Need some advice

[locotrician]

So i have had my first custom for a few months now and i do a lot of reading on this forum nearly every day and it has become apparent to me that my reloading procedures seem sub par compared to most of you. I do what i call the basics.
1.buy what i know to be quality components
2.brass prep: trim to length, full length resize, de bur, uniform primer pocket and tumble, install primers(not in that order)
3. weigh powder to 1/10 grain (as per my rcbs electronic scale) and dump into the cases.
4. seat bullets with rcbs seater die

So my questions are 1. what processes do i really need to add ? i read about sorting bullets by bearing surface but i have n idea how this is done or what the tolerance range should be if i were to do this, and i also read about sorting brass ect ect.....i know there are lots more just using this as an example 2. what is the proper order for these processes?3. what equipment should i add or change ?4. is the standard rcbs stuff really good enough when it comes to loading for long range shooting ?5. If you suggest i add anew process could you also suggest the rand and model of equipment that is recommended for that particular process. Sorry for the long post i just really wanna start taking this stuff to the next level. thanks

[davewilson]

i'll let everyone suggest one thing as you've asked quite a few questions. my advise would be not to use RCBS dies. i have a couple that i bought long ago and i only use them for paper weights. it's the only thing i trust them to do right. i would suggest Forster, i think they're your best bang for the buck.

[locotrician]

ok thanks good start and good info, i was thinking of switching to redding or foster for my long range guns.

[britz]

Well, I'm not claiming to know more than many on this site, but I'll give ya a response.

One thing you may want to focus on is seating depth and get yourself a Hornady Headspace guage to measure how far you seat off of your lands, also the hornady coal guage kit. all you need to be able to measure is .001" but these guages fit on a caliper and make the job alot easior to be consistant from lot to lot.

I believe that you measure bearing surface by measuring the distance from the ogive to the base of the bullet using a COAL guage and a caliper. I think you still only need to be w/in .001" (I'm just getting started doing this).

I am also a believer in getting a primer pocket uniformer and a VLD inside neck deburing tool.

Sorting brass is something I do, but many don't beleive in it. I did a little research and I am assuming you are loading for your 300 dakota rifle so I am not familiar with the quality of the brass. All you have to do is resize, trim, inside primer deburr, uniform primer, outside deburr, inside neck vld debur, then you weigh the brass and sort according to weight.

Also, depending on your headspace on your rifle, you may want to partial full lenght resize to help save brass life.

Mark.

[britz]

+1 on what dave said. Redding and Forster are both good.

[nheninge]

Can't go wrong with neck turning and sorting by bullet runout/concentricity. Decent gauges are fairly cheap. Try taking a thousandths off your necks to uniform the thickness and make sure your dies (my vote is for forster) aren't adding runout.

[locotrician]

ok guys i am aware of what runout is but what do i need to measure it and how do i go about doing it and if its bad what do i do to fix it ? thanks

and yes as of now i am mostly concerned with the dakota but i also am tring to load precisely for .300wm and .300wsm but both of those are factory rifles and i do load for many ohter calibers but those are mostly brush hnting guns so the scrutiny is not required on those as much.

i do have a vld inside neck de bur tool