Been there done that, as many of us have.
First reload
- Thread starter KJurick
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Just because you don't do that does not mean it will not work.
There is no guarantee merely chamfering the case will stop jacket shaving. I have seen it too many times.
There is no guarantee merely chamfering the case will stop jacket shaving. I have seen it too many times.
Flair rifle brass for jacketed bullets???
Chamfer neck yes, flair no.
I felt the same way on the first one
You need to buy a few. The Lee die will flare almost any round.
I have Lyman M dies for every caliber from 22 cal to 50-70 Govt.
All of my straight wall rifle die sets have a expander/flare die from the factory.
I suggest you pull some seated bullets. You will find the heel of most of them has been peeled or at least scarred.
I have Lyman M dies for every caliber from 22 cal to 50-70 Govt.
All of my straight wall rifle die sets have a expander/flare die from the factory.
I suggest you pull some seated bullets. You will find the heel of most of them has been peeled or at least scarred.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
I don't want to sidetrack the thread as flairing bottle neck rifle cases for jacketed bullets should be a topic for a different thread.
Most bottleneck rifle sets I have seen do not.
My mental error, I was equating rifle=bottleneck since the OP was loading .243
Yep, a straight wall rifle round (which I wasn't thinking about) I imagine would probably have to be flaired just like a 9mm, .357 etc.
Lymans site recommends M dies for lead or flat based bullets in rifle rounds so you could flair bottleneck rounds for jacketed bullets if there was a need, I have never had a need to.
Others may. I don't want the OP thinking he doesn't have something he needs to load .243. (I have never loaded .243 but I would guess it loads about the same procedure wise as .223)
Thousands and thousands of .223 and never flaired one....
I would imagine there have been millions of rounds of .223/5.56 loaded without being flaired, so is flairing them wrong, no, is it necessary, no.
But of course I have done other things wrong thousands of times as well.
No flair die in 2 die sets, or for example my 3 die Lee .223 set.
Resize/deprime/neck expand, bullet seat, crimp (if needed/desired)
Most bottleneck rifle sets I have seen do not.
My mental error, I was equating rifle=bottleneck since the OP was loading .243
Yep, a straight wall rifle round (which I wasn't thinking about) I imagine would probably have to be flaired just like a 9mm, .357 etc.
Lymans site recommends M dies for lead or flat based bullets in rifle rounds so you could flair bottleneck rounds for jacketed bullets if there was a need, I have never had a need to.
Others may. I don't want the OP thinking he doesn't have something he needs to load .243. (I have never loaded .243 but I would guess it loads about the same procedure wise as .223)
Thousands and thousands of .223 and never flaired one....
I would imagine there have been millions of rounds of .223/5.56 loaded without being flaired, so is flairing them wrong, no, is it necessary, no.
But of course I have done other things wrong thousands of times as well.
No flair die in 2 die sets, or for example my 3 die Lee .223 set.
Resize/deprime/neck expand, bullet seat, crimp (if needed/desired)
Last edited:
Yes, why complicate things for a beginner with beginner questions.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
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Reworded it.
Nature Boy
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A lot of good advice here and you seem to have the anal/OCD qualities that are the foundation of a good reloader.
Let me add emphasis to a couple of comments.
1. Get a chamfer/deburr tool and use it on each case after trimming. It will help eliminate shaving copper off your bullets when seating them. Deburrung will also make sure your rounds feed smoothly
2. Get a chase gage and check your brass after sizing. This will make sure your ammo will fit your chamber. You can use your rifle to do the same thing but a case gage is handier
Most of the time you spend reloading will be on brass prep. Invest in tools that make it better and easier and it will pay off later
Let me add emphasis to a couple of comments.
1. Get a chamfer/deburr tool and use it on each case after trimming. It will help eliminate shaving copper off your bullets when seating them. Deburrung will also make sure your rounds feed smoothly
2. Get a chase gage and check your brass after sizing. This will make sure your ammo will fit your chamber. You can use your rifle to do the same thing but a case gage is handier
Most of the time you spend reloading will be on brass prep. Invest in tools that make it better and easier and it will pay off later
fotheringill
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For the comment in #30 post here, Indeed.
It was overwhelming at the very least when I started and had a recurrence as recently as yesterday.
I would suggest letting the first time guys concentrating on the manual basics until a certain comfort level is reached, no matter how well or poorly one groups. Then, work on the more esoteric stuff one by one.
To any new reloaders- please be aware that many of the matters discussed here and suggestions made appear to be for those who are fine tuning their methods and practices to get that one ragged hole group at 100 yards (or more) cut into a quarter of that size or less. You ain't there yet nor am I.
Go slow, learn completely, get to know your equipment (press, dies, scales, drops or dispensers and whatnot) and what it is supposed to do and what it does for you that is different. Enjoy yourself, don't get cowed by all the variables and understand that the basics will get meat on your table or into your stew pot but target shooting is another thing entirely. Save money by reloading, sure for the meat, otherwise it is a gazillion dollars for equipment.
