My first real reloading session

C

canoetrpr

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Finally got everything all set up so today was the day I got to do my first reloading session at home.

Trying to develop a load for my Winchester 70 30-06 FW. I've picked up a bunch of hunting bullets for this gun including 180 gr Hornady Interbond, 165 gr Nosler Accubond, 165 gr Barnes TTSX to see what does best. However given I've done no load development or real reloading before I decided to start with some Hornady BTHP Match that I purchased as practice ammo for this and a Ruger .308 target rifle. Figured I might as well do some learning on cheaper bullets.

First impressions:

- My Redding Big Boss II press ROCKS! I love how the primers are handled in the tube. I strangely get a kick out of the pop the primer makes when coming off.

- RCBS Trimmate is really cool but I didn't use it much other than the fixed brush and primer pocket cleaner.

I decided that I didn't need to use ever fancy tool I've purchased for first time reloading. Figured primer uniforming and flash hole uniforming can wait for now.This was once fired Winchester brass. I just cleaned the primer pockets, wiped each case, measured each case, lubed with Imperial die wax, deprimed and resized.

Priming was done with a RCBS universal hand primer. I like this hand primer although I wish it didn't require quite as much muscle from me.

The RCBS Charge Master takes the cake! Really like the function that has it dispensing a new charge as soon as I put the pan back. It takes me as long to seat the bullet and measure its OAL as it does to have it dispense a charge in the back ground.

I can't understand the point of the Hornady Lock and Load die bushing system (I thought about getting one but don't have one). Setting up a die seems very straightforward.

Only thing I had some difficulty with is that I decided not to figure out the exact seating depth for my chamber with the Sinclair seating depth gauge I purchased. Thought I'd just measure C.O.A.L. Measuring from cartridge base to bullet tip. I don't know if I had some issue with setting up the seating depth on my Redding seater die or what but I found that the C.O.A.L. would vary and cause me to muck around with the seating depth. One guess is inconsistency bullet to bullet. Once I measure the EXACT OAL of my chamber and start measuring from the ogive, maybe this issue will go away.

Barely used a loading block - just used one to pour powder in. I found it easier to move cartridges from an "Unprepped" tupperware container to a "Prepped" container for each step I did.

I used Varget for these loads. Started at 42gr and did 5 of each: 42,43,44,45,45.5,46,46.5,47

Unfortunately I can't shoot center fire at my club tomorrow but I might find a way too get to the club in the week and see how well they do. Can't wait!!!
 
Don't worry about the COAL variations. Bullets have variations forward of the shoulder. Has zero impact on ammo so long as the bullet is clear of the rifling.

When you shoot, let the barrel cool. It tends to warp as it heats, unless it is a custom barrel that has been well stress relieved.
 
Couple other things to add:

- I had lots of static on the new plastic. Powder stuck to the funnel on the first charge like nobodys business. Was able to get it going well on subsequent charges. Powder stuck to the Chargemaster innards when cleaning due to static as well. Had to spend a bit of time on it.

- 1lb of powder really isn't much. I went through a gooWd chunk for the 45 cases I loaded. S
 
canoetrpr said:
Finally got everything all set up so today was the day I got to do my first reloading session at home.

Trying to develop a load for my Winchester 70 30-06 FW. I've picked up a bunch of hunting bullets for this gun including 180 gr Hornady Interbond, 165 gr Nosler Accubond, 165 gr Barnes TTSX to see what does best. However given I've done no load development or real reloading before I decided to start with some Hornady BTHP Match that I purchased as practice ammo for this and a Ruger .308 target rifle. Figured I might as well do some learning on cheaper bullets.

First impressions:

- My Redding Big Boss II press ROCKS! I love how the primers are handled in the tube. I strangely get a kick out of the pop the primer makes when coming off.

- RCBS Trimmate is really cool but I didn't use it much other than the fixed brush and primer pocket cleaner.

