Taking the leap, question around re-loading, bullets, and powders.

User00003

Well-Known Member
So, today is payday, and last month I committed myself to buying some reloading gear when this point came around...no way out of it now:rolleyes::D

Anyway, I think I will start small-scale with a Lee Classic Loader and some little convenient extra's (maybe a digital scale, some calipers, and..any other you suggest as essentials?..just a few please). Will probably stalk ebay for the scale and calipers (unless you know of good places to source this without spending a fortune - I can always upgrade later).

Also, I will firstly load for my .243, and want two setups - 1. 100 grain for Reds, and 2. 85/90/95 grain for Roe.
1. Let's start with the 100g.
a. I'm thinking I'll reload this seasons used Norma cases - good idea? or should I go with my Federals?
b. Which primers do you recommend? is there a size I need?
c. Powder - any specific recommendations?
d. Bullet - I'm thinking Nosler Partition 100 grain. Any thoughts why I should go Gameking (SP/HP), Interlokt or Triple Shock? The reason for the Partition would be excellent penetration, weight retention and expansion ability out to 200m (with decent BC), and as I sometimes take angled shots, I want to avoid excessively rapid expansion should there be slight contact with ribs/shoulder/etc. prior to getting sufficient penetration to the vitals (ps. I always try to get a profile heart/lung shot wehen feasible!). I'm not interested in ballistic tips.

2. Can anyone comment on whether the Partition would stabilize best in 85, 90, or 95 grain - given a Sako 75 with 20" barrel and 1:10 twist. I am guessing the 85 or 90, but prefer not to have to experiment if there's a given 'best' already established.

Lastly, next year I will be shooting reds with a .308 Win - and am looking to play with the Nosler Accubond, sounds reasonable, or better stick with the Partition?
 
OK, lets try and answer some questions.

Digital scale - no need. Get a good beam scale. A digital scale is so far down the list you might never need one. Use the money I just saved you on the best press you can get. Use good dies. RCBS are more than good enough for hunting rounds.

Norma cases are excellent. If you don't want them I will have them for my 260. Use the Norma.

I would suggest Rem 9 1/2 primers.

Powder needs to be slow for the 243. Get two types. I would suggest N160 plus H4831 or Re22 or Re19. Speak to your shop and get a powder which will always be available if at all possible. Just read you are using a 20" barrel, maybe try a slightly faster powder than N160, H4350 or N150.

Any 100gr 243 will kill deer. The Partition is great, use them if you can get them regularly and don't mind the price. I would suggest Hornady 100gr SPBT's and also Hornady 87gr SPBT's as your two bullets. However, the equivalents from Speer, Sierra, Nosler etc will all do well. Again, pick bullets which you can always get hold of.

Your 10 twist Sako should stabilise any conventional lead core bullet up to 100gr's. It might only stabilise an 85 or 90 gr solid copper bullet because of the length.
 
I have several sets of RCBS dies and have recently noticed due to playing with cast bullets that the .303 ones have what appears to be a .30 cal neck expander to contacted RCBS who just brushed the query aside. So much for their "famed" customer support. Now new dies I would not not buy RCBS but choose Lee as they do support customer queries and complaints as I know from past experience. I often buy used dies and the 25-06 ones are used RCBS ones and seem fine.

As for Nosler partitions not every rifle likes them. I have some 95 or 100 grain ones and they shot patterns in both the .243 and the 6mm rem. i have another space for a .243 which I will fill in the new year and see if that shoots them with acceptable precision.

Now cases well in the new Norma catalogue I picked up at the Newark shooting show it says and shows photos of the headstamps that Norma make and Federal is one of them as is Lapua :eek: so choose either of yours and you will be fine :D.

Primers you need large rifle and the make is not that important to most people but do buy a full box (1000) then you don't have to worry for a while of getting more of the same. Changing primer can alter a load but if you work up with one type/brand then you'll be OK.

