Please critique my reloading process for 6br

[Falfan2017]

Trying to get a bit more serious into this sport and travel to some tournaments. Shooting a 6br now but moving to a 6bra with a .268 neck.

Using lapua 6br fireformed to 6bra with a neck turn to create .2655" loaded ammo.
Remove brass from gun.
Anneal brass.
1. Lube with hornady case lube
2. Deprime and full length size with harrels using 263 bushing
3. Use Sinclair 6mm expander mandrel.
4. Wipe off brass
5. Measure shoulder bump and case oal
6. Reprime using Frankfort arsenal hand primer tool
7. Load powder using sartorius measured to kernel.
8. Seat Bullet using Le wilson hand die
9. Confirm uniform seating depth and concentriciry at .001 or less.
Anything over .001 is a sighter/fouler

Bullet sorting right now just sorting base to ogive with Sinclair stand and 6mm comp.

Anything else I should be doing?
Bullet pointing worth it?
any other sorting I should do?

 

[Ccrider]

Just curious? What type of Es are you seeing? Not your best-your average.

What distance are you planning on shooting?

 

[Falfan2017]

Just curious? What type of Es are you seeing? Not your best-your average.

What distance are you planning on shooting?

Should have mentioned the discipline is 600 yard br.

Getting extreme spreads of 14-20 and standard deviation of 4-7.

Also should note this spread is applying shoulder pressure to the stock. Tried using free recoil and spreads went to 50+

 

[Ccrider]

Neat. I will be following this thread. I have just started. My Es is ranging around 10-14 on average but I seem to get some crazy numbers from time to time.

From what I am reading, Es is not as big a deal in 100-200, but you want to have single digit of you are shooting 1000.

I think that consistent neck tension seems to be the driving factor for me.

 

[BoydAllen]

You did not mention doing anything to the insides of your case necks...are you? What neck tension does the use of the expander produce (difference in unloaded and loaded neck diameter)? What powder are you using? Have you seen any improvement in accuracy from annealing?

 

[Falfan2017]

You did not mention doing anything to the insides of your case necks...are you? What neck tension does the use of the expander produce (difference in unloaded and loaded neck diameter)? What powder are you using? Have you seen any improvement in accuracy from annealing?

The expander doesn't really expand it at all. Very little tension when it goes in. Should have about .002 or .0025 tension though.
And no i don't do anything to the inside of the neck or primer pocket

 

[mikeeg02]

Trying to get a bit more serious into this sport and travel to some tournaments. Shooting a 6br now but moving to a 6bra with a .268 neck.

Using lapua 6br fireformed to 6bra with a neck turn to create .2655" loaded ammo.
Remove brass from gun.
Anneal brass.

1. Lube with hornady case lube
2. Deprime and full length size with harrels using 263 bushing
3. Use Sinclair 6mm expander mandrel.
4. Wipe off brass
5. Measure shoulder bump and case oal
6. Reprime using Frankfort arsenal hand primer tool
7. Load powder using sartorius measured to kernel.
8. Seat Bullet using Le wilson hand die
9. Confirm uniform seating depth and concentriciry at .001 or less.
Anything over .001 is a sighter/fouler

Bullet sorting right now just sorting base to ogive with Sinclair stand and 6mm comp.

Anything else I should be doing?
Bullet pointing worth it?
any other sorting I should do?

I dont normally anneal so that doesnt apply to me. But the first thing I do to start prepping brass is wipe the neck and shoulder down until its clean with 0000 steel wool before it goes into any die. Keeping that clean keeps the dirt out of the die, and keeps the neck sizing process consistent. I wouldnt full length size, I would bump it back until the bolt closes smoothly. Not so far that he case is loose. This is very easy to do with a Whidden click die, or using a stack of shims, or even with the cinch rings on the die.

I also run a sinclair primer pocket uniformer into my pockets every firing to clean them out.

Im not sure why you need to run an expander, the bushing should be setting your neck tension. The only time I use an expander is when I am turning necks. I would probably also use a 264 or 265 bushing, depending on where you end up with your OD measurement after turning necks.

I would trim and chamfer cases for the first few firings until they kinda "settle in" and dont grow much any more, then you can be a little more relaxed on that.

I just recently started pointing about a week ago. I shot one match, and another fella shot it in the shoot off and well, if you saw my thread, you know the results of that. Ill be getting bullets ready for next year now lol.

 

[newbieshooter]

5. Measure shoulder bump and case oal
6. Reprime using Frankfort arsenal hand primer tool

5.5 Run a nylon brush in/out of the necks

I seem to get more consistent bullet seating when I run a brush in/out of the necks. YMMV

 

[KenOath]

Trying to get a bit more serious into this sport and travel to some tournaments. Shooting a 6br now but moving to a 6bra with a .268 neck.

