Reloading for competition
Okay Fellas, The time has come to reload for severe accuracy and competition. This is my process as of right now reloading. But I want to learn about the nitty gritty. I have read many books on this and I hope I have the correct process. I believe experience cant be read in a book.
1. Clean brass (tumbler)
2. Lube case
3. resize case
This is where I would need help) I am unclear on setting it with extreme accuracy. My process: thread the die until it hits the ram rod base with shell holder while it is in the up position. I then do a quarter turn and lock it. I send a brass through the die and set the primer needle to just punch out the primer. If this doesn't fit the chamber, I do 1/8th turns until it does.
4. trim case to length
5. chamfer outside and inside case
6. clean primer pocket
7. reclean in tumbler to get lube off cases
8. primer (make flush with case)
9. weigh powder charge (electronic first and then mechanical scale)
I do not have a powder charger, even for my hunting rounds I check weights on every round twice.
10. insert bullet tip
Start with the bullet tip very far out. with 1/8th turns on seater die, keep trying in chamber of rifle until bolt closes smoothly.
check every 10 rounds for consistency
Repeat for other rounds (with the exception of finding the settings on the dies because they were already found by the first load.
Components will be brand new brass (maybe once fired military though) consistent bullet tips and different powders to try for more accurate loads. another question, is the case (being once fired military vs. brand new lapua) make that HUGH of a difference? The shoulders, necks and length will be 100% identical. Will the thickness of the brass make a large difference that will be noticeable on paper?
When it comes down to finding a load, is the ladder method a very reasonable way to find an accurate load? That is what I use. 25 rounds with increasing of .2 charge from 10% lower until i get signs of pressure. Any round after that I then take out the bullet tip and reuse the components.
I am competing very soon in a 200 yard range just to get into the swing of things and see if I am decent enough to compete at a longer range.
Thank you in advance for all your replies and help!
-Joe D
1. Clean brass (tumbler)
2. Lube case
3. resize case
This is where I would need help) I am unclear on setting it with extreme accuracy. My process: thread the die until it hits the ram rod base with shell holder while it is in the up position. I then do a quarter turn and lock it. I send a brass through the die and set the primer needle to just punch out the primer. If this doesn't fit the chamber, I do 1/8th turns until it does.
4. trim case to length
5. chamfer outside and inside case
6. clean primer pocket
7. reclean in tumbler to get lube off cases
8. primer (make flush with case)
9. weigh powder charge (electronic first and then mechanical scale)
I do not have a powder charger, even for my hunting rounds I check weights on every round twice.
10. insert bullet tip
Start with the bullet tip very far out. with 1/8th turns on seater die, keep trying in chamber of rifle until bolt closes smoothly.
check every 10 rounds for consistency
Repeat for other rounds (with the exception of finding the settings on the dies because they were already found by the first load.
Components will be brand new brass (maybe once fired military though) consistent bullet tips and different powders to try for more accurate loads. another question, is the case (being once fired military vs. brand new lapua) make that HUGH of a difference? The shoulders, necks and length will be 100% identical. Will the thickness of the brass make a large difference that will be noticeable on paper?
When it comes down to finding a load, is the ladder method a very reasonable way to find an accurate load? That is what I use. 25 rounds with increasing of .2 charge from 10% lower until i get signs of pressure. Any round after that I then take out the bullet tip and reuse the components.
I am competing very soon in a 200 yard range just to get into the swing of things and see if I am decent enough to compete at a longer range.
Thank you in advance for all your replies and help!
-Joe D
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Well it is a start- Competition is only as good from the person behind the trigger.
100 yards easy. 1000 will make you humble[;)]0 -
hahah. I have shot at 600 and hit a target. but nothing with grouping or anything that is remotely good as a kill shot and that was playing around with a holdover on a 9 power scope. ha. I would like to shoot at 600 but I was hoping my process of reloading was decent but I don't think that it is. especially when it comes to the full length resizing. Thanks!
