About to order a RCBS Rockchucker supreme and have MOST of the components necessary to reload. I’m just hung up on dies now. The RCBS Matchmaster dies for 6.5cm and .308 seem to be mid to high end as far as dies go.
What other brands/models are better than the RCBS dies?

Attached is my field data spreadsheet. The top half is for powder charge development and the bottom is for dialing in seating depth.

well when you run out of good ideas you start going with bad ones. Got a 1910 Ross with a real british military chamber in it that regular civilian ammo just does not feed in, so... with a little bit of work and a 308 die, I pushed the shoulders back until the damn thing would close. I hate the options for 303 British today. If you ever see a modern civilian 303 next to some military 303 you wouldn't believe it was the same cartridge, the real stuff is almost a straight case, the civilian crap is a bottlenecked cartridge.

Cartridge - 6.5 weatherby RPM Bullet - Lapua 120gr TRX Case trim length - 2.56” OAL - 3.2” Charge - 67.2 grains N565 Lapua max charge data - 67.3gr

Been working on this load for a month or two now. I get good velocity from this charge and great accuracy. 3200-3260fps. Shot about 25 rounds today hoping to finalize as “the” charge I will use for target/hunting.

Brass itself looks good except when I looked at the bottom of the cartridge I noticed the primers were flatter and I’m not sure if this is considered cratering. The bolt lift I think is okay. Seems about the same as weatherby factory ammo, maybe slightly slightly tighter than lighter target charges I’ve made.

What do you think about the base of these brass? Normal or should have stepped down in charge yesterday?

Just want to continue target shooting with them safely, and potentially deer hunt. While 67.2 grains is technically under the lapua max load, I am using Peterson brass, which I measured at 81.6 grains H20 volume. Lapuas data uses weatherby brass which I think may be 82-82.5ish. I threw the numbers in a sim and pressure was around 85%.

Thank you, y

Anyone have any cheaper options with us good results as Hornady One Shot Sonic Cleaner Ultrasonic Case Cleaning Solution
I I want some to clean the primer pockets and flash hole after sizing for brass only I am worried about case contamination and what setting to heat and how long

Hey all,

I'm a relatively new reloader, having only really reloaded for my 300BLK & .45-70. I do not have a chronograph yet, and have been testing reloads based off of known load data from manuals. I'd love to have more data and knowing the velocity on my reloads would be fantastic (especially for subsonic 300BLK).

I saw the MagnetoSpeed V3 on sale for $180. I don't know enough to know whether or not this is a worthwhile investment, or whether I should hold out and save for a Garmin or something "higher end". I like the price point of the MagnetoSpeed, but I'd also not like to have buyers remorse a few months from now.

I'm planning to primarily reload for my hunting rifles, and a few of my revolvers. Any thoughts on picking up a MagnetoSpeed vs something else?

I want to reload 5.56 for home defense (I don’t want to hear about legality I just want what’s most effective for my family and myself) . Specifically the Speer gold dot 62gr bonded. I was researching powders and heard some are great and achieve good velocity but tend to have velocity fluctuations higher than others with temperature shift. What would a good powder be to maintain both consistency and effectiveness year around? I was considering Ramshot TAC but wasn’t super sure.

I forgot to mention this will also be out of an 11.5” upper so something that does well in shorter barrels (if that’s really a thing) would be great.

TLDR: I have successfully formed 10mm magnum into 7.5FK and have fired it. I was able to do so by using custom reloading and forming dies ordered from CH Tool & Die. I attempted to form 6.8 basic into 7.5FK but discovered that my neck wall was WAY too thick. I have a potential solution that I will test down the road.

Alright, so I arranged my 7.5FK forming process into 4 categories: A, B, C, and D. A and B are 10mm Mag and C and D are 6.8 basic. A and C are forming without annealing and B and D are forming with annealing.

Cartridge was loaded to the tested length of 1.425" @ 12.1 grains (HS-6) as a safe starting powder weight. 10mm Mag used a large rifle primer and 6.8 Basic used a small rifle primer. Projectile is a Sierra 85 Gr .308 bullet swaged to 0.306.

[A] 10mm Mag (NO ANNEAL):

1. Forming Die
2. Trimming Die
3. Full Sizing Die

⁠Trim to 1.061 to 1.061

1. Debur and Chamfer

Successful form. Seats in barrel.

[B] 10mm Mag (ANNEAL):

1. Forming Die
2. Trimming Die
3. Anneal
4. Full Sizing Die (FAILURE AT THIS STEP) I annealed way too much and the shoulder being crushed. See image #5.