I decided that I didn't need to use ever fancy tool I've purchased for first time reloading. Figured primer uniforming and flash hole uniforming can wait for now.This was once fired Winchester brass. I just cleaned the primer pockets, wiped each case, measured each case, lubed with Imperial die wax, deprimed and resized.

Priming was done with a RCBS universal hand primer. I like this hand primer although I wish it didn't require quite as much muscle from me.

The RCBS Charge Master takes the cake! Really like the function that has it dispensing a new charge as soon as I put the pan back. It takes me as long to seat the bullet and measure its OAL as it does to have it dispense a charge in the back ground.

I can't understand the point of the Hornady Lock and Load die bushing system (I thought about getting one but don't have one). Setting up a die seems very straightforward.

Only thing I had some difficulty with is that I decided not to figure out the exact seating depth for my chamber with the Sinclair seating depth gauge I purchased. Thought I'd just measure C.O.A.L. Measuring from cartridge base to bullet tip. I don't know if I had some issue with setting up the seating depth on my Redding seater die or what but I found that the C.O.A.L. would vary and cause me to muck around with the seating depth. One guess is inconsistency bullet to bullet. Once I measure the EXACT OAL of my chamber and start measuring from the ogive, maybe this issue will go away.

Barely used a loading block - just used one to pour powder in. I found it easier to move cartridges from an "Unprepped" tupperware container to a "Prepped" container for each step I did.

I used Varget for these loads. Started at 42gr and did 5 of each: 42,43,44,45,45.5,46,46.5,47

Unfortunately I can't shoot center fire at my club tomorrow but I might find a way too get to the club in the week and see how well they do. Can't wait!!!
Click to expand...

You may want to go half grain increases on a med sized case like that. I usually increase by about 1% at a time. Others with more experience will chime in I'm sure.

Let us know how your first shooting session goes.

G
 
canoetrpr said:
Couple other things to add:

- I had lots of static on the new plastic. Powder stuck to the funnel on the first charge like nobodys business. Was able to get it going well on subsequent charges. Powder stuck to the Chargemaster innards when cleaning due to static as well. Had to spend a bit of time on it.

- 1lb of powder really isn't much. I went through a gooWd chunk for the 45 cases I loaded. S
Click to expand...

Use a Bounce sheet to wipe down the plastics to remove the static.

You will go through lots of powder loading for large rifle. Look into getting powder in 4, 7, or 8 lbs at a time.

Get the bullet comparator and COAL variations become less of a concern. I like to make a dummy round for each bullet type/weight where the bullet is seated .020" off the lands. I use this dummy to set the seating die. Then, I load test to find the best loads. Once the load testing is done, you can fiddle some more with COAL to see if moving closer to the lands helps groupings.

You mentioned that you didn't trim the 1F cases. I'm surprised the 1F 30-06 didn't need a trimming. I always have to trim my cases for large rifle.

The loading block is excellent for keeping strings or cartridges together and keeping things organized. From the moment you crimped these cartridges you'll now be tracking each of these strings together. You need to keep the strings together for each weight of powder. You should mark the bases with different colour permanent markers or different symbols and your load data sheet should have the colour / symbol besides each string. Dropping 100 unmarked load testing cartridges on the ground at the range is a royal PITA! You can also track the brass for case base expansion, # of firings etc. Blocks really make it easy to keep things in order.

It's good that you liked learning how to set up your dies and liked doing it. It's not everyone that likes it. A lot of guys like the set it and forget it concept. But there's usually a little die adjustment from batch to batch even if the dies were locked down in some permanent configuration.

Let us know how they shot!
 
The Bounce sheet is an excellent idea! I bought a bullet comparator and a Sinclair tool to check the COAL so I will pull it right next time. Yup .5 gr probably makes sense. I did that in the middle of the range of weights. Thought it would just be too many rounds in one go to shoot if I did 5 rounds of each. My theory is maybe I can find a happy range and then work .5 increments within it. No clue if this theory will pan out but what the heck!

