Made my first reloads

[Dr. Vette]

After years of reading as well as many months of owning equipment, prepping brass and preparing for the day I finally put together my first reloads yesterday.

Some of you may recall that I asked about powder in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19886

I went with the H-1000 as expected.

First, I purchased a box of factory 160gr AccuBond Weatherby 7mm Magnum ammo. I shot 3 rounds through Dad's stainless 7mm yesterday morning and they did exceptionally well at 100 yards, at least as good as the Weatherby guarantee (2 next to each other and 1 just over an inch away). As a result I knew that 1) I could always buy 2 boxes of factory ammo for the upcoming elk trip if all my experimenting failed and 2) the COAL of the factor ammo was probably a good place to start.

I measured several of the factory loads using my calipers and Hornady Bullet Comparator. From the base to the ogive as measured by the tool they were 2.681 to 2.690 inches long. Note that this is not the OAL but you probably know that. So I set 2.690 as my standard when setting up my Redding seating die. I made a sample round using a nonprimed case and slowly advanced the seater until the sample was at the correct length. I went too far on the first one and then made a second one which was right on.

As I decided to attempt my first loads and ladder using the OCW method (http://optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/# ) I made 3 "sight in" rounds with 70.5, 71.5 and 72.3 grains of H-1000. I then went on to make 3 each from 73.5 to 75.5 grains going up by 0.5 grains each time. In all that makes 18 rounds ready to go. Everything I've read suggests 75 to 75.5 as a maximum for the H-1000 so I stopped there though there is a bit of temptation to make a set at 76.0 grains and see if they are acceptable to shoot or not.

I was pleased with how well the RCBS Charge Master 1500 worked as I had never used it before yesterday. In addition the Forster press performed very well.

What surprised me at the end was that after loading them the length to the ogive as well as the OAL had some variance. The length to the ogive varies from 2.683 to 2.693 even though I never touched the seating die, and the OAL varies from 3.2875 to 3.294. I guess that I had expected more precision from the process and possibly some of you can give me some input here. Would a micrometer die actually make any difference in length or more importantly in real life results? Or am I seeing a normal variation?

In any event it was easier than I thought it would be to actually assemble the loads and have them all sitting in the box in front of me. I have each case labeled with its charge as well as if it is the A, B or C load for that charge. The length to the ogive is also recorded. Now I'll see if the chronograph works for me when I go shooting at the range on Wednesday, weather permitting.

If anyone has any additional suggestions or comments on my process please feel free to let me know.

Patrick

 

[DrMike]

Congratulations. That is a great report. I'm certain you'll find this to be a most enjoyable way to spend time from here on out. The differences in OAL are likely due to variation in bullet and/or brass standards. It is not unheard of. Shoot them and see what you have before you make any assumptions concerning your technique. The loads may perform quite well for you. Again, congratulations.

 

[rick smith]

Length to ogive should be the same for all the loads but since you are just starting, you did quite well. The manner in which you seat the bullets can change the depth by several thou. The Forster Co-Ax is an excellent press, I have been using one for over twenty years. Were you using new brass or once fired? The micrometer on the Redding competition seater is much easier to adjust than the standard seating die. Let us know how they shoot.Rick.

 

[joelkdouglas]

Bullets have quite a lot of variance, but I haven't noticed 0.01 difference to the ogive. Normally the variance is total length, and the ogive measurements are around the same (0.001 or so).

I have found some variance in ogive measurement due to my operator error, i.e. I didn't press the ram down to the same depth every time. When using an arbor press this operator error (for me, anyway) has a bit more tendency to show itself. I believe the Co-Ax has a floating head or something (I don't use one), and I would be interested to know if more pressure at the bottom of the stroke (i.e. closing the ram all the way) would result in tighter measurements.

Some guys sort bullets by their variance, in weight, lengths, etc. I haven't found length sorting beneficial, but I still sort bullets into 0.1 or 0.2 grain groups for load tests. Accubonds and the like in 0.1 grain groups, Partitions 0.2 grain groups. I have found partitions to vary in weight more than Accubonds and Custom Competitions.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Length to ogive should be the same for all the loads but since you are just starting, you did quite well. The manner in which you seat the bullets can change the depth by several thou. The Forster Co-Ax is an excellent press, I have been using one for over twenty years. Were you using new brass or once fired? The micrometer on the Redding competition seater is much easier to adjust than the standard seating die. Let us know how they shoot.Rick.

Once fired brass, all previously fired by this same rifle. These were neck sized using the Redding Type S busing neck sizing die.

I'm not sure how much different of a manner I could use in seating the bullet. I drew the handle of the Coax down to the bottom each time. I'm not sure if "double pressing" to be sure or being any more firm would affect the results at all; perhaps I should take some of my multitude of 270 brass and bullets and see if I can find any changes. If there is a better way to do it I'd love to know but in searching the 'net as well as looking at YouTube videos I didn't see anything better or different except for the micrometer seating die - which I already knew about but don't own except in 270 Win.

PS - I just checked - Redding doesn't make a competition seating die for 7mm Weatherby. I see that Forster does though....

 

[wisconsinteacher]

When I first started I was getting a spread of +- .1 now I am down to .02. I have learned to slow my press speed down and use the same pressure every time. You will get better with practice. Enjoy the fun and your time learning. This forum is great and the guys here will help you.

 

[JD338]

Dr. Vette

Excellent! You are well on your way to creating finely tuned loads and saving money. The saving money part usually doesn't happen because you will end up shooting a lot more which is a good thing.

