Reloading
 

My friend & I just went partners on a Hornady progressive reloader (still have an old press, too). I intend to load for my .270 win & .30-06, which I haven't done in ... 40 year!

Just started looking at bullets -- wow, lots of choices! I used to reload Sierra SBT's but am getting curious about other rounds in premium grades.

Any comments?

I used to reload large quantities of .45 with a progrssive, (a Dillon) but I've never reloaded rifle ammo with one. I've never, at least in civilian life, gone through large quantities of rifle am mo. When I am reloading rifle ammo, I am doing it for accuracy, not to save money.

Sounds like fun though Bot. I haven't tried to buy any reloading components in about the last two years. I hope they are easier to get now.

Everybody and their dog makes bullets these days. Just looked in my load notebook. Haven't shot -06 in years so shouldn't comment on that, but for Whitetail with .270 I've settled on 130 grain Nosler Partitions over IMR 4350 at around 53 grains. Missouri Bullets makes some nice coated lead bullets for practice but I have not hunted with them.
You should have no trouble finding .270 components, not sure about -06. Handgun powder is another matter entirely. I load rifle on my old Lee single stage press.

I cast my own, 174 grn alloy gas checked bullet with 12 grns of Unique. lots cheaper

Thanks guys. I have a LOT of lead inherited from an in-law who cast his own bullets a long time ago. It's mostly Lyman ingots with no indication of hardness. I probably have 100#.

We worked a deal with a fellow who casts bullets to cast .38 special wadcutters and .45 cap round nose. What I had read about casting for rifles was that the chamber pressures and velocity contributed to partial melting of the base and deformation of the surfaces contacting the rifling.

I did see mention of brass gas check, but that's when I stopped reading. Drago, can you give me some details?

Thanks guys.

Oh btw, I bought fifty rnds of Nosler ballistic silvertips. Petzal liked them in a review and I generally like his reviews. Unfortunately, I did not keep up with cases and so, have several hundred fired .270 win cases of mixed origin. Back in my ancient days that wasn't a factor but I guess reloading standards have improved so much that it is now a source of error. Oh well. Maybe I'll buy a few hundred unfired cases.

Sort them by brand. Clean them. Deprime and size the primer pocket, neck size and trim to length. (assuming all fired in the same gun, otherwise you need to hit the shoulder also) Weigh them (magic marker on each) and chart that data on a histogram. From there pick your like groups. Once you have that, the exteriors are all the same the interior volumes should be the same and hence consistent pressures.

XLNT!!

(although I never sort brass by headstamp)

I use a lead/tin bullets for my 30 Cal stuff. You have to lube/swagg and gas check them. they make a press that does all three at once. be sure to use once fired brass (see note)and you only need to neck size them. load them up like you would any other cartridge.

When you put the 12 grns of pistol powder(Unique) TRIPLE check the powder level in the case,
its easy to double charge those big rifle cases. in my Rem700 they shoot 3/4 inch at 100 and very little noise or recoil. the other benefit is your cases will last a good long time, especially the modern cases ie 308 30-06 7.92Mauser etc. the cowboy cartridges ie 30-30 have a much thinner wall and will split sooner.


note: a light load won't expand enough or fast enough to seal the chamber and affects accuracy and just blows extra fouling into your rifle.

Now now. I've taken more meat with a 30-30 lever with iron sights than any other rifle.

30-30 is good but like the 30-40 Krag or the .303 Brit the case walls were made thin because of the original black powder charge to seal the chamber. 30-30 would be great for a lead load since that's what it was originally.

forgot to answer Bot's original question, the copper gas check is crimped onto the base of the bullet to keep it from melting or gas leaking past it. It's not needed for really light loads or Minie Ball style bullets. The cloth patch on a round ball muzzle loader acts as a gas check but conical bullets require the bullet to "upset" to grab the rifling

i have some 90gr nosler ballistic tips for my .257 roberts i like alot.must have 100 rounds in brass and a 100 in nickel cases.

True enough, I've used cast lead a few times, but I like old fashioned and inexpensive 150 grain Remmy Core-Locs for my 30-30. I don't load terribly hot and don't think I've ever split a case.

I've flatten a few primers working up a 1000 yard load



I get maybe five reloads out of my 7.62 match loads, the popcorn loads I lost count.

By the by, I've talked to some Aussies that use their .303 with a 00 buck ball on top of 4 grains of Red Dot to shoot rabbits and other small game

That's because they're Aussies. :D