Reloading Ammo Thread

[Stephen Damon Smith]

removed

[Tory Moore]

Dude, I need to get one of those for a bug out bag.

[Kristopher Glanville]

Reloading for 25 years. Load for about 20 different cartridges and have 30-35 sets of dies on my bench.

Smallest .17 Remington

Biggest .50-70 Gov.


I can chew the fat on guns and reloading all day, anything specifically you have in mind?

[Kristopher Glanville]

Primers are always the hardest to find in times like these. I keep a supply and buy more EVERY time I buy ANY reloading components.

For the 9 and .223 a progressive press is expensive but worth it.

I have never reloaded for the 9 mm, my preference in handguns is bigger is better.

My only .223's are AR's. I run 69 grain Sierra Matchkings in them with Varget (I won't quote charge weight in an open forum). I bought a quantity of Black Hills remanufactured .223 with 68 gr match bullets and won't need to reload .223 for a long time.

.30-06 I only load 180 Nosler Partitions over Re-22. I use the 150's in the .308 (triple shock x) with Re-15.

When loading for as many things as I do, I try to keep things fairly simple. For 150's in the '06 and .223 you would be hard pressed to beat Varget for your powder. I'd use CCI primers (Federal's are always hardest to find). If hunting with the '06, the 150 TSX will do anything in the lower 48 needed (including moose). The .223 is marginal for deer, but if you must try it use the 53 TSX, 60 Partition or 55 Hornady.

[Kristopher Glanville]

Thanks for the info. Can't use the 223 on deer here anyway. It's mainly for 2 legged varmints.

so what kind of setup would you recommend to get started in those 3 calibers? I was thinking about the lee classic loaders for doing a few here and there between trips to my uncles. Drawbacks being: slow, would not resize the cases, can't do cases that are too long. Big plus is cheap, when compared to a press.

The Lee classic would be great for the low volume, esp. 30-06. If you want to load more than 20-30 rounds a press will be well worth it. The classic actually does resize, but it is basically neck only. Once you get going it is not as slow as you might think, but it lacks a certain measure of precision. The scoop for powder works best with spherical propellants or the short cut extruded powders much better than the traditional extruded powders.

For the .223 and '06 the classics would certainly help keep you shooting. For the 9 mm, don't bother. Those small pistol cases are a PITA to load. I would buy bulk ammo and sell my brass to someone with more time than sense before I'd reload the 9. I learned my lesson feeding a .32 ACP. A waste. Not that you intend to shoot your fellow man with the 9, but an attorney I know once told me I'd be safer from a legal standpoint shooting someone with OTC ammo than home grown. It's a crazy world we live in today.

What is your .223?

If an AR, you should run some heavier loads, you will be pleasantly surprised at the accuracy especially at extended (600 yards) range and it really punches holes well. You have to have a faster twist to shoot the heavies though so it depends on the rifle.

[Kristopher Glanville]

I've got a mini-14 stainless ranch rifle that I put a folding stock on. Looks about like the one here but I have a holographic sight as well. Twist is 1:9 RH. I thought it would shoot the bigger bullets but it seems to do best with the 55 or 62gr.

Mini-14's can be tempermental I hear. 1-9 is the same as my r-15 and it does great with 69 SMK, but 75's can't be pushed fast enough to stay stable. My Bushie has a 1-7 and runs them all.

The heavier slugs need as much speed as possible so they will stabilize. I have a long range rig that proves it well. I have a 1-8 twist 28 inch bbl on a Remington 700 action chambered for .22-6mm Rem AI. I run the 90 grain Sierra Matchking at 3400 feet per second. It runs very well all the way out to 1,000 yards.