Author Topic: I have no professional training!!! (Read 949 times)

twocan · « **on:** March 03, 2007, 04:16:38 PM »

Ok guys i loaded up my first 10 today. I started with 243, I bought the dies and a buddy of mine hade the rest. He got me started with resizing and poppen the primer out of my old brass. He told me to lube the brass and put it in the press and pull the handle and (OUT THE DOOR HE WENT) $:-\$
So I did about 50 and then i started cleaning the lube off of them before i put them in the shaker.
45 out of 50 had a dent in the neck. When the so called buddy came back, he told me i used to much lube. Then he says its fine it will be gone as soon as i pull the trigger

Should i trust him?

spinafish · « **Reply #1 on:** March 03, 2007, 04:40:56 PM »

yep, too much lube on the shoulder

..will iron out with the first shot..

hillbill · « **Reply #2 on:** March 03, 2007, 05:17:34 PM »

dont know what yu used for lube but here is what use. i put some marvel mystrey oil in a oil can and put about 20 drops on a piece of folded cotton cloth and roll my cases over that before i size them. too much lube will cause hydraulic dents in the shoulder. they are not a deal breaker tho.if you want to reload then get a good reloading book and read it. it will give step by step info.dont trust what a buddy tells yu, read and learn. one thing i can tell yu bout .243 is that they will stretch. make sure and check the case length every time and trim as needed. them 100 grns are perfect murder on deer and yotes. let us know how reloading werks out for yu.

jhalcott · « **Reply #3 on:** March 03, 2007, 06:19:48 PM »

I feel for you! With a buddy like that ,you could get into REAL trouble quick. What was your load? Did you start low and work up ?
Yes ,you definetly need a book ! Preferrably more than one. At least I had my grand dads knee to rest on when I started reloading. I learned real fast not to do something HE thought was unsafe.I've used a couple different case lubes,but always come back to the RCBS stuff on an old dish cloth.I used some Dillon spray lube till I ran out,then tried Hornady "One Shot". That stuff was NOT good for me. It didn't seem to lubricate evenly. I had several cases stick in the die and rip the rims off.

qajaq59 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 04, 2007, 01:18:15 AM »

Quote

Yes ,you definetly need a book !

That is VERY, VERY good advice.

And if you see oil dents on your case just unscrew the primer rod and run a couple of clean patches down thru your die. You really don't want those dents in the neck of the case because eventually they will crack and you'll have to toss the case.
Also clean your lubing pad each time before you use it in case there is any dirt on it that might scratch your die or cause a dent.

scratcherky · « **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2007, 02:30:35 AM »

Since no one has mentioned it, make sure not to get any lube on the case shoulder. That is what causes most dents.

jpsmith1 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2007, 02:43:42 AM »

I tried several different lubes and got the same results as you did. Too much lube and it doesn't matter if you get it on the shoulder. The wiping action of the die will push the lube to the shoulder area if you use too much on the neck. Been there, done that.

I use Sizing wax. I put a bit on a cloth as was mentioned earlier and wipe it on the case. It's expensive , but good stuff and worth it.

twocan · « **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2007, 03:17:17 AM »

75gr Hornady V-Max 40grs varget 2.7c.o.l Will this be a good starter?

beemanbeme · « **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:54:17 AM »

Before anyone answers your question, take any load you get off the net with a large helping of salt!! Also you need to refer back to the posts that said "get a book(s)"
One of the first things the book will tell you is that each rifle is an individual and so a prize-winning load in one rifle will be a dog in another. You're gonna have to plow your own field.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:41:59 AM »

Nope , Don't even think about it !!

Heres why .

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

Now before you get yourself or someone else hurt , get at lease 1 good reloading manual and read it then read it again , you are on the fast track to grtting hurt bad . stop and take a step back and re-think this thing for awhile .

Richard

twocan · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2007, 10:29:38 AM »

You guys say "get you a book" the book i have says 40.5 is max. I started with 40grs I know thats hot but its not max in the book! Yes i have done alot of research on the net I have seen some up to 42grs most have been 40grs. Im on this forum for help, so should i pull them or not?

OLDHandgunner · « **Reply #11 on:** March 04, 2007, 10:30:37 AM »

You've done a couple of things wrong:
1- You're buddy shouldn't left you alone on your 1st time reloading.
2- You should have read a reloading manual.
3- You did use too much lube or the die already had a lube build up in it.
4- Most of the time the dents will come out by firing.
So the next time reloading be more careful. Reloading can be very dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I don't think you want to be called LEFTY.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 04, 2007, 11:05:16 AM »

twocan

Yep , pull them , granted they may be below the max for the data that you have but no 2 guns are the same , what may be max for one rifle will be well above max for another . If the manual says that 40.5 is max you may want to drap back to 38 to 38.5 and start there .

Granted alot of people have learned to load by the seat of their pants with nothing bad happening , if your luck is like mine you could be in a very bad way real soon . better to be safe than sorry .

Please do not take some of these posts the wrong way , we are just trying to keep you from getting hurt .

