Anyone reloading 50 BMG?

[Danattherock]

Re: Anyone reloading 50 BMG? What to buy....

Above post by me is the brass I got. Looks brown. Old shit for sure. Should I use it or buy lake city. Found this link to lake city. DM 45 headstamp is what I got now, not sure how it compares to the Lake City, linked below.

http://brassbombers.com/50-BMG_c4.htm

Don't mind buying good brass. Bit timid loading this stuff anyway. Nobody buy you has helped me so your opinion means a lot. Also, I am willing to buy Lapua from powder valley as last resort. And I found this earlier online. How does this new brass compare to LC, my brass DM, or high dollar Lapua? I've never heard of this but it's in stock.

RWS brass in stock 100 bucks for 25, about Lapua prices. ...

http://www.tenxbullets.com/imports.html


Aside from safety, I'm skeptical about brass prep for this military stuff. Crimped primers, my DM stuff for example has three stakes. Is this a typical 'crimped' 50 BMG primer? I've only heard of crimped primers in relationship to 223, which I just started loading last year. And to avoid that issue, I am using once fired PMC in my high volume Dillon 550 223 loads, and Lapua in my rock Chucker accuracy loads. So I have avoided crimped, staked, etc primers on purpose.

With that said, I don't mind the extra prep work, especially no more than I'm loading. I'm more concerned with safety. I'm very type A with just a modest reloading skill set, so I have bought all new brass, without crimped primers, to avoid the potential for errors, namely primers not seated properly.

In addition to my irrational fear of crimped and staked primers, out of ignorance and avoidance, I do happen to have the quite handy RCBS case prep center. I see two 50 BMG items are available. One is a crimp remover of some type, not sure if it's for typical round crimps I'm more familiar with or three stakes types I've seen on my DM45 50 BMG headstamp. Then RCBS has some type of primer pocket uniformer, I suspect to be sure each primer pocket is cut to a certain depth to allow seating of new primer.

Long story short, should I process my old stock, mostly still unfired DM45 brass, which looks like a turd now. Should I buy some lake city from above website and remove crimps, stakes, etc. or should I just bite the bullet, pun intended, and buy the high dollar Lapua or RWS linked earlier that's $3-5/each. In either case, I have an original Forster case trimmer I'm pretty fond of and will likely buy their 50 BMG case trimmer. I have the RCBS case prep center and could buy the primer crimp removal and uniformer attachments. Just need to know which way to go.

Buying Hornady 50 BMG loading kit. 750 gr Amax bullets unless I found something better. I want to make match quality 50 BMG ammo for 1000 yard benchrest competitions against myself. Haha.



Dan

This is the brass I got now. About 200 unfired cases. Is it worth reloading or should I buy new brass.

Looking at this website, looks like mine was made in Des Moines, Iowa in 1945. Looks identical to the two DM45 head stamp pics at bottom of the Des Moines bit.

Scroll down to Des Moines Ordnance Plant. Bottom two images are mine.

http://www.nebraskaaircrash.com/50caliber.html


Dan

Yup...

It is good.

 

[CatShooter]

Re: Anyone reloading 50 BMG? What to buy....

Danattherock

"Below is the brass I got. Looks brown. Old shit for sure. Should I use it or buy lake city. Found this link to lake city.

http://brassbombers.com/50-BMG_c4.htm"


That is good stuff - buy it cleaned for .52 cents each.

"Don't mind buying good brass. Bit timid loading this stuff anyway. Nobody but you has helped me so your opinion means a lot. Also, I am willing to buy Lapua from powder valley as last resort. And I found this earlier online. How does this new brass compare to LC, my brass DM, or high dollar Lapua? I've never heard of this but it's in stock.

RWS brass in stock 100 bucks for 25, about Lapua prices. ...

http://www.tenxbullets.com/imports.html"

$4.35 to $5 each is pretty steep - it is great brass if you can afford to spend $1,000 for cases!


"Aside from safety, I'm skeptical about brass prep for this military stuff. Crimped primers, my DM stuff for example has three stakes. Is this a typical 'crimped' 50 BMG primer? I've only heard of crimped primers in relationship to 223, which I just started loading last year. And to avoid that issue, I am using once fired PMC in my high volume Dillon 550 223 loads, and Lapua in my rock Chucker accuracy loads. So I have avoided crimped, staked, etc primers on purpose. "

All military 50-BMG is staked or crimped. Just remove the crimp with a crimp squisher. Don't cut it out

"With that said, I don't mind the extra prep work, especially no more than I'm loading. I'm more concerned with safety. I'm very type A with just a modest reloading skill set' (not a good combination ), "... so I have bought all new brass, without crimped primers, to avoid the potential for errors, namely primers not seated properly."

You need to learn how to prepare cases and turn garbage...

... into good cases!

It is a basic talent that every reloader should have.


