Starting up from scratch. Need advice.

[dgeesaman]

I have been primarily a rimfire shooter as all I had in the past was 100yrd range. A couple of years ago I joined a club that goes out to 300yrs and grabbed my first centerfire bolt gun. Like most I do have AR’s but I don’t shoot them nearly as often as the bolt guns. Paper punching and steel is all I am interested in at this time. I do not hunt.

I have lots of experience loading shotshells in the past and have general idea on what this project will take to get up and operational.

What I am lacking is access to experienced people that have been doing this for a while. I do not mind spending cash on quality equipment. I would rather spend the $$ up front on good equipment than have to re-buy equipment down the road. I know after buying other things and using them for a while I see what works and what doesn't. I am hoping to accelerate the process and prevent buying junk by leaning on others that have experience.

I will start reloading .223. The goal is developing accurate loading for shooting primarily at 300yrds. Eventually if all goes well, I would like to add a 6mm variant. I have Lapua brass that will only be used in reloading/firing in one gun.

Presses:

The basic RCBS Rock Chucker has been replaced by the Supreme that has a slightly different feature set than the original.

RCBS now offers a turret press that looks promising should I want to reload for the AR and am looking for round count and less focused on precision while retaining the ability to operate in single stage mode.

I am not sure if there are better options here or not. The RCBS presses seem to be a solid base to build from.

Dies:

I was looking at the Whidden full length bushing die set but am open to suggestions here. Some say to just neck size when the brass/rifle combination are paired.

Powder measure:

RCBS Chargemaster supreme or some other auto trickle variant. I have not used one of these but the concept seems pretty straight forward.

Annealer:

Still pretty clueless on this part. Some say you need it and some say if you are fire forming brass and restricting it to just one rifle you it’s not 100% needed)

There are a slew of other tools needed (trimmer, hand primer, backup beam scale, tumbler, etc..) but the above items are the larger ticket ones for now. I will be asking a bunch more questions as those parts hit the radar to purchase.

I will chip in on the subject of dies. Full length size every time using a well fitted sizing die.

Factory made dies generally resize the brass too much. The neck sizing (bushing) and shoulder bump are within your control but the body diameter is a function of the die itself. Some factory chambers are larger than saami spec and as you can imagine the dies are tolerances for the smallest allowable chamber plus the die manufacturing tolerance plus clearance for the most dirty, hasty application (ARs). Anyway, keep an eye on it because excessive resizing beats up the brass and is likely one reason why some dinosaurs consider *not* full length sizing their brass (just neck size) every time.

Since 99% of sizing does are factory spec this can be tricky and I usually end up starting with a factory die first. If it’s a chambering I am committed to, I shoot a few pieces of sample brass three times and only resize the top half of the neck so it can hold a bullet and then send that brass to Harrells or Whidden for a custom sizing die. Or I get my rifle chambered by a precision smith who has sizing dies that match his chamber. The factory sizing die is resellable and if it’s already used, for very little loss.

 

[Pete Wass]

I have been primarily a rimfire shooter as all I had in the past was 100yrd range. A couple of years ago I joined a club that goes out to 300yrs and grabbed my first centerfire bolt gun. Like most I do have AR’s but I don’t shoot them nearly as often as the bolt guns. Paper punching and steel is all I am interested in at this time. I do not hunt.

I have lots of experience loading shotshells in the past and have general idea on what this project will take to get up and operational.

What I am lacking is access to experienced people that have been doing this for a while. I do not mind spending cash on quality equipment. I would rather spend the $$ up front on good equipment than have to re-buy equipment down the road. I know after buying other things and using them for a while I see what works and what doesn't. I am hoping to accelerate the process and prevent buying junk by leaning on others that have experience.

I will start reloading .223. The goal is developing accurate loading for shooting primarily at 300yrds. Eventually if all goes well, I would like to add a 6mm variant. I have Lapua brass that will only be used in reloading/firing in one gun.

Presses:

The basic RCBS Rock Chucker has been replaced by the Supreme that has a slightly different feature set than the original.

RCBS now offers a turret press that looks promising should I want to reload for the AR and am looking for round count and less focused on precision while retaining the ability to operate in single stage mode.

