Reloading 300 Weatherby

[jimbires]

So correct me if I'm wrong but your saying I would be better off using my full length die allways but adjust it to so it touches the sholder and bump it back a couple of thousandths. So then I go back to my one of my first statments that redhead and I were talking about. When doing a full length size it almost feels like the brass is going to get stuck in the die. It actually squeals. I have to lube each one quite a bit to do the sizing. I will try the last step that you suggested and see if I get the same results. Maybe I'm trying to size them to much.

yes you would be better using a full length die properly adjusted to just move the shoulder back .002 - .003 . if your brass is very tight while sizing and squealing . this tells me you need more lube or a different lube . I'm using RCBS oil on a lube pad . I tried the hornady spray it is ok on smaller cases but it was way to much effort on the wby case . while sizing try to push it in until it feels kind of tight , then back it out a little then go in again . just keep working at it until it's completely in , instead of slamming it in there and getting it stuck . the squealing usually comes from the expander coming back out through the neck . you can put a very little dab of lube on a brush and lube inside the neck , or I use a case neck dipper with powdered graphite . if you are getting the dry squeal you are probably pulling the case neck out of alignment . this is an accuracy killer . Jim

 

[stlbndr]

Jimbires, once again it sounds like you have hit the nail on the head. I have tried each of your tips and all have worked for me. You have been a huge help for me working out the annoying issues with this round. I love the fact that there are so many out there willing to help us beginners. I am dyeing to get my new loads out to the rang and compare the differences in accuracy. Once again thank you for all of your help.

 

[jimbires]

Jimbires, once again it sounds like you have hit the nail on the head. I have tried each of your tips and all have worked for me. You have been a huge help for me working out the annoying issues with this round. I love the fact that there are so many out there willing to help us beginners. I am dyeing to get my new loads out to the rang and compare the differences in accuracy. Once again thank you for all of your help.

glad I could help . Jim

 

[backwoods83]

I'm not sure why you need to bump the shoulder back everytime, sloppy chamber? I use the body die from my redding comp pro every 5th or 6th firing as needed, between that I use a .337" bushing and anneal the shoulder for a short time so it relieves the stress and doesn't harden, this works great for me, and I push them to the max, runs very close to 26" barreled 300RUMs.

 

[stlbndr]

Backwood, what is a. 337 bushing and what is annealing the shoulder?

 

[jimbires]

I'm not sure why you need to bump the shoulder back everytime, sloppy chamber? I use the body die from my redding comp pro every 5th or 6th firing as needed, between that I use a .337" bushing and anneal the shoulder for a short time so it relieves the stress and doesn't harden, this works great for me, and I push them to the max, runs very close to 26" barreled 300RUMs.

Backwoods , I'm not trying to start a ****ing contest here , I'm just trying to answer your questions .

to have consistently accurate ammo you must do everything the same every time . I bump my shoulders every time . why not , I'm using a full length die , and sizing like this I know I should never have a tight round at a bad time . they should always feed the same . when I use a neck die,I also use my body die every time . my question to you is ; why do you make your rifle push the shoulder back when you have a body die ? does letting the shoulders go 5 or 6 times sound like a consistent way of reloading ?

I anneal my brass every other time . I just don't think it's necessary to anneal brass every time . from what I know about annealing doing it for a short time as you say , really is not doing anything , this is called under annealed . the brass needs to get to 750* for a few seconds to be annealed .or 650* for a much longer time . anything less is not accomplishing anything .I resize after annealing . my thoughts are I don't know how the heat has warped my case so I'd rather run it through the die after annealing . if you are annealing and not resizing after it's hard to say how out of dimension your cases are .

using a .337 bushing doesn't sound right to me either . the bullet is .308 dia . + the neck wall thickness times 2 . most necks are .014 times 2 = .028 . so now we take .308 + .028 = .336 . now from the .336 say we want .002 neck tension . now we should be using a .334 bushing . if you want .004 neck tension you would want a .332 bushing . another thing is if using a bushing die without the expander ball you should be turning your necks so they are a consistent wall thickness . if you are turning the necks the brass will be thinner than the .014 I mentioned above . so now even a smaller bushing is needed . if you are not turning necks and not using the expander you are pushing all the case neck irregularities to the inside of the neck , meaning the hole is not round . this is not good either .

the OP of this thread has already bought a set of Hornady dies . I'm trying to give him advice on making these work . he said he is a new reloader , why confuse him with the fanciest dies made . I just don't think he needs to buy a $200 bushing die set to make good ammo for this rifle . Jim

 

[jimbires]

Backwood, what is a. 337 bushing and what is annealing the shoulder?

your die set does not use bushings . annealing is when you stress relieve the brass case using a propane torch . with you being new to reloading my advice is KIS . Keep It Simple . after you learn more about reloading you can go to a more advanced level . Jim

 

[stlbndr]

Jim, thank you for the info once again. As you said it I am fairly new to reloading. I reload all of the different rounds that I have for all of my guns (9, 38spl, 357mag, 40, 44mag, 44Long, 45, 454casuel, 45long, 50sw, 223, 30-06, and now 300wby). Even though I load all these different rounds, I am still just a beginner. I just do the most basic common loads in the books that I have. I just load so I can shoot my guns and save a little money and have fun. I love the hobby and am always looking to improve were I can. But when I get stuck on a reoccurring problem it becomes frustrating and I look to all of you out there for some help. So don't stop with even the technical advice but keep in mind I'm still crawling. So don't stop giving the high tech advice. Just know that I will probably follow up with more whys and what questions. I am really liking my 300 wby. This is my first rifle that can make it out to 1000 yrds consistently. Who knows maybe next year I will be asking the next question, (what is the best load for this gun to get 1/4" moa accuracy)? But for now I just want the loads to work. So thank you for all your help. You guys have been great. I'm not smashing the brass anymore and have loaded 100 rounds smoothly. So now I'm headed out to the range today to give them a go. I will let you all know how I did and how they shot. Oh and one last question how can I add a picture to my thread? I would love to post a picture of my new Weatherby.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Oh and one last question how can I add a picture to my thread? I would love to post a picture of my new Weatherby.

Here you go:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f25/how-upload-pictures-directly-your-computer-lrh-72144/

 

[stlbndr]

Well that wasn't to hard to upload a photo, I think I got it. Here is a picture of my 3oo weatherby. It has a Bell and Carlson stock, Knight Force scope and a custom muzzle break. I just got back from the range and the 50rounds I loaded worked well. The rifle shoots very consistant. I zeroed it at 100 yrds then moved out to 500 yrds. I keeped a fairly nice grooping at 500 on an 18" steel plate. Then I moved out to 1000 and was very suprised to hit the 30" steel gong. I will say I didn't do as well at 1000 as I did at 500 but I hit it enough times to make me all tingly inside. Just about every 3rd shot hit it. It had about 1.5 seconds flight time and another 2 seconds to here the ring.

 

[backwoods83]

As for the question I was asked earlier, I have match chambers in my wbys, .060" freebore .341" neck, starts with sized, neck turn 340wby cases and its set to head space on the shoulder just as the belt touches. I wasn't trying to get into all of that, and yes hitting the shoulders for about 5 seconds at 575* does relieve tension on the cases. So let me ask you, if this was your setup would you leave .003" of slop at the shoulders, I doubt it. I have yet to see the need to continuously full length, do it once, shoot it, neck size, and bam you have a case that fits "your" chamber. Everyone can say what they want, bumping shoulders back every time is a waste of time, but I appreciate the concerns about my 300wby loads, they really suck, maybe you would care to join me in PA in april for the spring 1mile shoot.

 

[jimbires]

stlbndr , I'm glad this is working out for you . nice looking rig you have there . sorry about ruining your thread with a ****ing match , that wasn't my intentions . Jim

 

[stlbndr]

Jim, you didn't ruin the thread. I am just glad that people actually responded to my thread. I gained a lot of info from this thread. I know exactly were to go if I need any questions answered from now on. When you guys **** back and forth I get to see the diferent levels of skill and knowledge and I only learn from all of it. So if you feel there is a need to ****, you guys have my blessing. **** away.