"In addition to my irrational fear of crimped and staked primers, out of ignorance and avoidance, I do happen to have the quite handy RCBS case prep center. I see two 50 BMG items are available. One is a crimp remover of some type, not sure if it's for typical round crimps I'm more familiar with or three stakes types I've seen on my DM45 50 BMG headstamp. Then RCBS has some type of primer pocket uniformer, I suspect to be sure each primer pocket is cut to a certain depth to allow seating of new primer."

Don't waste your time. This is a cute toy.

"Long story short, should I process my old stock, mostly still unfired DM45 brass, which looks like a turd now..."

Yes, learn how to shine poop - it is a necessary art if you shoot mil-surp brass. Every reloader should know how to salvage brass.

"Should I buy some lake city from above website and remove crimps, stakes, etc...."

Yes to this too!

"... or should I just bite the bullet, pun intended, and buy the high dollar Lapua or RWS linked earlier that's $3-5/each."

No! If you want to buy it in a year or so, then do it, but don't buy it to not learn what you are doing.

"In either case, I have an original Forster case trimmer I'm pretty fond of and will likely buy their 50 BMG case trimmer."

That is good.

"I have the RCBS case prep center and could buy the primer crimp removal and uniformer attachments."

That sucks.


"Buying Hornady 50 BMG loading kit. 750 gr Amax bullets unless I found something better."

You will not find a better, more friendly bullet in 50 cal.

 

[mr45man]

Here are some "more affordable" bullets, they may shoot well in your gun. Send Dave a E mail asking when the next run of these will be.

http://www.lehighbullets.com/proddetail.asp?prod=510-120.
John H.

 

[CatShooter]

Here are some "more affordable" bullets, they may shoot well in your gun. Send Dave a E mail asking when the next run of these will be.

http://www.lehighbullets.com/proddetail.asp?prod=510-120.
John H.

How many does $120 buy??

 

[Danattherock]

Great suggestion John

That particular bullet linked is 100 bullets for $120, but out of stock.

There are 4-5 other bullets listed on that site that are $100/50, which while more expensive, is same price as 750 Amax. They all appear to be in stock. In part due to being twice as expensive I suspect. Either way, I'm excited to see another option than $2/each Amax. In my research projectiles have been a weak spot variety wise.


Thank you.


Dan

 

[mr45man]

Here are some "more affordable" bullets, they may shoot well in your gun. Send Dave a E mail asking when the next run of these will be.

http://www.lehighbullets.com/proddetail.asp?prod=510-120.
John H.

How many does $120 buy??

Sold in a packages of 100 at $120/box. Shipping via USPS Priorty Mail to the lower 48 states is included in the price.

 

[kmon]

There are several sources that have once fired LC Brass. Since you are concerned about prep, this would be good to get you started cleaned and prepped LC brass $1.10 each or can get ready to load primed for $1.40 each

http://www.50bmgsupply.com/components.shtml

Just one of several found with google search.

Powder valley has A-Max instock $42.10 for 20

http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/

like others here I got enough to last me a while some time back. I have the Lee 50 cal kit. Thanks for the heads up on the collet die, I am a fan of those. The Lee press and dies are not the quality of the Hornady but I am getting about .6 to .7 MOA from my reloads in the Anzio Ironworks 50 which is guaranteed for 1MOA accuracy so I guess my reloads are doing ok. That is when using the 750gr amax bullets. Opens up a to .9 to 1 MOA with Ball bullets

 

[Danattherock]

Catshooter, I'm going to have to mail you a care package or send you a stripper on your birthday or something. Nobody has ever helped me so much. I'm laid up recovering from my back surgery last week trying to figure out 50 BMG reloading so I can order the right stuff. You have made this process slick as a handrail in a whorehouse.

With that said, quit trashing my green RCBS prep center. It's just a toy, but man it speeds certain case prep steps up. You do make me wonder if it's up to the task of removing 50 BMG crimps and/or uniforming primer pockets. And by case prep center prices, the two 50 BMG accessories are pricey at about $40-50 each. What tool do you suggest I buy to get rid of these three staked primers? The only tool I know of is the Dillon 600 swager, but I thought it just punched out the little ring crimps on 223 cases.


Also, I'm not a wealthy man at the moment and only suggested the possibility of buying $3-5/each Lapua or RWS brass as a last resort. To keep 10 fingers kind of last resort. I'm happy to polish turds, although I may need a bigger tumbler. I've got two RCBS vibratory tumblers now.

But on that line of thinking, is Lake City better than my DM45 headstamp brass. It's 1945 production from Des Moines Ordnance. Tear down remanufactured about ten years back by Talon, no longer in business. Obviously I am just regurgitation online research. Is Lake City better than my DM45 and if so, any basic insights into why? Reason I ask, I've got about 200 rounds of this ammo left. Should I polish these turds or buy Lake City and trash my DM45 as I expend them.



