Sinclair International Reloading Epuip any good????
- Thread starter crazy_train04
- Start date
Unless you're really into super accurate bench rest type shooting, you'll be much better served with something like the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit. It will load quite accurate ammo, if you do you part, and is more versatile than an arbor press. That said, Sinclair International carries excellent quality tools, shooting aids & accessories.
Assuming that if you are just starting handloading I'm guessing that you are reloading for some sort of hunting calibre. If you are then the arbor press is not the one for you. The catalogue states "This press is not intended for use with full length resizing dies". RCBS is the best place to start. Maybe if you were a little more specific it would help.
This is the sort of loading set used by benchrest shooters. The cases are pressed in and out of simple in-line dies. Extremely accurate ammunition can result. I have a similar setup for a couple of benchrest rifles I own, Wilson dies for one calibre, handmade ones for the other. Much slower to use than a conventional press with threaded dies. There is usually no provision for full length sizing. It is just a very specialized setup. You could certainly produce excellent ammunition for long range varmint hunting. If you wanted a lot of ammunition, it would be pretty time consuming.
For benchrest or similar shooting, the fired case only has the neck portion resized enough to 'grip' a new bullet.
The rest of the case isn't touched...the shoulder and main part of the body.. as it is usually used in the same rifle over and over again.
This gives the most consistent, reproducible results required for maximum accuracy.
It 'works' (stresses) the brass less and so cases last longer..more reloads.
However, it means that the neck sized only cases won't ususally fit in another rifle, and may not feed in a semiauto very well either.
It sounds as if you need to get a few different reloading manuals and read them cover to cover...more than once.
It would also help to ask an experienced handloader to 'mentor' you for awhile...it cuts down on the 'learning curve' and makes it a safer, and more enjoyable, experience.
Each individual rifle's chamber is unique, so each case fired in that chamber will expand to fit that chamber. If you only have, say, one .308 to load for, it is easier on the brass to re-size only the neck area. The rest should fit OK. However, if you have two .308's, neck-sized brass from one rifle might not chamber easily in the other rifle. This is esp. the case with military rifles, which are usually made with more generous tolerances, due to the conditions that a military rifle has to function in, often with irregular maintenance. 303's are a good example; so is the original .45 ACP Colt. It wasn't the most accurate pistol but it could "take a licking and go on ticking." The P-08 Luger, OTOH, was the opposite. Finely made and accurate but very sensitive to dirt. The military aren't interested in reloading, so case life is irrelevant.
"Full-length" sizing does just that- it pushes the entire case back to original specifications so it should fit any rifle of the same calibre. So you could fire a round in a P-17 or 03 Springfield made during WWI, full-length resize and reload it, and it should fit OK in a factory-new Ruger or Sako 30-06. If you only neck-sized the round from the P-17, it might not fit another rifle. (Or it might, of course- depending on the individual chambers.) But full-length sizing "works" the brass more and reduces case life.
Bench-rest shooters worry about tolerances that are largely irrelevant to the rest of us, so they use special reloading and case preparation gear in order to extract the last millimetre of accuracy from their rifles, such as concentricity gauges to check the run-out on bullets and case necks and powder meters that can throw charges consistently to hundredths of a gram. Companies such as Sinclair cater to these folks.
Varmint hunting requires precision, but unless you're using an 18-lb rifle with a massive barrel and a chamber cut to bench-rest specs (ie minimum tolerances) where the difference of 1/32" in group size @ 300 yards is critical, all you need is a regular reloading setup and a bit of practice. The gophers will never know the difference.
I have an old Brno Fox in .222 and some targets here I shot when I first took it to the range to sight it in. One has a 100m group with four shots in 7/8" plus a flyer. Two targets at 200 metres- one has three shots in 9/16", the other has three shots in 1.2", loaded using a Lee Press & dies. Lee is the least expensive gear you can get and I'm a relative novice compared to many of the other folks here.
Get loading and go shooting!
Stuartps- I see foxbat beat me to it, and in far fewer words, too. And yes, a few reloading manuals will give you lots of advice.
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I use The arbor press and Wilson dies for my 22ppc and 6mm ppc for neck sizing to the chamber, I also use them for my varmint rifles, 222, 22-250, and my 308 tac's there a great way to reload, for the best accuracy you can get out of your rifle. Time and patients are required because this type of system requires you do eveything you can to make the most consistant ammo. I have used a chrony to measure velocities from groups of 5 , and have measured every 5th shot as well and have had velocities as close as 10 fps for all 5 or 10 shots.
Is it practical (NO) does it work yes! will it improve your accuracy well in certain guns it will in your hunting rifles or milsurp you will not see a difference. Tried them in my 308, 700 vs the old standard 007 press with RCBs dies, and i did not see much improvement (could be me) but i spent an extra hour making my shells!
The gun you reload for must me suited to see that improvement! Other wise take the advice of others and buy normal press and die set!
Weight and sort the cases, trim to the exact lenghts, fire form the cases, and adjust the neck tensions for the chamber. If accuracy is what you seek than your on the right path!
However what does yank my crank is when you get the same results out of a factory set of dies, in the same gun lol!! that does happen time to time lol! welcome to the world of reloading!
Is it practical (NO) does it work yes! will it improve your accuracy well in certain guns it will in your hunting rifles or milsurp you will not see a difference. Tried them in my 308, 700 vs the old standard 007 press with RCBs dies, and i did not see much improvement (could be me) but i spent an extra hour making my shells!
The gun you reload for must me suited to see that improvement! Other wise take the advice of others and buy normal press and die set!
Weight and sort the cases, trim to the exact lenghts, fire form the cases, and adjust the neck tensions for the chamber. If accuracy is what you seek than your on the right path!
However what does yank my crank is when you get the same results out of a factory set of dies, in the same gun lol!! that does happen time to time lol! welcome to the world of reloading!
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