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What did you do in the reloading room today?

Worked on tuning seating depth on a 300WM load.
 

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Finally got around to loading up some back burner projects.

300 Blackout subs 200gr SMK... trying out a ladder of IMR4227 to see if I can make something quieter than 1680
223 Seating depth test for the trainer. Old load is kinda meh, want to see if can tighten it back up some.
223 subs for the bolt gun, ladder of Trailboss behind 69gr SMK. Should be super quiet, just for grins.
Pulled out old Dasher barrel #1 @ 2400 rounds. Curious if DTACs will shoot in it, loaded up a ladder. Thinking I'll mess around with them as trainer rounds for something with more recoil than the 223.

Gonna be an interesting range trip later this week.
 
223 subs for the bolt gun, ladder of Trailboss behind 69gr SMK. Should be super quiet, just for grins.

And today in the reloading room I learned how to get a stuck bullet out of the barrel. :)

I went too far down the ladder. 5.0 grains = supersonic, 4.5 grains = just right, 4.0 grains = very slow, 3.5 grains = stuck.

Luckily it made it about 2/3 of the way and tapped out pretty easily with a cleaning rod.
 
You should've put a case with 5 grs and no bullet in the chamber. Bet that would've dislodged it

At the range I tried to pull a bullet from a spare live round but didn't have pliers so gave up and moved on. Totally would have done it if I could have pulled the bullet from another round.

It's kinda cool to have a "fired" bullet with rifling marks though. I put that on top of my reloading bench.
 
I also did that with subs developing loads in a 300BO. I shot from my garage out the slightly cracked walk-in door into a hedgerow. Just loading and chrono'ing. Because I was doing it that way I could just tap it out in the reloading room.

Yeah, the 300BO test with 200gr SMK's went a lot better. Supersonic at 11.5gr, subsonic at 11.0gr then went all the way down to 8.0gr of IMR4227 still gave me bolt hang open on an empty mag (pistol gas 14.5"). Those 8.0 loads were SLOW though, lobbing them like a baseball lol. I think I'll run at around 9.5, much quieter than the 1680 load I had before.
 
I wish it was that easy.

These were loaded for my previous worn out 308 w/ 8000 rounds down the tube.

Brass will fit no problem and the bullets will fit, too.

The interference comes from a very compressed load. These were loaded with 44.1gr of Varget in LCLR cases at 2.940 COAL. They were jumping .040.....

There’s no way to seat these bullets any deeper because there’s simply isn’t more room in the case......

Max length in my new camber/barrel for Juggernaut Target 185’s is 2.912 and I’m not going to be using Lake City Long Range brass for my 308 any more, despite having over 10,000 pieces.

I’ve gone over to the dark side and am now using Lapua LRP brass, after resisting buying any 308 brass, ever.

And I’ve gained almost 3gr of case capacity.

Still doing load development and figured I could use the bullets and powder elsewhere.
 
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I loaded some mild 7SAUM loads to get some once fired brass and some rounds through the barrel that should be here Monday.
Tomorrow I need to load up some 260 for this weekends shoot with some friends.
 
Got a couple hundred federal 223 brass and starline 6.5 creed brass prepped today. It was great to get it all processed but I broke a deprime pin somehow in my Whidden dies. Gotta keep an eye out for that
hst
 
I’m gonna load up another 50 of 7 saum today for a trip to the short range this week.

I ran a mandrel through the necks last night as the first 50 new cases had really tight necks but they did really well on sterl yesterday at a bit past 1100.
 
Reloaded 22 30-06 Berger Lapua combo, at 0300, before work. I load a few, prep a few every morning before work, for about 45 minutes. Then another 45 minutes after work. Just to stay fresh.
 
Sized 50x308win cases and loaded 25 (5x5) as a seating depth test.
 
I got my first case stuck in the die. 338LM. Didnt have enough lube at the base of the cases. Crap. Anybody have a 338LM FL die they dont use anymore?
 