Where do you shoot, Fennville?

JD338

 

[RiverRider]

Welcome to the dark side, Dr. Vette. :wink:

I wonder if the nose of your bullet is touching the inside of your die's seater plug. It shouldn't. If it is that could account for considerable variance.

I use a Co-Ax press also. I have developed the habit of double-stroking it when I seat bullets, usually rotating the case about 180 degrees on the platform between strokes. I don't know if it actually helps anything at all, but it allows me to imagine that the bullet is getting seated straighter and to a more consistent depth.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Dr. Vette

Excellent! You are well on your way to creating finely tuned loads and saving money. The saving money part usually doesn't happen because you will end up shooting a lot more which is a good thing.

Where do you shoot, Fennville?

JD338

I'm a member at Tulip City and Twin Lake. I've never been to the Fennville club.

At $60/box or more for Weatherby ammo it doesn't take long to recoup money.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Welcome to the dark side, Dr. Vette. :wink:

I wonder if the nose of your bullet is touching the inside of your die's seater plug. It shouldn't. If it is that could account for considerable variance.

How would I check for that?

 

[JD338]

Dr. Vette

Excellent! You are well on your way to creating finely tuned loads and saving money. The saving money part usually doesn't happen because you will end up shooting a lot more which is a good thing.

Where do you shoot, Fennville?

JD338

I'm a member at Tulip City and Twin Lake. I've never been to the Fennville club.

At $60/box or more for Weatherby ammo it doesn't take long to recoup money.

Amen to that. The Wby ammo is expensive.

JD338

 

[RiverRider]

Welcome to the dark side, Dr. Vette. :wink:

I wonder if the nose of your bullet is touching the inside of your die's seater plug. It shouldn't. If it is that could account for considerable variance.

How would I check for that?

I guess I would unscrew the seater plug from the die and stick a few bullets into it, and just see if I could tell whether the nose is in contact with the inside of the plug. Something I just thought of is sticking a BB-sized ball of modeling clay in the seater plug, then jam a bullet into it to see what you can see. There are probably better ways to check it but I'm not coming up with any just now...

 

[SJB358]

Congrats on your first loads. It looks like you are doing things much better your first time around than I ever dreamed of back when I started. You have great gear and your variance seems a little more than I would expect, but as Mike said, I would shoot them and see what comes out. It is likely you will have some great shooting loads. Congrats on it all. I love to load my own stuff!

Pictures are needed of your first groups as well!

 

[Dr. Vette]

Welcome to the dark side, Dr. Vette. :wink:

I wonder if the nose of your bullet is touching the inside of your die's seater plug. It shouldn't. If it is that could account for considerable variance.

How would I check for that?

I guess I would unscrew the seater plug from the die and stick a few bullets into it, and just see if I could tell whether the nose is in contact with the inside of the plug. Something I just thought of is sticking a BB-sized ball of modeling clay in the seater plug, then jam a bullet into it to see what you can see. There are probably better ways to check it but I'm not coming up with any just now...

I took the seater die apart and stuck a bullet in there. No contact that I can feel, either.

I made another 2 dummy rounds and can't think of any other way to make them that would affect the length. I do note that the Bullet Comparator seems to bite into some bullets a bit more than others and can get .003 variation easily depending on how much pressure is applied and other factors. Aluminum insert squared edge onto the curved surface of a copper bullet isn't the best combination of surfaces for measuring.

 

[DrMike]

Aluminum insert squared edge onto the curved surface of a copper bullet isn't the best combination of surfaces for measuring.

+1

The key is the human touch ensuring consistent pressure. It cannot be taught, though it can be learned through experience.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

I took a felt tip marker and put black on the inside of the seating die and ran a Hornady SST bullet up into the die. The tip had black on it. After a little work with a drill, I was getting full contact on the ogive and my loads were closer to each other. This was with a Lee die set in 30-06.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Redding does make micrometer seater plugs for their dies to replace the standard plug. They are pretty slick and if I recall correctly run about $35 and are interchangeable between some calibers depending on which plug they take. Go to midwayusa and check them out.

 

[DrMike]

Redding does make micrometer seater plugs for their dies to replace the standard plug.

I've converted all the Redding dies that I could. They do work well.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Redding does make micrometer seater plugs for their dies to replace the standard plug. They are pretty slick and if I recall correctly run about $35 and are interchangeable between some calibers depending on which plug they take. Go to midwayusa and check them out.

Unfortunately again, none listed for 7mm Weatherby.

The Forster ones are $54 through Grafs under dealer price. I'll see how this goes along as I progress the next few months. I suspect that with my next order to Grafs I'll add it on at that time.

PS - You all have your C&R license so that you can get dealer price from Grafs, Midway, etc right? Best $35 you can spend is the C&R license.

 

[RiverRider]

Unfortunately again, none listed for 7mm Weatherby.

Redding has a 7mm Weatherby die set, but it's a Series C die set according to the Redding website. I think that means it's going to cost more than run of the mill dies like .270 Winchester.

Graf's website lists Redding FL dies in 7mm Bee but shows them as Series B (???) for $72---and out of stock. Graf's also shows a Deluxe set of Reddings and I think that means it includes a neck sizing die---for the paltry sum of $107.

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/pro ... ctId/15611

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/pro ... ctId/16136

Looking over my die sets, I notice that they are mostly Series A, but there's one set of Series B and one set of Series C. I know I paid a bit of a premium for my Redding 6mm-284 dies.