Reloaders

[Woodduck82]

So, who among us does reloading of ammunition? Mainly interested in discussing rifle reloading.

[Slitlikr]

I used to reload a lot until some quality factory cartridges starting hitting the market.
Mostly .308 & 25.06.

I love long range accuracy and am looking at a few of the myriad of great calibers to build a nice 1000 yd. custom rig around. I will handload those shells.

Been shooting a buddies custom 270 Weatherby mag (all handloads), with a Schmidt & Bender 6x24x50 scope for deer, etc. down in Mexico. I can roll a javvy with a head shot at 600 yds all day long with that baby!

[Wakeup]

Depends on the caliber. I have my .338 Lapua Magnum reloaded locally, and I buy reloaded 9mm for the range, but I don't reload any of my 5.56mm and don't buy reloads for it because I have had bad luck getting 62gr 5.56mm reloads, so I stick with surplus military M855...

[Woodduck82]

I'm not new to reloading, but I did just acquire all of my own reloading equipment. I bought a few browning A bolts a couple years back in those wildcat WSSM calibers. 223 WSSM, 243 WSSM, and 25 WSSM. Good thing I found brass years ago and bought over 2000 rounds of it, because there is no factory ammo to be found.

W/U, what make and model Lapua? I've been thinking about grabbing one of the Savage ones next time I come across one. That is one doozy of a round! Fuckin expensive as shit too.

[Woodduck82]

Originally Posted by Slitlikr

I used to reload a lot until some quality factory cartridges starting hitting the market.
Mostly .308 & 25.06.

I love long range accuracy and am looking at a few of the myriad of great calibers to build a nice 1000 yd. custom rig around. I will handload those shells.

Been shooting a buddies custom 270 Weatherby mag (all handloads), with a Schmidt & Bender 6x24x50 scope for deer, etc. down in Mexico. I can roll a javvy with a head shot at 600 yds all day long with that baby!

I like the ballistics on the 270WMAG.

[GlobeSpotter]

I thought this was going to be a thread on msog.

[Woodduck82]

Sorry to disappoint

[GlobeSpotter]

Well I'm a 7-08 fan if it helps.

That or nukes.

[Hunteradventurer]

PD, your the only other person I have ever hear of that has a 243 WSSN! I have browning A bolt St stalker with a muzzle brake & Zeiss Conquest with open turrets, noisy little bugger but accurate & fast as shit. Your right about trying to find ammo for them though

[Wakeup]

Accuracy International AX338 chassis with a Krieger barrel, Stiller action, Timmey trigger and Badger muzzle brake. Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 6.5-20/50mm optic. Sub MOA out to 1000m, but I'm not as good as the rifle. I normally shoot 1.5 MOA or so.

Shot it in the military when SF was testing it for the PSR competition and built my own locally rather than paying the $15,000 for it from AI. 250gr match ammo is around $4 per round and the reloads come in around $2 per round for match bullets. I get four reloads per brass before I scrap them.

[Woodduck82]

Originally Posted by Hunteradventurer

PD, your the only other person I have ever hear of that has a 243 WSSN! I have browning A bolt St stalker with a muzzle brake & Zeiss Conquest with open turrets, noisy little bugger but accurate & fast as shit. Your right about trying to find ammo for them though

Let me know if you need help finding brass or reloading. That cartridge is my go to deer gun. Drops them in their tracks every time!

[Woodduck82]

That is one hell of a setup! Not bad on the brass either. Pretty good reload vs brass life.

Originally Posted by Wakeup

Accuracy International AX338 chassis with a Krieger barrel, Stiller action, Timmey trigger and Badger muzzle brake. Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 6.5-20/50mm optic. Sub MOA out to 1000m, but I'm not as good as the rifle. I normally shoot 1.5 MOA or so.

Shot it in the military when SF was testing it for the PSR competition and built my own locally rather than paying the $15,000 for it from AI. 250gr match ammo is around $4 per round and the reloads come in around $2 per round for match bullets. I get four reloads per brass before I scrap them.

[bigwill832]

I'd like to learn how to reload. I had bought some ammo at a gun show a little while back. This year I went to go shoot my new M&P Shield .40, second round blew up in the chamber. Round exited the barrel. Magazine got blown out of the well. Thick white smoke everywhere, smelled like a firecracker had gone off. When we finally managed to get the slide back and got the casing out, it had a huge tear near the base. Now I'm interested in what goes into reloading and what to look for in casings, more so that my base knowledge.

[Woodduck82]

Sounds like the case was shit before it was loaded or had a bad crimp job. Pistol ammunition is a whole other ball game. Much faster burn rate on the powders and seating depth of the bullet is extremely important.

Originally Posted by bigwill832

I'd like to learn how to reload. I had bought some ammo at a gun show a little while back. This year I went to go shoot my new M&P Shield .40, second round blew up in the chamber. Round exited the barrel. Magazine got blown out of the well. Thick white smoke everywhere, smelled like a firecracker had gone off. When we finally managed to get the slide back and got the casing out, it had a huge tear near the base. Now I'm interested in what goes into reloading and what to look for in casings, more so that my base knowledge.

[tracer]

I load for all of my rifles, but not as often for pistol. For me, it is all about accuracy that cannot be consistently achieved with factory ammo, not about price. I have always been more intrigued with distance accuracy than the trendy military style rifles spewing hundreds of rounds downrange and high fiving because they were almost all on the paper.

Like WU, I often get up to four reloads out of my brass. However, after the second round of loading I start to get tiny (really tiny) weight discrepancy that causes me to kick some portion of the brass. I weigh the brass after trimming and polishing to make certain it is exactly the same weight because I don't just weigh the charge. I weigh the bullets and the completed cartridge as well so if the trimmed case is off even a little I toss it.

I frequently get requests to load for friends and I'm glad to do it, but only if I keep the rifle while I work a load. It surprises most people when I assure them, and offer to demonstrate, that the same round fired from a similar rifle will not get the same results. It is getting less significant with modern machine tolerance capabilities, but in general there is a big difference. Actually, big difference is relative. If all you want is to kill a whitetail at 100-300 yards or are an average (read - pretty bad) marksman then you would likely never notice. To the point, I have two rifles, in one of my preferred calibers, that are identical in brand and model. The only real difference is two years apart in manufacturing. One likes a load that is really hot. It shoots perfectly when loaded all the way out to the lands and with a slightly compressed charge. The other shoots equally well, but only with a fairly standard load. If I shoot the hot ones in it they spray all over the place. I have experimented through the years with different brands and styles to confirm the same result.

I don't have as much time as in the past so I have a separate set of equipment that is portable and attaches to my shooting bench at the range on my place. It allows me to load one round, test fire, adjust the load and fire another on the spot. Much more efficient than how I did it in the past.

Didn't mean to start a book, but you touched on one of my favorite hobbies!