Dan

 

[Danattherock]

There are several sources that have once fired LC Brass. Since you are concerned about prep, this would be good to get you started cleaned and prepped LC brass $1.10 each or can get ready to load primed for $1.40 each

http://www.50bmgsupply.com/components.shtml

I saw that man, but was put off by the sealed necks in the WCC cases. I don't want that crap gumming up my expander ball, assuming I go with the Hornady kit. And I sure as hell don't want to take cotton swabs and Xylene to remove the neck sealant.

Then they say Lake City or PSD in the other brass listing. I don't want crap from Korea (PSD) and reading the description it sounds like a mixture of cases, rather than letting you choose which one you want to order.

Additionally, I don't want someone else priming my cases.

Picky SOB for someone that don't know anything ;D




Dan

 

[slm9s]

I'll add my two cents.

I started with a Bohica ar15 upper type, it was fun but I wanted better accuracy. Sold it to buy an AR50. Very happy with it, but it sure is a heavy unwieldy SOB to take anywhere.

I load mostly new S African 680 ball that I bought cheap for long range plinking with 220gr of wc872 that was $39 for 8 lbs at wideners. I did buy a big box (500?) of 750 amaxs from the head guy of our benchrest matches ($1.40 each) that I shoot with 215gr of AA8700 for benchrest/accuracy loads.

I've picked up brass mostly at gun shows, LC as well as Barrett. Though there is a guy on 24hourcampfire, username crod1972 who sells once fired LC that is like new for cheap every once in a while.

When I got into it, I was trying to do it on the cheap, so I bought the Lee kit. Many people's opinions were that it can create some damn accurate ammo. I have no complaints. I now have three of those Lee presses lined up to have an assembly line when I reload for the 50. I start my chargemaster 1500, I deprime with a big old ground down Philips screwdriver and a hammer, full length size on one press, trim/deburr with the Lee ball cutter (slick setup), prime on the second press, dump powder into case, and seat on the third press. Its a pretty slick process and the 1500 has the next charge ready before I have the next piece of brass ready.

I have no complaints on the Lee gear, maybe the rcbs/hornady/ch? gear is better, but my gear makes accurate ammo - though I've only shot a 600 yard benchrest match a couple times. I mostly go up in the hills and shoot 1000+ with it.

As far as scopes, I started with a Leupold varix III 6.5-20 - nice optics, worry free warranty, but limited elevation. Upgraded to Nightforce nxs 5.5-22, perfect scope for a 50. Money got a little tight so I downgraded to a swfa 20x and pocketed $1000. Swfa 20x is good enough. Another option would be a Sightron SIII 6-24 or 8-32, I really like the moa2 reticle, but they make a mil/mil version as well. Go to hornadys ballistic calculator (or any other one), put in an approx velocity for the bullet you'll choose and see how much elevation you'll need for your furthest distance you'll likely shoot. The 8-32 siii has 70 moa of travel, so that's 35 moa of "up" from center. If you have a 20 moa rail, that'll get you 55 moa of up; 30moa rail gives 65 moa, etc. 55 moa should get you close to 1500 yards with ball ammo.

Another forum that is active, with helpful people is at ar15.com
http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_6/3_50_Cal.html

Lots of guys have given online shopping places, everyone I know of has been mentioned. Also, just google appropriate terms if you want to go hunting for deals.

Good luck, be safe, and have fun. One of my favorite things is letting strangers shoot it at the range. Big ass grin every time.

 

[Danattherock]

Thank you so much for the insightful reply. I value it greatly.


Dan

 

[nytmtneer]

Dan, reference to your email;

Removing the crimps on mil-spec brass is a breeze with sinclair/wilson primer reamer. I have used this theory of concentricity for all of my reloading. One tool trims and the other reams the pocket. I do anneal every firing and if you have the sealer in the necks a 1/2" copper tube brush will remove it. Other case prep operations-flash hole,pocket and neck I use the K&M tools. Not sure where they can be purchased with out an internet search but all were reasonable some 10 years ago when I purchased them

My thoughts on reloading dies. CH4D is the poorest quality products I have ever purchased. Most of my best groups were nothing but mandrel sized in a custom die and neck sized in an RCBS die. Sinclair now makes a mandrel die for the bmg. The ball sizer seems to put to much strain in the neck. I never had a problem chambering in a mil-spec rifle only neck sizing. Primer seating seams to be the biggest accuracy gain with the bmg. The M2 precision, dillion, or Martin list are all comparable. They are a giant step above the hornady/rcbs systems.

