Reloading Rocks!

[El Bucho]

Ok, I'm hooked! I have reloaded more shotgun shells then I could ever count (reloading since I was in 5th grade), but this rifle reloading is pretty cool. Was always wondering about it, but seemed like it was just too much to get into. My brother gave me a Lee Turret press for christmas last year and just got around to trying it out and man what a huge difference it makes, not to mention how much fun it is. My M1A wasn't thrilling me with it's accuracy, but my first three rouds at 100 yards gave me a 1" group (never did that with any factory stuff). So there was an immediate noticeable difference.
Anyway, one thing I noticed with my press is that because of the turret attachment, when you seat the bullet, there is some play at the top of the stroke. Since this is a game of thousandths of an inch it seems like this makes quite a difference on seating depth. Is there anything I can do to keep this thing from moving at all or should I just get a single stage press like a rockchucker or something? I like not having to reset the dies every time, but not sure if the I will get the consistancy out of this press or not. Keeping in mind I've only done one batch of shells so far, but just looking for some pointers. Thanks!
Oh yeah, I was loading 180gr Noslers with CCI primers and 42.0gr of H3895 I think it is.

 

[Black Snowman]

Welcome to the cult

 

[Kamicosmos]

I thought the thread title was literal.

I'm thinking Chunk of Gravel on top of 5.1 grains of Universal clays....

 

[Black Snowman]

Actually I thought it was litteral too. Thought it might be about old cannon or something

 

[larryw]

Yeah, welcome to the cult! Now, quit reading the forum, back to the reloading bench!

Regarding the M1A. I hope you were using 4895 and not 3895 (is there a 3895?)! Powder selection is a critical element of loading, make sure what you have.

4895's considered by many to be the best powder for the M1A. Gas guns are tricky, stay away from the slow powders as they put too much pressure on the gas system. Anything slower than 4064 is too much. http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/pburn.htm

Ditto for bullets heavier than 175gr. Also, soft point bullets are problematic as they shave lead that gums up the works.

As the M1A and M1 have floating firing pins, slamfires are a concern: use hard primers. CCI makes a primers specific for these guns, the #34 is the primer used in 7.62x51 NATO and is available. Winchester are also tough enough.

The grail of the loads for the M1A is 41.5gr of 4985 (H or IMR) behind a 168gr Sierra HPBT #2200. CCI or WW primers. Load to 2.80". If this doesn't shoot well, something's broken.

Here's some required reading for M1A reloaders.

Be safe and have fun!

 

[bogie]

All the press has to do is force the shell into the die. If there's some play there, it'll self-center. I know a VERY GOOD benchrest shooter who has turned down his press rams to ensure that there's plenty of slop.

 

[sm]

Congrats...your title fooled me also.
Thought maybe you had a recipe for ROCK-salt loads...or bought a new Rock-Chucker ...

12 bore + rock salt+ Mec= I know what "thrown" my way stealing that melon so many yrs ago...

 

[ocabj]

Congratulations on joining the reloading community. There's nothing like spending time at the bench loading cartridges after a long day at work while your waiting for the weekend to come so you can pack up the gear and hit the range.

I take a lot more pride in target shooting now. It's great to use your own custom loads and shoot sub-MOA groups for a lot cheaper than the guy next to you who spent more per round for factory premium stuff. And it gets even better when that same guy lets you take his brass because he doesn't reload!