5 reloading tips

[Offroad Gary]

Tip 1.
To check that a homeload is not touching the lands of the rifling, colour the bullet with a permanent marker, chamber the round, extract carefully and check for marks in the ink at regular intervals.

Tip 2.
Never use a round that has been neck sized only after being fired in your mates rifle, you may find that it gets stuck!

Tip 3.
When bouncing around your garage using your rifle like a pogo stick with a live round in the chamber and your foot on the bolt, ensure that wife and kids are not in the bedroom above and you keep your head well away from the muzzle!!

Tip 4.
Keep clean underwear near your reloading bench for occasions like this.

Tip 5.
Always do the test in #1 with a non charged round.

 

[techman]

Bucksden, No3. made me chuckle.
However, taking the rifle outside and giving the bolt handle a sharp, but light tap with a hammer will free the round no trouble.

 

[finnbear270]

Bucksden, No3. made me chuckle.
However, taking the rifle outside and giving the bolt handle a sharp, but light tap with a hammer will free the round no trouble.

Or if you had some dodgy Lapua like I did, leave the bullet in the throat, & a powder choked magazine space , seriously though good advice above, but if you have a little cash to spare treat yourself to a stoney point tool for measuring chambers, this way you accurately tailor your seating depths.

 

[Mannlicher_Stu]

Just use candle smoke on a dummy round for each type of bullet head its more accurate and you can save each dummy round as a profile,similar to the marker pen but more accurate, engineers blue also works a treat but can be a bit messy

 

[monarman]

The marker pen is a good one for those who don't want to buy a OAL gauge........or you can set your sizing die to pop the primer and VERY slightly size the neck. Then VERY slightly (2-3mm) seat the desired bullet into this case. Drop the dummy round into the chamber and slowly close the bolt on the dummy round. This will allow the ogive of the bullet to hit the rifling and stop, whilst as the bolt is pushed forward and closed this is seating the bullet into the case to the desired length. As the neck was Very slightly sized it will have enough grab on the bullet to allow normal extraction....but as a precaution, you can gently slide a cleaning rod down the barrel from the muzzle to rest on the round and whilst holding the rifle muzzle up operate the bolt and extract the round in the normal way. Hey presto!!....dummy round to measure and set the seating die to!!.......you can put a film of superglue on the neck area of this round to stop accidental movement, and then all you need to do is screw out the seating screw on the top of your seating die to nearly its limit......operate the press as if you were seating a bullet as normal......leave the round up in the die and slowly wind down the seating screw until it stops on the round............That's your OAL for that bullet head!!!!
The miniscule fine tuning can be done afterwards if need be.

Steve