Reloading .243 for Remington 7600 pump

Vern Kowalski

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I picked up a Remington 7600 pump action rifle in .243 for my girlfriend to use for whitetail hunting. I've only reloaded for bolt action rifles to this point so Im looking for some advice on reloading for this rifle. Mostly, do I need to crimp bullets? I understand crimping takes away from accuracy. What are guys using to crimp? Are the Lee factory crimp dies any good? Are small base dies required? Also, while we're at it, I'm open to advice on good whitetail loads for .243

Thanks,
Vern.
 
Why do you want to crimp? Doesn't seem likely to be necessary to me.

If you have loaded for bolt actions, load the same way for the pump. Start low and work up. Test as you go. If you find "problems" feeding, maybe a small base die is the solution, maybe not. I think the .243 needs heavy for caliber bullets for deer. I have loaded 100 grain Partitions for 20 years, and found no reason to change. IMR4350 works for us.

Don't try to solve problems some people say you might have - just solve the ones you actually find. You may have none at all.
 
Semis and guns with tube mags need crimp. If your pump feeds from a box mag (which i think they do?) Then crimp probably isn't necessary.
 
I hunted with a Remington 760 Gamemaster pump in .270 Winchester for years and never had a problem with standard RCBS full length dies.

This 760 was the first rifle I bought after getting out of the military in 1973 and using a new RCBS Rockchucker press.

The Remington pumps have a slightly larger diameter chamber and as long as the resized case is .003 to .005 smaller in diameter than the fired case you will be fine.

The Remington pump rifles were very popular here in Pennsylvania and I never met anyone who had a problem reloading with standard full length dies.

I never crimp any of my reloads for bolt or pumps and it is not needed as long as you have proper bullet grip.
 
Just to be clear, I don't want to crimp but I've read that with the pumps and semi autos you should. The 7600 is fed with a box magazine, so I didn't think I should have to, but wanted someone with first hand experience to confirm that.
 
Just to be clear, I don't want to crimp but I've read that with the pumps and semi autos you should. The 7600 is fed with a box magazine, so I didn't think I should have to, but wanted someone with first hand experience to confirm that.

I did not crimp my 760 pump reloads and I do not crimp my ammo in my AR15 and M1 Garand. As long as the expander is .001 to .003 smaller than the bullet and you can't push the bullet back into the case with hand pressure you do not need to crimp.

As long as the Incredible Hulk isn't working the pump handle and you understand bullet grip or neck tension you do not need to crimp.

Having said that I bought a carbide expander for my .243 die and the expander was only .0002 (.2428) smaller than bullet diameter.

I emailed the company and they said the expander was within manufacturing tolerances, and now I have a expander I can't use without crimping.(meaning it was never used)

Read the link below, most full length dies make the case neck smaller than needed and then the expander opens up the case neck.
All you need to do is polish the expander down to increase bullet grip, look at the ID after sizing W/expander ball in the charts below.


Are Your Sizing Dies Overworking Your Rifle Brass?
http://massreloading.com/dies_overworking_brass.html

NOTE, Whidden custom dies sells expander ball sets from bullet diameter to .004 less than bullet diameter.

Expander Ball Kits
http://www.whiddengunworks.com/product/expander-ball-kits-and-sets/


"The Whidden Gunworks Expander Balls typically allow the shooter the opportunity to adjust the neck tension from .001″ to .005″. The Expander Ball Kit comes with five Expander Balls. Each kit includes an Expander of the chosen caliber and decreases in size by .001″. Example: If an Expander Ball Kit for .243 caliber is ordered, the kit would include Expander Ball sizes .243, .242, .241, .240 and .239."
 
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No need to crimp. Your pump is a turn bolt action. The bolt is just turned a different way.

The only real difference is that if there is stiff extraction, you don't have a big handle to pound on.

For ammo you will be hunting with, use full length sized cases and don't use 2 scoops of powder...
 
I tried and gave up crimping ammo for my 7600s (308 and 243) after the first reloads. Just reasonable neck tension and I never had a problem.
As Ganderite said full size the cases and you should be good to go.
I used to just bump the shoulder for range shooting and they can be very accurate guns if you can be consistant on the bench.
 
I picked up a Remington 7600 pump action rifle in .243 for my girlfriend to use for whitetail hunting. I've only reloaded for bolt action rifles to this point so Im looking for some advice on reloading for this rifle. Mostly, do I need to crimp bullets? I understand crimping takes away from accuracy. What are guys using to crimp? Are the Lee factory crimp dies any good? Are small base dies required? Also, while we're at it, I'm open to advice on good whitetail loads for .243

Thanks,
Vern.

I have no experience loading 243 for the 7600, but I have been loading 35 Whelen for 24 years for my 7600 I started crimping because I thought it would prevent bullets from being pushed in. I was wrong. I dont crimp any more. Not needed.
 
I load mine for hunting, so reliable cycling is more important then bench rest accuracy. I full length size my cases. I may get better groups if I neck sized only, but when that buck of a lifetime steps out and you miss the first shot to buck fever, you need the rifle to re-chamber the next round. Guaranteed.
 
I've owned and loaded for the following pump rifles .....

270Win
30-06
308Win
223
35Whelen
358Winchester
35Remington

None required small bases dies. None required a crimp. Pump guns will accept the same heavy loads that would be expected in a bolt gun.
 
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