03 Jul 2010 ORA Service Rifle - Debrief here!

[Hungry]

Wow, what a day! First of all, major thanks have to go to the 12 shooters we had on the line. 4 relays and 3 targets were a super turnout! I am thankful that all of you put up with my yelling and screaming down in the butts. Yes, that's why it's called the 'butts' because I KICK yer butts down there!

You all demonstrated lots and lots of patience and I hope that we gave you yer money's worth. You could all be at Marineland or Canada's Wonderland drinking a $ 6.00 Coke, but instead you were out at Mons Range West being sunbaked while stuffing your magazines with ammo.

Being called to dinner. Still many thanks to go out , will be back!

 

[Beaver]

I remember somebody asking about reloading 223 and another asking why my 223 brass was splitting...

1. After resizing/de-priming and trimming, test the case in a case gauge. Actually, I case gauge any brass I intend to reload -- if the resized case does not drop freely from the case gauge, I throw it out. I think this is the case gauge I use, but it does not look anything like the picture provided ($5.29 to prevent a jam and/or detect a case sizing issue, is money really well spent, in my opinion):

http://ca.wholesalesports.com/storefront/reloading/case-trimming/case-length-gauges/prod54925.html


2. The 223 case neck splitting that I had is a common problem. I still believe that the 5.56 NATO cambering was a factor. However that does not matter. The 223 case neck is the best place for the case to split, if it is going to split anywhere. I found this really cute phrase that sums it up perfectly:

"Love it, shoot it, and if it splits, leave it."

;-)

 

[Plink]

Other than my rifle completely failing me past 200 I had a great time! lol Although I'm still hydrating today, whew was it hot. I dont' know how TimK managed to stay on the line ALLLLL day. I would have melted.

Butts were very well managed this time, and most of the guys there knew the drill so the target changes and match sucessions were pretty well managed and without undue screaming by Barney.




Beaver, my rifle is chambered in 5.56 as well and I use all kinds of brass in it. Never saw a split come out of it like yours. Seeing it once in a while is one thing, but almost every round would give me cause for concern. Just not sure where to look in your case??

 

[greentips]

I bought myself a Coke on the way back to make up for the missing time at the Wonderland.

TimK and Barney pretty much got the whole thing down like science now. Nice to be out at 430!

Nice turn out!

 

[Hungry]

Butts were very well managed this time, and most of the guys there knew the drill so the target changes and match sucessions were pretty well managed and without undue screaming by Barney.

Hey, I thought was doing quite a lot of screaming at all of you so that I could give you yer money's worth!

Glad as hell that you found the Butts procedure working well. We are constantly on a quest to improve the butts operations, target management, and swifter butts changes. Frankly, that's a respect of YOUR time.... so I just yell at you with my MCpl voice; and I did not squeak (that much) like I did in Connaught



Barney

 

[Beaver]

Plink, I may have had the resizing die set too low, but I do not think so, as the resized case seems fairly flush with the low-step. I am not worried about it, because I have been told not to reload 223 brass more than 3 times. In other words, the most this issue will cost me is the loss of reloading the brass a 3rd time.

While you may be able to reload 223 brass many more times (e.g. up to 6 times), it is not worth it, because of the troubles caused if the case splits anywhere else than in the neck.

It certainly is not worth annealing 223 brass in my opinion... but this article can help you better understand why I am not so concerned with 223 brass splitting in the neck:
http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

Oh... and my 223 Case Gage is from Dillon

Here is a wonderful youtube.com video on how it is used. Wish I had seen this video earlier than today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vvpUzVmD60

 

[Beaver]

Thank you Tim and Barney for making these matches possible!!!

I do not know if I could work the butts without the attitude. Would be like having a bottle of beer without the beer!

 

[mt84]

I'm glad Tim and Barney had another successful SR Match... Hope to see you at the Ottawa one...

 

[Plink]

I pretty much use IVI brass exclusively. Can reload that a lot more than 6 times Anyways, as long as you're happy, then far be it for me to rain on your parade.

Plink, I may have had the resizing die set too low, but I do not think so, as the resized case seems fairly flush with the low-step. I am not worried about it, because I have been told not to reload 223 brass more than 3 times. In other words, the most this issue will cost me is the loss of reloading the brass a 3rd time.

While you may be able to reload 223 brass many more times (e.g. up to 6 times), it is not worth it, because of the troubles caused if the case splits anywhere else than in the neck.

It certainly is not worth annealing 223 brass in my opinion... but this article can help you better understand why I am not so concerned with 223 brass splitting in the neck:
http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

Oh... and my 223 Case Gage is from Dillon

Here is a wonderful youtube.com video on how it is used. Wish I had seen this video earlier than today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vvpUzVmD60

 

[Quiet]

My mags were giving me trouble again this match. Rounds were popping out while crawling, seizing the bolt when slammed in on a closed chamber during a rapid reload, etc. In the old format of matches you only really needed 2 mags that were 100% reliable, and a third for sighters that could be junk. The current "format of the day" requires 10 mags that are all in top condition, so I just ordered a whole bunch of new mags.