Reloading equipment Iv'e bought and Things I wish I had bought instead...

[ericbc7]

I love the reloading advice we can glean from other's experience. I place a high value on real reviews and the honest opinions I see on this and other forums.
My background is very basic, a family friend circa 1979 loaned me a .222 for Jackrabit hunting and showed me the basics of reloading. Little did I know how limited the instructions were. He had worked up a load with imr3031 and I basically followed the instructions. I didn't know how he developed this load and just followed the instructions to arrive at a pile of ammo for which I had no clue as to the efficacy.

fast forward 20 years and I start to read about barrel twists and reloading for 30-06 (thanks to Google and subsequently Germain Salizar's excellent work) and embrace the idea that hand loaded ammunition would provide performance that I could not predict based on my experience with my old Ruger M77 25-06.

Fast forward a bit more to late 2013 I start to buy some stuff, starting with a CO-AX Press ( to repace my old 007 hornady press) and a Mitutoyo digital caliper. Then a Sinclair hex nut comparator and Forster dies. Bought a chronograph and then I buy an Inline press mount (basically a steel mount that raises the press), and a Hornady headspace gauge for 30-06. I find some H4350 powder and some Hornady 168 gr hpbt bullets and think I am good to go. Then I buy a Gempro 250 digital scale - It is accurate and I always check it against my RCBS 10-10 and it is very reliable.

Then I go to the range to do an optimum charge weight (ocw) test and find after submitting the targets that my "extreme spread" velocity wise is unreasonably high.

Since I'm currently reloading for a new Tikka 30-06 with a 1:11in twist, I buy a new scope and mounts (got DNZ mounts which are awesome) and traded the Hawke scope back to Midway since it failed, spent $lots more on better scope (Vortex Viper) and focused on my loads.

My feedback when I submitted my OCW targets online with velocities was that my Extreme spread was excessive, I had my brother buy some Wolf primers and hope that will fix the extreme vel spread.

I haven't had a chance to focus on my 06 since then and bought a new "target" rifle a .223 Tikka T3 Sporter with a heavy barrel 1:8 twist (from Sodak Sports - Aberdeen SD).

Now we get to what I have bought that I regret:

I regret buying the Hornady headspace gauges and sinclair hex nut gauge. Get the sinclair bump gauges instead. They fit the shoulder of the cartridges rather than just a weak sharp aluminium hole. If you have a precise caliper like the mitutoyo you will see the problem.

Ok now I have to set the overall length of my .223 and 80gr smks. I did the ocw with imr4895 and got some interesting results. my best groups were at about 2600 fps.

These sierra bullets don't fit in magazine but they shoot well. I will attach the targets.
The problem is my sinclair hex nut bottoms out on the trimmed brass. i have to use the .20 cal gage to set the length. All that said I want to hear from other re loaders and guide others (and me) to a best solution.
Take care my friends !!<a href="http://s823.photobucket.com/user/ericbc7/media/cameraroll8-15-14071-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/ericbc7/cameraroll8-15-14071-1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo cameraroll8-15-14071-1.jpg"/></a>
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[wapiti25]

Your 22.7 and 23 gr load looks as if you have found the node. Case annealing can lower ES but you have good verticle now. I'm shooting a 1-8 223 using the 80 SMK (long throated) and have shot 24.X grs of IMR 4895. Varget is a little better at 600 yds for me than than the 4895 load. I don't understand your Sinclair "nut" bottoming out on the case. I use the "nut" all the time and love it for setting the seating depth, my marked 22 hole works right at the bearing/ogive junction. You may be seating a lot deeper than I do as I single load and my barrel is long throated.

 

[artbosco]

Experience is a great teacher. However, it doesn't always come without regrets. Consider them tuition, for the knowledge gained.

 

[Ares]

I have tried a good deal off the solutions available.

For measuring headspace/bump the far most convenient tool i have tried, is the Digital Headspace gauge from Larry Willis.
Works for all calibers, is easy to set up, and don't need to fiddle around with parts, and attaching detaching so it's is much faster. I also find it far easier to get consistent measurements from it then the Hornady, Sinclair, Davidson, bump collars etc.

I have mine set at the right height to measure all the calibres i shoot, so i have a reference to go from, and it has yet to move from it's initial zero. So i keep the measurement in my loading journal along with the Sinclair gauge measurements.
Another alternative that is easier is to have one for each caliber of course and zero it on the correct measurement, but that becomes a bit expensive.
Overall extremely pleased with the product.

If your using the Sinclair or similar headspace gauges.
The Davidson seating depth base, with recess for different head diameters is really nice, and makes it easier to get consistent measurements then using the Hornady counterpart, or none.
The quality is also superior to Hornady, and fits my Calipers better.

As for seating depth consistency the absolute best tool on the market is Bob Green's BGC, even better if you sort with it too.
They are a bit costly at 250 with indicators and 150 without, and being diameter specific( 6 6,5 7 30), but have done wonders for my seating depth consistency and works better then everything else i have tried no doubt.
To me at least they was worth the money, and i keep my seating depth to 0.001 easily if i do my part.
If i am not wrong there should be a post on here about it somewhere.


Another good tool you can use for both headspace and seating depth. and extremely handy if you load on a turret press, is the Redding instant indicators.
A bit cheaper then the above mentioned but since they are caliber specific, if you shoot many they will end up costing more in the end.

One of my absolute favorite vendors for reloading gear is 21 st century shooting, John makes some very good tools, his arbor presses ,priming tools and neck turning equipment is truly outstanding, and so is the rest of the line up from my experience at least.

Have bought and sold a good deal of reloading equipment over the years, so taking the time to do research before you buy will often spare you of hassle and save money in the end.