunsmith buddy here locally, the Ogive (shape/curve) was what was the cause....he gave me some specific instructions on how to use a dry-erase marker and a dummy round to set a shorter OAL for that bullet. BTW the bullets are Sierra Game King 165gr .308...I was using the Speer manual with the Lee Dies, and IIRC the OAL is listed as 3.295, but now I 'know' how to set it up for .003-5th's and will try that. The rig is a FN Mauser 98, so it is pretty strong, but I would hate to damage such a treasure....that rifle has traveled more miles and into more countries than most diplomats.

Will try to give an update on my progress....now, I have to buy more dies to accommodate the rest of the crew.