Hunting Ammo

Ganderite

Ganderite

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 99.7%
355   1   0
Location
Farm south of North Bay
before heading off into the bush with rifle and ammo, each round in the box should be run through the magazine and chamber, to amke sure it will cycle. This is critically important in a lever, pump and semi-auto.

If a round is too long it will not feed and may jam the magazine.

My 30-30 has very tight headspace and about 1-10 cases will not chamber.

A case that has not been completley full length sized may not chamber.


There are enough things to worry about on a hunt. We don't need ammo problems that could have been easly avoided.
 
Excellent heads up, Ganderite. Most guys never even think about this!

Especially using handloads, but it also happens with factory ammo as well.

I have seen dozens of guys over the years at our club with ammo that either won't chamber, feed or fit the magazine. :rolleyes:

Ted
 
You should know if your hunting ammo will work in your rifle long before you go hunting. You should have worked up the load, sighted in and practiced with it and nothing else.
 
...There are comments floating around this topic that are undeserving. Ganderite probably has more experience with guns and reloading than all of us put together. He and his family have been involved with Canada's rifle team and shooting championships in almost every country in this world that hosts it. I know he is still involved as well as his wife and sons. Saftey and enjoyment of this sport of hunting and shooting are his first concern. I know him personally and know his involvement has been over 40 years. "Slinging " should not take place if nothing about him is known. I had the same thing happen to me and it was not appreciated at all.
 
I don't know Ganderite, but was concurring with his post. Just this fall, I was at the range when a guy had a cartridge that refused to chamber. :(

He was done shooting that morning. Would have been a bad deal if he had been out hunting somewhere. It happens!

Ted
 
gitrdun said:
You're my hero...I know someone who may even refer to you as a "God" :jerkit:
Click to expand...

Dang, that didn't come out how I meant it, I'm on satellite internet, things slowed right up & I couldn't finish, but here it is:

On this same forum a while back, I posted a question concerning re-seating my 375H&H loads because I had seated them too long. I was checking loads at the range by stuffing each round individually in the chamber. I had not checked to see if they fed through the magazine properly. Much to my embaressment, I found that out while on a hunt. Good thing I had a back-up rifle, otherwise I'd been shooting a single shot M70. Anyways, this story supports Ganderite's statement. PS this is the Icon intended for the first post: :redface:....not :jerkit:, that was a slip on the mouse that I couldn't edit. :redface::redface::redface:
 
A sound tip.

I handload, and before each Milshoot, I chamber every one of the 50 rounds I will be using, as these are mostly neck-sized, and a few times I've found one that was a tad tight - best to find out in your shop, not in the field. If I do it for a Milshoot, I'm sure going to do it for hunting, when one shot must count.

I did my last sighting in yesterday, just ahead of the once a year hunting crowd who will flood the range over the next two weekends. Most of those guys don't handload, so Ganderite's tips wouldn't apply. A lot of them are still working on a box of ammo they bought a few years ago Canadian Tire, and new stuff is sized to fit all guns.
 
I have to say I had a reloading mishap that resulted in around 30 slightly buckled cases. I had worked up 4-10 round batches with varying powder weights in .270 WSM and was seating the bullets in all of them, I had adjusted my die for a seat with crimp, and not test chambered the first round. Needless to say I had seated nearly all of the rounds before noticing one with an apparent buckle. Then I purchased and learned how to use my RCBS collet style bullet puller. A newb mistake yes, but now I do a more thorough inspection prior to hitting "mass production mode" in bullet seating/crimping.
 
as a newbie to reloading..i have 50 rounds of 30-06 and the same amount of 222,s..that are useless to me:redface:
becase i did not follow this advice..
the reason i messed up the reloading,was because i THOUGHT i needed to crimp,even though i heard a million times its not needed..
oh well live and learn:redface:..
good thing of the this was ........i had a good excuse to go out and buy the collets to pull the bullets
 
I'm assuming that in messing up the crimp, you ended with with pushed in necks...kinda like a .375 GIMP :D But, to say that crimping in not needed, I don't agree entirely. Some calibers truly benefit from it, take the .444 or the .375 H&H (I only refer to those that "I" own). I too have had some problems crimping with seating dies. Have you tried the Lee factory crimping die. IMHO, it's a good way to go. :)
 
I don't even hunt with neck-sized brass! Always, Always, Always, chamber every round and fill the magazine to see how they feed before taking off to hunt. (Do this in a safe location, of course! Had an acquaintance experience an AD in his den while trying out some new ammo.) I have seen enough incidences of ammo that would not feed/chamber, that I take NO chances. Regards, Eagleye.
 
sunray said:
You should know if your hunting ammo will work in your rifle long before you go hunting. You should have worked up the load, sighted in and practiced with it and nothing else.
Click to expand...

That's not at all what he's talking about here.

Once you HAVE you ammo, loaded, sighted and good to go, make sure to cycle it all through the gun to ensure that it all chambers properly.

I neck size all my reloads, for all cartridges whether target or hunting. I am 100% confident in doing this, because I take the time to test all loaded hunting rounds to ensure they chamber smoothly.

Who says you should FL size your hunting ammo? :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom