I loaded my first 20 rounds last night....

[shelpster66]

I finally loaded my first 20 rounds.
I went and picked up some powder and primers the other day and started on it last night. The cases (50) have all been prepped and cleaned for a few weeks, so I was ready.
I'll tell ya...the first few primers I pushed in were nervous moments indeed. The powder didn't really bother me as much as the primers did. But, after a few of them I got the feel for the seating depth and didn't blow myself up....which is nice. Going to load another 20 tonight I think for the weekend shoot.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Last night's rounds...</span>.
Winchester brass - 2.005
Varget Powder - 42.0 gr
CCI 200 primers
Sierra Matchking bullets

The next 20 I'll load at 43.0gr to see what the difference is. That is as high as I want to go for now. The only issue I had was measuring the OAL. The bullets as most all of you know aren't straight at the end, so I'm getting an OAL of 3.810-3.813.

Now I know the press/die is doing it's job, but still bothers me that I'm not spot on with a measurement. Will trimming the tips with a Meplat(sp?) trimmer do the trick or am I going to need a bullet comparator to get an accurate OAL?

Last night's fun....

 

[Custom by Winslow]

Re: I loaded my first 20 rounds last night....

Too be honest, I wouldn't worry about it. Get a bullet comparator and test 1 round out of every ten or so you load to make sure your seating die is not moving on you if it make you fell better. Normally, what I do, is take calipers to 5 rounds out of the lot and if the OAL is within .020 of each other, call it good. Like you said, the bullet lengths aren't going to be completely uniform. Spend more time shooting and less time reloading.

 

[MALLARD]

Re: I loaded my first 20 rounds last night....

i like how you mounted your powder dispensor and press to a pice of wood and c-clamped that to your table,

 

[Iamironman]

Re: I loaded my first 20 rounds last night....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: shelpster66</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I finally loaded my first 20 rounds.
I went and picked up some powder and primers the other day and started on it last night. The cases (50) have all been prepped and cleaned for a few weeks, so I was ready.
I'll tell ya...the first few primers I pushed in were nervous moments indeed. The powder didn't really bother me as much as the primers did. But, after a few of them I got the feel for the seating depth and didn't blow myself up....which is nice. Going to load another 20 tonight I think for the weekend shoot.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Last night's rounds...</span>.
Winchester brass - 2.005
Varget Powder - 42.0 gr
CCI 200 primers
Sierra Matchking bullets

The next 20 I'll load at 43.0gr to see what the difference is. That is as high as I want to go for now. The only issue I had was measuring the OAL. The bullets as most all of you know aren't straight at the end, so I'm getting an OAL of 3.810-3.813.

Now I know the press/die is doing it's job, but still bothers me that I'm not spot on with a measurement. Will trimming the tips with a Meplat(sp?) trimmer do the trick or am I going to need a bullet comparator to get an accurate OAL?

Last night's fun....

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8060/img20110608200454.jpg
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Congrats on your first reloads. First off, relax. You will never see that .003 difference on paper.