Back in the sixties and seventies, I played around with some Lyman 310 nutcracker tools. I was only a slightly advanced plinker at that time, and moved them on as I got more advanced tools. About two years back, I started collecting them again, for no good reason; just that they're neat. I have about eight sets now, all with the steel handles. If I pick up any sets that have the newer aluminum handles, I just give the handles away. Well, last week, I was reloading for my BSA from the mid-fifties and I tried loading up some with the old Lyman/Ideal set that I have in .222 Rem.
I checked bullet runout with the RCBS case master guage, and some elderly Remington ammo only had about 1 thou runout on the bullet. My reloads with Hornady dies had 1 and 1/2 to 2 thou runout, and my loads with the nutcracker, were 2 and 1/2 to 3 thou runout. RCBS stated that 3 thou runout was good enough for varmint shooting, so all looked good.
Anyhow, here are the last four groups that I fired at 100 yards, with SMK 52 grain bullets and 23.0 and 24.0 gr. Varget.
I checked bullet runout with the RCBS case master guage, and some elderly Remington ammo only had about 1 thou runout on the bullet. My reloads with Hornady dies had 1 and 1/2 to 2 thou runout, and my loads with the nutcracker, were 2 and 1/2 to 3 thou runout. RCBS stated that 3 thou runout was good enough for varmint shooting, so all looked good.
Anyhow, here are the last four groups that I fired at 100 yards, with SMK 52 grain bullets and 23.0 and 24.0 gr. Varget.
