Economics of reloading ammo(e)

[Signal]

Originally Posted by pilot

Also, remember that you don't have to always load to the maximum. You don't need every last foot per second.

Mine have always shot much better groups at 85-90% than at hot or max loads. Save some powder.

[vspeed]

Bought a 500 round box of 124 gr Remington Golden Sabers to feed my 9mm habit. Found them on "sale" at Midway a week or two ago. Probably on sale because they are not the bonded ones. That's OK with me though.



Beretta 92 FS, Gen 3 Glock 19, Star BM

[newcastleadam]

Originally Posted by vspeed

Bought a 500 round box of 124 gr Remington Golden Sabers to feed my 9mm habit. Found them on "sale" at Midway a week or two ago. Probably on sale because they are not the bonded ones. That's OK with me though.

Arms like Popeye yet

[vspeed]

Originally Posted by newcastleadam

Arms like Popeye yet

No, I guess "tennis elbow" will have to do.

[PunkinHead]

Originally Posted by Motor31

Punkin, Are you planning on loading out in the field or back in the hotel later on?

Even though I've never reloaded, I've been saving brass for years and I've accumulated enough that I'm going to load enough for the trip ahead of time. I ordered the press tonight and found a local source for powder and primers. They're more expensive than mail order, but still cheaper when you factor in the hazmat charges. I'm actually looking forward to the "working up a load" process. I have a range near work so I can load a few then shoot them the next day and over the course of a few days should be able to nail it down, then my son and I can get the assembly line going and start chunking them out.

[El Guero]

Resting my arms on the bench, I shot a .5" group at 10 yards with my .38 reloads. Probably not much to brag about, but it made me pretty happy

[PunkinHead]

My press and all the peripherals showed up yesterday so I loaded up some .223 with various powder charges, starting at 24.0 which is what the Lyman manual and Hogdon website said.

Brass: Remington stuff I've saved
Powder: H335
Bullets: Hornady 50 gr V-max
Primer: CCI 400
COAL: 2.245"

The overall length varied quite a bit between the Lyman manual and the Hogdon web site, so I measured the COAL on some Black Hills stuff I have on hand with the same 50 gr V-max and used that.

It looks like 24.5 or 25.3 grains is the sweet spot and my hand loads are as good or better than the Black Hills stuff I bought. My son is really excited because he's the one that loaded the 25.3 grain stuff.

All variation in the groups below is my inability to shoot straight, although I don't mind admitting that I almost creamed myself after shooting the first 2 groups with the 25.3 grain loads. The longest range at the place I usually shoot is only 100 yards so I'm hoping to get out to a friend's next week who has 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges.

[Signal]

Originally Posted by PunkinHead

My press and all the peripherals showed up yesterday so I loaded up some .223 with various powder charges, starting at 24.0 which is what the Lyman manual and Hogdon website said.

Brass: Remington stuff I've saved
Powder: H335
Bullets: Hornady 50 gr V-max
Primer: CCI 400
COAL: 2.245"

The overall length varied quite a bit between the Lyman manual and the Hogdon web site, so I measured the COAL on some Black Hills stuff I have on hand with the same 50 gr V-max and used that.

It looks like 24.5 or 25.3 grains is the sweet spot and my hand loads are as good or better than the Black Hills stuff I bought. My son is really excited because he's the one that loaded the 25.3 grain stuff.

All variation in the groups below is my inability to shoot straight, although I don't mind admitting that I almost creamed myself after shooting the first 2 groups with the 25.3 grain loads. The longest range at the place I usually shoot is only 100 yards so I'm hoping to get out to a friend's next week who has 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges.

Certainly good enough for any "real" target -

The H335 (IIRC) leaves some space in the case for a 223- I've had much better luck with Varget/Superperformance powders

Why not a larger bullet (i've found HUGE variance with th e bullet size shape)?
rifle twist/length of barrel?

[PunkinHead]

Originally Posted by Signal

Why not a larger bullet (i've found HUGE variance with th e bullet size shape)?
rifle twist/length of barrel?

I got my son and I each a Remington 700 for our upcoming prairie dog shoot next month. They have a 1 in 12" twist. I've tried 40, 50, 52, 55, and 60 grain in V-max and hollow points, along with various brands of 55 grain FMJ. The tightest groups came from 50 grain V-max and 52 grain hollow points. 40 gr were the worst, followed closely by the 60 gr. Around 50gr seems to be the sweet spot for these guns.