For powder I would move to a slightly faster burn rate such as H4895, H-380 or H-335. Reloader 15 or 19 or one of the 4350's either Hodgdons or IMR.

Sadly each and every barrel is a law unto itself in what it likes and dislikes so you will have to do some experimenting.................................................. sorry :( however I would start with a normal 100 grain bullet and see how it goes cheaper too :D.
 
So, today is payday, and last month I committed myself to buying some reloading gear when this point came around...no way out of it now:rolleyes::D

Anyway, I think I will start small-scale with a Lee Classic Loader and some little convenient extra's (maybe a digital scale, some calipers, and..any other you suggest as essentials?..just a few please). Will probably stalk ebay for the scale and calipers (unless you know of good places to source this without spending a fortune - I can always upgrade later).

Also, I will firstly load for my .243, and want two setups - 1. 100 grain for Reds, and 2. 85/90/95 grain for Roe.
1. Let's start with the 100g.
a. I'm thinking I'll reload this seasons used Norma cases - good idea? or should I go with my Federals?
b. Which primers do you recommend? is there a size I need?
c. Powder - any specific recommendations?
d. Bullet - I'm thinking Nosler Partition 100 grain. Any thoughts why I should go Gameking (SP/HP), Interlokt or Triple Shock? The reason for the Partition would be excellent penetration, weight retention and expansion ability out to 200m (with decent BC), and as I sometimes take angled shots, I want to avoid excessively rapid expansion should there be slight contact with ribs/shoulder/etc. prior to getting sufficient penetration to the vitals (ps. I always try to get a profile heart/lung shot wehen feasible!). I'm not interested in ballistic tips.

2. Can anyone comment on whether the Partition would stabilize best in 85, 90, or 95 grain - given a Sako 75 with 20" barrel and 1:10 twist. I am guessing the 85 or 90, but prefer not to have to experiment if there's a given 'best' already established.

Lastly, next year I will be shooting reds with a .308 Win - and am looking to play with the Nosler Accubond, sounds reasonable, or better stick with the Partition?

First off get a reloading manual and read it. It is the first and most essential piece of equipment a reloader needs. I can highly recommend the Richard Lee's "Modern Reloading Volume II" as a tutorial for reloading. New reloaders must take initiative towards their own education.~Muir
 
"New reloaders must take initiative towards their own education":rolleyes:

ha ha ha..you don't say...I appreciate what you say Muir, and have full intentions of reading many reloading manuals, just had a few questions 'prior' to getting started:D
 
What I meant was that you should get your information from a source so reliable that someone pays them for the information... like in a book. In a book like the Lee book you learn to make an educated choice about the proper powder and primer to use without asking anybody, based on cartridge, barrel length, etc. It will also give you a sense for what kind of equipment to buy. Admittedly, Mr. Lee is proud of his gear and makes an unabashed sales pitch to the reader, but the generally principles are quite sound. There are things in hos book that you will finds nowhere else that I know of.

Another good book is is one called "The PRinciples and Practices of Loading Ammunition" by Naramore. Excellent book. Written in 1954 and reprinted in 1962, I believe. It is 900+ pages of ballistics and physics. Excellent read if you can find one.~Muir
 
PKL:- lees breech lock challenger kit, 1 set each of deluxe dies, 243, 308, 1 case length gauge and shell holder in 243 and 308, 2 extra sets of quick change bushings (they come in pairs), another set of bushings if you intend to crimp plus factory crimps in 243 and 308 and all you need is components, bullets, primers, cases you all ready have, a point about cases, federal cases that is, 223 dave, came over to my place to do some reloading, and he brought some federal cases and some lapua and as far as I can remember the fed cases were crimped around the primers making them harder to deprime and impossible to reprime unless a thin shaving of brass was removed with a stanley knife from around the primer pocket, which reminds me, invest in a pair of safety glasses for when you reprime, back to the callenger kit, it includes the auto-prime, a much superior bit of kit than the safety prime, I bought the 50th anniversary kit and that comes with the safety prime, and my reloading station is in my work shop so the safety prime which is mounted on top of the press wouldn't have lasted very long !!! with the auto-prime you can "feel" the fit of the primer, digital verniers, I bought mine from ebay for about £12 they're accurate to .0005, half a thou. I bought my kit from Lee Precision Factory Sales in the states even with the shipping charges, VAT and parcel force handling fees it was still cheaper than buying from here in the UK and a lot quicker, I'd been messed about for over 5 weeks and was told that it would be at least another 2 weeks waiting time so I cancelled my order went to LPFS and my stuff arrived just over a week later.....callie
 