I was very careful about measuring cases. 11 out of a batch of 60 needed trimming so I have out them aside. I don't really like my cheap crappy tire caliper. Does the trick but I think I might get one of those fixed gauge sheets things for every calibre.
 
.5 grs for sure for finding nodes. .2 -.3 grs for homing in from under to over those nodes. Some rifles / calibers will have more than one accuracy node. For hunting, I'll home in on the upper node. For practice target and plinking, you can home in on the lower node to save a bit of powder and barrel and case life.
 
47gr and 165gr bullet is pretty low. Max is 50.5gr. for what its worth 49gr 150gr sst works very good for me its just slow (2730fps). I have moved to 4350 now Speed is much better
 
hometownhero said:
47gr and 165gr bullet is pretty low. Max is 50.5gr. for what its worth 49gr 150gr sst works very good for me its just slow (2730fps). I have moved to 4350 now Speed is much better
Click to expand...

Interesting. Maybe Hornady's data is on the conservative side. I don't have it in front of me but they started thse bullets at 41.x. I decided to stick towards the lower end of the range and work slowly towards the maximum since it is my first time reloading. Yes I thought my Hornady manual maxed out at 49 gr for Varget. I have a bit of brass left that I need to trim so I will do that and maybe do a few more.

I guess I'll have to see what it does ;-).

I don't have a chrony yet. Would be nice to have one to tell the exact velocity.

I'm guessing that I should be loading 5 rounds for every different powder charge as I did? If I wanted to cover the whole range in 0.5 grain increments, I think that would take close to a 80-100 rounds. Is that typical for the what the rest of you shoot when you are developing a load?
 
For my hunting loads with premium bullets I will shoot 3 shot groups and usually only use two for the first three loads. If I get a three shot group of under 1.5" and good velocity then it's good enough for hunting 300 yards out. If it's plinking rounds I will load 5 and yes it may take 100 or 200 or 300, but who cares, Im plinking!

G
 
canoetrpr said:
Interesting. Maybe Hornady's data is on the conservative side. I don't have it in front of me but they started thse bullets at 41.x. I decided to stick towards the lower end of the range and work slowly towards the maximum since it is my first time reloading. Yes I thought my Hornady manual maxed out at 49 gr for Varget. I have a bit of brass left that I need to trim so I will do that and maybe do a few more.

I guess I'll have to see what it does ;-).

I don't have a chrony yet. Would be nice to have one to tell the exact velocity.

I'm guessing that I should be loading 5 rounds for every different powder charge as I did? If I wanted to cover the whole range in 0.5 grain increments, I think that would take close to a 80-100 rounds. Is that typical for the what the rest of you shoot when you are developing a load?
Click to expand...

I also check this site for load data
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

I normally start mid range and go to either book max or max that hodgdon has listed. Stop when see pressure.
 
hometownhero said:
I also check this site for load data
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

I normally start mid range and go to either book max or max that hodgdon has listed. Stop when see pressure.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link hometownhero. Interesting that the starting load in the Hornady book is so much lower than the starting load provided by Hogdon for this bullet. I believe the velocity at 47gr matches Hornady's data so it does seem like they just start far lower.

I have 15 more brass that are part of this batch that either need to be trimmed or taken apart because the factory loads did not go off. I'll get them prepped and load 5 each of 47.5, 48 and perhaps 48.5 so that I am covering more of the higher end of the range. Might as well keep the brass in the batch together and get a larger spectrum of powder weights tested.
 
It's always good to get several sources for load data. Once you get to know your rifle a bit better you will know when you can cheat a bit and start above the recomended start loads. Some rifle have tight barrels and should always be started at the min load. I hardly cheat at all because I'm a very cautious individual.

PS. I like your handle. I'm a bit of a canoetrpr myself

G
 
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