new to the world of reloading, very excited!

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rn870

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hi everyone ive been tossing around the idea of getting into reloading for quite a while now and finally decided to try it out, being on a student budget and not being 100% sure i wanted to go all in, i decided id start with something as affordable as possible to get a feel for it. so while walking through the aisles in cabelas i noticed the lee 50th anniversary kit, super affordable and pretty much everything needed included. i picked up a set of 223 dies, and my components. thankfully i had been collecting all of my hornady cases so i have more than enough to start with. i spent a few evenings cleaning and prepping brass and yesterday i ended up loading up my first batch of loads. my load was cci 400 small rifle primer, 22 grains of w748 pushing a 52gr sierra match king bthp. now i dont know if i just got lucky being my first time, but my bolt gun LOVES this stuff.

these groups were only from 70 yards but i was still crazy impressed, the ugly group is 5 cheap 55 grain remington bulk rounds and that pretty group is three loads fresh off the press, im sure it wont be anything special for most of you but i havent been shooting too long and aside from the components i bought everything for under 300 bucks! (paper plates are crooked in pic)

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neat. I suggest you push out a bit. perhaps to 200 yards. 70 yards may not give you your most accurate results.

what make of dies did you pick up? I own rcbs dies and im nearly convinced they are the worst brand of dies on the market.
 
Bile said:
neat. I suggest you push out a bit. perhaps to 200 yards. 70 yards may not give you your most accurate results.

what make of dies did you pick up? I own rcbs dies and im nearly convinced they are the worst brand of dies on the market.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with RCBS dies? I got all types of dies, I don't mind the RCBS.
 
Great to hear you're into reloading!
I've been doing it almost 30 years now, and I still really enjoy it every time.
I started with the Lee hand loader, and have used dies from RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Lee, Bair and Hornady.
I would say the Reddings are my favorites, just because of the nice fit and finish. Functioally I would rate them equal.
It can be very rewarding and also very frustrating, but stick with it and you won't regret it!
 
Bile said:
neat. I suggest you push out a bit. perhaps to 200 yards. 70 yards may not give you your most accurate results.

what make of dies did you pick up? I own rcbs dies and im nearly convinced they are the worst brand of dies on the market.
Click to expand...

i regularily shoot 200-300 but only shot at 70 because i had to go to work right away and that was as far as i could go in my yard! (out in the middle of nowhere) haha, just got in from shooting at 240 yards and it was 5 shots in about three inches, forgot to get a picture :( . and that was just quick shooting before dark im sure i could do better haha. the dies im using are the lee three set dies. i am noticing my oal on my loads is fluctuating between 2-3 thousands between loads, is that going to make a difference in the long run?
 
I like that you did not start with the Max load.

I start a rifle/ammo project with 10 rounds in 0.3 gr increments from Start to MAx. After shooting these groups (5 rounds each) I have a good idea what part of the powder load spectrum the rifle shoots best.

The two bullets that have shot best for me in ordinary 223 rifles are the Sierra 69 match and the Sierra 60 gr HP.
 
What is your rate of twist? I can think of some better powder choices too. If it's a tight twist, I've had good luck with 69gr smk's and 75gr amax and varget.
 
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