question for reloading experts.

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Hellspawn717

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Hi guys,

i just went to the range with my first set of bullets i made. ( 7.62x54r)
This was the first time using the lee press system. I was nervous shooting the first one due to my inexperience in reloading... but everything went well and i was very proud.

out of the 40 bullets about 15 of them had black powder around the shell neck/shoulder when i inspected them.

1 of the bullets i shot ... i actually felt powder hit my face. ( just slightly...but scared me a bit )

just so you know ... 1) all my primers were perfectly placed
2) i used start grain for the powder ( basically lowest charge to be safe since it was my first time)
3) i measured all my bullets at the end .. they were very close to the C.o.l recommended and i wiped off every bullet to make sure not 1 spot of lube was there ... just to be safe)

so that leaves you experts to let me know what i did wrong for so much powder residue to come out.

another thing i forgot to mention ... i didnt crimp any bullets ... i read that its not neccesary
for the 7.62x54r.



thanks guys for taking the time to help.
 
Your load prolly didn't have enough pressure to expand the case to fill the chamber allowing gases to escape the case and soot up the outside of the case. This is fairly common with reduced smokeless loads, however, most actions will vent this away from the shooter's face. I would suggest you up your load somewhat and see if this continues.
 
If you have powder residue up to the shoulder your reload is not producing enough pressure to expand the brass enough to seal the chamber. Residue up to the neck/shoulder junction is normal.
 
Make sure your resizing die is for .311 and NOT .308 as many dies are. If your neck is small, gas will blow back past the neck. A 7.62x54R is a .311 diameter bullet and the neck size on the resizer is about.309 to make a tight fit for the bullet. Most North American .30Cal is a .308 bullet with a neck size of about .306. Depending on your calipers, you should measure about .309 in the neck expander for x54R. A little black on the neck is ok, but you shouldn't be getting a blast in the face. Try to make sure everything measures close, your bullets, your dies, and your finished cartridge. Also, as said above, check your powder carefully and don't substitute the recipe.
 
i was using

hodgdon varget
speer bulllets hot-cor 123 grain ( .310 )

what i did was hornady's recipe for it ( went lowest to be safe 2500 fps = 42.9 gr. )

thanks for quick replies ... next batch ill be very precise on the neck/bullet fitting tight
 
Fiddler on the roof....the problem with your opening theory is physics, doesn't matter how small you size the neck, the bullet will expand the neck up to it's rightful size, if the bullet is way too wide it will crush the brass, when trying to seat.
 
ben hunchak said:
Fiddler on the roof....the problem with your opening theory is physics, doesn't matter how small you size the neck, the bullet will expand the neck up to it's rightful size, if the bullet is way too wide it will crush the brass, when trying to seat.
Click to expand...



I have some damaged brass that says your wrong, the guy neck sized it to .308 instead of .311. Not every piece of brass behaves the same when improperly loaded, But you have the Doctorate in physics so have it your way.
 
Slow down fiddler, if brass is sized down to .308" id. and you seat a .312" bullet into the case, the id. of the case will expand to .312"...I don't see any reason to get your back up.
 
It would appear that your use of a light bullet, coupled with a starting load for Varget, has produced a clear case of low pressure load (which is a good thing for starting reloading), but it does mean that the case neck did not fully expand and seal against gas leakage. If you felt something on firing, this reinforces the idea.
But, even with many higher pressure loads you will find powder marks on the neck.
By the way, bullets refer to the item that goes down the barrel, and cartridges refer to the whole combination of case, primer, powder, and bullet. Perhaps a language translation problem.
Well done on your first loads.
 
You may always get a bit of blackening around the neck, even on full pressure loads, that is just what fired cases look like some times, that is why there is a variety of case cleaning methods. The more important questions are 1. did the bullets hit close to each other, and 2. did you have any fun.
 
oh yea it was great shooting the mosin nagant. i was happy with how close my bullets grouped at 50yrds and 100yrds with no scope. I actually hit the paper at 200yards with my bullet ... i was happy with that.

