8x57 Help? anyone have a GO gauge I can borrow?
- Thread starter djbordie
- Start date
What Guntech wrote, that's the same method I use. As mentioned, allow some clearance for the bullet to jump into the lands. Depending on which rifle I'm loading for, this can be nil, 0.005", 0.010" etc. Certain bullets (Barnes X come to mind) recommend a distance of 0.050" off the lands, for pressure reasons. If it's a hunting rifle, fit in the magazine and reliable feeding enter into the picture as well. hope that helps a little. - dan
Go with your shortest measurement for safety reasons (3.13"). Subtract a minimum of 0.010. That gives you 3.03". Load two or three cartridge cases with that bullet to that COL and see if they fit the magazine and feed properly. If they do, try chambering them. Look (and feel) for any hangups, scuffs, drag, etc. It helps if you colour the cases with a sharpie before you feed them in, it shows any markings up more clearly. If it all looks good, then start at the bottom of load data for your cartridge bullet combination. Load five rounds with each charge, and test for accuracy, examining each case as you remove it after firing. Look for signs of over pressure, flattened primers, difficulty removing case from chamber etc. This isn't rocket science (well, ok, technically it kind of is), but its not hugely complex either. Slow, careful, thoughtful are you watch words. FWIW - dan
Thank you sir, excellent explanation.
I have a sharpie pic here of a 3.03" round.
I have what looks like marks on the projectile, however no way to determine if that is on ejection or on the way up the ramp?
should i care?
http://imgur.com/a/RwJIm
actually, the scratched get more pronounced as you go towards the brass. Would that mean it is during ejection? There also seems to be extra copper at the base of the scratch, which again makes me think an ejection mark maybe from the way down the ramp or lands?
in which case no big deal, as I am not going to get in to the habit of ejecting complete rounds...
I have a sharpie pic here of a 3.03" round.
I have what looks like marks on the projectile, however no way to determine if that is on ejection or on the way up the ramp?
should i care?
http://imgur.com/a/RwJIm
actually, the scratched get more pronounced as you go towards the brass. Would that mean it is during ejection? There also seems to be extra copper at the base of the scratch, which again makes me think an ejection mark maybe from the way down the ramp or lands?
in which case no big deal, as I am not going to get in to the habit of ejecting complete rounds...
No - you shouldn't care about your scratches - that's normal. Go with 3.10 for that bullet, or 3.05 - both will work.
You should bear in mind that a lot of factory ammo has tremendous clearance (ie bullet jump) - as high as 1/4 inch, and it shoots fine. Having too much jump is better than having too little jump, at this stage in your reloading efforts. The trick here is consistency from round to round...
Absolutely forget about the go gage. If you can chamber a sized piece of brass your chamber is fine. A lot of the more experienced reloaders get a good chuckle out of new reloaders buying all sorts of gadgets - comparators, gages, etc. that are a poor substitute for common metrological sense.
You should bear in mind that a lot of factory ammo has tremendous clearance (ie bullet jump) - as high as 1/4 inch, and it shoots fine. Having too much jump is better than having too little jump, at this stage in your reloading efforts. The trick here is consistency from round to round...
Absolutely forget about the go gage. If you can chamber a sized piece of brass your chamber is fine. A lot of the more experienced reloaders get a good chuckle out of new reloaders buying all sorts of gadgets - comparators, gages, etc. that are a poor substitute for common metrological sense.
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I hope you guys are getting a chuckle out of this...haha
Go figure brownells wouldnt cancel my order because it was already packed up, not charged or shipped just packed up...i couldnt believe it. felt like stopping the CC payment, but oh well.
I am very thankful for all the help and guidance, it very much helps reassure the situation for this newb.
Go figure brownells wouldnt cancel my order because it was already packed up, not charged or shipped just packed up...i couldnt believe it. felt like stopping the CC payment, but oh well.
I am very thankful for all the help and guidance, it very much helps reassure the situation for this newb.
I check each one to ensure they are as close to the same as possible. I'm reading earlier about the rifles being magazine fed only and have check to see if that is a factor. Having a bent extractor is another item to check. Shouldn't be an issue for me as it was only one round in 20. I will reload the same 20, grouping the Sierra 150gn bullets by size and weight and make up a lot for this batch. I am in progress with it now and will try it on the weekend.
I will also take the rifle fully apart and check each piece.
I will also take the rifle fully apart and check each piece.
Having the odd round not chamber is relatively common. This can be caused by inadvertently not fully stroking the press lever during the case sizing operation, or not fully seating a bullet for the same reason. The "tighter" you make your ammo to the chamber, the more likely this can happen. An experienced reloader can easily tell what is whack if this happens.
For hunting rounds, it a prudent idea to test chamber all your reloads before heading out in the field... Also, shake each loaded round to listen for the rattle of gunpowder. Ask me how I came to this test...
For hunting rounds, it a prudent idea to test chamber all your reloads before heading out in the field... Also, shake each loaded round to listen for the rattle of gunpowder. Ask me how I came to this test...
It means that the cartridge drags on various surfaces as it is picked up in the magazine box off of the follower, slid under the extractor edge and pushed into the chamber, then reversed. Don't worry about it, that's normal. Pretty rare to have a rifle that doesn't mark up brass during cycling. - dan