PKL

Lots of good advice above. Some more points. Find someone local to you that you can talk to and can sit down with you and look at what you are doing. Keep a reloading notebook for each calibre and record what you actually do in terms of brass prep and reloading.

Finally, check that you are doing enough shooting to justify reloading? How many deer a year are you shooting? Do you do any target work?

Rgds JCS
 
Have you got a shooting friend who reloads AND are their reloads safe, reliable and accurate? If so read the books first and then watch how the friend does it and be prepared to ask questions.
The best lesson I learned was to reload away from ANY noise or interference, it's too easy to get distracted!
 
PKL I will go along with Brian here and highlight that the best components to reload with are those you can get a regular supply of. This may sound like a trivial point but just wait until you've spent 6 months running back and forth to the range working up a good load only to find that your local reloading shop can no longer get that bullet or powder and you have to start at the beginning again. It might not be so difficult for you in Edinburgh but here in Northern Ireland this is probably THE single most important factor in load development. I load 150 grain Hornady Spire Points over Reloader 15 for my 308W as these are pretty standard but even at that I find the owners of local gun shops sucking their cheeks in and giving me the "that stuff is pretty hard to get..." line a lot of the time and sometimes I wait months for supplies. I tried to source some 150 grain Nosler Partitions over a year ago and am still waiting for them, I've been away for a bit so must check with a local gun shop tonight to see if he has any yet.
 
No doubt about that Philip. I was passing a gunshop just this morning. I called in on the off chance that he might have 6.5mm 120gr BT's. Which he did, so I cleaned him out. The grand total of 4 boxes - £85.
 
Two things I have found invaluable as "extra" reloading tools;
1/ A stoney point comparator set up, OAL gauge, bullet comparator etc.
2/ An exercise book to write down everything I have done while reloading, load, bullet, date made, OAL etc.

I agree about the Digital scales, don't bother, buy a good beam balance and a powder trickler!

ft

PS, I bought my calipers from Bridgewater Tools, they are often cheaper than "specialist" outfitters.
 
No doubt about that Philip. I was passing a gunshop just this morning. I called in on the off chance that he might have 6.5mm 120gr BT's. Which he did, so I cleaned him out. The grand total of 4 boxes - £85.


Ouch! It is hard on the wallet Brian. Was talking to Mervyn tonight and he has a few things I might be interested in so will take a run up tomorrow night I think, like you I buy it when I can find it. He has been trying to get partitions for me for about a year now with no success so while it might be fun to try them out I don't think I will be depending on them if it takes literally years to get another box. In saying that the Hornady spire points are performing well for me in broadside heart/lung shots but I'm getting 3000fps now and am a bit worried that on a close shot or a quartering shot they might not do so well. Part of the fun is in the experimenting but I think the RL15/HSP combination will remain my primary load just on the basis of availability.
 
Philip, I am waiting 5 weeks for two tubs of Benchmark. Mervyn has primers and re17, but I have been putting off going up to him until the Benchmark appears. He was due to get them today.
 
Just to say I was up last night Brian and Mervyn had a new delivery of powder. Don't know if there was any benchmark but he has some Rl15 for me. Still no partitions though but did get 100 of the Hornady spire points so that will keep me going. The Hornadys work just fine so it is only the inclinatioin to experiment that has me wanting to try the partitions.
 
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