I got my first case stuck in the die. 338LM. Didnt have enough lube at the base of the cases. Crap. Anybody have a 338LM FL die they dont use anymore?
RCBS Stuck case remover. $20, totally worth the money. Saved my bacon a time or two.
 
Just looked it up and vids on how to use it. I can make my own remover. I will update...
 
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Got it. My problem is definitely not enough lube at the base of the case. Sprayed some cases then just rubbed the lube down to the base of the case with my finger and 338's felt like 223's.
 

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So what can be done about loose primer pockets? Nothin? Time for a new batch of brass?
 
Wet tumbled about 40 rounds of 6.5 Creedmoor and salt bath annealed them. Yes, I know some say it doesn't work but my sizing dies and SD's say otherwise. Sprayed em with Lanolin will sonic clean em tonight and load tomorrow after drying.
 
I ordered a new set of torsion springs for my garage door...
Well, it is my reloading "room."

Not due in til next week, so opening it will be a bitch.
 
Loaded 7 rnds of 338LM for test tomorow. All the cases ready. Taking all the loading stuff with me so i can duplicate those rnds or test different things. 285 ELD's over 89gr of H1000 seated .020" for a COAL of 3.750"
 
750 rounds of 12 ga, 7/8 oz, 17.3 grains of Titewad. 500 of those are destined for my old man who has taken up trap shooting again now that his bird dog passed away.
 
17g?! Must be a really fast powder like handgun powder?
Yes, it's a shotgun/handgun powder from Hodgdon. It's got enough umph to cycle my Beretta A400 gas gun. I used to load 3/4 oz 12ga loads with 19 grains of Titewad, running 1300 fps.
 
Got my new-to-me Dillon xl650 going and set up a dedicated .40S&W toolhead. Already have one set for my 9mm loads. Once it was setup, I cranked out 300 rounds in no time. It’s settled, I’ll never go back to loading on my Turret press again. Gonna sell it and buy a single stage for dedicated precision loading. Now I just need to get myself a set of Dillon .223 dies/conversion for the extra toolhead/powder die/measure I have sitting here, and I’ll be set for easy and fast small primer caliber swaps. ?

Gonna have to paint my basement Dillon Blue now that I’ve ingested the Kool-Aid.
 
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Daughter woke up early so i was up once i got her back to bed.

Loaded 95 rnds of 308 win
Loaded 35 rounds 6.5 cm
Processed 210 rnds of fgmm brass
De primed 190 223
Put away all the dies and miscellaneous reloading components so i can see my bench top again.

Its now 835 am...
 
Testing some 105 Match Burners in new Peterson Brass.
 

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Pulled my new XL750 out of the box (no time to set it up), and also swagged about 150 LC 5.56 brass before work ?
 
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Just when I figured out my RPR .243 likes the 115gr DTACS, I got a diagnosis from my Primary Care Doctor at the VA that I've got 'pretty bad arthritis' in my right shoulder. If she described it that way from the x-ray report, I doubt I'll hear anything besides surgery after my MRI tomorrow. From what I read about it, It'll be three to six months after surgery before I'll get the green light to reload and shoot again. Maybe I can reload while I'm waiting for the surgery!
 
After 5 months away from the table I found out that my memory of what I had going on and my shitty handwritten notes aren't going to cut it. Spending next few days organizing and redoing the workspace. It could be worse, lucky it's all 308 and 223.
 
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Loaded up 100 rounds of 6CM. Loaded low charges from published data from Hodgdon’s website. Just getting new brass ready and hoping that’ll be enough to get the barrel seasoned. Plan to start load development after these 100rds, and I assume my barrel will have sped up by then.
 
@Anb618 what bullet and brass are you using? Photos?
Hornady brass, WLR primers, Nosler CC 107’s, H4350 @ 37.6gr, 2.800” OAL. Didn’t figure ogive length yet. Will worry about that when I start load development. Don’t have any photos.
 
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