tracker wrote:

Bushmaster wrote: 84jeepj10...I really hate to be sour grapes on this subject, . Not being sour grapes when your advice is to "err on the side of caution" as we used to say it, Bushy, it's just sound advice.

I agree wholeheartedly Tracks old mate.

Cheers, Vince

Well I handloaded my first bullets last night. Took me awhile to get set up and find my seating depth using the dummy chambering method but I figured it out and am on my way. I realise that I really need at least a Lee perfect powder measure because manually weighing every powder charge is very tedious and time consuming! Although I know that ensures the utmost consistancy. My C.O.L. ended up being 3.3" and that seated those Nosler .308dia 165grn SB-BTBT at 0.453" and chambers as well as factory ammo. I got the H4350 powder and started at 53grn and am loading 3 at a time at .5grn increments to 59grn (max). Used the new Remington brass and Federal #210 LR primers. I can't wait to take 'em to the range, I'm hooked on reloading!

Thanks for all of your tips and advise over the course of this thread. I know I'll still have many more questions but you've all helped me tremendousely to this point in my 'beginners reloading education'.

Jeep, sounds like your on your way. Take it from me, keep records! Make sure the rounds stored after reloading are properly marked. You may not see the sense of that now, but, when you have thousands of reloads lying around, picking up a box of reloads not properly identified could tax your memory and take you to places you don't want to go.

Keep it coming...

Including the hospital...Jeep. And I don't want to hear that of you...

Well I got a total of 30 loaded, 3 each .5grn increment from 53grn to 57.5grn. All stored neatly marked with all load data in a 50rnd handload box. I only ran into a couple of small kinks after loading. 1) a few rounds I diddn't get the primer fully seated, it's just barely not flush so I hope that won't hurt anything, the C.O.L. is still within tolerance even with that. 2) from round 1 to 30 my depth shifted 0.020" so my C.O.L. went from 3.310" to 3.330" which I don't believe will change much accuracy wise right now. I meticulousely scale weighed every load perfectly to what grn weight I wanted, took only about another minute per round. Overall I'm quite pleased wth how they turned out and am anxious to goto the range tomarrow and test 'em out. I'll post performance reports when I get the chance.
I'm leaving to visit family in OK tomarrow evening and don't know when I'll get back online after that for the next couple weeks.

84jeepj10 wrote:

Well I handloaded my first bullets last night. I can't wait to take 'em to the range, I'm hooked on reloading! Thanks for all of your tips and advise over the course of this thread. I know I'll still have many more questions but you've all helped me tremendousely to this point in my 'beginners reloading education'.

Well done Jeepster. Mate, if this has hooked you on reloading I dread to think what you will be like in a few years time.

As George and Bushy said mate.....ensure you label everything. I batch my cases and put a label in the lid of the ammo box identifying the load. I also number each 5 round row and if I have various loads in the box I identify the row and load:
Row #4 - 38 gn Varget, 80gn Remington PSP
Row #5 - 38.5gn Varget, 80gn Remington PSP........etc
It works for me and there is no doubt in my mind what loads I have there. Just have to remember to alter the label when things change.

I still hand weigh each and every load, except my 12g shotgun loads, even after 30 yrs of reloading. As you say, ensures uniformity. Something I found makes the hand weighing much easier is a Powder Trickler. I made my own using plastic lids off an Avon Roll on deodorant and a detergent bottle and a short piece of car radio antenna, but they aren't expensive to buy.

Now the good part comes....testing out your very own rounds. Great. Good luck mate.

Cheers, Vince

Vince wrote:

84jeepj10 wrote: Well I handloaded my first bullets last night. I can't wait to take 'em to the range, I'm hooked on reloading! Thanks for all of your tips and advise over the course of this thread. I know I'll still have many more questions but you've all helped me tremendousely to this point in my 'beginners reloading education'. Well done Jeepster. Mate, if this has hooked you on reloading I dread to think what you will be like in a few years time. As George and Bushy said mate.....ensure you label everything.

Sound advice from the posters above, and the thing to remember like some said is to .......... "keep accurate records of "all" your loads" whether they were good and accurate or not. The ones that were too hot or the ones you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with, all that info comes in handy down the road. It may be 20 years or more but it is vital info. Over the years I have as many pages of loads that were/are good or great as I have that just were no good at all.