New to Reloading, Chapter 2: Gathering the Goods

[Webster]

I agree about your turd-polishing observation. I'm also of the opinion that we're soon going to be told that what we have is what we get to keep ... maybe. With that in mind, I've overbought, a bit. Most of the shooting that I did beforehand was position-oriented. I've gravitated towards the bench, in increasingly poor health. I hit paper and steel, and buy my meat at the grocery store. Nothing against DIY, just not my thing.

Rifle #1 is a six-digit R700 LA, trued by LRI, in 8mm Mauser, with a threaded 26" Douglas XX barrel, capped with a YHM Phantom .338 QD FH, iin an approximately Remington Varmint contour, sitting in a Manners T5. The trigger is original to the action and set at about 2.5 lbs.

Rifle #2 is a more recent vintage R700 SA, with the dreaded J-bolt, the action and 26" barrel ripped out of its Varmint Synthetic stock and bedded in a McMillan A5. The trigger is original and should be replaced, along with the barrel, but it keeps shooting sub-MOA groups.

Rifle #3 is a v5 ORF M76, absolutely stock.

Rifle #4 is a DMRish AR in 5.45x39, with a 12" VLTOR VIS-3 polylithic upper/handrail, and a 20" HBAR SS barrel.

Rifle #5 will be in 7.5x55. The stock (XLR Carbon chassis) and action (RR SN R700 LA) are taken care of. The bolt is coming from PTG, and the 'smith and I have ironed out most of the details.

So, do I pass muster?

When you post something you should always describe your rifles and what they are intended to be used for. We don't know if your a plinker or a competitive shooter. You get better answers if we know what your goals are. Happy shooting.

 

[Mozella]

As for set up, you really want some place you can keep at the right temperature and which is located so it won't disturb the rest of the family. I reload in what used to be a huge walk in closet. It is connected to a bathroom, so I have a sink and running water (more handy than you might think) plus I can close two doors to isolate any noise late at night or early in the morning when my wife is sleeping in the other end of the house. Scale beeping, clanking and banging, rattling brass, and radio noise can be a problem. Since we keep our house relatively warm in the summer and don't use A/C in the Spring and Fall, I control the temperature in my reloading room with a window A/C unit to really chill things down. Sweat is the enemy of shiny brass, rust free dies, and dry powder.

The ideal floor covering is NOT carpet since you'll be spilling powder and primers. I also happen to have a path to my laundry room with a big utility sink where I do brass tumbling and wet Moly bullet coating. Those operations are noisy, but the utility room can be sound isolated with two doors and it's quite remote from the bedroom where you can't hear any sound at all.

I confess, this near ideal layout is mostly the result of how the house was designed and built before I bought it, but it's really nice to have a room you can leave messy, where you can make noise without disturbing anyone, which you can climate control independent of the rest of the house, and from which you can go back and forth to the garage or utility room without disturbing anyone.

 

[Chris Few]

In my short 3 years of reloading I have found that seems that there is a direct relationship with cost and speed. The more I spend the quicker I can get things done. For example I bought a Giraud trimmer and can now trim and chamfer cases all in one quick pass. I don't think that I am the only person that has experienced this either. It seems that the more I reload the more tools, dies, presses, powder, etc I buy. I don't get rid of the other stuff as it might have a purpose still.

 

[hogpatrol]

A POSSIBLE couple things to add: A tumbler with media and an ultrasonic cleaning unit.