Loading up 6mmBR on a Progressive

[Nomo4me]

I love my Co-ax press and the results achieved with it.

But I just received in 500 each Lapua 6br brass and 70gr Blitzking. And there's my Hornady LNL AP sitting new and pretty, unused these 7 months since purchase.
So I set up my Forster neck bushing and Benchrest seater die, powder cop die etc and gave it a go.

Some observations:

- Having never used the press before, it took a couple hours to set everything up including righting a wrongly inserted primer feed tube, adjusting an advance pawl and copius test throws with the powder measure to test accuracy
- The LNL powder measure is throwing Benchmark powder to within +/- .2 grains of my 31.5 grain target
- Runout appears to be within .002. I’ll test shoot some ammo before loading up the full 500 rounds
- Seating depths are very consistent
- Lapua primer pockets are *tight* - requires a mighty strong umph against the downward stroke stop to seat them well
- I’ve always been lazy and not lubed the outsides of case necks when neck sizing on the Forster bushing neck sizer. I found that to be a mistake with these long, new-clean 6br necks. I was only 30 rounds in when some roughness in the stroke had me scratching my head. I found that some brass had galled onto the interior of the neck bushing and was scratching the necks. This was carefully scraped out with an exacto knife. Dipping the cases in graphite didn’t quite solve the problem. I’ll use a bit of Redding lube on the necks going forward.

Anyone else experimenting with doing varmint-accuracy reloading (sub ½ moa) on a progressive? I think the LNL AP is a good machine BTW

 

[Forum Boss]

Some tips for you.

1. With brand new Lapua brass, I suggest you run an expander mandrel down the necks first -- before you send the brass to the progressive. With the right mandrel choice this will reduce neck tension from about .005 to about .002. That should give you enough neck tension that you may be able to avoid neck-sizing.

2. For neck and body sizing, I suggest you use Ballistol as a lube. It is very thin, yet very slippery. It is not chalky, gummy or greasy and won't clog up the sizing dies. It easily wipes off with a paper towel when you're done. Ballistol is a water-based lube that is even non-toxic.

3. The Lock-n-load has never been known for its great primer seating mechanism. You may want to pre-prime your brass with a tool such as the Forster bulk priming tool. If you do this... just be sure to remove the decapper before running the brass through the progressive.

4. I strongly recommend you use the RCBS lock-out die. This will prevent over- or under-charges.

 

[Nomo4me]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to try the ballistol.

A note on the bushing: I'm using a .267. Necks on the new brass measure .2685". I'm just sizing them to try to assure more consistent neck tension.

Agreed on the priming mech on the LNL - especially with the tight fit of the CCI 450 primers. For priming my 223 or 204 I think priming on the LNL would be fine.