I am not sure if there are better options here or not. The RCBS presses seem to be a solid base to build from.

Dies:

I was looking at the Whidden full length bushing die set but am open to suggestions here. Some say to just neck size when the brass/rifle combination are paired.

Powder measure:

RCBS Chargemaster supreme or some other auto trickle variant. I have not used one of these but the concept seems pretty straight forward.

Annealer:

Still pretty clueless on this part. Some say you need it and some say if you are fire forming brass and restricting it to just one rifle you it’s not 100% needed)

There are a slew of other tools needed (trimmer, hand primer, backup beam scale, tumbler, etc..) but the above items are the larger ticket ones for now. I will be asking a bunch more questions as those parts hit the radar to purchase.

The one thing all of us have the opportunity to do is make the very best ammo available. It is impossible top make ammo that is too good.

Having said that, I believe it is important to find the best method that will give you the best, most exact ammo you can produce. Here is the method I use and have developed over 25 years or so. Benchmarks and consistency are a must. The best quality components are a must. While there are any number of dies that will load great ammo, Buy the easiest to use. What I mean by that is say a Micrometer seating die, a biggie in my process. Full Length type S die. I now use a mandrill to do the final sizing but have read a report recently that indicated a button may provide better consistency. My process of loading is to use .02 gn increments of powder in testing loads and .03" of bullet length for seating lengths. Use the stripped blot method of finding proper case length in your chamber. WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN.

I have a newish 8 stn Lyman turret press on a metal riser. I have an AMP annealer and a V4 powder measure. Depending on how perfect you want your ammo to be, the best equipment isn't any too good to use. I like the newer Wilson threaded dies and still use my old Forster micrometer seating die. One can buy case specific cylinders and stems for them. Redding micrometer dies are good as well, as I'm sure others but it is a whole lot easier to simply turn the top to select a different seating depth.

This is only a beginning but the guts of making great ammo, as far as I am concerned.

 

[Webster]

I have been primarily a rimfire shooter as all I had in the past was 100yrd range. A couple of years ago I joined a club that goes out to 300yrs and grabbed my first centerfire bolt gun. Like most I do have AR’s but I don’t shoot them nearly as often as the bolt guns. Paper punching and steel is all I am interested in at this time. I do not hunt.

I have lots of experience loading shotshells in the past and have general idea on what this project will take to get up and operational.

What I am lacking is access to experienced people that have been doing this for a while. I do not mind spending cash on quality equipment. I would rather spend the $$ up front on good equipment than have to re-buy equipment down the road. I know after buying other things and using them for a while I see what works and what doesn't. I am hoping to accelerate the process and prevent buying junk by leaning on others that have experience.

I will start reloading .223. The goal is developing accurate loading for shooting primarily at 300yrds. Eventually if all goes well, I would like to add a 6mm variant. I have Lapua brass that will only be used in reloading/firing in one gun.

Presses:

The basic RCBS Rock Chucker has been replaced by the Supreme that has a slightly different feature set than the original.

RCBS now offers a turret press that looks promising should I want to reload for the AR and am looking for round count and less focused on precision while retaining the ability to operate in single stage mode.

I am not sure if there are better options here or not. The RCBS presses seem to be a solid base to build from.

Dies:

I was looking at the Whidden full length bushing die set but am open to suggestions here. Some say to just neck size when the brass/rifle combination are paired.

Powder measure:

RCBS Chargemaster supreme or some other auto trickle variant. I have not used one of these but the concept seems pretty straight forward.

Annealer:

Still pretty clueless on this part. Some say you need it and some say if you are fire forming brass and restricting it to just one rifle you it’s not 100% needed)

There are a slew of other tools needed (trimmer, hand primer, backup beam scale, tumbler, etc..) but the above items are the larger ticket ones for now. I will be asking a bunch more questions as those parts hit the radar to purchase.

The many of the top shooters use FL dies with bushings. None of them neck only size. I don't know how popular arbor presss dies are. Look at the vidio's by Erik Cortina and Jack Neary and Speedy Thomas Gonzales. Some of their methods may seem extreme but that what t takes to be at a national levels.