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Old 12-01-2019, 03:24 PM   #41
Last2Die
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Al lot of good advise. Went to Vegas and won so I purchased all my equipment, except scale and tumbler. I got the press plates and dies. Purchased the stand too. I’ll take it slow. Got a couple reloading books so I have a decent starting point. I still need to get some bullets, primers and powder. Going to get some once fired brass already cleaned and do a few thousand rounds, use those to clean and reload. I purchased some steel casing 9mm just to target shoot it was cheap don’t plan on reloading those.

Tony
 
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Old 12-01-2019, 04:16 PM   #42
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A bolt action is extremely hard to blow up. People are worried about blowing one up but I almost never happens. I was going antelope hunting and wonted my 243 Ackley improved to shoot a 90 grain bullet at 3900 FPS. The first two shots did that the third was 4525 FPS. I thought my crony was broke. The bolt opened a little tight and the primer fell out in my hand. The primer pocket had expanded .015 inch. It was a turned neck barrel and the donut at the bottom of the neck was holding the bullet and that caused the pressure to skyrocket. About the only way to blow one up is with a slow burning powder like 4831. And that is not with too much powder it’s with way too little. What probably happens is you get flash over and all the powder burns at once. Nobody really knows. I heard a few years ago H4350 had blown up a few guns. The first person who told me he had a rifle to blow up I thought, oh yes you did something wrong like getting a really fast powder instead of 4350. I heard it from several more people who didn’t know each other.
The problem with off the shelf presses is the ram and dies aren’t straight and you wind up with crooked ammunition. You can get crooked ammunition from several things, brass that it is thicker on one side than the other. The thin side is easily to resize and that makes the ammunition crooked. Not having the same amount of lube all the way around causes the same thing. The little lube pads are the main culprit here. Use Ideal lube and apply it with your fingers. The expanded ball is another reason for crooked ammunition. Get Redding neck bushing dies with the right neck bushing and you won’t need the expander ball.

How much does all this help? My big game guns will all shoot under a half inch and my groundhog guns will all shoot under a quarter inch 5 shots at a hundred yards. I built all of them.
Lynwood
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Old 12-01-2019, 04:44 PM   #43
Last2Die
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The Hornady LNL ap press has pretty good reviews so hopefully it does the job. There is still equipment I need, a trimmer for the casings, the tumbler, scale, measure and all the other stuff lol

Funny you mention building rifles I’m just starting my first build, we never built in the USMC, just fired and cleaned lol. Just started an AR.308 build. Installed the trigger last night. Going with a 20” SS barrel. It should be fun to build.

Tony
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Old 12-01-2019, 04:46 PM   #44
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Suggestions for the rest of the stuff I need ....?

Tony
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Old 12-01-2019, 05:17 PM   #45
mlh
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Tony if you are building a custom rifle get the best stuff.
Kreiger or Bartlan make the best barrels. They are cut rifle with a waiting list of months.
Bat or Borden makes the best receivers. I have several of both. They are both top of the pyramid.
Jewell is the best trigger ever built.
McMillion stocks are hard to beat. Although there are several great fiberglass stocks.
For complete guns Jarrett Rifle and Borden Rifles both are great guns. I prefer the Borden. I think it’s better and cheaper then Kenny Jarrett’s. Kenny has built guns for a lot of people you know, Dale Earnhardt, Hank Williams, Chuck Yeiger, George Bush and many more.
Lynwood

Edit
Oh sorry I missed the AR part. I know nothing about them.
Some of the Army target teams use my equipment. I’m rather proud of that.
Lynwood
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Old 12-03-2019, 10:19 AM   #46
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Originally Posted by rohrmann View Post
No matter what you end up doing, be extremely careful when selecting and measuring powder. One of the son-in-laws lost all the tips of his fingers on one hand when an improperly loaded round he loaded blew up when he fired it. I guess he doesn't have to worry about getting finger printed on that hand anymore.



interesting in how he only lost finger tips? seeing as the fingers are not next to the cylinder on a revolver. or the chamber on a semi auto pistol.
and not even close to any chamber on a rifle.
must have been a triple loaded cartridge. or wrong dia bullet for the tube
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Old 12-03-2019, 10:35 AM   #47
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Suggestions for the rest of the stuff I need ....?

