Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
Articles
Latest reviews
Author list
Classifieds
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
Chambering / reloading question
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Old teacher" data-source="post: 948552" data-attributes="member: 48420"><p>Just jumping into reloading using another shooter's recipe is never a good idea. Different guns react differently to similar loads. Your friend's load may work fine in his gun and blow yours to bits. Not likely, but you are better off buying a few reloading manuals published by powder and bullet makers and starting with their loads. They will give you a minimum and maximum loads. Start with the minimum and work your way up to a load that performs well in your rifle. That is the fun of reloading...finding that exact formula that performs in your rifle, and you may be surprised at the differences in group sizes created by adding or subtracting a half a grain of powder. Rifles are curious things to say the least. I have three .300 Win mags, a Remington Sendero, a Tikka T-3, and an Encore. The Encore won't shoot anything accurately even after I had the custom forearm hangar system put on it. The Tikka shoots under an inch with a number of loads, but can be fussy, the Sendero is like magic. I took it to the range with a box of what was essentially garbage. 20 cartridges, no two alike. Different brass, primers, powders, seating depths, etc. The only consistency was the bullet. They were all loaded with Nosler Ballistic Tips. They were all leftovers from past experiments and I wanted to reuse some of the brass so I decided to shoot them. I put my target out at 200yards, fired an fouling shot, and settled in to shoot the rest. I am not bragging about my shooting here, I am average at best, but I will admit to bragging about the rifle. I fired the first shot and located the hole through the scope. The target was mounted on a very large piece of cardboard so I could track every shot including any fliers. I fired the second shot, and could not find the hole anywhere. I fired the third shot, and again could not find another hole. I, and a number of regulars at the range, all looked it over and could only come to the conclusion that all three shots went directly through the same hole. Then came the hard-assing...bet you can't do that again, etc., all in fun, of course. So I took up the challenge and aiming at a different spot fired the first shot and saw the hole. I fired the second shot, and things got kind of quiet because there was no second hole. By his time I had a bad case of the "yips", and even with the rifle solidly bedded in a lead sled, I could not hold that thing still to fire the third shot. I finally did, and the third shot went into the same hole, but .07 low. Disappointed as I was that it just missed, I was gratified that the third shot proved that the first group was a one hole group, and the second group was damned close. I still have that target. The whole point of this long story is , buy the rifle, go to Cabelas and get an advanced reloader's kit (might as well get the advanced since you will end up buying all the other stuff anyway), buy good brass to start with. Everyone has their favorite, mine happens to be Nosler because they come all sorted by weight, trimmed to length, and are ready to load. Lapua is also excellent brass. When you buy your dies, make sure you get a neck sizer included. The manuals will recommend different powders and you should try them all. Same with primers, although 99/100 guys use Federals. Do everything very slowly and make sure your loading room is very well lit. I could tell you another very long story where I was working on a shotgun that would not cycle. I checked the chamber and pulled the trigger. I pulled the bolt back and an unfired shell came out. The shell fired outside the house, divine intervention is my only explanation. I know the next day I went to Home Depot and installed so many lights in my gun room that you have to wear sunglasses. As to caliber, I would stick with your initial plan of the 30-06. It was the cartridge of the 20th Century for a reason. They generally are not fussy, using a 150 grain bullet you can get velocities over 3000 for deer, and you can load up to 220 grain bullets for bear. I have the others you mentioned, and they are good calibers and have their advantages, but the tried and true 30-06 is hard to beat. Have fun!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Old teacher, post: 948552, member: 48420"] Just jumping into reloading using another shooter's recipe is never a good idea. Different guns react differently to similar loads. Your friend's load may work fine in his gun and blow yours to bits. Not likely, but you are better off buying a few reloading manuals published by powder and bullet makers and starting with their loads. They will give you a minimum and maximum loads. Start with the minimum and work your way up to a load that performs well in your rifle. That is the fun of reloading...finding that exact formula that performs in your rifle, and you may be surprised at the differences in group sizes created by adding or subtracting a half a grain of powder. Rifles are curious things to say the least. I have three .300 Win mags, a Remington Sendero, a Tikka T-3, and an Encore. The Encore won't shoot anything accurately even after I had the custom forearm hangar system put on it. The Tikka shoots under an inch with a number of loads, but can be fussy, the Sendero is like magic. I took it to the range with a box of what was essentially garbage. 20 cartridges, no two alike. Different brass, primers, powders, seating depths, etc. The only consistency was the bullet. They were all loaded with Nosler Ballistic Tips. They were all leftovers from past experiments and I wanted to reuse some of the brass so I decided to shoot them. I put my target out at 200yards, fired an fouling shot, and settled in to shoot the rest. I am not bragging about my shooting here, I am average at best, but I will admit to bragging about the rifle. I fired the first shot and located the hole through the scope. The target was mounted on a very large piece of cardboard so I could track every shot including any fliers. I fired the second shot, and could not find the hole anywhere. I fired the third shot, and again could not find another hole. I, and a number of regulars at the range, all looked it over and could only come to the conclusion that all three shots went directly through the same hole. Then came the hard-assing...bet you can't do that again, etc., all in fun, of course. So I took up the challenge and aiming at a different spot fired the first shot and saw the hole. I fired the second shot, and things got kind of quiet because there was no second hole. By his time I had a bad case of the "yips", and even with the rifle solidly bedded in a lead sled, I could not hold that thing still to fire the third shot. I finally did, and the third shot went into the same hole, but .07 low. Disappointed as I was that it just missed, I was gratified that the third shot proved that the first group was a one hole group, and the second group was damned close. I still have that target. The whole point of this long story is , buy the rifle, go to Cabelas and get an advanced reloader's kit (might as well get the advanced since you will end up buying all the other stuff anyway), buy good brass to start with. Everyone has their favorite, mine happens to be Nosler because they come all sorted by weight, trimmed to length, and are ready to load. Lapua is also excellent brass. When you buy your dies, make sure you get a neck sizer included. The manuals will recommend different powders and you should try them all. Same with primers, although 99/100 guys use Federals. Do everything very slowly and make sure your loading room is very well lit. I could tell you another very long story where I was working on a shotgun that would not cycle. I checked the chamber and pulled the trigger. I pulled the bolt back and an unfired shell came out. The shell fired outside the house, divine intervention is my only explanation. I know the next day I went to Home Depot and installed so many lights in my gun room that you have to wear sunglasses. As to caliber, I would stick with your initial plan of the 30-06. It was the cartridge of the 20th Century for a reason. They generally are not fussy, using a 150 grain bullet you can get velocities over 3000 for deer, and you can load up to 220 grain bullets for bear. I have the others you mentioned, and they are good calibers and have their advantages, but the tried and true 30-06 is hard to beat. Have fun! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
Chambering / reloading question
Top