Detailed reloading, any one else?

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Peter M. Eick

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I was reloading rifle this weekend and I started thinking I was getting a bit meticulous. My standard procedures are as follows every time:
1) Tumble brass
2) lube
3) resize
4) tumble and polish
5) trim, chamfer and deburr
6) inspect (weigh, sort by weight)
7) clean primer pocket
8) clean flash hole
9) inspect (general review of overall quality and condition)
10) prime and inspect primer
11) weigh every powder charge
12) seat bullet
13) case gauge (dillon dimension check)
14) col check
15) box
16) document and archive results.

I find I can do this procedure in about 40 seconds from set 5 on. I use an RCBS power trimmer with a 3 way cutter, a power powder dispensor, and 2 digitial scales.

I am curious what others do and how this compares to your procedures. By the way, these are my "match" loads for my M1A Match rifles in 308 winchester. The bullet is a 168 grn Seirra BTHP and the powder is either IMR4895 or IMR4064 depending on the range I intend on using them on.
 
you got it!

I don't use a case gauge, just check OAL with a caliper. Also, I do the trimming and chamfering and primer pocket cleaning before the second tumble. I use a single stage Rockchucker and a manual scale, so it takes a little longer. I also use the 3 way cutters, which can get pricey for every caliber, but Midway now sells the pilots and deburr blades seperately at about $7 a pop.
 
I use a single stage, so I tend to do certain things in "bunches", as in I'll decap and resize 200 or so, then drop them in the tumbler for an hour. I trim the rifle brass, and clean flash holes, but not the pistol cases, as the second tumbling usually cleans them pretty good.
I'll prime cases for an hour or so, and store the primed cases for later use.
I weight every tenth charge thrown from my RCBS powder measure. I do weight every charge for the 7.62x54R, simply becuase the charges are high, and I want to be spot on!
 
1) Inspect case before depriming.
2) Deprime using universal depriming die.
3) Clean in tumbler.
4) Remove from tumbler,
5) Clean flashhole with straightened paper clip.
6) Clean primer pocket with small screwdriver.

Note 1 & 2 and 5 & 6 in one operation.

7) Lube cases (rifle only).
8) Size cases.
9) Clean cases with rag and back into tumbler for a final clean to remove lube(rifle only).
10) Remove from tumbler (rifle only).
11) Clean flashhole with straightened paper clip (rifle only).
12) Sort cases and final inspection of cases.
13) Measure length of cases and if necessary trim(rifle only).
14) Bell cases (45/70 and pistol only).
15) Prime cases.
16) Charge cases (almost always weigh every charge with RCBS powder pro scale and Powder Dispenser).
17) Seat Bullet.
18) Crimp bullet (45/70 and pistol only).
19) Pack and label cartridges.
20) Shoot them.
21) Back to 1).
 
I reload for Highpower Competition and I shoot the M1A. I buy surplus brass in big batches (2000 or so at a time). With the new brass, I size, trim, debur, debur the flashhole and uniform the primer pockets. I do a pretty coarse cull by weight (I think I used 1.0grs out as my limit) and use the rejects for offhand practice--this is the only time I weigh brass. I prep brass in batches of 300-500, then load as necessary.

Brass Prep:
1. Tumble
2. Wipe down
3. Lube & size
4. Wipe down
5. Scrape primer pockets
6. Trim & Debur (every other firing)
7. Prime

8. Charge 55 at a time (I seldom weigh individual charges)
9. Label box
10. Seat

I use a Harrell powder measure and a comp seating die, both of which have repeatable indexes, so I just dial in the setting I want and check the 1st round through. The seating die was set using a RCBS Precision Case Mic, the locked in place forever, so I never check individual rounds with a case gage.

I'm a good enough highpower shooter to know for certain that I'm not losing points due to ammunition (average of 485 out of 500 these days). With this process, I get a 1.2 MoA or better off the bench with the 125 TNT MK (my 200yd bullet) and 0.8MoA or better with the 168SMK. I'm using 4895 now but have gotten just as good with 4064, Varget, & VhitaV N140 (I'd shoot that stuff exclusively if it wasn't so pricey).

