How "important" are certain details when reloading?

[BigJohnH]

HiTechRob is correct, we are simply telling Trophy what we do to get better accuracy out of our weapons. It takes more time to do all those things but they DO NOT hurt anything and if everything is the same everytime and there is still a problem there are only two other options. 1) the weapon is at fault. 2) the shooter is at fault. It is simple logic at work.

 

[roninflag]

HiTechRob is correct, we are simply telling Trophy what we do to get better accuracy out of our weapons. It takes more time to do all those things but they DO NOT hurt anything and if everything is the same everytime and there is still a problem there are only two other options. 1) the weapon is at fault. 2) the shooter is at fault. It is simple logic at work.

BigJohn and Hitech- i did not communicate it postively or nicely . I Applogize to you both and to Trophy for any detraction from his goal. wishing i could delete it . sorry . roninflag.

 

[BigJohnH]

BigJohn and Hitech- i did not communicate it postively or nicely . I Applogize to you both and to Trophy for any detraction from his goal. wishing i could delete it . sorry . roninflag.

No need to appologize but, accepted.

 

[roninflag]

(i can't type or spell.) just sayin i am not the horse's arse it sounded like.

 

[FAL Shot]

Crimping DOES affect accuracy because if you experience bullet setback it will affect accuracy and possibly safety.

That is why a lot of factory ammo is factory crimped.

If you carry ammo to the range in a plastic ammo case and load the rounds one at a time like benchrest shooters do, then no chance of recoil affecting the seating depth and alignment.

For those of us who hunt with several rounds in a hard recoiling rifle, a factory crimp is a good idea. Magnum rifles with short case necks are the most at risk.

The amount of crimp applied to the neck varies with case trim length. It's usually best to trim just under max case length when factory crimping.

Compressed powder loads also push outward on the bullet. Good idea to factory crimp those rounds as well. A hard push in a high vibration environment tends to move things around a bit.

When pulling lots of bullets that has been loaded for several years, it's amazing how much difference in force is needed to pull the bullets. Some bonding ocurs between the two metal surfaces, and it is not consistent round to round. If you had pulled as many hundreds of bullets as I have done, you would know this for a fact. A factory crimp is a more constant force to overcome, and tends to swamp out the metal bonding force to some extent. This is another thing that factories know and another reason they crimp. On quality Nosler ammo, they will probably leave that to the customer to apply the amount of crimp they want, if any at all.

If I buy cheap ammo for the brass, it is shot straight away with no crimp applied; otherwise, it goes straight into the Lee crimping die. A perfectly round factory crimp that I apply, with the case rotated 45 degrees and then crimped again to remove the 4 little crimping marks at 90 degrees from each other, applies a gas tight seal to the round. Hardly any use to apply sealing compound to bullet and primer if primer pocket is clean and tight and the bullet is factory crimped as I do it.

A factory crimp works on bullets without a cannelure, or with a cannelure. It is considered mandatory on ammo loaded for semi-auto rifles. If not considered an accuracy issue, it is still a safety issue.

 

[HiTechRob]

BigJohn and Hitech- i did not communicate it postively or nicely . I Applogize to you both and to Trophy for any detraction from his goal. wishing i could delete it . sorry . roninflag.

Ditto. Thanks for apology. We are all after same thing. To learn from each other and share experience and knowledge. Love this board and info folks contribute.

 

[roninflag]

no one has suggested using a wilson in-line seater.

 

[BigJohnH]

That looks interesting, although I think the custom match grade dies by hornady will do the same thing and they are less expensive, the wilsons are $66.00 ea. I generally start the seat and turn the round to check for drag in the seater and then drive it home. so far no misalignment... Trophy's last targets were closer except for the one flier which could be mechanical rather than ammo.... I may look into one of those Wilson in-line seats but I am anal....lol

 

[roninflag]

Most benchrest shooters use a wilson in-line seater. most benchrest shooters( 100-300 yards) do not weigh their powder charge. There is a long post on using a Lead sled on Predatormasters.com. one who reccomended getting/using a Farley front rest instead. ( many benchrest match winners use it)

 

[trophyhusband]

Buy a sonic cleaner and learn how to use it.

Buy Nosler, Norma or Lapua cases.

Winchester, Federal and R-P brass will have a higher cull rate and shorter life,

Some rifles that have perfectly aligned bores and chambers can tolerate immense bullet jump, while others cannot. Know your rifle.

Buy a chronograph and learn how to use it.

I always factory crimp to add a standard amount of startup resistance. Also adds safety as it prevents bullet setback if dropped.

Forget temp sensitive powders if hunting in varied conditions. I learned this the hard way. Losing velocity on a cold day not only drops the impact point, it changes the timing and changes the bullet pattern, almost always for the worse unless your load was a bit too hot to begin with. I just use Hodgdon Extreme powders and got rid of the problem.

Buy a good case trimmer. Double important if you factory crimp, as it keeps the crimp length consistent as well.

Got a sonic cleaner and I've been using it. I

have 50 Nosler brass and that's all I've been using so far but I also have a couple hundred Winchester brass.

So far I haven't found a lot of difference in different seating depths, but I'll revisit this with match bullets after hunting season.

I have a chrono that is still in the box, but I'll be taking it next time out.

Is a factory crimp a separate die or is it something I can do with my seating die?

What powders are temp sensitive? I hope that I won't be hunting in extreme temps but it does get extremely cold here in the winter and I will still want to shoot through the winter.

I've got a case trimmer. Would you trim every case to the exact same length every time? I've been measuring my cases and only using cases that are between 2.832 and 2.838.

 

[trophyhusband]

no one has suggested using a wilson in-line seater.

What is this? I'm probably not going to buy any more reloading stuff for a while, my wife is getting a little annoyed with my spending on this. I got a ton of stuff from my dad but I've also bought tons of stuff. Here's my reloading bench.

 

[trophyhusband]

Trophy's last targets were closer except for the one flier which could be mechanical rather than ammo....

When you say "mechanical", do you mean the mechanics of my shooting technique? If that's the case, what could cause that? A lot of times I can tell when I've pulled a shot as soon as the trigger breaks, but if I'm pulling shots without realizing it that's a problem.

 

[roninflag]

Most benchrest shooters use a wilson in-line seater. most benchrest shooters( 100-300 yards) do not weigh their powder charge. There is a long post on using a Lead sled on Predatormasters.com. one who reccomended getting/using a Farley front rest instead. ( many benchrest match winners use it)

Trophy- one poster said "everything" helps. some are not revelavant to what you are doing ; too expensive or require a lot set up and support tools and instruments like -neck turning for instance . the inline seater helps make more concentric rounds . the farley rest is very relevant to help with bench technique and very very expensive. and you would have to buy and mount a special fore end on your rifle. so from my stand point for your pupose NOT everything helps. PM to be sent

 

[roninflag]

extreme powders have a coating applied that makes them less temp sensitive. varget , h4831, h4350 ...................others . imr-4831 not extreme, but a great powder for 180's acording to the nosler manual.