[Signal]

Originally Posted by PunkinHead

I got my son and I each a Remington 700 for our upcoming prairie dog shoot next month. They have a 1 in 12" twist. I've tried 40, 50, 52, 55, and 60 grain in V-max and hollow points, along with various brands of 55 grain FMJ. The tightest groups came from 50 grain V-max and 52 grain hollow points. 40 gr were the worst, followed closely by the 60 gr. Around 50gr seems to be the sweet spot for these guns.

groundhog stuff

Sounds right for a 1:12 twist-
My rem 700 sps has a 1:9 and does better with the big girls (68 gr sierras) but also really well with the 52 HPBT matches-

Shoots like junk with the rem factory 55 gr cheap stuff (like 1-1 1/2 inch) but the brass is good. The little 40 gr stuff was also all over the place- faster was not better.

Looking forward to a 'dog report

[S.t.t.G.]

Originally Posted by PunkinHead

My press and all the peripherals showed up yesterday so I loaded up some .223 with various powder charges, starting at 24.0 which is what the Lyman manual and Hogdon website said.

Brass: Remington stuff I've saved
Powder: H335
Bullets: Hornady 50 gr V-max
Primer: CCI 400
COAL: 2.245"

The overall length varied quite a bit between the Lyman manual and the Hogdon web site, so I measured the COAL on some Black Hills stuff I have on hand with the same 50 gr V-max and used that.

It looks like 24.5 or 25.3 grains is the sweet spot and my hand loads are as good or better than the Black Hills stuff I bought. My son is really excited because he's the one that loaded the 25.3 grain stuff.

All variation in the groups below is my inability to shoot straight, although I don't mind admitting that I almost creamed myself after shooting the first 2 groups with the 25.3 grain loads. The longest range at the place I usually shoot is only 100 yards so I'm hoping to get out to a friend's next week who has 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges.

I'd load up a series in .2 grain increments from 24.7 to 25.1 and see if ya cant shrink that nice group some more....then play with seating depth some if you know how far off the lands you are....are ya shooting off a bag or a hard rest?

[PunkinHead]

Originally Posted by S.t.t.G.

I'd load up a series in .2 grain increments from 24.7 to 25.1 and see if ya cant shrink that nice group some more....then play with seating depth some if you know how far off the lands you are....are ya shooting off a bag or a hard rest?

I need to read up on how to measure the distance off the lands. I was shooting off a Harris bipod with a bag under the rear of the stock.

[pilot]

The bullet shape will determine seating depth. Some bullets are fatter close to the tip and will need to be a little deeper. Start a bullet in an empty case just far enough for it to stay in the case. Try to chamber it gently until you feel it getting resistance. Keep seating it a little deeper until you can close the bolt just as you hit resistance. Then seat them another .01 to .02 deeper.

The good news about your 1-12" twist barrels is that you can play with cast in them. For cheap fun, a 55 grain cast lead over 2.5 grains of Bullseye is a hoot to shoot. Pretty accurate to 50 yards, too.

[S.t.t.G.]

Originally Posted by pilot

The bullet shape will determine seating depth. Some bullets are fatter close to the tip and will need to be a little deeper. Start a bullet in an empty case just far enough for it to stay in the case. Try to chamber it gently until you feel it getting resistance. Keep seating it a little deeper until you can close the bolt just as you hit resistance. Then seat them another .01 to .02 deeper.

The good news about your 1-12" twist barrels is that you can play with cast in them. For cheap fun, a 55 grain cast lead over 2.5 grains of Bullseye is a hoot to shoot. Pretty accurate to 50 yards, too.

Yup....some guys use a case with a neck that's been split with a thin dremel wheel so the bullet will slide in the neck. Maybe even seat 5 thou.+ off the lands, or more....some times a certain load might like 10 thou off the lands...usually the higher the pressure the cartridge is rated for the farther a factory barrel will let a bullet "jump" to the lands. Now that you've found the accurate powder charge, load up a series that are 10 thou, 20 thou and 30 thou off the lands and see if groups don't shrink.....or they might get bigger....ya never know till ya try.....

Or check these out...

http://www.hornady.com/store/OAL-Gauges/

[fyrfytr]

Dumb question. Do I need a Speer Relaoding manual to load Speer bullets? I have a Lyman and a Hornady book, and they list different over all lengths for 150 grain bullets on a .308 Winchester case.

Hornady : 2.756"
Lyman : 2.685"

Thanks