Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Picked up a reloading press

[SHobbs]

I was roaming around at Cabellas Saturday when I found a Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit sitting on the shelf back in what they call the bargain cave. As I was inspecting the box to see if anything was missing I noticed the price tag, it was marked down to $260. Once I was sure that everything was accounted for and nothing was missing I took advantage of the deal. I remembered seeing these online going for anywhere from $350 and up and I was not going to pass this up. I know there are faster presses out there but, I am going for consistency not speed.



Now all I need to do is some reading, gather up the dies I can get started. I have a borrowed inertia puller and will start pulling the FMJ bullets out of my supply of M2 ball to replace with soft points. I do plan on reloading . 380, . 40 S&W and also putting soft points in my Mauser and Mosin Nagant. The ranges around here do not like FMJ military surplus rifle ammunition.







Scott

 

[BIGNASTY]

Its a great hobby my Dad and I spent many hours fiddling around and talking about hunt past and future. I have one of the Inertia pullers they work great but it is an odd feeling putting a live round in a kinda hammer and smacking the crap out of it :-laf

 

[GHarman]

While the inertia puller will work with most pulling tasks, The collett type works better on GI ammo. That M-2 has a bitumen seal around the bullet. They will test your hammer technique:-laf! GregH

 

[The patriot]

Lee makes a good book about reloading.

DONT multitask while reloading.

If in doubt about a round, throw it out.

 

[SHobbs]

I have a co worker that reloads and he took a few rounds and tried his collett puller on them and had a little trouble getting them out, he said the inertia worked better. He is letting me use his inertia puller for now seeing he does not need it. Once I get the 30-06 die I can start pulling some more. Seeing I have almost 2k rounds of it I should not have to worry about running out. Hoping I can find a way to rid myself of the bullets as well.

Any suggestions on the correct dies for 30-06 Springfield? What works best, what to stay away from?

 

[GHarman]

Redding, RCBS, Forester, etc. . Most are good, some are outstanding. Depends on your budget and purpose. Are you reloading for a bolt gun, Semi-auto, single shot? Are tight groups a priority or are you satisfied with a 2" group at 200 yards" ? Need more information! GregH

 

[GHarman]

PS, IMHO!!! Personally, I would stash that 2000 rounds of GI ammo, buy some new brass and load from scratch. The GI M-2 . 30 caliber ammo is loaded with a 150 Gr bullet at 2700 FPS. At ~48,000 PSI chamber pressure. This was specifically a design requirement for the M-1 Garand. A higher chamber pressure, (with the proper powders), results in a higher gas port pressure and a bent operating rod. Factory commercial 30/06 is loaded to 60,000 PSI chamber pressure and 2970 FPS with a 150 Grain bullet or a 180 Grain bullet at 2700 FPS. All that being said; for the work involved, you can do better. GregH

 

[SHobbs]

Greg,

Right now will be for my M1, later I hope to pick up a 1903 Springfield. I know the M1 requires a specific load to function properly and a 2" group at 200 yards is good for me. Kind of hard to see that far anyway, lol.

I have seen steel and carbide dies, seem to be pros and cons to each. I was told I would need a full length 30-06 die. For my M1 I plan to stick to the original recipe set by the military as far as powder, charge size and bullet weight.

 

[BIGNASTY]

GI brass

I have never loaded any other miltirary brass except 223 and I have found it hard brass. I would guess its hard to transport better and that it cycles thru auto weapons. You would know better on that Greg than I . Carbide is usally for straight wall cases I havent bought any dies is a long time but I dont know of any carbide for bottle neck cases

 

[GHarman]

SHobbs, I'd definitely stay with the H-4895 Powder and the loads that are pressure specific to the Garand. I used to load the 168 Gr. Sierra and 46 Gr. H-4895 for my Garand, many moons ago! Swap out the bullets like for like(weight) if you dont change the powder charge. Still, increases in pressure can be realized by using bullets with a longer bearing surface.

A Full length die is an absolute necessity for loading for the Garand. In some M-1's an additional "small base" die is necessary. Depends on your chamber.