-JD0 -
I never got as good accuracy with even military match brass as Lapua. The difference is small, but if you have the good stuff, use it for the hard part. Plink with the surplus at short range. 0 -
so sight in and get trigger time with military. fine tune with Lapua when using competition ammo? Should I practice with my Lapua loads? Also, once fire, twice fired, or more fired Lapua. Does it lose structural integrity? Could I buy 100 empties and use them for a while is my initial question. Oh yea by the way, this is a 308 Winchester (at least for now) then I will be reloading for a 223 soon too.
-Joe D.0 -
"severe accuracy and competition". Accuracy is about 1/3 quality gun and scope, 1/3 custom loaded ammo and 1/3 shooter skills. The weakest link in this set up will be your accuracy limit. If you shoot quality bolt actions and do all the others, you could expect 1/4 to 1/2 MOA accuracy. The best reloading for severe accuracy is done with perfectly matched brass (usually Lapua), neck size bushing dies with an arbor press, premium bullets seated near the lands and careful attention to the wind. If your gun and scope are not capable of under 1/2" group accuracy at 100 yards, then all of the care of work on case prep and reloading will not be of much value. If your accuracy expectations are less than this, you can still have fun and be competitive within reason. Benchrest shooters can achieve 1/4" 5 shot groups at 200 yds. The rest of us only work hard hope for this accuracy. 0 -
Got it. I will have to use premium brass.
Is my reloading process correct? What is a neck gauge? That is one of my questions. Do i have to work on the shoulder and neck of each brass for consistency and gauge it or is my process good enough? I feel like the way I reload isn't the same way a competitor reloads. Thanks!
-Joe D.0 -
Uni, What a reloader is striving for who loads for competion is consistency, granted they need to be consistantly very good handloads but you want them as close to the same as is possible. That is a lot easier said than done.
For your matchs you need the very best brass you can find, I would not even consider using range brass or your once fired military brass, just not good enough. Even the Lapua brass will need to be sorted and interior volumn checked. It is very good brass but if your are competing and intend to be competitive you will need to cover every aspect to attain that consistency.
Your first loading of that new brass should be for "Fireforming" the cases. Once firformed to your rifle your sizing after that need only be Neck Sizing.
Also in your brass cleaning, most competitors today don't tumble there brass. The case mouth gets worked to much in a tumbler this will work harden the mouth of the case, those cases running into each other is not a good thing for your Match Brass. Ultrasonic cleaning works very good--Takes more time though-- and some competitors just wipe there brass down. It's not pretty brass that wins a match its accurate brass.
And UNI you sir need "Trigger" time, use your fireforming session to gain as much knowkledge as you can about "YOU" and the "RIFLE". Use the once fired military stuff for practice sessions, you need a lot of those. You need to determine what is going on with the rifle at Trigger Break, I mean exactly what is going on, You need to know what your reaction at trigger break is--Exactly. You need to go back to the basics, breathing, sight picture, how you build your shooting position, how you get into the rifle. Is the rifle in the exact same spot on your body shot to shot? Determine a way to verify that each and every shot before you drop the hammer.
The list is endless, you have a lot of work to do, but the easy thing is doing that work man it is fun.....
RS0 -
Gunny, Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for. Fire form the brand new brass, then just neck size and pop the primer out. So just set the primer punch in the die very low so shoulder sizing part of the die never has to touch the case? Then trim? Sounds even simpler then what I do. My next question,
how do i fire form
Thanks!!
-JD0 -
Uni, thats pretty simple really just load and shoot. Simple huh?
Take your new brass, full length size it, so that will fit into your chamber without any problem. You can use any bullet really, I use bullets the same weight and profile I shoot in a match but not "Match" quality. I load a minimum load of powder, and use these for Trigger Time. I am not interested in group size per say just Trigger Time. Once the brass is fired it is then "Fireformed" to your rifles chamber. No need to full length resize it ever again """For That Rifle And Chamber""". Now if you plan to shoot those rounds in a different rifle it may not chamber, as reamers vary some. I have two 6mm NormaBR chambered rifles, both of those were chambered with the same reamer, they will interchange but usually different rifle different chamber.....
RS0 -
Sweet! Thank you Gunny! You have been a great help! Thank you to everyone who helped out with my questions!!!
-JD0
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