My First 20 Reloads

[Mumbles Marble Mouth]

Last night, I had finally completed my first 20 reloads of .270 Winchester. Today, I couldn't wait to try my reloads out. I had great success and feel ready and able to press onward into the reloading hobby. I've gotten better accuracy with factory loaded Winchester SuperX than my handloads but I wasn't disappointed with the results. My rifle seems to like low velocity loads as my rifle has achieved 0.5" 3 shot groups at 100 meters with Winchester SuperX but will barely break 2" with Hornady Superperfomance. Next case I want to load is .308 Winchester for my Norinco M305. Here are a bunch of photos of today's results. I will label each photo for the views.

Rifle: CZ 550 LUX Euro
Caliber: .270 Winchester
Brass: Winchester, once fired
Primer: Federal Champion
Powder: IMR 4064
Bullet: Speer 130gr BTSP

Loads

10 loads, 43grs of IMR 4064
10 loads, 44grs of IMR 4064

First completed round



Better close up of reload



Rifle



My messy scribbles on my data page



First 3 shots of 43gr
Distances are all 100 meters.



Second 3 shots of 43gr



Third 3 shots of 43gr



This picture is just to show that the target for the 44gr loads was already shot at by another rifle prior to this.



First 3 shots of 44gr



Second 3 shots of 44gr



Third 3 shots of 44gr



Conclusion is that the 43gr clearly shot better with 3 shot groups but the overall 9 shot group with the 44gr is smaller than the overall 43gr 9 shot group. Next time, I'm probably going to make the same 20 loads but try firing the 44gr loads first before the 43gr loads. Either way, I'm not complaining about the 43gr results and think that this load will make a great low velocity, low recoil, practice load. The 43gr loads were also almost bang on with the scope. The scope is sighted in for 130gr Winchester SuperX. Out of the 20 loads I made, 1 would not chamber. Probably didn't resize that brass case or something because my snap cap would chamber with no issue. I let someone else fire the last one to let him give it a try and his shot was very close to bullseye. This has got to be the funnest 20... well actually 18 since that's what I fired, loads I've ever fired in my life. Really enjoyed it and it probably took me at least 2hrs to fire the 18 rounds that I fired. Oh, and another thing I concluded well I was measuring out the powder is I need a better scale because that analog scale is annoying to work with. Works for now I guess.

 

[j_06]

Try some increments of .3 gr below and in between. Might tighten things up. It's a fun hobby and insanely addicting haha

 

[ultimate_monkey]

welcome to the world of reloading! pretty soon you will have more invested in tools and gadgets then you do firearms haha.

im on my phone so sorry for the short hand of this... Id like to suggest that you read up on ladder testing, it will really let you zero in on the accuracy node alot quicker then shooting tones of groups. not to mention that it saves on compnents, not a big deal but better to shoot them off at the best then trying to find it.

a more refined aiming point then electrical tape would be very bennificial, sure it works and is east to see, but call it 5/8" wide, your x-hairs wonder around 3/16-1/4 right and left your eye might not pick up on it from shot to shot but now your group is now 3/8-1/2" bigger then it could have been, and this will really skew your results

cant see exactly the scale your useing but, clearly its a beam scale , RCBC 5-0-5 ?? invest the $20 in a powder trickler, set your powder dispenser to throw .5-1 grain light, then trickel the rest into the pan while its on the scale, faster and more accurate then trying to throw exact loads every time

 

[CanuckWR]

For 270 I do 0.5gn increments, and I only load 3 for each for the first round of tests, save yourself some supplies. Good news is you made it through the first batch of loads, bad news is you just opened the door to something more addicting than crack laced with meth. Good luck and keep going!

 

[Dogleg]

By coincidence my first handloads were also for the .270, with 130 grain bullets and using 4064. Don't be scared to put some powder in there.

 

[WhelanLad]

Hey mate I use AR2208 aka varget which is similar to 4064.

im loading 45 gr with 130gr core lokts an getting good accuracy from a Rem700

WL

 

[zuke]

Look's great! Now the addiction begin's!

 

[dead meat]

Welcome to reloading, that is a good start. I usually load 3 or 5 to work up to max and look for groups.

 

[maynard]

You are way down at the starting load (not a bad thing). Start adding powder by .5 gr up to close to the max watching for pressure signs. My bet is that you will find a better load at a higher velocity. As already stated try using a better aiming mark. A nice 4 inch black square works very well. Just pick a corner and aim at it and you can get 4 groups on each square.

 

[hound2013]

my nephew got 2 deer last fall with my reloads so it made me feel good that my load works the problem i got is time because i dont get a chance to do it enough to busy at work so i try to make time on the weekend im hoping to do more this year i like doing it its a challenge ...... hound13

 

[horseman2]

From the Sierra Manual

Accuracy Load: RE-22/ 56.7grs. 3000fps/ 2597ft. lbs.
Hunting Load: RE-22/ 58.2grs. 3100fps/ 2774ft. lbs.

Nosler's most accurate Powder was H4831SC from 55 - 59 grains.

Why IMR4064? Around 48 grains to reach max. With your first 11 rounds you could have already determined a load using a "ladder" method.
Starting at 43, and advancing 0.5 grains you could have already been at 48 and had a better idea of accuracy potential.
Only a suggestion as it is a quicker and cheaper method to achieving an end while saving your bore.

 

[hakx]

Ladder with imr 4350. I stayed away from 4064 even though it is a recommended powder. IMR 4831 is also one of my goto powders.

 

[rshew]

Welcome Mumbles Marble,
Great Job! My first reloads 30yrs ago were Win 270 and I never looked back, I have taken a few Moose with that Caliber using my reloads!

 

[Mumbles Marble Mouth]

This was just a practice round. IMR 4064 was recommended in my Speer reloading manual for the first time reloader. There is reloading data with 4064 for .308 and .303 british and since I only intend my M305 to be a target rifle, couldn't care about velocity, I may make a few more loads with my .270 just to get more use to loading and then pass off the IMR 4064 to loading .308 for the M305. Since my CZ 550 effortlessly gets 0.5 3 shot groups with Winchester SuperX, I'm going to try and duplicate that round and use Winchester 760 to work with. I've also been seating my bullets to what a Winchester SuperX is. I took a factory loaded SuperX, placed it in my press, and threaded the bullet seating die until it bottomed out on the SuperX.

So that's pretty much what I'm up too. I don't have any reloading mentors since no one in town does it so that's why I've posted my results on Canadian Gun Nutz to get some tips from other more experienced reloaders. Just to give you all an idea of how I know their are no reloaders other than myself intown. When I went to purchase my reloading kit, It said "SALE $350!" When I brought the kit to the till, the sale had expired in 2008 but they honored the sale since they didn't take the sticker off. Plus I asked at are Fish n Game meeting and no one knows anyone who loads. Plus for me since there is #### tones of .303, .270, and .308 brass littering are rifle range and its all for me.