You MUST clean your brass before resizing or you will ruin your die. Definitely use a lubricant that will keep the case from sticking in the die. You must remove all lubricant from each case before it is placed in the rifle. If you dont, the case cant grip the chamber walls during obturation and then you have a "High Velocity " piston! When resizing cases, make sure you do not set the shoulder back or you will, at the least, loose cases due to stretching, in a few firings. Check case lengths regularly and trim. Inspect the inside of the case near the head for incipient case separation.

A neck sizing die is handy, for the purpose of restoring neck tension and concentricity to those cases where you have pulled the bullets. Be prepared to remove the primer crimp from the GI brass when it comes time to reload it.



BIGNASTY, Generally GI brass is Harder And thicker than Commercial, with some exceptions. One reason is the ammo will be used interchangeably in rifles and MG's. linked or magazine fed in a wide range of operating and storage temperatures, conditions. Its gotta be tough and failure free. 5. 56 NATO ammo is loaded to 60,000 PSI



I have my own special case lube and case cleaning process that has worked well for me over the years, there are many ways to accomplish the same goal. Mine is time consuming. BTW, I have never stuck a case in a die with this lubricant, but it just doesnt wipe off with a dry cloth!! GregH

 

[SHobbs]

Greg,

Thank you. My co worker told me that the original load was 52. 5 grains with a 150 gr. bullet. Out of the 20 he pulled 15 stayed with the same powder and a soft point bullet of the same weight. He did reload 5 of them with 47. 5 grains of IMR-4895 with the same bullet weight. Not sure what the original powder is although it is a ball powder for sure.

All I plan to do for now is to pull the bullets and replace them with a soft point mostly for target shooting and the occasional pig hunt or deer hunt. I really enjoy this rifle and want to keep it working properly the way it was designed. That's one reason I wanted a single stage press, it will keep me from getting in a hurry and pay attention to what I am doing.

 

[TGVET]

I started with RCBS years ago like many beginning re-loaders. If you're going for near perfect accuracy, you owe it to yourself to check out Forster Coaxial and their bench-rest dies, I get 1thou or less run-out with them. You should do some reading on Accurate Shooter.com as well, you'll find a plethora of info from many experts in the area of reloading with further links to sites, books, videos and DVD's.



justmy2, hope it helps.

 

[GHarman]

Brass cleaning

Just completed washing a batch of . 45 Long Colt brass. I tumble dirty/fired cases in hot soapy water with a cup of steel BB shot for a couple of hours. Rinse in Hot water and seperate the cases and BB's. . Place the brass on a cookie sheet and dry in the oven at < 250*F for an hour or so. Then I place them in sealable container until I am ready to reload them. They are squeaky clean, inside and out except for the primer pockets. I do all my brass like this.



For these cases straight walled pistol cases, I use a carbide die. A little WD-40 is a great case lube for pistol cases in a carbide die. I dont do any dry resizing. Its to easy to gall a case and ruin the die. Thats the way I do it.



For FL sizing rifle cases, I use Anhydrous Lanolyn as a case lube. It is the best natural low temperature high pressure lube. AND you dont have to worry about skin contact:-laf. It does have a down side. It only comes off with lighter fluid as a solvent. Carefully Hand wipe each case! I've never stuck a case in a FL die with this lube and it is an effortless process. GregH

 

[GHarman]

I started with RCBS years ago like many beginning re-loaders. If you're going for near perfect accuracy, you owe it to yourself to check out Forster Coaxial and their bench-rest dies, I get 1thou or less run-out with them. You should do some reading on Accurate Shooter.com as well, you'll find a plethora of info from many experts in the area of reloading with further links to sites, books, videos and DVD's.



justmy2, hope it helps.

Excellent link! Lots of good information! X2 GregH

 

[BIGNASTY]

Ill have to try your rifle lube Greg. After FL resize I usually only neck size for my 338/378. In that gun the case doesn't last that long anyway. The wifes 300 win is another story a good lube is what it needs I have never had a rifle that has to be FL resize as much as that one. Ive been told that is the nature of the 300 win but im not sure I buy that I havent loaded belted cases for that long so most of my experience is trial and error. Would you size on the sholder or on the belt?