I cant wait to improve my skills in reloading and find a combo of powder/bullet type and weight that gives me the greatest accuracy.

overall i really had a lot of fun creating my ammo ( ####ting my pants with the primers, scared they would just go off at any time ... i was very nervous when opening the 100 pack up lol. ) but watching so many vids on youtube was the greatest learning process i recieved and i knew i could do well my first try.

if anyone who is reading this created 7.62x54r ammo do me a favor and let me know some nice recipes that you had fun shooting. Im eventually going to buy dies for my 7.62x39 ( for my sks ).
 
I know what you mean about being nervous the first shot. same here, and i still get a little nervous whenever i take a shot with H335, man... the fireballs!

And im not advocating anyone else doing this, but i usually make my starting loads 1.5 grains under max. if i wanted a reduced load i'd use trailboss or bullseye, but i usually settle on loads in the hot end of the spectrum anyways, so using up valuable powder on rather low recommended (lawyer proof) starting loads to me is just that many shots wasted.
Congrats on the reloading bug... it just gets worse:D
 
mikeystew said:
I know what you mean about being nervous the first shot. same here, and i still get a little nervous whenever i take a shot with H335, man... the fireballs!

And im not advocating anyone else doing this, but i usually make my starting loads 1.5 grains under max. if i wanted a reduced load i'd use trailboss or bullseye, but i usually settle on loads in the hot end of the spectrum anyways, so using up valuable powder on rather low recommended (lawyer proof) starting loads to me is just that many shots wasted.
Congrats on the reloading bug... it just gets worse:D
Click to expand...

Mikey, we talk the same language!
I too, can't see why so many shooters waste so much time and such a lot of material in shooting all those way under loads.
What people seem to forget is that the loads called "Maximum," are just the equivalent of a factory load. And not too many people are afraid of shooting a factory load in their rifle.
 
fiddler said:
I have some damaged brass that says your wrong, the guy neck sized it to .308 instead of .311. Not every piece of brass behaves the same when improperly loaded, But you have the Doctorate in physics so have it your way.
Click to expand...

You are simply wrong on this. Read what Ben is writing, think about it, and then post again. :)

Ted
 
Fidler Sizing neck too small is a non-issue. It cannot cause gas leakage.

As others have said, it was a light bullet, mild load and a powder really too slow for that bullet.

Congrats on amking your first ammuntion (not bullets). i suggest you start a log book, with a page for each rifle. Over the years you will make a lot of ammo and it is good to know what worked and what did not.

next time you buy bullets, buy somethign around 150gr. They wouild probably shoot better. Start at the start load and work up in .5gr increments. One load should look better than the others.
 
Hellspawn717 said:
i was using

hodgdon varget
speer bulllets hot-cor 123 grain ( .310 )

what i did was hornady's recipe for it ( went lowest to be safe 2500 fps = 42.9 gr. )

thanks for quick replies ... next batch ill be very precise on the neck/bullet fitting tight
Click to expand...
I think you're about 10 grains low on powder. I use more powder than that shooting 174 gr. in my Mosin.

If you go to the Hodgdon website they have decent reloading data. Starting load for 125 gr. bullet is 51 gr. of Varget.
 
ben hunchak said:
Your load prolly didn't have enough pressure to expand the case to fill the chamber allowing gases to escape the case and soot up the outside of the case. This is fairly common with reduced smokeless loads, however, most actions will vent this away from the shooter's face. I would suggest you up your load somewhat and see if this continues.
Click to expand...

Sorry to go OT with this question but...I assume this only applies to bolt action rifles and not semi autos.
 
H4831 said:
Mikey, we talk the same language!
I too, can't see why so many shooters waste so much time and such a lot of material in shooting all those way under loads.
What people seem to forget is that the loads called "Maximum," are just the equivalent of a factory load. And not too many people are afraid of shooting a factory load in their rifle.
Click to expand...

Amen

OTH, starting low gives the new reloader time to build confidence in his/her own ability
 
What people seem to forget is that the loads called "Maximum," are just the equivalent of a factory load. And not too many people are afraid of shooting a factory load in their rifle.
Click to expand...

Those so called maximum loads often produce more velocity than factory loads,and they sometimes show pressure signs that factory loads don't show.Perhaps that is why the loading manuals warn people to start with reduced loads ,and work up while watching for pressure signs.Either that,or the people producing the loading manuals aren't as knowledgeable about reloading as you are.
 
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