New to reloading need a mentor

[ChitownCopper]

Ya you would think there would be alot of gun guys but they are few and far between. The majority of the swat test is pistol and about 20% ar15. All speed and precision timed. No precision marksman on swat. We still dont even use shotguns the few we have in the armory are from the 70s

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

In my experience, the SWAT guys are comprised of shooting enthusiast. Sort of gung-ho guys, who are more interested in being on the team, so they can enjoy to notoriety and wear the fancy uniforms, than they are loading their own ammo. They will brag about their one moa groups, at a hundred yards and think they have a dead eye. The idea of taking the head shot, on a suspect holding a hostage in front of him, is their idea of a wet dream.

Believe me, your best bet is to go to an outdoor shooting range and look for the guy who is shooting ammo from a plastic box. He is your reloader. Most of these guys will be calm and laid back, so don't approach them with a antsy attitude. And they won't like it if they tell you something and you tell them you have a better way to do it. The older the guy is the better it is for you. He has the time to devote in giving his knowledge to you.

 

[butchlambert]

Ya you would think there would be alot of gun guys but they are few and far between. The majority of the swat test is pistol and about 20% ar15. All speed and precision timed. No precision marksman on swat. We still dont even use shotguns the few we have in the armory are from the 70s

You're getting a lot of advice and some is good, but how do you know what info is good. I wouldn't buy or do anything without a mentor looking over your shoulder. I will send you a private message..

 

[ChitownCopper]

Awsome thank you. I really appreciate all the help and warm welcome you all have given me. It's nice to have a forum that is not just bashing the members.

 

[butchlambert]

Awsome thank you. I really appreciate all the help and warm welcome you all have given me. It's nice to have a forum that is not just bashing the members.

We haven't warmed up yet!

 

[johnfred1965]

Ya you would think there would be alot of gun guys but they are few and far between. The majority of the swat test is pistol and about 20% ar15. All speed and precision timed. No precision marksman on swat. We still dont even use shotguns the few we have in the armory are from the 70s

A remington or mossberg pump from the 70's works the same as the ones they make now

 

[Evan]

Your scale and equipment is fine. If you don't have a powder throw and want to move forward on the cheap, a cooking tablespoon to scoop with and a bowl to hold bulk powder will get you going with the scale. Don't buy anything else yet.

No comparators are needed. You can do all sizing and fitment with your rifle in hand. Do you have a pair of calipers? I recommend cheap dial calipers for reliability. Seating to book OAL would be my recommendation to start off. Keep everything straight forward and simple.

Your digital scale will function fine. A beam scale is not necessary. A mentor with experience can show you what to watch for on your scale: turn it on 30 minutes or so before you use it to allow it to warm up, calibrate and zero it often, and make sure it is stable and dead level in all directions.

I'm a firm believer in starting as basic and simple as possible. No extra steps for "more accuracy" or anything that confuses or makes the process longer. You need to do the basics with absolute reliability to ensure your own safety. You don't start a kid into working on cars by having them blueprint an engine. You start them on an oil change.

Once you have reloaded and shot some of your own hand assembled ammo and feel comfortable about the process, then start layering in additional steps and equipment, testing to see which steps actually make a difference on the target. Many of the steps folks swear by on this site make absolutely no difference on target for me, so I don't do them.

Edit:. Get a cheap hammer type impact bullet puller. When you make a mistake, you need to be able to disassemble the round!

 

[Evan]

Further, stop buying things because of your enthusiasm for reloading. Wait till you really learn what you absolutely need.

AMEN, save the money until you know what will bring you the most enjoyment! You may find that you really just want to buy more bullets, powder, and primers cause your "basic" handloads perform to your expectations. Or, if you're like me, you'll say to yourself " I hate trickling powder by hand!" and you'll buy a chargemaster lite to make your life better and alleviate that aggravation.

 

[Tommie]

Hardware mentoring is not what the man needs at this point.

Surely there’s a site member who lives in the Chicago area who’d be willing to provide one-on-one guidance and maybe make a new friend in the process.

 

[ChitownCopper]

I have some digital calibers my dad gave me hes a machinist and said they are pretty good. I have the hammer bullet puller and I got the lee powder measuring spoons to just pore in The pan one at a time on the scale. Just a little confused to what to load the 1688smk to been reading to load to 2.800 which is fine and fits the mag no problem the manual says to load it much smaller but then I read that the jump might be to much then. It's just alot of conflicting info.

 

[Pres100]

Load to to what the book says and check the fit in your action prior to loading multiple rounds. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a good idea to load a dummy round first with no primer or powder. You can then use your puller to disassemble later.

 

[J F Johannes]

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle

 

[ChitownCopper]

I am going to attempt to load 100 rounds using rp cases and 168 smk starting at 10 at 42.2 ,15 at 42.5 ,15 at 42.8, 15 at 43.1, 15 at 43.3 , 15 at 43.5 and 15 at 43.8 and see how that goes ...does that sound about right

 

[ChitownCopper]

It's all imr 4064

 

[J F Johannes]

I am going to attempt to load 100 rounds using rp cases and 168 smk starting at 10 at 42.2 ,15 at 42.5 ,15 at 42.8, 15 at 43.1, 15 at 43.3 , 15 at 43.5 and 15 at 43.8 and see how that goes ...does that sound about right

I wouldn’t start with 100 rounds. Start with 20 at 42.5 and see how that goes and report back.

Jim

 

[ChitownCopper]

Just curious why 20 at 42.5. Every where I read is to work up by .3 increments to find the sweet spot

 

[Rockchuck]

AMEN, save the money until you know what will bring you the most enjoyment! You may find that you really just want to buy more bullets, powder, and primers cause your "basic" handloads perform to your expectations. Or, if you're like me, you'll say to yourself " I hate trickling powder by hand!" and you'll buy a chargemaster lite to make your life better and alleviate that aggravation.

Just curious why 20 at 42.5. Every where I read is to work up by .3 increments to find the sweet spot

Just curious why 20 at 42.5. Every where I read is to work up by .3 increments to find the sweet spot

 

[Rockchuck]

I would just load up 3 shot groups until I knew. Just to be sure all your case sizing and bullet depths are right for good feeding. Go .3 increments with 3 shot groups. Then when you find whats work there. Take that load and test some more maybe 2 or 3 5 shot groups. If all is well then you can start to tinker with your bullet depths

Ed

 

[Rockchuck]

AMEN, save the money until you know what will bring you the most enjoyment! You may find that you really just want to buy more bullets, powder, and primers cause your "basic" handloads perform to your expectations. Or, if you're like me, you'll say to yourself " I hate trickling powder by hand!" and you'll buy a chargemaster lite to make your life better and alleviate that aggravation.

Just curious why 20 at 42.5. Every where I read is to work up by .3 increments to find the sweet spot

 

[dgeesaman]

I would just load up 3 shot groups until I knew. Just to be sure all your case sizing and bullet depths are right for good feeding. Go .3 increments with 3 shot groups. Then when you find whats work there. Take that load and test some more maybe 2 or 3 5 shot groups. If all is well then you can start to tinker with your bullet depths

Ed

I do the same - I take 24 or 25 pieces of brass and load them over and over. Sometimes I do 3 of each variant, other times 4. Anyway, if you load more than about 10 of any load and find they aren't great, you'll have a lot of ammo you wish you hadn't loaded or ammo you'll need to disassemble. These consumables aren't cheap.