Brand new at this

[Danrobberg]

I have some minimal reloading expierence with .223 but nothing near as in depth needed for this type of shooting. I just ordered a rifle from MPA chambered in 6.5x47. I also just received 300 rounds of new lapua brass and an 8 lb keg of H4350. I also received my set of Redding dies and competition case holders as well as my bushing, can't remember the size but I want to say 289. For primers I was thinking of going with cci450 and bullets was thinking nosler rdf 140 grain. My main question is with Case prep. I've heard about firing all my brass once at a reduced charge, is that something that is worth it? Also is there anything else that needs to be done to the brass in preparation? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Sheldon N]

Quick and dirty answer...

Component choices look good.
Make sure you have tools to measure shoulder headspace/bump and distance of the ogive of the bullet to lands of the rifling. Hornady tools are most commonly used.
Bump shoulder .001-..002 from fired brass, seat bullets .020" off lands to start, RDF's may like additional jump to the lands.
Just load and shoot the brass to start, no prep needed other than maybe a champfer/debur on the neck.
Do some preliminary testing, get your rifle zeroed, break in the barrel, total of maybe 100 rounds or so.
The barrel will likely speed up ~50fps sometime in the first 100 rounds. Wait until after this takes place to do final load development.
Do your final load development with once fired brass. Read up on OCW, ladder testing, and velocity/chrono ladder testing to learn how to determine ideal powder charge weight.
Refine load testing by tweaking seating depth, if needed.
You are likely to find your ideal velocity somewhere in the mid-high 2700's.No need to hammer too hard on the brass, you're looking for consistency and accuracy not the hottest possible charge.
Shoot the remainder of your virgin brass on practice range days, used the fired/sized stuff for anything important (for the sake of consistency)

 

[Fursniper]

Good advice from Sheldon. As another point though, I found it interesting that Bryan Litz, after exhaustive testing and analysis, concluded in his recent release of volume II of "Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting" that "fire formed brass is not much better than new brass in terms of SD". Just another take on an age old subject. It's a life-long learning process & sounds like you're off to a good start.

 

[Horns8491]

I shoot a very similar setup. 140gn Berger hybrids have been excellent for me. You may need a different size bushing, but once you load some you can see if you're happy with your neck tension and adjust from there. If using a neck bushing die, 'd turn the necks even with the lapua brass, but many here will say it's unnecessary.

Most important advice I'd give is: when you get advice from people here on the hide, make sure you know exactly what setup they are using before incorporating into your process. The advice here is usually excellent, but there might be some underlying assumption that is different in your case vs the guy who is providing advice that could make all the difference.

You'll quickly learn who knows their shit here, too. Sheldon and fursniper are GTG.

 

[Sendit6.5]

I've been having better luck using CCI BR4 primers than using the 450's. I'm also pushing 140s out of Lapua brass with H4350. My ES/SD has been much smaller with the BR4s. Just FYI


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[Danrobberg]

Thanks for all of the responses and help guys. My rifle should be here in 3-4 weeks so that should give me plenty of time to get a nice load developed for the next match I'm shooting in mid September.