Cadd, I thought you would charge yourself more per hour, LOL.
Rookie Press Operator Prepares to Blow Things Up
- Thread starter CaddmannQ
- Start date
It's funny but when I break up those preparatory steps into different evening sessions all those preliminary and very mundane steps are completely forgotten, so that when each round finally gets charged then seated it seems like it is going incredibly quickly!
This is how I do it too.
I may decap, and size/swage/tumble cases one day. (this is the steps that I personally hate the worst of any of it so once I get past this point usually gets the ball rolling forward for me).
Some other day, run those prepped cases through the expander die. I often prime a bunch of them at this point too.
Then whenever the mood hits me, I may decide since I have a bunch of them on the shelf to start throwing powder and seat bullets and bag and tag them.
I have a lot of cases ready to drop powder right now in many different calibers. And they usually get my attention on those cold or stormy days when I'm bored or don't have much else to do.
I loaded another 25 rounds tonight, but they were already cleaned & sized but had to be trimmed, dressed, and hand primed.
I bought an official RCBS powder trickler, as up to this point I've just been using the tweezers to put in the last fractions.
Anyhow they are all charged and loaded and I hope to be out shooting them tomorrow.
I bought an official RCBS powder trickler, as up to this point I've just been using the tweezers to put in the last fractions.
Anyhow they are all charged and loaded and I hope to be out shooting them tomorrow.
Well I seriously overestimated my production rate. I spent two hours last night to finish 25 rounds, and they were half prepped already.
But I had a couple seat too deep & I had to break out the bullet puller, and any time you do something like that your production rate goes to hell.
Also I was playing with the new powder trickler which is actually a little bit messy. Previously I was just using my fingers or a fat tweezers to trickle powder.
The Swing Away powder Hopper is a real convenience for me. It makes it so easy to dump the powder out of the hopper when you're done.
I need to get a better funnel though.
The universal style RCBS funnel is not handy at all for .223 cases. It seems more suitable to 338 Lapua although the .30-30 seems to fit okay.
I bought supplies to load .30-30 but I haven't started yet.
Depending on which powder dispenser I am using, I'll use one or the other.
https://www.whiskeytitstactical.com...=30169915201&gclid=CMmZoZqj99ECFVA9gQodz5ME3g
or the one that came with my Hornady lock n load auto charge. It's a thin aluminum I think.
FWIW, I don't charge my cases through the expander dies, for the main reason, as I mentioned above, they may sit for weeks or months after expanding before I actually charge/load them.
I pile a bunch of cases beside the powder dispenser (depending on how many I'm going to load at any given time), charge the cases with powder, then move each case individually to the other side of my loading bench and line up beside the press. This process ensure that I don't accidentally double charge a case.
https://www.whiskeytitstactical.com...=30169915201&gclid=CMmZoZqj99ECFVA9gQodz5ME3g
or the one that came with my Hornady lock n load auto charge. It's a thin aluminum I think.
FWIW, I don't charge my cases through the expander dies, for the main reason, as I mentioned above, they may sit for weeks or months after expanding before I actually charge/load them.
I pile a bunch of cases beside the powder dispenser (depending on how many I'm going to load at any given time), charge the cases with powder, then move each case individually to the other side of my loading bench and line up beside the press. This process ensure that I don't accidentally double charge a case.
I use two loading trays. Prepped primed cases set in one, as I charge them, I move them to the other. Then once bullets are seated they go back to the first. My powder hopper for ball powder is wall mounted. When I do pistol cases I can fit the entire tray underneath. Just go up and down each row. Then a visual check at the end, for no charge, or double charge.
So you used too loose of a crimp? How did you notice something wasn't right when you chambered it?
I'm wondering if the COL was too long? Or the throat/chamber is tight? Or if when you chambered it, acted like a bullet puller.
But the main reason I wonder is bolt guns can usually chamber rounds a little deeper than an AR for instance because the main limiting factor of COL in an AR is the magazine itself.
But I don't want to presume too much. I'm just wondering.
I'm wondering if the COL was too long? Or the throat/chamber is tight? Or if when you chambered it, acted like a bullet puller.
But the main reason I wonder is bolt guns can usually chamber rounds a little deeper than an AR for instance because the main limiting factor of COL in an AR is the magazine itself.
But I don't want to presume too much. I'm just wondering.
I blame the crimp because when I recovered the slug it didn't have enough marking on it from contact with the case. The ones I'm shooting have no cannelure, and I am just putting a very light crimp on them so as to not crease the bullet or deform it at all. This alone makes them totally unsuitable for automatic weapon fire.
On this particular round the case was too tight in the chamber and it would not chamber readily. I probably first shot this round from my AR15 and then did not full length re-size it. So it was fire-formed previously to the somewhat larger chamber of the AR15.
I didn't want to smack the bolt home and have it slam-fire out of battery, but as I tried to extract it the slug stuck in the throat and the extractor pulled the case off the slug.
It wasn't very stuck and I probably could have mortared it out of the gun at the range but I didn't want to screw up the butt pad.
I'm shooting an overall length of 2.333 - 2.336, which is the longest that will chamber in my rifle; but this measurement is based on a very pointy bullet and I don't have proper comparator gauge.
Standard COAL for this round would be 2.250. But specifications for bolt gun charges run between 2.250 to 2.390 and even 2.550. I don't think I can chamber anything over 2.340".
On this particular round the case was too tight in the chamber and it would not chamber readily. I probably first shot this round from my AR15 and then did not full length re-size it. So it was fire-formed previously to the somewhat larger chamber of the AR15.
I didn't want to smack the bolt home and have it slam-fire out of battery, but as I tried to extract it the slug stuck in the throat and the extractor pulled the case off the slug.
