[Exposure]

After sitting on the fence for ages about reloading the monster 50 BMG cartridge I finally got all my stuff together. I finished my first 10 rounds tonight and I am anxious to see how they shoot tomorrow. They are light target loads but supposedly they should be quite accurate.

Although I have two different powders to start with several people each recommended an identical starting load of 215 grains for both of them with the bullets I have. As that is well below the max load for both powders I feel confident that I am more than safe. I did 5 of each powder variety that I had on hand.

LC01 cases trimed to 3.875"
CCI #35 primer
215 grains of H50 BMG/US869
690 grain FMJBT
OAL of 5.45"

I was very pleased with the Lee 50 BMG press kit, it works great! Nice quality all around, very sturdy, and quite inexpensive compared to other 50 capable reloading presses. I have my RCBS Uniflow set up so that three throws on the charging handle dispenses almost exactly 215 grains of either powder and then just a few kernels trickled in to finish the powder charge. The Lyman 50 BMG case trimmer leaves a bit to be desired and is decidedly NOT for those who wish to process large quantities of 50 cases. For the amount of 50 shooting I do it will get me by. If I ever step up the quantity of 50 rounds I want to make then a power trimmer will be high on my list of must haves.

I'll report back tomorrow with velocities and accuracy, wish me luck.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b301/paulj1973/first50loads.jpg

[50 Shooter]

Looks good, I trim my cases to 3.90.

If you have sky screens on your chrony take them off, you might have to play with the distance from the muzzle also. The muzzle blast might screw up your readings, try about 10 feet out from the muzzle.

215 grs. is a good starting load, most people find their best results between 215-220 grs. of powder. You can play around with the loads to see what your rifle likes.