Reloading tips you don’t mind sharing

[DeepSouth]

Greg, all the ammo boxes that were rescued were painted blue, white tape added for load data of that box. Tape removed and trashed. Lost data.

[Spiffy]

On 1/27/2024 at 1:22 PM, gun sane said:

Remember the "ladder method."  Start with the minimum load data and work up to the maximum in tenths of grain increments.  I usually find a load my guns like somewhere in the middle.  It saves powder and excessive wear on the firearm, too.  There are many horror stories out there from guys who started on the high end and sorely regretted it.  

If you can shoot in a place that allows you to set up a chronograph, buy one.  It's a great tool for finding acceptable velocities and estimating pressures.

I was told years ago "if you don't have a chronograph you're just guessing". It is as important a tool as the press, powder measurer, or case gauge.

[AuEagle]

I recorded loading data on index cards, shot groups, cut out groups from targets, stapled to index card, kept in recipe box, whew...

Much easier than keeping targets.

[Handsome Rob]

I only really have 1 tip & it's as much shooting related as it is reloading.

Actually, no. I have 2, but they're basically all rolled up together. 

 

This one will annoy & possibly anger some people, but I've never had it fail yet. When you look in any load data book, it'll show a 'min' & 'max' charge. Load your cases from min to max at 10% intervals. Only 1 of each. You're looking for pressure signs, not accuracy now. 

Now, shoot them 1 at a time, at any range. Hell, shoot them into the ground. But starting with the hottest. You shouldn't, but if you see any pressure signs with the hottest, grab one from the middle & then work up until you see pressure. Pick the load below pressure signs & load 30 of them. Also, learn to read real pressure signs. Extractors marks, ejector marks & bolt swipe at minimum. Primer flattening may, or may not be indicative of pressure. Don't rely on just that. 

Use that load to zero your scope & then shoot ALL the rest as a group. Everyone bases their accuracy from 3 or 5 round groups & that's not enough. I guarantee, pretty much every book load, from min to max, will shoot into roughly the same group size, given enough data points. 10 shots minimum, 30 is better. That 4th round 'flyer' is almost guaranteed to be part of the natural accuracy cone. You're just not shooting enough to notice. 

Here's a perfect example of why 3 & round groups don't tell the whole truth. If I'd stopped at 3, It'd be a sub .250 rifle ("all day, if i do my part"

The group of 5 on the right would get me bragging that is a sub-MOA gun (ADIIDMP)

In actual fact, when you combine the 2 & the 2 that most would call flyers (they weren't) is a 1½moa gun. And honestly, as hunting rifle go, that's pretty frikkin' stellar!

 

There. That rattled a few feathers, didn't it?!

 

[Grunt67]

On 2/10/2024 at 3:23 PM, gregintenn said:

Figure out everything you are gonna need for the next 50 years, double it, and go buy it.

I believe I've reached that plateau.

[DO-TN]

Keep extra decapping pins, especially if using military calibers. nothing sucks more than to plan your alone time to reload, get everything set out and ready, nice cup of coffee ready, good music going and then breaking a pin on a crimped primer or berdan case that snuck in, about 5 cases into it on a Sunday, when nothing is open to get a replacement, you live an hour away from the nearest store that carries such things anyway, and boom. Your done for the day. Ask me how I know. The dog gets to learn some new words.

Only other thing i didn't see mentioned was save and USE your books. New books contain good info and I do buy them but the old books contain calibers the new books drop. You end up with quite the library and gives you good cross reference data.

Don't think you will save money. You can tell the wife that, but it ain't true, LOL. I load for accuracy and satisfaction not to mention some odd calibers that good factory ammo is not available or difficult to find.

[DeepSouth]

"New books contain good info and I do buy them but the old books contain calibers the new books drop."

I've found better data from older books than new ones.

Don't be afraid to ask for data, Hopefully someone will post a photo from an old book that helps a lot.

I buy a powder, put a piece of white duct tape on it. Look at the burn rate chart and put it's number on the tape. Helps a lot when your older powder is removed from the chart. Easier than searching for older charts.

[Handsome Rob]

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/painless-load-development-mine.238400/

Here's a much better description of what I do, from the guy who taught me how to do it.