Ty
 
peter, I follow the same for match except,

6) inspect (weigh, sort by weight)
7) clean primer pocket
8) clean flash hole
I put #6 after 7&8. Sort by weight after primer pockets are clean. If you want to get very perticular, sort by volume instead of weight. Fill cases with water and weigh the water. then sort.
~z
 
45 ACP Reloading

1 Tumble brass as the bucket gets full ahead of time
2 Sort Brass by head stamp into buckets ahead of time
3 Depending on gun loading for I get brass ready to go in Akro bins
4 Load Primer Pick up tubes with 1K of primers
5 Unbox 1K of bullets into Akro bins
6 Verify powder charge on 550B
7 Verify COAL with test round
8 Spend about 2.5 hours loading 1K of ammo

Go to range and use ammo!
Start process over!

223 Rem Reloading

1 Tumble brass clean as bucket get full ahead of time
2 Lube brass and FL or neck size brass per the gun being loaded for.
3 Tumble clean the brass
4 Trim, chamfer, deburr with Giruad :) :neener:
4a I uniform the flash hole on new brass, only needs doing once
5 Clean primer pocket out
6 I put the brass in zip lock bags with history on it.

Then depending on applicaton, ie PD ammo or larger lots of plinking ammo, I set up the 550B and load the ammo up. I use powders that have consistency when used in 550B. I like TAC for this application.

For precision ammo I load on single stage and weigh all the charges.

308 ammo

I have 300 pcs of Lapua brass so the brass history is tracked. I have 10 reloads on on lot of 100. The primer pockets are as snug as new! The brass cleans up great! I load up 50 rds at time as the box is used up.

1 I neck size with 339 bushing in Redding Type S Neck Die
2 I neck size with 336 bushing in Redding Type S Neck Die
3 I use the body die every 4th reload
4 I trimm the brass in the Giruad
5 I clean up the case next with bore brush
6 I touch up case mouth K&M chamfering tool
7 I clean primer pocket up
8 I reprime with RCBS Hand Held Tool
9 I weight the powder charge
10 I seat the bullet half way with Forster Comp. Seater, and rotate 180 degrees for final seating.
11 Record history and put away!
 
Pete,

I shoot 1,000 yard F Class Matches, so any discrepancies in loaded ammo are readily apparent at that distance. Here is my routine:

1) Tumble brass (only if once-fired brass I bought from someone)
2) inspect and deprime using Universal Depriming Die
3) sort by weight (only if new once-fired USGI Match brass)
4) lube and resize with body die (only if new once-fired brass)
5) tumble (only if new once-fired brass)
6) uniform primer pocket and debur flash hole (one time w/new brass)
7) neck size (I use Redding Ti bushings, so no lube needed)
8) trim (only after brass has been fired once in my rifle)
9) chamfer (only if brass has just been trimmed)
10) prime and inspect primer
11) weigh every powder charge
12) seat bullet

I do not concern myself with OAL, unless magazine constraints are an issue, in which case I seat the bullet to the maximum OAL that will magazine feed. If the magazine length is not a factor (i.e. my chamber length is shorter than my magazine), I set up my Redding Competition Seater Die to seat the bullet about .010 off of the leade. The distance I have from cartridge base to the throat is determined by using a Stoney Point OAL Guage. I use only high BC match bullets, and all my loads have been chronographed.

Don
 
Let's see now...We'll start with #1

#1........
#2........
#3........No. that's not right...Better start over again... :scrutiny:

#1.......
#2.......
#4.......
#8.......Rats. That doesn't look right...Start again... :mad:

#1...... :D :D :D

Good job Peter M Eich...Ya got-em goin' :neener: At least they are thinkin' about it. And the beginners get a look at the experts ;)
 
I generally skip 5-8 in your system, other than that we do the same.

As for the skipping? I by brass in 1000 round lots, and it's 95% pistol brass(38, 357,41, 44). So during it's FIRST loading it goes through all your steps, including 5-8. After that I've found no benefit on paper or chrono screens to do those steps every time.

"serious duty" ammo is always NEW cases anyway(from a proven lot).
 
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