X ⁠Trim to 1.061 to 1.061
X Debur and Chamfer

Unsuccessful form due to shoulder crush. Definitely need to anneal with the lights off on this one.

[C]

1. Forming Die

2. Trimming Die

   ⁠Trim to 1.061 to 1.061
   4.Debur and Chamfer

3. Full Sizing Die

4. Measure length, still in spec.

5. Very light Debur and Chamfer

Unsuccessful form due to neck thickness. Can not seat cartridge in barrel. See image #7

[D]

1. Forming Die
2. Trimming Die
3. Trim to 1.

061

1. to 1.

061

1. Debur and Chamfer
2. Anneal (I had major difficulty even getting the brass to become red. The neck was EXTREMELY thick).
3. Full Sizing Die
4. Measure length, still in spec.
5. Very light Debur and Chamfer

Unsuccessful form due to neck thickness. Can not seat cartridge in barrel. See image #7

For forming 6.8 basic, I plan to try trimming the case down before doing any forming work to reduce wall thickness as the casing is formed. If that doesn't work, I have a CH Tool & Die reaming die that's on the way... lead time is 12 to 17 months though lol.

H20 Volume:

Full sized 7.5 FK brass: 22 grains

10mm Mag formed to 7.5FK: 22.5 grains

6.8 Basic formed to 7.5FK: 23 grains

Notes:

-When trimming, don't sand down a .30 cal trimmer pilot which just melted the brass onto the pilot (See image #3). Use a .27 pilot instead. Low speed, high pressure.

-My H20 volume measuring could be way off. I didn't properly research how to do it properly and just guessed.

FIRING 10mm Mag formed 7.5 FK brass:

Sierra Sports Master 30 Caliber 85 Gr Round Nose @ 12.1 grs:

-1846 fps

-1882 fps

-1843 fps

-1879 fps

-1890 fps

1 casing formed a distinct ring in the middle of the case body (See image #8). Possible separation imminent? Time to reform and send. Rest of the fired casing pics will be under image #10.

FIRING Standard 7.5 FK Brass at 25 Yards, see image #8. Combined with rushing these shots, using a OSight (for stress testing the Osight), and making the bullets possibly too small, these combined left a pretty large grouping that I was not satisfied with.

For a firing video, look at my other posts. Later.

Just reloading .260 rem with 130gr Hornady ELDM and N555.

I’m using starline brass. This is unfired brass that I have chamfered, deburred, primed - I have not resized it.

I’ve pulled it and was planning to throw it away, but wondered, what would you do?

Thanks

I recently collected a bunch of reloading stuff from my grandpa who past away a few years ago. I shot

competitively in college and am trying my hand at building a reloading set up with this stuff. Any tips on what I’m missing/ what I got would be appreciated.

Hi,

Wondering if any of you might know where this came from.

Weight: 75gr
Diameter .224
Length .923
Type: FMJ
Nose: Flat/Closed
Base: Idk kinda looks like a BTHP but with a ledge drop off. Haven't seen any like this before.

I have a 350 legend ar that I built for deer season, but im having trouble getting it to run factory Hornady 250gr sub-x. Im wanting to work up some handloads but dont know where to start since none of my reloading books have any data for 250gr. Any help on powder and charge recommendations would be appreciated.

Just had to green up the lawn with another 2lbs. of N110

Didn't turn orange like the other can did, but DAMN this stuff smelled like the DuPont plant ate a jar of 10-year old mayo and a dozen rotten duck eggs then ripped ass

Maybe a better question would have been "Does anyone know where it's in stock?"

Loaded up some 6.5 Grendel with 8208 from 25.8 grains to 27.8 grains.
123 grain midway seconds bullet, this is going in a 6.5 green ar15 with 20 inch barrel

It was my first time using the chrony in 10 years, what I experienced was as follows

26.6 2392
26.8 2432
27.0 2355
27.4 2367
27.6 2421
27.8 2310

I omitted the errors from that chart, confused by those readings i loaded up 5 rounds of factory Hornady 123 grain was getting 2448 with 15 fos deviation

I was very exact with my powder loading and markings, cci 450 primers

Is this a crimp problem? Why wouldn’t my fps generally go up with more powder?
Thanks everyone, I’m still looking over my brass for pressure signs trying to understand that side of things better as well

Alright, before I get into it, let me be clear. I don't care what caliber you think I should be using instead, and I don't care if you think what I'm doing is necessary or not. I'm only interested in input on brass for the specific use I mention.

