What have I learned after 11 years on The High Road

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sage5907

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Aug 12, 2011
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I joined The High Road in August 2011 as a way to gain knowledge about reloading and to pass on some of what I knew to others. My progress has been good and this is some information of the information that has been valuable to me.

In July 2012 GooseGestapo posted on a thread about Reloader 17. I really liked what he said. It took several months to get some of the powder but in 2014 a friend who does PRS shooting sold me 5 pounds and using it was one of the biggest surprises I have encountered. I went through the 5 pounds in a matter of weeks and I now use it in the 338-06, 30-06, 270 Winchester and 25-06. What a good find that was. I still use IMR 4064, IMR 4350 and H 4350 but the Reloader 17 is great.

I have also started annealing all of my case necks which I didn't do before and that has really reduced my group size. It's good to feel the same neck tension every time I seat a bullet. I practice at 200 meters and all of my shooting is done with a single shooting stick. The consistency in the reloads has really helped..

I started using Federal 210 Match primers and they are easy to seat and shoot really good. If anyone is having trouble with high primers this is the answer.

I have started experimenting with several new to me bullets. In the past I mainly used both Sierra and Speer boattails and I still do. I have tried Berger with good accuracy but I didn't like them for hunting. I have tried Nosler AccuBond and they are great in my 338-06 but after trying several boxes and several different powders I am struggling with them in my 30-06. My best groups come from Reloader 17.

One of the members suggested using Mechanix gloves for hunting and I really like those. The ones I used are the original gloves and they even come in camo colors. I shoot a recurve bow and these gloves remind me of finger gloves used for bow hunting because they are sensitive.

I have started using both ear muffs and ear plugs for shooting. The reduced noise has made the shooting more enjoyable. I have never had a problem with recoil and I have used a large rifle so much I may be punch drunk. My thanks to everyone who has provided the good information during the past 9 years. I said 11 years in the title but it's only been 9.
 
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As to safety, I think the most dangerous thing a reloader can do is to dump a charge of powder in a bottleneck case and then, for whatever reason, dump the charge back out and then dump a second charge into that same case. Several grains of powder can be held in the case by static electricity resulting in a dangerous load. I have a friend who ruptured a case and blew the magazing out of a PRS 6 Dasher and I'm convinced that's what he did. I had seen him drop a load, dump it out, and drop a second load on occasion but out of respect to him I said nothing. Sometimes it's hard to keep your mouth shut.
 
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This is the first forum I joined and the one I most frequent, best group of guys and gals out there with the knowledge we seek to gain.
 
I've learned that a ton of ya'll have a freakishly weird fear of wildlife. And sometimes dogs.

That there's a thousand conditions to carry a 1911 (and other assorted pistol types) that nobody skillful will ever use, but will be debated endlessly with mile long posts.

9mm is as effective as air support from an A10.

That a design feature in a pistol, that's completely and entirely irrelevant, can be a deal breaker to some.

And don't ask questions that you really don't want honestly answered in the reloading section.
 
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