Projectiles, personally I used the TenX version you mentioned earlier but the last batch I bought was 3 years ago and his website currently says they are not making any. I have purchased the lehigh and thunderammo version of solids but have yet to shoot them in my current rifle. Cutting edge makes a nice copper projectile I have been watching too, but much higher than comparable bronze types. The AR50's history at matches does favor the amax but I have always been a bore-rider bronze shooter because of the auto center feature and have usually pushed them 27-2800fps range, which they dont tend to like because of the aluminum tip and over pressure issue. I would have to look but I believe the best accuracy is about 22-2400fps with the Amax.

So take the time to overhaul your brass because it is the beginning of accuracy. One of the fcsa top shooters wrote an article proving a point the brand of brass doesnt matter in accuracy. Myself I would focus on the primer, The extra cost for a quality seater and case prep tools have been way more bang for buck/useful to me than anything else purchased.

Hope this answers some of your questions.
Enjoy,
Mike

 

[Danattherock]

Mike, I'm so very appreciative of that response. Gives perspective I lack and also some specific items to research. Don't see myself buying the $700 Martins seater, but the priming die and pocket uniformer are within range. Really appreciate your input.


Dan

 

[Danattherock]

Just bought 360 pieces of 50 BMG Barrett (IMI) once fired cases. They were fired through rifles during training of some sorts. Hot dang, first check mark on the list. Hah.

The guy I bought it from was a cool cat, spoke for about half hour on phone. Lots of top 50 BMG shooters are buying his brass. Notably Lee Rasmussen won the world championship with IMI brass. He also has lots of Lake City 09 I think. Barrett was 80 cent and Lake City was 45 cent. All polished and shipped cheap. If anyone is interested.


Mark
mark1918a2@yahoo.com
(509) 735-1662

Goop pic of brass and additional info here..

http://www.biggerhammer.net/barrett/wwwboard/index.cgi?page=2;read=374698


Thanks ELR Researcher for the suggestion!!


Now I just need a press and dies. Any opinions on the high dollar priming die mentioned in previous post. Any ideas on how custom dies might perform over standard Lee or Hormady dies?

I also just bought WFT fo 50 BMG. Love it on 223 high volume stuff on my Dillon 550, couldn't pass it up. Doubt the champher/deburr attachments on my RCBS case prep center will handle 50 BMG. Guess I need some more tools.

Any particular case prep, primer uniformer, crimp removal ideas?

Heard some folks punch out crimped primers rather than running through sizing die to avoid breaking decapping rods. Any suggestions. Screwdriver. Punch. Any tool made for this?

Thanks for any additional comments.


Dan

 

[CatShooter]

Just bought 300 Barrett (IMI) once fired through rifle cases. Hot dang, first check mark on the list. Hah.

Now I just need a press and dies. Any opinions on the high dollar priming die mentioned in previous post. Any ideas on how custom dies might perform over standard Lee or Hormady dies?

I also just bought WFT fo 50 BMG. Love it on 223 high volume stuff on my Dillon 550, couldn't pass it up. Doubt the champher/deburr attachments on my RCBS case prep center will handle 50 BMG. Guess I need some more tools.

Any particular case prep, primer uniformer, crimp removal ideas?

Heard some folks punch out crimped primers rather than running through sizing die to avoid breaking decapping rods. Any suggestions. Screwdriver. Punch. Any tool made for this?

Thanks for any additional comments.


Dan

The priming tool that comes with the Hornady kit works perfectly - don't waste your money on another tool - waste your money on bullets and powder

For swaging the crimp out of the case, go to:

https://www.ch4d.com/products/popular-calibers/50-bmg/453990

Call them - it works like a charm and won't wreck your pockets.

If you use the Hornady dies, you will not break a pin...

 

[Danattherock]

Man, I'm going to have to start planting food from seeds to feed the kids. There is some serious eye cand on that CH4D website.

Three thoughts...

Buy Lee 50 BMG kit, and their neck collet for 50 BMG. $350

Buy the Hornady kit as is, with dies and such. $600

Buy the Hornady press only, and neck bushing die and Forster Ultra type seater from CH4D. $1000

 

[CatShooter]

Man, I'm going to have to start planting food from seeds to feed the kids. There is some serious eye cand on that CH4D website.

Three thoughts...

Buy Lee 50 BMG kit, and their neck collet for 50 BMG. $350

Buy the Hornady kit as is, with dies and such. $600 plus the pocket swage, and a bullet puller from CH4D (you will need one)

Buy the Hornady press only, and neck bushing die and Forster Ultra type seater from CH4D. $1000

 

[Travelor]

The Lee kit comes with a primer seater that that has given me excellent service and great "feel" when seating primers. AND IT COMES WITH THE KIT FOR NO EXTRA COST.

 

[mr45man]

Do a little more research before taking the leap.
K&M make a few 50 cal tools also

http://www.kmshooting.com

 

[curtis.hopkins]

I recommend the Alberta Tactical ACCU MAXX single stage reloading press. It is good for small calibers too. Very well made.