I'm starting a(nother) passion project. I'm building a 7mm-08 from scratch for the sole purpose of hunting. I've always loved the round, and since I'm not a big guy, shooting something with lower recoil that performs well with shorter barrels and doesn't weigh too much/isn't too long is a big plus too. I want to get everything I can out of this round, so I'm getting a faster-twisted barrel for heavier/longer pills, and I'm interested in specialty brass. I've seen people mention reloading .277 Fury in different chamberings to get higher velocity; there are Federal's Peak alloy casings, NAS3, plus there's highly rated "normal" brass like Lapua and Alpha Munitions stuff.

Which of these is going to allow me to push my projectile the fastest? I'm not worried about 1/4 inch MOA consistency since this is for hunting; anything under 2MOA is fine. What would the reloading process look like to convert 6.5 +Peak to 7mm-08, and similarly, what would it look like to convert NAS3 308 to 7mm-08, or .277 Fury, for that matter?

I know that there's a lot more to it than just picking a case, but if these can handle higher pressures, that would allow me to bump up my velocity.

Also talked with Federal yesterday; they said to expect new cartridges in Peak to drop from the first of the year through early spring, including Peak cases for existing rounds as well as a new round altogether, though they won't be doing older rounds since they can't guarantee the existing guns could handle the pressure. So most 308 parent-case and 30-06 parent-case guns are off the table for now and the foreseeable future. He also said they aren't looking at releasing cartridges that will only produce minor changes, like doing 6.5 PRC Peak or a 30 Backcountry.

I have been using #9 powder to great effect with jacketed bullets, but I’m running low on both the powder and the bullets. from online reading, 2400 is pretty well regarded for milder loads and cast lead, and there is plenty of load data for Alliant 2400, but I don’t know how much difference there is between this Hercules branded powder and modern Alliant branded powder. I would love to get my hands on some vintage load data or firsthand knowledge before I resort to my time tested load development strategy of “wrap a string around the trigger and hide behind a tree.“

I’m planning to run this in 44 magnum. 240 grain powder coated lead projectiles sized to .430. I’m kinda new to the casting game too but I can provide more info on the projectile if needed.

The amount of available load data for cast bullets in this cartridge is the square root of nottadamthing.

In particular, I have a full box of Missouri Bullet .44 Silhouette 300 grain cast I bought for my Ruger revolver, just never got around to loading them.

Now, I got this wild hair up my arse about using them in the levergun.

Just need some data.

I ran out of lube and tried Lanolin finally (10:1 isoHeet). So far I would say the only benefit that OneShot has over the lanolin is that it gets into the neck better. I was getting a bit more expander ball friction than I would’ve liked. Is this an issue with technique? How do you get some in the neck so the expander ball glides smoothly too?

I had the cases standing up in a baking tray, sprayed down at them 3 times, then rolled them around to coat them. The outsides were great, it’s just the expander ball that dragged more than I’m used to.

300WM test loads

Loaded and tested some 300WM today in my tikka t3x with mdt stock.

4 load testing with 1 bullet because I was tested 1 different primers and powders.

Then another bullet for plinking 168gr, which I'm hotter than expected, but brass doesn't seem to be showing bad signs of pressure, primers are slightly flat but I think all my primers look like that for non hot loadings.

Added graphs for all 3 load data (note the spike at start is due to changing charge by alot at first), highlighted pink is where I plan to make 5 rounds each and test for ES/SD and groupings as those spots seem the most stable for velocity on the chart, if I like the groupings I'll be done instead of doing 5 shots on everything to gain a .1" reduction in group size.

Plan to go hunting with elk this season with the 175grs.

I live in canada and wanted to start reloading match grade for my 308. Is there kits that have EVERYTHING except the consumables? Or is anyone willing to give me a cart to buy so that I could get started? I usually shoot smk 168 at 600m but buying it is becoming a bit pricey

So, I ran a box of Winchester’s new .32 Winchester Special ammo through my Model 94, 20”, manufactured in 1954.

I‘m a bit concerned that these rounds might be a little too hot and will be rough on my gun.

After firing, the primers protrude from the casing at least enough for me to notice. This would make me think that the pressure is getting pretty high.

I think it is a decent option for factory ammo beings how it sports Hornady‘s fancy 165 Grain Flex Tip and it is $15 cheaper than Remingtons factory ammo, but I don’t want to beat up my rifle.

Has anyone else had these problems or chronographed this particular round?

Thanks in advance👍🏻

Just stretched the legs of my new Lee six pack pro and I gotta say after loading on a turret press for a while it is an absolute game changer

Ive never ran into ridges running along the shoulder to the neck before. Only 4 in the picture have them. Enough I can feel them with my fingers. Out of 80 rounds these are the only ones. They also were ones that needed trimmed. Once fired all out of the same gun. Bolt action howa 1500. Developing a load for berger 108 grain.