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advice for new reloader

2K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  wolfdog 
#1 ·
I just reloaded my first ten rounds - .270 Win. The brass was once fired Winchester factory loads. In two of the reloads, the bullet was so loose I could pull it out of the case by hand. Two of them were loose, but tight enough so that I could not pull them out by hand. The others seemed OK. I went back and put a light crimp on all of them to secure the bullet better. I have not yet fired any of the reloaded cartridges. COAL is good on all.

I suspect that there is a simple error in my technique, but I have not been able to find this problem addressed in the instruction manuals. Any advice?
 
#2 · (Edited)
Hi Ron. Welcome to the Forum! I'm guessing that your cases were not completely re-sized. The loose bullets in the case is a sure-fire indication of this. Your 'sizer-decapping die' is not properly adjusted. Double check your instructions for set up, but here is a 'generic version':

Put your shell holder in the ram. Loosen the lock ring on the die set, and back off the ring a couple of twists. Then, screw the die into the reloading press with the RAM in the up position. Screw the die down until it just touches the top of the shell holder. Holding the die in this setting, tighten the lock-rind down until it stops. Tighten the set-screw on the lock ring.

Somebody will jump all over me for this, but it should get you going. Your instructions may have you adjust the die a tad closer or a tad looser - I'm just getting you into the ball park.

Being a new reloader, make sure you double check everything. Make sure you measure your cases to see they are within tolerance, and trim them if necessary. Double check your manual to ensure you have the right powder, the right bullets and primers. Understand your powder measurer and your scale, and follow the load data exactly. Read the 'preamble' in most reloading manuals, and understand the "whats and whys" of what you are doing. If you have questions - come on back and there are some really great people here who will help you.
 
#5 ·
OK guys, thanks for the help. I suspected the resizing die step was where the problem was. As I understand it, the mouth of the case is expanded when the cartridge is fired, and the resizing die "closes" it back down to the proper size. Is this correct? Also, I do have some new Hornady brass. Is it necessary to run new brass through the resizing die?

One other question, perhaps less important. COAL or CBTO? Is it really worth the effort to get a CBTO dimension on reloads? As I understand it, the CBTO measurement will be unique to your rifle and can be helpful with accuracy.
 
#6 ·
i'll also ask / add. what type of crimp are you doing? collet crimp like a lee FCD? or roll crimp.

if roll crimp buy the correct projectiles with a canne;lure, and then you will need a brass trimmer and set of calipers.001 capable, and really.. a case gauge too.
 
#7 ·
ps. get a manual for every maker you are buying materials from. IE. if you use hornady projectiles and sierra. get manuals for both. even some of the powder co's put out info books or phamphlets.

the more the better.
 
#9 ·
not only do i think the sizer die was not setup correctly, the fcd wasnt probably either.

go back and reset the sizer and then go from there and see what you get.

depending on your die set you could take the decapper out and just dump the powder back into the pan, resize and relaod without loosing the primer.
 
#10 ·
Welcome to the forum Ron.
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My two cents are stick with the manuals oal and keep it simple for awhile. Have you watched highboys vids. They start off at and seem to go on for ever over several topics. Even if you don't have his press, the over all principles are close enough and you can assimilate and be one with the collective.
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That is a nice looking horse. Really like that background.
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#11 ·
The photo is at the Swan Mountain Ranch near Swan Lake, Montana. My wife and I took a pack trip into the Bob Marshall wilderness. This was September 2011 - back when I was still a bit corpulent. They put me on a Percheron for a pack trip!! I guess they thought I needed a BIG horse. Anyway, he was a gentle giant and a great ride. I have since slimmed down. Next time I should qualify for a quarter horse :) I have five horses here in North Dakota. Really like to ride.

I think I'm gonna pull the bullets and start from scratch.
 
#13 ·
Looks like everyone has got you on the right track with setting up your dies but I do have to add a welcome from the southern end of ND.

Welcome to TFF!
ND. I was up in that area for a couple weeks at Minot. There was a steak place out of town that was incredible. Stand up bar that had cheap beer. They rushed you to the small tables when it was available, you ate and they rushed you out as quick. Long line to get in. I still think of that place from time to time and that was 1993-4 time frame.
 
#14 ·
Hey Ron, you didn't mention what kind of press you're using, but since I just posted about this elsewhere I thought I'd mention it.

I have a turret press, and I've experienced similar problems with bottle-necked cases. What I found is that, while the instructions with the press and the dies tell me to set the resizer die flush with the top of the shell holder, when I actually size a real case, the turret flexes from the force applied, and there's a visible and measurable gap between the die and shell holder. That means the shoulder has not been pressed back far enough, and the neck may not be properly shrunk. I've found that adding another 1/4 to 1/2 turn to the seating depth of the resizing die eliminates the gap, and I've had no further problems since making this adjustment.
 
#15 ·
Thanks again for all the replies. I have disassembled all the original reloads and started from scratch. I experimented with seating some bullets in some dry cases and found that the bullets seated properly when I added 1 turn to the neck sizing die. I have subsequently reloaded ten rounds and they all came out good. No crimping needed.
 
#16 ·
Success! I fired my first ten reloads today. I first fired a factory load over the chronograph and got 3050fps. I then fired the ten reloads. They were light loads - 51gr of IMR4831 with a 130gr bullet. The lowest velocity was 2540 and the highest was 2630, which I thought indicated that my reloads were relatively consistent, but I guess I'm not sure how much variation there should be. I was just firing them into a hillside so I can't say anything about accuracy, but I was pleased they everything functioned properly. They also chambered from the magazine of the Weatherby vanguard easily and with no problems. Whew! I was sure happy when that first reloaded bullet went downrange! Now to shoot some targets……… stay tuned.
 
#18 ·
Update: I loaded ten more rounds with 52gn IMR4831 and 130 gr Hornady bullets. Velocities were about 2700fps. shot four rounds at a target at 200yds. Had a pretty good grouping - all four within 3 inches diameter. This is starting to get fun.

Ron
 
#24 ·
OK, two more questions.

#1 - I am loading some rounds using 130gr Barnes TTSX bullets. The Barnes manual says that when using H414 powder, starting charge for "TSX" is 51.5gr and max charge is 55gr. The Lee manual says that starting charge is 48gr and "never exceed" charge is 52.5. HUH? That is quite a discrepancy. The Lee manual does not specify "TTSX", or "TSX", it only says Barnes X solid bullet. I assume they are the same, but maybe not.

#2 - I am also loading some Barnes 150gr TSX bullets. I am somewhat surprised that the recommended OAL for the 150gr cartridge is 3.210 and the OAL for 130gr cartridges is 3.300. The 150gr bullet is significantly longer than the 130gr bullet, and to get a shorter OAL, the bullet must be seated MUCH deeper in the case. This is counter intuitive. Is there a simple explanation for this?

I am also looking for opinions on powders. To keep things simple, I initially was going to use just one powder, and I chose IMR4831 because it seems to be popular, and my local gun shop has a good supply of it. However, I couldn't resist the temptation to try one other type, so I chose H414. I must admit that the H414 seems much easier to work with. It is much finer in texture and seems to flow through the powder measure much nicer. My guess is that all the popular powders work well, and everyone has their favorites, and you just need to figure out which one works best for you. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks, Ron
 
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