A case in point is one of my range pals yesterday. He has a very old, beat up original style Jeep, the small basic one. He comes to the range with a few rifles in hard case, a drummer's stool, front and back rest, miscellaneous stuff and things and wind ribbons on rebar and a shop case approximately 2'-3'. I asked him what he has spent already on stuff and things. He said north of $3000 without rifles and that was to save money by reloading. Then, he drops a bomb on me. He is thinking of getting a mini van since all of his stuff, in addition to the new wind indicators he ordered and received and not yet assembled are not going to fit into the back of his Jeep. So he is up to the point of getting another vehicle to carry his shooting things. So folks, please don't complain about that $4.00 increase in the price of a $90 die.
BTW- For those in the music industry, what color should a drummer's stool be?
It was overwhelming at the very least when I started and had a recurrence as recently as yesterday.
I would suggest letting the first time guys concentrating on the manual basics until a certain comfort level is reached, no matter how well or poorly one groups. Then, work on the more esoteric stuff one by one.
To any new reloaders- please be aware that many of the matters discussed here and suggestions made appear to be for those who are fine tuning their methods and practices to get that one ragged hole group at 100 yards (or more) cut into a quarter of that size or less. You ain't there yet nor am I.
Go slow, learn completely, get to know your equipment (press, dies, scales, drops or dispensers and whatnot) and what it is supposed to do and what it does for you that is different. Enjoy yourself, don't get cowed by all the variables and understand that the basics will get meat on your table or into your stew pot but target shooting is another thing entirely. Save money by reloading, sure for the meat, otherwise it is a gazillion dollars for equipment.
A case in point is one of my range pals yesterday. He has a very old, beat up original style Jeep, the small basic one. He comes to the range with a few rifles in hard case, a drummer's stool, front and back rest, miscellaneous stuff and things and wind ribbons on rebar and a shop case approximately 2'-3'. I asked him what he has spent already on stuff and things. He said north of $3000 without rifles and that was to save money by reloading. Then, he drops a bomb on me. He is thinking of getting a mini van since all of his stuff, in addition to the new wind indicators he ordered and received and not yet assembled are not going to fit into the back of his Jeep. So he is up to the point of getting another vehicle to carry his shooting things. So folks, please don't complain about that $4.00 increase in the price of a $90 die.
BTW- For those in the music industry, what color should a drummer's stool be?
LiveLife
Member
One problem that happens when a new reloader asks a question is the thread drifts, more often then not, to advanced reloading techniques and theory. If a new reloader is having problems when seating, why would anyone tell him not to flare? It's not everyone that can start out, right from the beginning, and have no problems stuffing a .243" slug into a .240" tube without some sort of entryway. It's a disservice to new reloaders to use "ridgid"/condescending (stubborn O.F.) language telling a new comer not to do something that is commonly done...
Just wondering, where in the "Reloading Statutes" is the regulation against flaring rifle/bottle necked cases to facilitate seating?
Just wondering, where in the "Reloading Statutes" is the regulation against flaring rifle/bottle necked cases to facilitate seating?
WestKentucky
Member
Doesn’t that depend on the color of icing on the cake at the after party?
Why are we on this topic again?
I fixed my first rounds, but not quite in the way listed previously. I used my bullet puller and pounded the bullets out almost all of the way. Then I seated them again with my bullet seating die. I got to a consistent overall length within .001 of each other. I debated tearing the rounds down completely, but decided that taking the bullets out completely and completely seating them again would likely introduce more variation then doing what I did.
I am sure my accuracy will suffer in this first batch, but that's ok. Right now, my yard stick for measuring success is "do they fire safely?". My next round I will focus on more consistency to hopefully yield more accuracy.
I did fire one of my rounds. I wore a full face shield, leather welding apron, leather welding gloves, and ear protection (obviously). It went bang just like a factory round. Small victories.
Thanks again for all of the constructive responses.
I am sure my accuracy will suffer in this first batch, but that's ok. Right now, my yard stick for measuring success is "do they fire safely?". My next round I will focus on more consistency to hopefully yield more accuracy.
I did fire one of my rounds. I wore a full face shield, leather welding apron, leather welding gloves, and ear protection (obviously). It went bang just like a factory round. Small victories.
Thanks again for all of the constructive responses.
Nature Boy
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My first reload (3 years ago) was .308 for my M1A
I read everything I could get my hands on with particular attention to the M1A. There’s a lot of cautionary info for that rifle related to slam fires so I was just as nervous as you were, maybe more so.
I was definitely cringing as I set that first one off but by the third or fourth rounds fear was replaced with a sense of accomplishment. Not only did I manage to have all rounds fire and cycle the action, my groups were half the size of Federal GMM ammo.
That first load I shot has been my accuracy load for that rifle ever since
I read everything I could get my hands on with particular attention to the M1A. There’s a lot of cautionary info for that rifle related to slam fires so I was just as nervous as you were, maybe more so.
I was definitely cringing as I set that first one off but by the third or fourth rounds fear was replaced with a sense of accomplishment. Not only did I manage to have all rounds fire and cycle the action, my groups were half the size of Federal GMM ammo.
That first load I shot has been my accuracy load for that rifle ever since
fotheringill
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WestKentucky-
Because I had a real crappy day. And you, of course, remember the line "It depends on what he is fed".
Because I had a real crappy day. And you, of course, remember the line "It depends on what he is fed".
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