Worth reloading for gas guns?

[asd9055]

I am curious, those who use progressive press for rifles, what do you use, what kind of powder measure/drop do you use, what kind of accuracy you get in powder weight and of course rifle accuracy

 

[skipglo]

I reload for my 5.56 gas gun. It is used for prairie dogs and I like to hit them. If shooting at soup cans, use your discretion.

What about pop bottles filled with water? Especially when using a new GARMIN my brother from another mother!!

 

[skipglo]

Just me....not a chance! At 69 cents/ Rd...????? Well correct that ......for a .338 or 50 BMG.... absolutely!

 

[Pointman]

I reload for every firearm I possess, No exceptions. Why, In the utopian state of "California," do I have to go through too many stupid hoops" put in place by current and former Democratic governments. Why? Every law passed never gets repealed. They sit on the "books and fester. I even went to the extreme to cast my bullets for my handguns. My favorite niece and her husband were here over Christmas, so as newer reloading converts, I sent them home with a spare single-stage M.E.C metallic pres and some dies for their 223's. They're casual shooters. Both are students and work art time. Start 'em early and get converts for life.

 

[Chrsm]

Hell yes!
What kind of ? Is that!

 

[HWGW71]

Echoing the sentiments of many who have shared their thoughts before me, I place a high value on precision and accuracy. My daughter's rifle (.224 Valkyrie) shoots handloads in practice and competitions. To emphasize a point made by previous members, when it comes to casual shooting or plinking, factory ammunition is my go-to choice. Cheers!

 

[Ol' Red]

What about pop bottles filled with water? Especially when using a new GARMIN my brother from another mother!!

Sure thing brother Skip. Just don't pee in the bottles if you shooting them up close

 

[Svashtar]

If your running a progressive press its probably not bad but on a single stage it's not worth the time to load 223 ammo for my wife's gun she doesn't hunt so there just paper puncher loads . I usually load for my 223 hunting setup and the ar10 in 308 but there not for paper other than zero checks.

I see what you're saying about paper punching loads, but for the exorbitant cost of factory ammo, even for that it's worth my time on a single stage press to load up 100 rounds to put away whenever I'm hanging out (away from the wife!) at my bench in the garage. That adds up after a while.

Also, once the People's Republik of California passed that BS law in January 2019 not allowing mail order ammo, I prided myself on never buying another box of factory ammo again. I'm not going to be on anyones's registry. So I reload everything, and in advance of that law made sure I had enough reloading components put away to last the next few dozen years or so, getting on the right side of the supply chain for once. I have a Dillon 550B progressive, but only use it for pistol rounds, 9, .38/.357, .40/10mm, and .45 ACP, with 4 toolheads setup for those calibers on a wood stand I built that fits over another set of shelves, and locks into place with bench dog. I have two single stages for decapping / priming and loading anything with a shoulder (mostly 5.56, .308, .30-06 for Garands, and 6.5CM), including .357 SIG, plus .444 Marlin, .44 Mag and .45LC, just how it turned out. And a MEC Jr. for shotshell.

Sometimes I see great mail order deals on shotshells, or recently the CMP had an excellent sale on Creedmoor 10mm already loaded with XTP bullets, and wished I lived in a free state where I could have it mailed to me, but until then I'll make all my own instead of going in and buying overpriced ammo at Turner's and having to go through a background check to get it.

 

[Hydra6]

I am curious, those who use progressive press for rifles, what do you use, what kind of powder measure/drop do you use, what kind of accuracy you get in powder weight and of course rifle accuracy

Dillon 550 and Dillon 650. Load all my 223 on progressive. Load 223 standard length (AR mag length) on Dillon 650 with TAC powder and 69 SMK clones through Dillon powder drop. Need a ball powder - TAC is great. Load 223 bolt rifle loads (AICS mag length) on Dillon 550 with TAC again with 75ELDMs, 80ELDMs, or 80SMKs. Mixed brass on the AR loads - sub MOA in "good" AR barrel at 100. 223 bolt gun loads in SB brass (got a bunch) and 1/2 MOA at 100 yards in PRS trainers.

I loaded 6BR for a while on the Dillon 550 with Dillon powder drop and A2520 powder. Worked good but went back to weighing charges for the 6BR (now 6BRA) but still seat on the Dillon 550.

 

[asd9055]

Dillon 550 and Dillon 650. Load all my 223 on progressive. Load 223 standard length (AR mag length) on Dillon 650 with TAC powder and 69 SMK clones through Dillon powder drop. Need a ball powder - TAC is great. Load 223 bolt rifle loads (AICS mag length) on Dillon 550 with TAC again with 75ELDMs, 80ELDMs, or 80SMKs. Mixed brass on the AR loads - sub MOA in "good" AR barrel at 100. 223 bolt gun loads in SB brass (got a bunch) and 1/2 MOA at 100 yards in PRS trainers.

I loaded 6BR for a while on the Dillon 550 with Dillon powder drop and A2520 powder. Worked good but went back to weighing charges for the 6BR (now 6BRA) but still seat on the Dillon 550.

Thanks! I appreciate the information

 

[del2les]

Currently, I have six gas guns, and I still reload for all of them. However, I was fortunate to somewhat foresee some of the current conditions in our sport and stocked a fair amount of components over the proceeding 2 decades, and also, I purchased a fair amount of surplus when prices were much cheaper.

 

[geeck]

Got the budget? Buy it.
Got the time for a hobby? Roll it.
There's plenty of inexpensive components and the resultant ammo is usually more accurate, comparing apples to apples anyway.
I'd suggest delving into annealing if you start rolling them if yours beats up brass. Gas system fine tuning may help here, too.

Single biggest thing I did to bring down my SD numbers on 308 and 30-06 Milsurp brass was annealing the brass. It seems that some of that brass is pretty "stiff" . Because you're not just neck sizing or bumping back the shoulder, but most of the time full length sizing for a gas gun you will tend to work harden the brass also. Annealing is definitely worth looking in to.... this really is a racket you know LOL

 

[Grey Goast]

Are you saying that factory ammo is or has been unsafe for you? I have read about a few occurrence's with factory ammo but I have never had or knew someone who had a problem with factory ammo.

no I have never had a problem with factory ammo I was just speaking of progressive presses and single stage having a tighter quality control means less chances of an accident of a under powder or over powder load. I do buy factory ammo for the sks it's the only one I don't reload for( 7.62 x39 ).Steel cases when I can find a good deal on Russian ammo in the tin can noncorrosive. If anyone see's any let me know.

 

[Svashtar]

Single biggest thing I did to bring down my SD numbers on 308 and 30-06 Milsurp brass was annealing the brass. It seems that some of that brass is pretty "stiff" . Because you're not just neck sizing or bumping back the shoulder, but most of the time full length sizing for a gas gun you will tend to work harden the brass also. Annealing is definitely worth looking in to.... this really is a racket you know LOL

Absolutely true! When my Dad died in 1982 I inherited a huge pile of .30-06 Lake City brass, some M2 ball once fired, and a bunch that had already been FL sized and reloaded several times. It sat for 40 more years as I had plenty of new milsurp M2 ball to shoot up. I just got to it during the pandemic, and the stuff was filthy and like iron. I decapped it all and swaged the crimped primer pockets where needed, then wet tumbled twice it was so dirty, but annealing brought it all back to life. Looks almost new now. For the Garand I just FL size to push the shoulder back .004" and am good to go, then prime with CCI 34's for a little extra slam-fire insurance.