Reloading...

Discussion in 'Knives, Gear, Guns And Other Tools' started by Andy the Aussie, Sep 24, 2016.

  1. ny700

    ny700 Member

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    Been putting the 224 valkyrie through its paces. So far I’ve been impressed. Caliber debates be it what they are. No one reinvented the wheel and none of them are magic. But this is a surprisingly good round with legit long range target capabilities, it’s definitlynhinting capable inside say 200 yards. It’s compartivly cheap tonreload, and factory ammonia reasonably priced. And unlike some others in this category barrel life is very good and will probably get you 4K-5k rounds per barrel
     
  2. ny700

    ny700 Member

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    For reference those squares are 1/10th Mil
     
  3. ASH

    ASH Member

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    I was wondering about the grid size. At first I assumed it was 1" squares but then noticed the bullet holes looked huge, so I figured the squares were closer to 1/2".
     
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  4. ny700

    ny700 Member

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    It’s about 1/3”
     
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  5. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    The famous 45/45/10 tumble lube for hard cast boolits. This stuff is pretty awesome, guys are pushing 2000 + FPS without any leading. Its an improvement over straight Alox (moose snot). Very little of this goes a long ways. It will also dry very quickly when applied and isn’t sticky or tacky—gum up dies. It will also harden up to withstand higher FPS/magnum velocities where other tumble lubes fall short. The Alox helps the wax adhere to boolits, plus the benefits of Carnauba Wax and Alox as a lubricant. The mineral spirits acts as a thinner. This isn’t a replacement for lubricants in the lube bands, but an addition to.

    The application is a “small” Z pattern in a tub (cool-whip or alike) with about 20-50 boolits. Slap the lid on and shake really good to coat everything. Pour out on wax paper to dry, standing boolits on their base. If you can see the lube on the boolits after drying; you used too much and might experience smoke after shooting. A little goes a long way, it should be hard to see the lube after it’s dried.

    It’s pretty easy to make, attention to detail is important for correct ratios. Ratios are 45% Johnson’s Paste Wax (cooked volume not solid), 45% Lee’s Liquid Alox and 10% oderless mineral spirits. I used half a tin of Johnson’s cooked down to 4 ounces (cooked volume, not solid), 4 ounces of Alox (one full bottle) and 1 tablespoon of mineral spirits. It will thicken overnight and in cooler temps. It shouldn’t be rock solid unless it’s keeped in very cold temps and shouldn’t be runny unless it’s 90 plus. In 60 degrees mine has some pretty good viscosity, slightly less than honey. It will have to be warmed up to pour effectively.

    Everything needed between Ace Hardware and Dollar Store.
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    A word of advice, do this outside. The smell of cooking wax is pretty strong and it’s very flammable. With that, do not melt Johnson wax over open flame. Someone did and had 3 foot flames—use caution. Keep a lid around should this happen. Temp should be 300-350. I used just above low. The purpose of this is to burn off the solvents while stirring. Cook time should average 15-20 minutes. You should have a thin liquid and it will be about half of what you started with once the solvents start to burn off.
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    My cook time.
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    Warm up bottle of Alox before pouring in (microwave or stick bottle in cup of hot water) to help pour. Add in Liquid Alox, turn heat off, leaving on hot plate and stir stir stir. When it starts to cool down, enough that you won’t melt a plastic container, add to container. Add in 10% mineral spirits. Shake the crap out of it to mix everything up. Let cool down. Mine started to thicken up due to cool ambient temps outside. This is fine, it should be a bit on the viscous side but nothing like Alox. 10 sec in the microwave or hit with a blow dryer will loosen things up. Unless you live in a hot part of the US. This bottle will last a long while.
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    Source if you want to read the whole content. Enjoy!
    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?67654-Tumble-Lubing-Made-Easy-amp-Mess-Free
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2019
  6. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    Running low, going to crank a few boxes out. This is a winning combo in my Seekins Precision SPRO3G AR. Small company in Idaho, their work is impeccable—outshoot my LMT .308. I’m using a drop tube for powder drops, barrel node on the high end puts me at 103% case capacity, no crunch yet seating bullets. I do use a Lee Factory Crimp lightly to keep bullets in-place during cycling.

    Coyote medicine.
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    Tuned my gas block to handloads with just enough oomph to lock the bolt back on last round, 5 shot group @ 100Y:
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    Said the hell with it and put targets away and started grouping on beer bottle caps, something I have a plethora of, @ 100Y. Using bench, front and rear bags.
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    Last edited: Mar 23, 2019
  7. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

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    My current favourite .308 load is with AR2208 (you get it as Varget - fugg knows why as the Mulwex numbering system makes much more sense than silly names), the batch I am using was made in 1987 and still shoots silly one hole groups out of two different rifles.
     