 

[BIGNASTY]

Sense our move to MT I havent been shooting at all. Although I did save my Labs A** the other day I let him out in the AM and he runs for about an hour or so then waits at the door for his morning chow. I went to the door and no dog sat down at the table and the wife fixing breakfast starts yelling coyotes. I have one of my black rifles by the door the coyotes have been having a chicken breakfast for a few weeks. This time I think they had a little sex on their mind they had my Lab surrounded and looked like a gang rape in the jail going down. My Lab seen me open the door and had the most helpless look on his face. I started laughing and couldn't really get a bead on the Coyotes the wife said shoot the damn things and quit laughing. She really had to be PO because she NEVER swears. 4 out of 5 isnt to bad I guess considering I was balancing on 1 leg and laughing my butt off, GOD I LOVE MONTANA

 

[GHarman]

Ill have to try your rifle lube Greg. After FL resize I usually only neck size for my 338/378. In that gun the case doesn't last that long anyway. The wifes 300 win is another story a good lube is what it needs I have never had a rifle that has to be FL resize as much as that one. Ive been told that is the nature of the 300 win but im not sure I buy that I havent loaded belted cases for that long so most of my experience is trial and error. Would you size on the sholder or on the belt?

BIGNASTY, Keep in mind that the original thought was a belted case needed to be head spaced on the belt. That is true for chambering a barrel for a belted case. However. Once a case has been fireformed, it fits the chamber very closely. Neck sizing is all that should normally be required. Be careful NOT to touch the shoulder when sizing. (Dangerous Game and Autoloading rifles are the exceptions, here) Size to fit the chamber(shoulder), cases will last longer. You can still use a FL sizing die if thats what you have.

When I set up sizing dies, I set the shell holder/ram to the top of the stroke (TDC for you Diesel heads:-laf). Then screw the die down to touch the shell holder. I then back the die off the shell holder 1/2 to 1 full turn. This prevents setting the shoulder back. Then, I will size a case, leaving it in the die and then tighten the lock nut on the die against the threaded insert, in the press. That centers the die in the threads, with the ram. Use this method with a FL sizing die, a neck sizing die and/or the seating die. If you are still getting runout on your loaded rounds, the dies may be faulty, or the ram is not centered.

Remember to use lighter fluid to clean off the Anhydrous Lanolyn, squeaky clean!!! In a well ventilated area, I might add!

Weatherby brass is notoriously soft. I believe Norma is the manufacturer. Hope this helps? GregH

 

[GHarman]

Sense our move to MT I havent been shooting at all. Although I did save my Labs A** the other day I let him out in the AM and he runs for about an hour or so then waits at the door for his morning chow. I went to the door and no dog sat down at the table and the wife fixing breakfast starts yelling coyotes. I have one of my black rifles by the door the coyotes have been having a chicken breakfast for a few weeks. This time I think they had a little sex on their mind they had my Lab surrounded and looked like a gang rape in the jail going down. My Lab seen me open the door and had the most helpless look on his face. I started laughing and couldn't really get a bead on the Coyotes the wife said shoot the damn things and quit laughing. She really had to be PO because she NEVER swears. 4 out of 5 isnt to bad I guess considering I was balancing on 1 leg and laughing my butt off, GOD I LOVE MONTANA

BIG, Sounds like a great time! Those coyotes will kill a dog if they get the chance. They'll take down sheep and eat the A** out of the critters and leave it lay, in shock, till its convenient fer them to have another easy meal. 4 out of five, on one good leg and LYAO is good shootin in my book! GregH

 

[BIGNASTY]

Greg where do you get the Anhydrous Lanolyn

 

[GHarman]

I bought a 1# jar at a pharmacy. It lasts a LONG time. If you cant find it locally, here are some possibilities. Its about $10-$12 a pound. Greg



Anhydrous Lanolyn - Google Search