I have seen first hand what a reloading mishap can do and no one needs that kind of pain .

Richard

twocan · « **Reply #13 on:** March 04, 2007, 11:27:17 AM »

Safety 1st, Ill pull them. Well ill just load some at 38 to try and then work my way up. Im doing this all just for you stimy

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 04, 2007, 11:52:11 AM »

twocan

PM sent

stimpy

beemanbeme · « **Reply #15 on:** March 04, 2007, 01:54:44 PM »

2can, there are several ways to go about it but you don't need to load several rounds of a single powder charge to "check it". Figure a starting load, in this case let's say 38grs of varget, load three rounds and put them and a small piece of paper with the data on it in a baggie. Then load 3 rounds with say 38.5 and put them in a baggie along with the data. Repeat until you get to let's say 40grs. If you're starting out with a clean barrel, load up a couple of extra of the 38gr loads to use as foulers that don't count.
Shoot each loading group at a different target. I usually put several of the 1" stickers on a sheet of notebook paper. When I'm finished shooting, I transcribe the load data onto the targets and put the sheet in the loading log I keep for each rifle. Now then, as I shoot, I take a good look at each case after I have shot it. (I wait 1 minute between shots so I have time) Then I put it back in the baggie and shoot another. When I shoot loads 39.5 and 40, I pay particular attention to the case: how do the primers look? how did the case extract compared to the lighter loads? is there any extractor engravings in the head of the case? Is there any change in the clarity of the engravings on the head?
If not, I load another sequence of three rounds. Maybe dropping the lower charge weight and fudging past your old max. Up to say 41grs or, depending on how your cases looked at 40grs, up to 41.5. Somewhere along the way, you should get a loading that is just a little tighter than the others. That is what you're looking for. Let's say it's 40 even. I would load another sequence of 5 rounds each of 39.5, 39.8, 40, 40.3, 40.5. Once I've determined the best loading for that powder, I'd play around a bit with the bullet jump and probably call it happy. If you're below the book max, so much the better. The animals you kill with that loading will never miss the 100 or 200fps that you are MAYBE losing.
Of course, you may find that your rifle will tell you that it can't abide Varget. Or Vmax bullets. And then it's back to the drawing board. That's why most reloaders have a whole bunch of 1/2 cans of powder (or some of the nicest rose bushes in the neighborhood) I usually try at least two different brands of bullets when I start out.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:53:19 PM »

twocan

Here is something else to look at , i took this data from the Lee manual for 243 .

70gr. bullet
40.5 gr. Varget
57808 PSI

75gr. bullet
38.5 gr. Varget
58269 PSI

As you can see , just by changing the bullet by 5 gr. and dropping the powder charge 2 gr. the pressure increased about 450 PSI , so you can see what this could do with a more radical change .

Safety First buddy

stimpy

twocan · « **Reply #17 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:27:03 PM »

Thanks guys

jhalcott · « **Reply #18 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:34:55 PM »

twocan, where did you get that COL of 2.7" ? My book says 2.65". Jamming the bullet into the rifling can really jump pressures. I have 2 different make 6mm Remingtons. A ruger and an H&R, they don't like the same powder charges. They don't even like the same make of bullets (though they both like 85 grains) . You need to establish the length of YOUR chamber.Seat the bullets off the rifling about 0.020 to 0.030". Decide on a powder and figure about 5- 10% less than the book max to start. Work up in half to 1 grain increments till you get to either the book max or see pressure signs as beeman said. IF (big IF) there are no signs of pressure,then you can start to adjust the bullet seating depth to increase accuracy. you MAY have to lower the powder charge by a half grain or so to get the best accuracy. You should also use a chronograph to see when you start to lose velocity gains. What I mean is 38, 39 & 40 grains might give you an increase of 50-75 fps or more, then 41 gives you only 20-30 fps. You are starting to blow powder out the barrel and not really burning it efficiently.
This reloading is NOT really this complicated,but it CAN be dangerous if done carelessly. Remember this, IT IS NOT ONLY YOU WHO CAN BE HURT! I don't want to read about some bystander getting hurt. I am also certain you don't want to be the cause of that accident. If we did not care ,we'd just blow you off!

FLNT4EVR · « **Reply #19 on:** March 05, 2007, 03:37:59 AM »

Twocan, I just got back into reloading myself about 3 months ago. When I started again the first thing I did was buy a loading manual, then I picked up another. And today I'm ordering a third ,just for cast bullets.A couple of weeks ago I got some 45-70 loads off of one of the websites on the net. I had not much to do and lots of bullets and brass so I loaded up about 100 of em.As time passed I kept getting a nagging feeling that they were just too heavy a load for what I wanted, so more research was in order. To shorten this up , after consulting load and pressure charts , even tho everything said I was within safe limits , I pulled them all and backed the charge down. I had become magnumized, and was loading much heavier than is necessary . So your not alone in questioning your self about what you are about to put in your rifle. It is a good habit to get into and keeps us safe.