  8. Mudman

    Mudman Member

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    this reminds me, I have a rcbs chargmaster- only used the dang thing once. Haven't reloaded since that time though
     
  9. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    Gonna try reloading my first couple of rounds soon. Thinking of making 20 rounds with 18gr H110, CCI 400, and 125gr Speer TNT at 2.060 C.O.L. Try them out and see how they work.
    Does that sound about right? Anything I need to know before I do it?
     
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  10. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    Do you have the Speer Reloading Book? Latest and greatest? They update every year or so. The best thing to do is to read the first couple of chapters. It will spell out the fundamentals and do’s/dont’s. Really informative. Sierra’s book is good too, have a section specifically on autoloading rifles/military sport rifles and how neck tension is key over crimping..more so with bullets without a cannelure—bullets are prone to move from cyclic motion of the action throwing everything out of whack and possibly an overpressure.

    It’s best to start at the lowest prescribed powder charge for that, caliber, bullet manufacturers manual and powder. Each rifle is different when it comes to barrel nodes or sweet spots, even if they are the same make and caliber. For example, for .223, I’ll load 5-10 rounds at the lowest prescribed powder charge, then another 5-10 in 0.2 grain increments till I am close to the max charge. That’s a whole lotta rounds. All the while, I’m taking my time, making my shots count and observing primer over pressure signs. You’ll know when you find the barrel node. Your groups will go from “meh, not bad” to “wow!!!” Very rewarding and you’ll have a round tailored specifically for your gun.

    Be sure to read the manual and do research, have fun!
     
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  11. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    Thanks, I'll do that. I have printout from Sierra's data for 300BLK, and I have a Hornady reloading manual that came with my Lock'N'Load kit. Looking forward to testing.
     
  12. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    Heck, even reading the first chapters in the Hornady Book before load data will give you a leg up. One will lead to more, hehe.
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    Good luck!
     
  13. Mudman

    Mudman Member

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    Very clean setup, and organized. That's the STM tumbler right? I've been wanting one a while.
     
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  14. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    @Mudman, thanks! Yes, it sure is—works great.
     
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  15. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    So I found myself in a pickle.
    I made a dummy round for testing the bullet seating depth. At the recommended COAL, the bullet is well into the rifling. I cycle the action, and the COAL actually increased. My guess is the lands are grabbing and pulling on the bullet when I extract. Checked the neck tension, it's around .002 (.329-.331), neck wall is about .012-.013, case mouth is .304.

    If I back the bullet off from rifling, I'm afraid of overpressuring the round. How much variance do you guys allow from the recommended COAL before it's not safe?
     
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  16. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    Some rifles like the bullet to “just” touch the rifling. Others like a 0.010 “jump” or backed off rifling. Every rifle is different. What you could be experiencing is the meplat (bullet tip) is off, which might throw your measurements.

    I actually stopped measuring COAL on rifle rounds. I do initially between several rounds to get ballpark, due to meplat variations. I take those measurements and set a baseline and measure from the bullet ogive from that point on using a Hornady comparator for accurate seating depths -/+ 0.0005 if not exact.

    https://www.hornady.com/reloading/p...s-and-gauges/lock-n-load-bullet-comparator#!/
     
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  17. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    Also, for neck tension...forgot to mention. I’m using a Redding Bushing Die to size my brass for rifle. I’m really not a fan of the expander balls, thrown my necks out of conformity if I check it for concentricity with a loaded dial indicator.

    The bushing die sizes from the outside and you can buy different bushings for desired neck tension. I run a -0.003 for my autoloaders, being my necks have a -0.003 neck inner diameter vs bullet outer diameter on seating journal.

    Be warned, after a few times of being worked by a sizing die and shot. Keeping conformity in neck tension becomes an issue. Depends on how much you shoot and brings to the table the discussion of separating your brass—how many times shot into groups. I have an annealer that I run after so many shots to keep neck tension in check.

    Welcome to the world of reloading, sooooo much info. I’m small time..lol. One of my dads friends is trying to get me into casting my own lead rounds. Gotta walk before you can run per se.
     
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  18. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    Hmm, I'll look into that. I did notice the uneven tips and was wondering about that.

    So how much deeper can I seat it without compromising the safety? I would like it to at least not jam into the rifling that much?
     
  19. shivermetimbers

    shivermetimbers Member

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    That used to make me crazy, it will have you all over the place. Someone sells a meplat tool to uniform the tips. It just makes more sense to measure off the ogive.

    That seating question, best reserved for an e-mail to bullet manufacturer. They are pretty good at getting back to you and a HUGE source of “correct info.” Be sure to tell them make/model of rifle, powder, brass, primer and caliber.
     
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  20. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    I'll do that. Thanks, man.
     

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