wayupnorth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Northern Alberta
well.
I'm kinda new to reloading and I finally made my first mistake.
or the first mistake that is big or could have been big.
back story.
my dad purchased a 416 Taylor rifle last year from a small gun shop.
it was a package deal, maybe on consignment (?) and came with the rifle, some bullets, set of RCBS dies and a box of bullets.
now, right off the get-go, my dad tells me that we are going to have to reload the rounds for this rifle as you cant buy factory rounds as no one makes them.
and, it's kind of a little used round, so information on it is gonna be short.
but my dad buys a book on the origin of the round and get a bunch of information off the old internet searching around.
so he comes up to visit a couple weeks ago and informs me that we are going to reload some different loads for his rifle so he can get a nice hunting load secured for it.
no problem.
we had been doing 300WSM loads for both big game and deer and some hunting loads for 6.5 creedmore and we both have dedicated distance rifles in 6.5 as well so we did some loads and ladders for that as well.
so we were getting pretty use to rolling some loads, out to the range, test, look at results, back home and reload for the next day.
it was a fun 2 week visit!
anyways, I take out all the 416 Taylor stuff and I set about to rolling some rounds.
we had already de-primed and cleaned, resized and trimmed and primed the rounds so all I had to do was measure out the powders he wanted to use and we only had the 1 box of bullets that came with the rifle to use so it was going to be an easy evening of reloading for the morning shoot.
i charge up the rounds and I go to put the case into the press and I set the bullet in the case mouth and I'm already cycling the arm to press it in and POOF the bullet drops down into the case!!!!
full stop!
what the hell just happened!
i take the round out of the press and look and sure enough the bullet is down in the case, I invert the case over the small bowl I keep for mess ups and out comes the bullet and powder.
i look at the case..... i know I resized the cases!
i look at the bullet,,,, brand new out of the box!
what the hell is going on!
so I full stop.
something is not right and this cartridge is way to big for me to be messing around with and making a mistake.
so I start over.
i take a brass, little bit of lube, resize it.
put it in the press (no powder) and then put the bullet into the mouth and POOF down into the case it goes!
ok.
so I look at the dies, 416 Taylor stamped right into them.
they are old, but they are in new condition and stamped correctly.
so it cant be that.
can I somehow make the case mouth close higher on the resizing?????
I'm new to this, I don't know for sure, so off to comb the internet I go.
long story short no.
so its a bullet problem.
i look at the box of bullets.
Barnes, 350gr X-split, .411
,,,,, wait..... .411???
i grab up my callipers and measure the brass case mouth and the bullet, yup, bullet is .411 and the sized case is like .415.
now I know there are some rounds that are called something and they take a slightly different-sized bullet, and .411 and .416 is pretty damn close.
so I stop and I go onto the internet and pull up the wiki on this round.
it says the bullet is .416?
huh?
so I get up and walk into the house where my dad is reading a book and relaxing, he is getting older and he does not feel comfortable reloading in the evening as his mind is much sharper in the morning, but I like to reload in the evening as my mind is sharper, and I present him with the information I have found.
he listens.
nods.
then says, nope, I'm wrong, the bullets are .411
ok, I tell him no, I looked it up, he has the wrong bullets, the gun store gave you the wrong bullets.
we go back and forth a bit and he says he will look into it in the morning when he is feeling fresh.
next morning we meet up for breakfast and he has already been up for 4 hours and he sheepishly tells me that I am right.
the gun store or the old owner or someone along the way of the sale gave my dad the wrong bullets and he just assumed they were the right ones.
and I assumed they were the right ones because my dad told me they were.
so, my first lesson learned in reloading mistakes.
don't trust anyone.
read, read and read some more.
I'm kinda new to reloading and I finally made my first mistake.
or the first mistake that is big or could have been big.
back story.
my dad purchased a 416 Taylor rifle last year from a small gun shop.
it was a package deal, maybe on consignment (?) and came with the rifle, some bullets, set of RCBS dies and a box of bullets.
now, right off the get-go, my dad tells me that we are going to have to reload the rounds for this rifle as you cant buy factory rounds as no one makes them.
and, it's kind of a little used round, so information on it is gonna be short.
but my dad buys a book on the origin of the round and get a bunch of information off the old internet searching around.
so he comes up to visit a couple weeks ago and informs me that we are going to reload some different loads for his rifle so he can get a nice hunting load secured for it.
no problem.
we had been doing 300WSM loads for both big game and deer and some hunting loads for 6.5 creedmore and we both have dedicated distance rifles in 6.5 as well so we did some loads and ladders for that as well.
so we were getting pretty use to rolling some loads, out to the range, test, look at results, back home and reload for the next day.
it was a fun 2 week visit!
anyways, I take out all the 416 Taylor stuff and I set about to rolling some rounds.
we had already de-primed and cleaned, resized and trimmed and primed the rounds so all I had to do was measure out the powders he wanted to use and we only had the 1 box of bullets that came with the rifle to use so it was going to be an easy evening of reloading for the morning shoot.
i charge up the rounds and I go to put the case into the press and I set the bullet in the case mouth and I'm already cycling the arm to press it in and POOF the bullet drops down into the case!!!!
full stop!
what the hell just happened!
i take the round out of the press and look and sure enough the bullet is down in the case, I invert the case over the small bowl I keep for mess ups and out comes the bullet and powder.
i look at the case..... i know I resized the cases!
i look at the bullet,,,, brand new out of the box!
what the hell is going on!
so I full stop.
something is not right and this cartridge is way to big for me to be messing around with and making a mistake.
so I start over.
i take a brass, little bit of lube, resize it.
put it in the press (no powder) and then put the bullet into the mouth and POOF down into the case it goes!
ok.
so I look at the dies, 416 Taylor stamped right into them.
they are old, but they are in new condition and stamped correctly.
so it cant be that.
can I somehow make the case mouth close higher on the resizing?????
I'm new to this, I don't know for sure, so off to comb the internet I go.
long story short no.
so its a bullet problem.
i look at the box of bullets.
Barnes, 350gr X-split, .411
,,,,, wait..... .411???
i grab up my callipers and measure the brass case mouth and the bullet, yup, bullet is .411 and the sized case is like .415.
now I know there are some rounds that are called something and they take a slightly different-sized bullet, and .411 and .416 is pretty damn close.
so I stop and I go onto the internet and pull up the wiki on this round.
it says the bullet is .416?
huh?
so I get up and walk into the house where my dad is reading a book and relaxing, he is getting older and he does not feel comfortable reloading in the evening as his mind is much sharper in the morning, but I like to reload in the evening as my mind is sharper, and I present him with the information I have found.
he listens.
nods.
then says, nope, I'm wrong, the bullets are .411
ok, I tell him no, I looked it up, he has the wrong bullets, the gun store gave you the wrong bullets.
we go back and forth a bit and he says he will look into it in the morning when he is feeling fresh.
next morning we meet up for breakfast and he has already been up for 4 hours and he sheepishly tells me that I am right.
the gun store or the old owner or someone along the way of the sale gave my dad the wrong bullets and he just assumed they were the right ones.
and I assumed they were the right ones because my dad told me they were.
so, my first lesson learned in reloading mistakes.
don't trust anyone.
read, read and read some more.
RJ
RJ