Tony

how much money you got?


couple good books.
correct quality dies (yes manf does matter to how it will chamber to your gun).
buy only reliable and quality bullets. maybe a resizer is in your future.
best electronic scale,

cartridge cleaner, varied thoughts here, i like the wet way.
quality press,
correct powder for your gun/loading.


i tend to like to hand re-prime. not press re-prime.
make up 10 or so in "A" loading, 10 or so in another do about four of five then test to find what works best for your gun.
a hot load is not always the best load.


no distraction, no tv, radio, can do canned music.
and must be said NO smoking. or open flame.
i have this "block" it has a number of special holes in it to test fit for chamber sizing.
just a hand twist case sizer works. but if into quantity then a lnl case prep station is worth the cash. number of steps in one machine.
and yes temp and humidly while loading and then shooting matters.
keep good records.
there are many more "tools" one can buy, than your cc can handle
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Old 12-03-2019, 05:57 PM   #48
mlh
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There is something that hasn’t been discussed here. There is no need to buy a expensive custom built rifle and ruin the barrel in a few hundred rounds. Improper cleanings will ruin a barrel in short order. Either from the wrong equipment or not using good equipment right. You need a good one piece rod either a plastic coated or stainless steel one. There has always been a debate which is better. And you need or must have a good bore guide.

The second part is that rod must be used properly. You shove it in nice and straight with the proper size patch. Too small and it won’t clean too large and the rod will rub too much in the bore.

Then you must have the proper bore cleaner. Butche’s bore shine or Montana supreme will work. You must get the copper out of the barrel and you WILL have copper in it. I’ve saw people use and of the Walmart 4 piece things. They stick it in the muzzle without a bore guide and run it up and down dozens of times. They just ruined the barrel. If you clean from the chamber end and don’t use a bore guide, pull and push straight, you rotate your arm that will ruin a barrel. I saw that happen in 500 rounds in a benchrest rifle.

I would very strongly suggest you get Tony Boyers book. Do a Google search you will find it. You will learn more about rifles and how to shoot from this book than you could learn in a lifetime any other way. This book will pay for itself.

A good barrel is $400 and chambering it is another $330. If that isn’t bad enough the top barrels have a year waiting list. Don’t ruin it.
Lynwood
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Old 12-03-2019, 11:07 PM   #49
Last2Die
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Well at this point I have ordered all the parts to finish my ar.308 build, in the mean time while the reloading press does and shell plates are in transit doing more research I have decided on tumble cleaning with stainless steel pins. Wet cleaning. I have all of that on order. Ordered a digital caliper.

I used to use patches but moved to bore snakes. I have several for each caliber. Clean/ lube. I went with aero precision 20” barrel. Looking forward to putting it all together !! Got my Lee reloading stand in. Need to modify for the Hornady press. The CC is getting a good work out !!!
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Old 12-03-2019, 11:27 PM   #50
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So, case trimmers....educate me !! Lol. I think I’ll need it for 5.56 and .308
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Old 12-04-2019, 01:08 AM   #51
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not “needed” for any cartridge.
just do to over all length and chamber sizing. the cartridge must fit correct. as the round is lit off. most cases will stretch a tiny bit. not all will. then a bit of stretching can happen during re sizing on the bench.
the more accuracy you want for said rifle. the more constant the loaded round needs to be.
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Old 12-04-2019, 01:16 AM   #52
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Originally Posted by Last2Die View Post
So, case trimmers....educate me !! Lol. I think I’ll need it for 5.56 and .308

full length re sizing. and length trimming are things for necked rifle rounds and pistol cartridges that use the top end of the case to fit the chamber. .9mm. .40, .10mm, note rimed do not need this as much. they stop by the rim.
.38 special, .357, ..44 mag,.
in two words.. head space..
then the “jump”.—how far from the end of the case to the rifleing—.—.
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Old 12-08-2019, 06:04 PM   #53
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reloading

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Originally Posted by Last2Die View Post
I was wondering if anyone here reloads..? Took the wife to the range now she wants to shoot all the time which means at this rate I need to learn how to reload. I don’t know anyone that does reload. In the Corps the ammo truck came and we loaded up lol.

