Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting adventures in reloading

[HHhuntitall]

whats your favorite 1911

The one I don't need... . Right now, I'm carrying a Stainless Colt Double Eagle. It's a double action version of the 1911. It's extremely accurate for a factory made pistol, and very reliable. I can carry it hammer down for a service weapon if I ever do that again.

i got the max COL measurement for my rifle. 168gr ballistic silvertip; 3. 565.

hornady 208gr bthp;3. 550. berger 210 vld 3. 570. i ordered 208 a-maxes but got hollows instead. whatever ill just set up a battle of the heavy hollows. i kinda hope hornady wins. they're 34 cents/shot the bergers are 52.

The Hornady A-max current production in . 223 and . 308 are Hollow point, boat-tail, match bullets. Palma shooters requested they go back to the solid copper jacket and do away with the polymer tips... ... since they're by far the largest purchasers of said bullets, and they won't shoot the polymer tipped anymore, they get what they want..... or Hornady doesn't sell any more bullets. Funny, Hornady sponsors shooters, and most I see shoot either Berger or Sierra bullets... . :-laf



I have not opened any of the leverlution ammo to check the powder. I'm presuming it ball-type? What did you open? A 45-70?

 

[KBurgoyne]

bullet opened was a 45-70. it has a mix of ball and flake

 

[KBurgoyne]

new hardware

i recently aquired a redding t7 turret press. the thing is the proverbial boat anchor, my guess is it weighs 40 pounds without dies. i chose this one becauseof the reviews. most turret presses had problems with the head wobbling. the redding has a stop cast into the frame to prevent that, and the head locks in real solid at each position. another cool feature is the oversised ram which has a hollow center. decapped primers fall through the center of the ram and are collected in a tube. when the tube fills up you grab the trash can and pull the plug on the tube.

this will not be its permanent home i just wanted to get a comparison shot next to a standard size single press, ive been meaning to make a new table as the stuff has started to overflow the confines of the current one. the old single will be kept around and used as a dedicated priming press, which is why the mechanism look funky, i reversed it so down is down and up is up.

 

[BIGNASTY]

My Dad had a Lyman turret press way back when. It was a real POS but i'm sure that they have come a long way sense then at least in your pic's it looks as thou they have.

 

[HHhuntitall]

OH yeah, you'll like that!! I've had a Dillon 650B for years. It's pretty nice, but was pricey when I bought it. They can get some wear in the head, as you mention, but the bushing can be replaced pretty easy... . I've loaded a LOT of pistol ammo with mine, and quite a bit of . 223. I've got the powder charge bars for larger cal rifle ammo, but it's not very accurate... . I built a funnel assembly for powder charge position, so I can drop my own wieghed out charge out of the RCBS electronic dispenser, which is pretty accurate. Mine works good, but the bushing change is a pain every year.

 

[KBurgoyne]

off with its head

the press now has a permanent home. i took the head off to put the mounting screws in, and put on fresh grease since i dont know how long the poor thing was sitting in the box. the back support has a spring loaded ball bearing that fits into dimples on the head to lock it in place. the support also takes all the torsion off the bushing so it should last forever, plus its a big ol bushing.

 

[KBurgoyne]

new "plinkers"

obviosly the term plinking and 45-70 dont go hand in hand, but ive been loking for a cheap bullet that i can shoot around for fun, and i found a good one. oregon trail 405gr lasercast leads in winchester cases, fed 210s, 50 grains varget seated to 2. 530. hodgdon lists the load at 20,900 CUP, 1711fps at 2. 540, so this one has just slightly more pressure, but still well within trap door levels. the bullet is not gas checked, but according to several reviews it does not start leading until around 1850. they sell in a box of 250 for 68 bucks from midway. i didnt count to check, but i only found one mistake bullet that was missing one ring of lube. they are also very easy to load. they have a boat tail which really helps get the bullet started into the case and a wide crimp grove. a 3/4 turn crimp yeilded only . 005 loss in OAL and zero buckled cases. the other bullet is berrys prefered plated which i wasnt real happy with. they have a max velocity of 1700 which was written on the underside of the lid and not in the advertisement on the website. the crimp grove is very narrow and shallow which makes getting a sturdy enough crimp for a lever gun difficult without several cases buckleing, and they can only be loaded to a max of about 2. 500 or less. i would consider barrys for something that didnt need a heavy crimp, but i wont be buying any more 458s.

total cost for fifty rounds with oregon trails was 13. 60 for bullets, 9. 38 for powder, 1. 50 for primers and free brass for a total of $24. 48 or about a third of what it costs for th cheap stuff in stores.

 

[GHarman]

Tight crimps on bullets for heavy recoil.

KBurgoyne
The shallow crimp in the copper plated bullets is only a bunny trail.
Full length resize your cases and do not use the expander ball. Bell mouth and chamfer the case for easy entry of the bullet. The extra tension on a non expended case will make up for an inadequate or non existent crimp groove. The 350 Grain Hawks have no cannelure and they are loaded and crimped. BTW @ 2000FPS+. They do have a very soft copper jacket that allows the case mouth to be driven into the jacket a few thousandth of an inch for a good grip. However, the neck tension the full bearing length of the bullet works in addition to the crimp. Make sure your cases are all trimmed to the proper length for a consistent crimp.

GregH

PS, Them are "REAL PURTY"!