It wasn't very stuck and I probably could have mortared it out of the gun at the range but I didn't want to screw up the butt pad.
I'm shooting an overall length of 2.333 - 2.336, which is the longest that will chamber in my rifle; but this measurement is based on a very pointy bullet and I don't have proper comparator gauge.
Standard COAL for this round would be 2.250. But specifications for bolt gun charges run between 2.250 to 2.390 and even 2.550. I don't think I can chamber anything over 2.340".
You shouldn't need to crimp. Neck tension alone should suffice. Crimping has been found detrimental to accuracy. You may need to seat deeper and not jam the bullet into the lands so far. And maybe double check you're sizing die setup. To get a better neck tension. You are using Lee sizing dies? It's not uncommon to remove the expander ball from the die, and "polish" it down a bit. A couple thousands removed makes a difference in neck tension.
This is what I'm thinking. Just going more than 2.260" is already about as long as you can go in an AR due to the mag restraints.
And if the bullet stuck and was pulled from the case at 2.333", you better pull it back some more anyway. Having the bullet contacting the lands at the time of detonation is going to cause a pressure spike because there needs to be a little jump from the case to the lands to relieve some of the pressure initially.
edit to add: not all bullets are the same ogive/shape. This is why it's easy to get ahead of yourself at first. Just loading for "55 gr bullets" for instance, can be vastly different, everything else being the same.
Some guns do shoot better with jam. Only up to a few thousands though. From what I've read. I've not loaded anything to jam lengths personally as of yet.
I don't ever plan on going that far. That's just me personally, but nope.
If you are wanting to know for 100% certain of your chamber leade, then make a cast of it with cerrosafe and go from there. Also, cerrosafe is re-usable.
http://www.sinclairintl.com/GunTech/Casting-your-Chamber-using-Cerrosafe/detail.htm?lid=16061
If you are wanting to know for 100% certain of your chamber leade, then make a cast of it with cerrosafe and go from there. Also, cerrosafe is re-usable.
http://www.sinclairintl.com/GunTech/Casting-your-Chamber-using-Cerrosafe/detail.htm?lid=16061
Thank you again Mudder.
I'm really not doing the standard crimp. This is just the lightest possible crimp. Barely noticeable by eye. The AR rounds I was shooting however were crimped with a cannelure.
The dies that I am using are Hornady American and I understand about polishing down the ball but I haven't done it yet. I have been decapping & sizing in one operation, but again on the last 50 rounds I only neck sized.
I hadn't thought about the fact that some of those were fire-formed in my other gun, but I won't make that mistake again!
I did my first loads without any lube on the neck, but for the last round of 50 I used powdered graphite.
The bullet which was lodged in the throat came out easy enough, and I did not see any real damage when I examined it. There was just a little scuffing where it had contacted the throat, & I could tell that the bullet cocked as I was taping it out, because there's one small un-even ring engraved around it, and it is cocked slightly.
I'm loading these rounds as long as I possibly can and still have them go through the magazine, but even then I'm having to tickle them into position as I chamber the rounds.
I was going to add a little more powder for the next round with these 77 grain bullets but instead I might just try to seat them 0.015" deeper.
I saw evidence of several very accurate loads which were loaded to a COAL of only 2.200" but they were for only 36 grain bullets.
I'm really not doing the standard crimp. This is just the lightest possible crimp. Barely noticeable by eye. The AR rounds I was shooting however were crimped with a cannelure.
The dies that I am using are Hornady American and I understand about polishing down the ball but I haven't done it yet. I have been decapping & sizing in one operation, but again on the last 50 rounds I only neck sized.
I hadn't thought about the fact that some of those were fire-formed in my other gun, but I won't make that mistake again!
I did my first loads without any lube on the neck, but for the last round of 50 I used powdered graphite.
The bullet which was lodged in the throat came out easy enough, and I did not see any real damage when I examined it. There was just a little scuffing where it had contacted the throat, & I could tell that the bullet cocked as I was taping it out, because there's one small un-even ring engraved around it, and it is cocked slightly.
I'm loading these rounds as long as I possibly can and still have them go through the magazine, but even then I'm having to tickle them into position as I chamber the rounds.
I was going to add a little more powder for the next round with these 77 grain bullets but instead I might just try to seat them 0.015" deeper.
I saw evidence of several very accurate loads which were loaded to a COAL of only 2.200" but they were for only 36 grain bullets.
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Don't load for what will fit through the magazine. Load for what will fit in the chamber.
If there is a ring, you need to back it off of that. Seriously. If you're having to tickle (another word for force) the bolt closed, they're too long.
Another good source of info. May be worth the 10 minutes it takes to study over it. another good source of study material: http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/internal
I thought about doing this but so far I didn't see the need. I think I need to get a bullet comparator so that I can better judge the overall length of the cartridges.
But I am definitely loading onto the lands. I'm trying to achieve a consistent jam of maybe 0.005" and so far this is the first round that was not possible to chamber with mild effort.
I'm doing this because I read specifically that the best accuracy with 75grn rounds was achieved this way.
I'm "tickling" the cartridges from magazine to chamber, or single shotting sometimes, because they're too long to pop up to the ramp properly.
That ring was only because the bullet cocked as I was knocking it out of the throat. I chambered and extracted complete rounds, and when I examined them there's only the mildest of scuffing on the copper jacket and it appears to be totally uniform.
I actually started a little bit longer than this but I backed it off about 0.010" specifically so they would go through the magazine. I'm not having to force the bolt in any excessive manner. You do have to push it that last 0.005" ~ 0.010" maybe.