Using lapua 6br fireformed to 6bra with a neck turn to create .2655" loaded ammo.
Remove brass from gun.
Anneal brass.
1. Lube with hornady case lube
2. Deprime and full length size with harrels using 263 bushing
3. Use Sinclair 6mm expander mandrel.
4. Wipe off brass
5. Measure shoulder bump and case oal
6. Reprime using Frankfort arsenal hand primer tool
7. Load powder using sartorius measured to kernel.
8. Seat Bullet using Le wilson hand die
9. Confirm uniform seating depth and concentriciry at .001 or less.
Anything over .001 is a sighter/fouler

Bullet sorting right now just sorting base to ogive with Sinclair stand and 6mm comp.

Anything else I should be doing?
Bullet pointing worth it?
any other sorting I should do?

Don’t be to hasty moving onto a BRA, the BR is very capable at 600 and in my experience easier to tune with a broader accuracy window.

 

[Stan Taylor]

Don’t be to hasty moving onto a BRA, the BR is very capable at 600 and in my experience easier to tune with a broader accuracy window.

Don't ever rule out a 6mmbr I seen 2 sub 3 inch groups shot back to back at a 1000 yes this past weekend an yes we had a little wind.

 

[Falfan2017]

Don’t be to hasty moving onto a BRA, the BR is very capable at 600 and in my experience easier to tune with a broader accuracy window.

Well planning on using both. So we will see which works better. Really just hoping to perfect my reloading process for either.

 

[JMayo]

Bench rest 600 yds. 6mmBra
I don't use an expander at all. My cases do not get bent up. I also make sure the seating pressure is as close to the same on all bullets.
Contrary to popular belief before resizing I spray my cases with one shot, about a dozen standing at a time on a plate 360 degrees (4 spirts), allowing it to get in the necks.
I seat at around 30 lbs.

I tried brushing and seting, it was around 60lbs and the groups sucked.

 

[Falfan2017]

Bench rest 600 yds. 6mmBra
I don't use an expander at all. My cases do not get bent up. I also make sure the seating pressure is as close to the same on all bullets.
Contrary to popular belief before resizing I spray my cases with one shot, about a dozen standing at a time on a plate 360 degrees (4 spirts), allowing it to get in the necks.
I seat at around 30 lbs.

I tried brushing and seting, it was around 60lbs and the groups sucked.

Are you using the km forcepack press?

 

[Mozella]

There are lots of ways to skin a cat. You ask what else you should be doing and I'm not going to answer that 'cause if what you do is working, my methods may or may not help. However, I'll say this for your consideration.

When I prep a batch of brass and/or when I Moly coat bullets using the wet method, I also weight sort them. When I make competition ammo I always use consistent case weights and bullet weights, if not for the whole match, at least in three batches of 20 rounds each for the F-class course of fire (when my batch of brass or bullets is running low). I sort into four or five batches and I don't reject anything. I just try to use the same weight for each batch of ammo usually reserving the highest and lowest weights for testing or less important matches.

I don't like individual case handling so my procedure is designed to minimize that and maximize batch processing. If you like fondling brass, or at least don't mind it as much as I do, you will most likely use a different sequence.

My F-Class brass comes home clean so I lube and resize in a progressive press using a home brew auto collater and case feeder. I neck size and deprime in stage one using a .265 neck bushing (for my current batch of brass with skim-turned necks), then body size to bump the shoulder back .0015", followed by inserting a 21st Century turning mandrel in position three. Then I wet SS tumble, dry, chamfer, and anneal (every time). Then I prime and insert the slightly larger 21st Century expanding mandrel, again using my auto progressive press. The final mandral is polished before each batch and used unlubricated. The idea is to insure the neck is round and consistant just before bullet seating. The difference in neck OD before and after bullet seating (sometimes called neck tension) using Berger 105 Hybrids, is .0012". Then I load using an FX-120 and Autotrickler and seat using a Wilson die and arbor press.

Individual case handling is limited to three areas. Once when I inspect the cases, chamfer them, and place them into the hopper of my DIY auto annealer. And again when I pour in the powder charge and place the brass into a loading block. And finally when I seat the bullets and place the cartridge into an ammo box. Otherwise, everything else is batch processed. I only clean once after sizing and never have to lubricate or wipe down any individual components.

I use Moly coated bullets more for the benefits of bullet seating lubrication than what good (or bad) things the Moly might do to my barrels.

I only shoot in local club matches and I win my fair share in spite of plenty of competitive high masters on the line with me, usually shooting equipment costing two or three times what I have invested. They're also often half my age, half my weight, and equipped with two fully functional eyes.

 

[JFrank]

FalFan
I know your 6 BR is shooting small now, but with the new action and that good stock you'll be able to run strings, your groups should be more consistent also the 6BRA has more potential does it not?
Jim