 

[KBurgoyne]

thanks for the tip. i might pull all the berrys and start over with them. by the way the hornady cam lock bullet puller is great, it can pull a 45-70 with the mightiest of crimp in about 10 seconds because you can use all the leverage of the press. its the thing with the red handle in the picture of the press.

 

[AHofner]

Hey guys,
Just did a bunch of reloading this past weekend for the . 25-06 and of course I had to shoot a few rounds. I'm not impressed by my groups, to say the least. I want to try and figure out if it is me or the loads that is the cause of my problem. My 3 and 5 shot groups are not erratic which I think means the trigger guy is doing his job. But they are in a vertical string from 1 - 1. 5" at 150 yds. I went from 51. 5 gr of H 4831SC to 53. 5 gr and it seems like my groups are getting more strung out. With factory loads I have put three rounds into a quarter size group at 150 yds. Is it just that my rifle doesn't like that load combo and I need to look at different powder and bullets? Also, if there are any other quarter bore fans out there, I would love to hear some recipes.
Thanks,

Andrew

 

[KBurgoyne]

i dont load 25-06, but a 2 grain jump when developing loads is a big jump. before you throw out your current bullet/ powder set up try using 51 and 52 working at half grain increments around what you've already used. looking through the books it seems like h4831sc has a preferance for cooler charges than you are using. you could also try using up some freebore and shooting your groups slower making sure the barrel doesnt get too hot which could explain the vertical line, and the 25 can be a barrel burner with light bullets.

 

[GHarman]

Hey guys,

Just did a bunch of reloading this past weekend for the . 25-06 and of course I had to shoot a few rounds. I'm not impressed by my groups, to say the least. I want to try and figure out if it is me or the loads that is the cause of my problem. My 3 and 5 shot groups are not erratic which I think means the trigger guy is doing his job. But they are in a vertical string from 1 - 1. 5" at 150 yds. I went from 51. 5 gr of H 4831SC to 53. 5 gr and it seems like my groups are getting more strung out. With factory loads I have put three rounds into a quarter size group at 150 yds. Is it just that my rifle doesn't like that load combo and I need to look at different powder and bullets? Also, if there are any other quarter bore fans out there, I would love to hear some recipes.

Thanks,



Andrew

Andrew,

The . 25/06 is a screamin zonker! I used to shoot a . 250 Savage on a Remington -700 with a heavy barrel and a M-70 Winchester pre-64 receiver with a bull barrel chambered for the . 250 Savage. Not near the velocity you are getting but really putting out the 100 grain bullets for the case size. VERY Accurate, to boot.

To answer your question, we need more information. A Quarter size group(factory Loads) at 150 yards is respectable but a vague description. Is the group round, is it strung vertical, diagonal(left or right) or horizontal? What make of rifle are you using? It could be a load(powder/bullet)issue, seating depth, primer. case preparation, excessive run out(out of concentricity) of your hand loads, just to name a few common variables.

GregH

 

[BIGNASTY]

Andrew,
The . 25/06 is a screamin zonker! I used to shoot a . 250 Savage on a Remington -700 with a heavy barrel and a M-70 Winchester pre-64 receiver with a bull barrel chambered for the . 250 Savage. Not near the velocity you are getting but really putting out the 100 grain bullets for the case size. VERY Accurate, to boot.
To answer your question, we need more information. A Quarter size group(factory Loads) at 150 yards is respectable but a vague description. Is the group round, is it strung vertical, diagonal(left or right) or horizontal? What make of rifle are you using? It could be a load(powder/bullet)issue, seating depth, primer. case preparation, excessive run out(out of concentricity) of your hand loads, just to name a few common variables.
GregH

Want 25 cal fast!! this is 3900 fps with 87gr pill Easy 200fps over the 25/06

 

[GHarman]

BIG,

Yes that is fast, however the 6. 5X68mm RWS case necked down to . 25 makes the 257 Weatherby look like a black powder loading of the . 25/20Oo. ! True, the . 257 Weatherby is a factory round, Ya got me there. Just not trying to make the feller feel inadequate!

GregH

 

[BIGNASTY]

Never entered my mind G Man just my Dads prairie goat getter that sits in a place of honor in my gun safe. Haven't got the dies's to reload for it and be DAMNED if i'm going to pay like $45. 00 for a box of 20. He always thought if it cant be done with a 30/06 it didn't need to be done. He took me goat hunting in Wy one year I was maybe 13 I think we hiked the ENTIRE GREAT BASIN chasing them he was so P O. Next year we came back with a 25cal belted Mag. The goats don't even know we were in the same state when they felt the bee sting.

 

[GHarman]

BIG!

Absolutely! The . 257 Weatherby is a PREMIER Goat getter!

With the new very low drag bullets available, the range is stretched quite a bit farther out.

Ya just gotta practice!

GregH

 

[KBurgoyne]

curiosity killed the target

this is what happens when you shoot a target designed for a 44mag or less with a 460gr hard cast bullet.

the target still works. it spins when shot, although now at about a 15 degree angle, but i wascurios dammit.

i had the chace to shoot my new "plinkers" as well. they had more kick than the 300s which was to be expected, but left zero pressure signs and no extra fouling oer anything else ive shot. i will be buying them for a long time.

 

[GHarman]

There aint nothin' like makin' "Lead Pies":-laf!

GregH