questions on materials

[awesomeame]

Finally got my hornady manual in the mail so i can start building some rounds here soon.

What brand name materials are the "best" to use? Since it's a hornady book I"ll be getting hornady bullets, but what about brass, primers, powder? No remington product recommendations please..

Matt

 

[Scott_N]

I use Winchester brass and CCI primers most of the time because I find both are generally available at my local stores. I've never had problems with either product.

Powder choice depends on what caliber / bullet weight you are going to load. I find that I use a lot of Reloader and Winchester powders. I've also used a lot of IMR powders over the years. What calibers are you planning to reload for?

 

[vondnik]

Depends on what your going to do.

Blasting with ar-15 at close range for fun I use IVI , winchester or PMC brass,
long range precision shooting Lapua or winchester brass.

CCI or winchester primers (CCi benchrest for precision shooting)
bullets well.... sierra(matchking), lapua or hornady (a-max and co.)for precision, hornandy for general use and the cheapest for blasting.

powder well i use Universal for pistols and Varget for rifles.. don't like to have 20 different types of powder on hand and these two have been serving me good.

 

[a j cave]

brass mostly Win (depends on cal) CCI & win primers, bullets depend on target & cal, from cast lead to Barnes solid & some corbin made for the gopher patch. You will pick components to fit the target. Powder, I shoot many calibers and have many different brands & rates. I like IMR for most rifles but some like win, AA,etc. Welcome to the world of try & change, you will have fun & shoot more.

 

[slushee]

You'll learn early on that there is no 'best' when it comes to components. If there were, we would all be shooting identical rounds!

Each component has its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, a rule of thumb is to use CCI primers in auto loader because they have a harder shell. This prevents slam fires (safety concern). In bolt actions, Federal is arguably the most sensative and is used by many competitors.

When it comes to bullets, each company makes good ones, and not so good ones. For instance, when I load .308 win, I chose to duplicate a military round and used the same one used in vietnam; the 168 HPBT Sierra MK.

I have also heard that Hornady's .224 (.223 rem) FMJ-BT is almost match quality compared to other companies, thus I have bought 100 to test them out.

When it comes to brass; leaving out the match brass like laupa (which usually costs quite a bit more), I find Winchester to be the best, followed closely by Remington, with Federal bringing up the tail end. This is my own opinion after months of testing, thus your milage may very.

This doesn't even touch on the fact two identical rifles may prefer bullets made by different companies, as well as entirely different weights.

The beauty about handloading is that you get to pick and choose the components based on what YOU want the round to do. Bear in mind though, that while each component may not be the best for one thing, may very well be the best for another.

 

[ben hunchak]

Since you're using the Hornady Manual, I'd just start off with the loads and components used in the manual. Use starting loads or "most accurate loads" which ever is lower and work from there.....once you start changing components, the recommendations in the manual go out the door. You can start with other makes but i would make sure you see them used together in one forum or another(manual, powder co. rec.,etc.). If you don't, you kinda wasted your money on that manual.....IMHO....Ben

 

[awesomeame]

Thanks for the tips folks! I'll start off with the cheaper stuff and take it from there

Since you're using the Hornady Manual, I'd just start off with the loads and components used in the manual. Use starting loads or "most accurate loads" which ever is lower and work from there.....once you start changing components, the recommendations in the manual go out the door. You can start with other makes but i would make sure you see them used together in one forum or another(manual, powder co. rec.,etc.). If you don't, you kinda wasted your money on that manual.....IMHO....Ben

So where would I go to get load data if for example I switched to Sierra MK bullets? THe hornady manual isn't going to help me out

Matt

 

[270bob]

You'll learn early on that there is no 'best' when it comes to components. If there were, we would all be shooting identical rounds!

Each component has its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, a rule of thumb is to use CCI primers in auto loader because they have a harder shell. This prevents slam fires (safety concern). In bolt actions, Federal is arguably the most sensative and is used by many competitors.

When it comes to bullets, each company makes good ones, and not so good ones. For instance, when I load .308 win, I chose to duplicate a military round and used the same one used in vietnam; the 168 HPBT Sierra MK.

I have also heard that Hornady's .224 (.223 rem) FMJ-BT is almost match quality compared to other companies, thus I have bought 100 to test them out.

When it comes to brass; leaving out the match brass like laupa (which usually costs quite a bit more), I find Winchester to be the best, followed closely by Remington, with Federal bringing up the tail end. This is my own opinion after months of testing, thus your milage may very.

This doesn't even touch on the fact two identical rifles may prefer bullets made by different companies, as well as entirely different weights.

The beauty about handloading is that you get to pick and choose the components based on what YOU want the round to do. Bear in mind though, that while each component may not be the best for one thing, may very well be the best for another.

Been reloading since 1965 and agree 100% with shuchee.

 

[BigUglyMan]

Thanks for the tips folks! I'll start off with the cheaper stuff and take it from there

Not necessarily. Depends what you want to do. You need to be far more specific if you want quality answers.

So where would I go to get load data if for example I switched to Sierra MK bullets? THe hornady manual isn't going to help me out

If you stick with reloading for very long, you'll find yourself with a great collection of manuals. I have 2 or three editions of most of my manuals. I've probably got 7 different company's manuals plus Ken Waters' excellent book Pet Loads because I like to tinker with several of different calibers and bullets. There's no substitute for having all the information you can lay your hands on. There is information available on the net, but as with anything you find online, caveat emptor.

 

[woodchopper]

So where would I go to get load data if for example I switched to Sierra MK bullets? THe hornady manual isn't going to help me out

Matt

I just take the load data from a bullet of the same weight and go from there. I have at least 3 loading manuals and won't find loads for a specific bullet and powder in any of them. The weight is more important then the shape of the bullet when it comes to how much powder you should start with.

 

[BigUglyMan]

I just take the load data from a bullet of the same weight and go from there. I have at least 3 loading manuals and won't find loads for a specific bullet and powder in any of them. The weight is more important then the shape of the bullet when it comes to how much powder you should start with.

Don't overlook bullet construction as a factor. To simply take the powder charge for a 165gr 30 cal Speer Hot Cor and substitute a 165gr 30 cal Nosler Partition will give you a wicked spike in pressure. I saw it happen with those two very bullets in a 308. Blew the extractor out of the Sako rifle and made smoke come out of the action. No long term damage to the rifle (extractor went right back in and the case was extracted sans problem) but who knows what the pressure ended up being. I'm guessing we were way out in hostile territory. That partition in the middle of the NPT makes a tough spot to squeeze down the barrel as compared to a traditional cup and core.

I've always found, in my rifles, that Nosler data will be safe with other bullets of the same weight. But at the end of the day, $40 is better spent on a new manual that blindly groping around in the dark using data not developed for your bullet and sketchy "pressure signs" to develop a load. I'm rather attached to my fingers and eyes - I'll fork over the dough for another manual and hold onto my various bits and pieces for a while.