Neck Sizing

Well folks, finally got everything I needed to start reloading. Today I put together 5 rounds and it took me almost 3 hours (lol) as I had to stop and read periodically. My big mistake was pulling the expander out of the FL die forgetting its purpose was for more than decapping (done prior). I was banging my head wondering why my base to datum length had increased by .005 rather than pushing the shoulders back. Fiddled around forever until I realized my mistake.

Anyway, put those cases aside and started again. Got into a rhythm and after measuring my CBTO it was onto seating with no issues. Chambers beautifully. Looking forward to getting outside for testing and working up from there.

30-06
Winchester brass (saving better brass for hotter loads)
168gr Barnes TTSX
Federal 210 primers
Hybrid 100v powder, 42.9gr
Bullet seated to .020 from lands

Even with using basic Lee dies, there is only a maximum of .002 variation in seating depth and COL. Something I can get dialed in with more practice.

Thanks for everyone's encouragement and pointers.
Reloading does not happen overnight. Take your time and enjoy the learning process.
 
What was your source for the 42.9gn H-100V?


Glad you got the first set loaded, that's the toughest to get done.
Sorry, my nimble thumbs got the numbers scrambled. It is supposed to read 49.2 grains - taken from Hornady handbook 11th edition. It's not the starting load according to Hornady, but it's marginally less than what Hodgdon suggests as a starting point.
 
Reloading does not happen overnight. Take your time and enjoy the learning process.
That's for sure, Feenix. I had another miscue where I used the wrong comparator bushing when measuring for seating depth. Thankfully, I looked at numbers and caught my mistake otherwise I would have seated the bullets 0.075 too deep. It was a great reminder to measure twice and cut once as the saying goes.
 
Sorry, my nimble thumbs got the numbers scrambled. It is supposed to read 49.2 grains - taken from Hornady handbook 11th edition. It's not the starting load according to Hornady, but it's marginally less than what Hodgdon suggests as a starting point.
Ok good. I wasn't going to just jump out and say without asking first that 42.9gn was a bad idea.... but my immediate reaction was that 42.9 gn would be a bad idea 🤣 I shoot monos with H100V in 30-06 so it jumped out at me.

You certainly can go too light with the charge and cause chamber pressures to spike. Quick rule of thumb is only go below 90% of max if you work DOWN to that charge. Sierra actually notates both maximum and minimum charges in their load data. I load subs and reduced loads and it's perfectly safe, but I approach it similarly to working up to max pressure loads.
 
You are exactly where everyone here was at one time.
Write everything down!Even loads that didn't work out good enough.Give every load lot numbers so you can go back to that data.
I'm sure you have a full length die even though you said you don't want to use one.I started out neck sizing but soon ran into cartridges not going all the way into my chamber plus you need to bump your neck back 2-3 thousandths.On semi autos I go .003 to .004 and .002 to .003 for bolt actions..
Remember no question is a dumb question.We have all been there and we made mistakes but since we write everything down we found our mistake and won't make that one again.
I started at 001 in 1967 and now I am up to lot # 367R R for rifle and P is for pistols.
I also load for shotgun so they have different lot#'s.
Enjoy the rabbit hole
 
Keep reading here, there a lot to learn. Glad to see you getting started. Set up a system to reload with. If you have question, Come here and write. You will get more answers that what you, but that's the way it goes.
And, keep detailed records of what you do with each set of cartridges, including times fired for those particular pieces of brass. You'll want to look back at what you did, and the results achieved when they were fired.
I recently had occasion to look back at the records for some of my earliest loads from 35 years ago. I kind of laughed at my naïveté back then, and was thankful I didn't get hurt.
As Old Rooster said, assign lot numbers to each group. Also, I record date completed and date fired.
My lot numbers begin with the year, eg "21-06." Then when I shoot them and save the target, it is easy to just put the lot number on the targets for identification. (Which I just started saving a couple of years ago.)
 
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