Best reloading practice. What is most important

[wywindsor]

With all the internets loading advice. What is the most important step and what order. Let start with virgin aftermarket brass first. I'll start another thread for once fired if need be. There are vids from top shooters and smiths on youtube that alot of us try to follow. Some great reads here as well. But I see where one shooter will not use steps other do or just in different orders. What's your holy grail of steps and sequence?

 

[Rewinder]

Putting the Primer in the case before adding the powder.

 

[DShortt]

Oh, boy. Popcorn time for a month here.

Bolt action? Semi-auto? Falling/rolling block? Pistol? Benchrest? Hunting? Personal property protection? Dangerous game? Long range? Ect, ect.

There's no set of 'one size fits all' answers.

 

[Hal]

Safety First.
NO DISTRACTIONS.
Focus on reloading.
Clear the extra components off the table.
Think steps though.
Double check your self.
Take notes.

Hal

 

[Clancy]

Neck tension and seating depth run a real tight race at my house.

Primer choice and powder charge are virtually irrelevant if the aforementioned are sorted out first.

So, most important step on virgin brass…. Pick a primer and luke warm charge. Start them out with .002 tension, run your depth test, increase tension as needed. You should be in the .1s and .2s by then.


This is going to be my only post in this thread, so I’ll address this before leaving.

A LOT of results seen on paper are a function of some other step…. So when you see a guy say this or that primer or powder made the gun come alive…. I think they would have found their first choice worked had they went through tension and depth.

So, again, for me it’s depth, tension, charge. I’ve picked a powder and bullet before the gun is ever assembled.

 

[Steve Donlon]

I would say picking the right tools so they all work together. Knowing what measurements you want to come up with after each step. Then write them down.

 

[CJ6]

Consistency.

 

[wywindsor]

DShortt. Bolt action and accuracy.

Rewinder. Funny as I prefer to load the bullet first using a vise and pick a small enough powder that fits thru the primer hole. Then pound the primer in with a mollywhopper. Living on the edge.

 

[426nut]

Using the correct powder.

 

[6MMsteve]

start with a good barrel first, then good bullets, primers, powder, keep notes, on every load and every barrel, notes help, buy a Barnum Pease Log book it'sa simple hardback notebook. Record.powder wt, bullet type, wt, primer, case, rifle, barrel, case length, times & amount loaded, chrono numbers if so, how load shot, bugholes or shotgun, issues, dates, times, how u feel, wind, temps distractions wife yelling about dishwasher broke...jump, jam, jammin, cranking and don't nk size only

 

[323]

Probably the most important thing to me was when I started annealing my brass.

 

[DShortt]

I'm out after post #8.

Ya'll have fun.

 

[wywindsor]

DShortt, What's the problem? Nothing was directed at you. I did poke a little fun at rewinder.

 

[Fast14riot]

Does your signature change if you write it 75 times in a row? If not, then you can load a match worth of ammo in one session. Meaning, how capable are you of doing EXACTLY the same thing over and over again for a period of time. Even if its a thing that you know well, like your signature.

I think an issue some may have is wandering focus. Loading start to finish a matches worth of excellent ammo takes some mental rigidity. I have stopped myself because I couldn't focus and started caring less about absolute charge weight, just to get through it. It requires focus. If you can only deprime, anneal and clean primer pockets fully focused, do that a day or two ahead of time. Then later come back and size, trim and prime later. Charge and seat another day. Don't try to push through.

My point is, doing everything exactly the same, every time you load is the biggest step in producing consistent ammo. If you know everything is always the same, you can determine what steps may make the bigger difference to you.

If I had to put a name to a particular part of reloading, it would be to routinely check your brass in your chamber. Its the only gauge that actually matters. Proper die to chamber relationship would also be up there. I've seen too many reloaders get stuck on a certain bump gauge, or datum number, but haven't actually tested what the max length of their chamber is. Or continue using a die that isn't sizing enough, or too much, rather than buying a new die.

My primary competition cartridge is 260AI, I own my own reamer, I shoot the same brand, contour and length barrels, chambered by the same schmuck on the same lathe. I went through 3 sizing dies before I got to where I was happy with it. All the same maker of dies, too.

Measure everything. Record it all. Keep good notes. You'll figure it out soon enough.

 

[209jones]

Starting with new brass, unsized, need a mic, caliper, and a comparator for doing the shoulder and the bullet.
Start with the base dia with the mic, then you can use a caliper to do the shoulder dia and the neck dia and the OAL, then the comparator for the base to shoulder datum length. WRITE IT DOWN where you will keep it forever. Check the neck dia when loaded, write that down. Do the same steps on a fired case, write all that down for the first 3 firings. Then you have all the reference points you need to troubleshoot case sizing. Use a comparator to measure some bullet base to ogives and OAL's before you load them, write that down, then use the comparator to measure the base to ogive and a caliper to measure OAL, write that down. If you record which cases were fired with which loads on the initial firing, say in a ladder load, you may see what effects what the rising pressure does to it, as you'll be able to measure it and compare. If you have trouble chambering a round, you'll have all the data you need to doublecheck what's wrong.
It''ll tell you if that box of bullets may show a different OAL at the same seating depth, if you hit the crimp ring in the die and it's isn't obvious when a round won't chamber, how much case stretch you are getting, why a case may be tough to chamber, or a round is tough to chamber, if you need a Willis die for a belted mag, or have a PRC that needs the AW treatment, or need to use a small base die on "once fired" cases that won't chamber. If you use more than one press, mark down which press you used, that can really screw up your day switching presses.
You can never write down too much info. Put the gun away for a couple or ten yrs, you'll prubably wind up thanking yourself profusely, especially on load data as well. Also nice when you sell that gun, people appreciate seeing what you tried in it.

 

[Fuj]

Virgin brass ?? First step is to crack a cold one, because I'll be
uniforming primer pockets.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Is the rifle good enough to show subtle difference? Is the Indian skilled enough to show the truth? If these are No, doesn't much matter how you load.

 

[Pete Wass]

Things that matter and things that don't: From my experience, once one has everything prepared, the two most important things are 1. exact powder charges and 2. Exact overall length so that the bullets touch the lands in the same place every single time. I have always believed cases are of very little importance as long as they are annealed on a regular basis. Primers, Yeah, they make make some difference but as long a what you have produce small groups, good enough. It is impossible to make ammo that is too good.

 

[drop_point]

After the obvious safety concerns are addressed, finding correct seating depth window, then finding the powder charge that provides a consistent point over a wide window. Use good components, uniform and sort accordingly.

 

[urbanrifleman]

First step is to buy a barrel chambered in a caliber that shoots well, is easy to reload, and has very high quality brass available.

I would suggest starting with 223 or 6br.

If you are buying Lapua brass, you can skip all brass steps. That's right, I said it. I do suggest a VLD inside reamer.

Get an arbor press seater press from the jump. You will discover all your mistakes very early by seating with a tiny arbor press.