The Truth About Reloading Belted Cartridges

[WapitiBob]

The more I learn about reloading, the more I learn how much I don't know. I hate to reveal my ignorance. I have seen this mentioned numerous times, but I don't quite get it. How do you know how much you are bumping the shoulder? It would be guess work with calipers, seeing it is a slanted surface. I am guessing there is something I am missing, making this a dumb question. But I haven't figured it out yet. I have just re-set my dies again according to what I am reading. As far as I can tell, I am resizing only the necks, based on where I see the marks on the brass. I kept adjusting down until it hits close to the shoulder. But I don't see where I could measure this to any accuracy. Thanks in advance for the help.

Light a candle and run the case shoulder thru the flame. The burning wax will create soot on the case. Set the die depth to just touch the soot. That'll get you close to optimum. Most of us use the hornady "comparator" that attaches to your calipers and measure from the case head to a point on the case shoulder. If you measure a once fired case and get a baseline, you can then adjust the die to bump fired cases to your desired amount. Belted cases will eventually get big at the belt because a fl sizer won't go down far enough to size that area without bumping the shoulder back 10-20 thou. I use the collet sizer from larry willis dot com. It works great and is the only body sizing I do on my 7stw.

 

[Hugnot]

I use a feeler gauge from Home Depot and position my F/L die .005 above the same shell holder that I keep with my .300 WM dies. The case headspaces on shoulder and stripped bolt closes with slight resistance. As mentioned my cases are getting fatter just above the belt and I will need to deal with that at some point.

 

[FEENIX]

Another zombied thread! For those that have been around, I find it difficult to read this thread.

 

[iclick]

I load for 300 Win mag, 257 Wby mag, 7 mm Rem mag and 7mm STW. Have never had an issue loading for any of those belted cases. Don't treat them any different than any of the dozen or so non belted rifle cases that I load. On another note if you want a true long range 7mm go with the STW.

 

[Hespco]

I bought a new Rem 700 7mag in 1963 & a 264 mag in 1964. I have been reloading for these two belted rounds plus have loaded 300 WM, 338 mag & 300 H&H. I have never had a problem with loading or shooting these rounds. Talk against the belt allows various companies to produce new styled unbelted rounds they say are better to stimulate sales of their so called better, un -belted style case.

 

[Gwine]

The more I learn about reloading, the more I learn how much I don't know. I hate to reveal my ignorance. I have seen this mentioned numerous times, but I don't quite get it. How do you know how much you are bumping the shoulder? It would be guess work with calipers, seeing it is a slanted surface. I am guessing there is something I am missing, making this a dumb question. But I haven't figured it out yet. I have just re-set my dies again according to what I am reading. As far as I can tell, I am resizing only the necks, based on where I see the marks on the brass. I kept adjusting down until it hits close to the shoulder. But I don't see where I could measure this to any accuracy. Thanks in advance for the help.

You need a comparator. This will attach to your calipers to provide a repeatable point to measure to the datum line on the case shoulder. Hornady makes a decent product.

 

[Ken61]

I bought the Ultra mags and avoided the problem.

 

[Les in Wyoming]

You need a comparator. This will attach to your calipers to provide a repeatable point to measure to the datum line on the case shoulder. Hornady makes a decent product.

Thanks

 

[longestrange]

One cartridge that needs a belt is the .375 H&H. The case has a lot of taper and the shoulder is almost non-existent. Headspacing off the shoulder thus is quite risky as the case is more likely to push forward when the firing pin drops. The taper eases extraction which is very important when using, for example, a double rifle where there is no massive bolt camming force. More dangerous game has been taken worldwide with the 375 than anything else by far, and it has an enviable track record dating back for many decades.

 

[DJ Fergus]

When considering the best caliber to base a long range build off of, the cartridge I seem to be partial to is the 7mm Rem Mag. It is a top performer ballistically, but I have been told my numerous individuals that reloading belted cartridges is a pain. This makes me lean more towards the 280 AI, similar (although not quite) ballistically yet not belted. Another individual told me there is absolutely no difference between reloading belted and non belted ammo. So I am here to find out from people who reload for the 7mm Rem Mag. I reload quite a bit for 223, 22-250, 243 and 270 but have never reloaded belted ammo. Can you neck size or FL belted cases? Is there any crimping procedure after bullet seating? Can you trim and resize cases the same as non belted cases? Can you get the same number of cycles out of a case? Are you limited on the range of the depth you seat your bullet at? Anything I am missing?

Thanks in advance for your insight.

I neck size 7mm rem mag with a Lee Collet neck sizer. I push mine pretty hard. I get about 3 firings on brass before pockets loosens up I set the brass aside for emergency brass. This is Nosler brass. ADG will last longer. You can usually get 50 pcs of ADG or Nosler brass in 7mm rem mag for $60-$70. Adg will be the better option. I like the 7mm rem mag. I've never had any problems pushing a 162gr to 3050fps and a 180 to 2900 fps with retumbo. A 280 ai would fall right in there with reloading the cartridges you're already reloading for. It wouldn't be that much difference for you. Don't over look a 7mm SS. You can get fully formed ADG brass for the 7mm SS from Rich Sherman. It's going to be hard to beat as far as brass longevity and barrel longevity. I don't think you will be disappointed with any of these cartridges.

 

[badthirtyone]

Tagging in...

 

[DJ Fergus]

I neck size 7mm rem mag with a Lee Collet neck sizer. I push mine pretty hard. I get about 3 firings on brass before pockets loosens up I set the brass aside for emergency brass. This is Nosler brass. ADG will last longer. You can usually get 50 pcs of ADG or Nosler brass in 7mm rem mag for $60-$70. Adg will be the better option. I like the 7mm rem mag. I've never had any problems pushing a 162gr to 3050fps and a 180 to 2900 fps with retumbo. A 280 ai would fall right in there with reloading the cartridges you're already reloading for. It wouldn't be that much difference for you. Don't over look a 7mm SS. You can get fully formed ADG brass for the 7mm SS from Rich Sherman. It's going to be hard to beat as far as brass longevity and barrel longevity. I don't think you will be disappointed with any of these cartridges.

I didn't realize this thread was started in 2015. Oh well.

 

[338 dude]

I've loaded for 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag and truth be told the belt doesn't seem to be a big deal. It is about like loading non belted stuff. Whatever you do to that will work on belted cases. I prefer the modern cartridges that head space off the shoulder (and typically operate at higher pressure) but the belted stuff works. I have seen a buddies rifle (7mm Rem Mag) that you can barely close the bolt on factory ammo. He says it is setup for min headspace. That is more of an issue with a belted case because the belt won't give like a shoulder will.

I've also heard that belted cases don't feed as well as non belted cases but I've never had such a problem. It probably depends more on the design of the rifle than the case.

Having said all that, I'm looking to do a build of the new 28 Nosler. I have a 26 Nosler and I really like the case. It is plenty tough and rated for 65,000 PSI. The 26 is a bit high strung and thus touchy to load for but the 7mm version should be really nice. I figure you'll get 7mm RUM performance with a bit less powder. The downside of that case is that it is new and expensive as hell for the brass. It is so expensive that it is just sitting on the shelf at my local shop so no problem getting it. The weird thing is you can buy loaded 26 Nosler ammo for about the same price as the empty brass!

Then I would buy factory ammo and the first shot is free