I’m looking to learn how to reload .223 (5.56). 9mm. .40, .45, and .308.

From my research I’m looking at Hornady progressive ap press. I think I have the dies and plates figured out. Just don’t want to lose a hand trying to figure it out lol.

Thanks
Tony
you need to join a range or club and get some experience with someone who has been doing it , yes its a simple process, but like a lot of other hobbies there is a lot of ins and outs do's and dont's
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Old 12-08-2019, 06:32 PM   #54
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you just need to go slow at first and go by the numbers. it is easy and safe.
yes you can do damage. but why you do it by the numbers.

every X number of powder loadings, gather 10 ( no bullets in them.). dump the loaded powder into your scale and do a weight check of the powder.
if you were closer i could show you on one if my presses.
but check with one of your lgs or ranges/clubs, for local to you help.
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Old 12-08-2019, 10:05 PM   #55
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I have been watching a lot of videos, ordering additional equipment to prepare for when the press arrives. Ordered my extractor die for spent primers. I have my tumbler and SS pins. I need to go through the book that I have and order some powder and bullets.

Ordered some 5.56 military brass all ready deprived and cramp removed, read about that and bought some dies to do it myself. I got in 4000+ 9mm brass, ordered some .308, and .45. I still need to get something to trim the rifle rounds haven’t got that far.

I’ll post some pics as I start setting it up, it arrives tomorrow.

What are you thoughts on cleaning the brass, clean with spent primer installed or remove primer than clean ?
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Old 12-08-2019, 10:24 PM   #56
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no need to buy brass.
go to places were people shoot ( not pay to shoot ranges) and pick up the brass left behind. i must have 8000 .223 mty, thousands of .9mm and so on. get a slow walk. fresh air. just buy a extend reach with the better cup ends. and a five gallon bucket.
learn on pistol brass first.
use the correct primers and powder. watch out for no or over loaded cartridges.
after a couple thousand rounds it will be second nature.
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Old 12-08-2019, 10:33 PM   #57
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Oh I plan on picking up my brass and others brass, that’s the plan just getting some on hand to start reloading. My rifle really likes the 5.56 compared to .223, while very similar the increased pressure and 62 grain round flies the best. .223 and 55grain is good for range day not so much accuracy. The 1:7 twist runs better with the heavier round.

On the progressive press I ordered I purchased the powder cop die which visually tells me if the power is low, correct or double charged.

I need to order small primers for handgun loads, learned that there are some .45 acp that are large primer so need to check that when I pick up at the range !
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Old 12-08-2019, 11:14 PM   #58
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there is a huge debate about .225 and 5.56.
they are the same. the gov just uses a heaver brass wall.
the numbers are cause sami and the gov get there pressure numbers from different places on the test rifles.
but yes stay with the same style cartridge.
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Old 12-09-2019, 07:56 AM   #59
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“What are you thoughts on cleaning the brass, clean with spent primer installed or remove primer than clean ?”

I generally tumble mine in crushed walnut media, with the spent primer in place. That way the decapping pin will push out any granules of the media that get stuck in the flash hole.
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Old 12-09-2019, 08:51 AM   #60
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We were never involved in any kind of competitive shooting . We were hunters and we reloaded for that. Many folks on here are at a way higher skill level that we ever were. We do not buy cheap ammo from Commercial sources and we have not had a issue with it.


Depending on the kind of shooting you do it may not be worth the expense to reload in our case it was something that we wanted to do . We could afford it and we learned a lot. Deer hunting in the Mountains of PA was at 15 to 25 yards through the trees and brush. We could have thrown a rock at them with the same accuracy.
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