This will be my 1st attempt at reloading !

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  • 730waters

    Active Member
    Apr 20, 2013
    102
    Rising Sun, Md
    Where are you located ? I live in Cecil county and if you aren't to far from me, I would gladly sit with you and show you the ropes. I have been reloading since 1977 and load for over 40 different calibers.
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    What floating firing pin and what need of milspec primers? The OPs shooting a bolt gun!

    This is where there is so much info to sift through ! It almost seems like everybody has used everything!! I guess thats good that just about anything will work as a primer.
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    Leatherhead 220grn

    Do you think the Leatherhead 220grn woulb be good to start with ? I think they are coated and some people had an issue with the coating shaving of a little.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    Do you think the Leatherhead 220grn woulb be good to start with ? I think they are coated and some people had an issue with the coating shaving of a little.

    I've never loaded leatherheads, but have several other PC bullets. In all likelihood, if you're shaving the coatings off, you probably don't have enough bell/flare on the case neck.
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    I've never loaded leatherheads, but have several other PC bullets. In all likelihood, if you're shaving the coatings off, you probably don't have enough bell/flare on the case neck.

    I think I will give them a try... they don’t cost much, and I know I will need a learning curve so I won’t mind messing a few up until I get proficient.

    My plan was to load a bunch with no primer or powder anyhow to make sure I am consistently in spec.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    I think I will give them a try... they don’t cost much, and I know I will need a learning curve so I won’t mind messing a few up until I get proficient.

    My plan was to load a bunch with no primer or powder anyhow to make sure I am consistently in spec.
    What kind of press are you using?

    Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    Where are you located ? I live in Cecil county and if you aren't to far from me, I would gladly sit with you and show you the ropes. I have been reloading since 1977 and load for over 40 different calibers.

    I live in Harford county and will PM you when I have everything I need.

    Thanks
     

    Major03

    Ultimate Member
    You’ll definitely want to invest in die to bell the cases with cast PC bullets.

    Leatherheads are great, so are King Shooter Supplies PC bullet. But both require belling of the case to prevent the coating from shaving.

    Also I resize them from .309 to .308
     

    K-43

    West of Morning Side
    Oct 20, 2010
    1,881
    PG
    You’ll definitely want to invest in die to bell the cases with cast PC bullets.

    Leatherheads are great, so are King Shooter Supplies PC bullet. But both require belling of the case to prevent the coating from shaving.

    Also I resize them from .309 to .308

    King's are good and they ship quickly too. the weight is consistent and the coating is cured and stays put.
    The Lyman M Die is better than the Lee neck expanding dies.
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    I have been very happy with Leatherhead 220gr for plinking rounds for subsonic .300 Blackout.

    I did order the leatherheads 220 yesterday. Right now I am just waiting for all my pieces to be delivered.

    Only thing left is the primers which I will just get at Cabela's.
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,501
    AA Co
    What floating firing pin and what need of milspec primers? The OPs shooting a bolt gun!
    I am assuming you are referring to my post, since I think I was the only one, other than the OP, that mentioned a floating firing pin.

    Please, allow me to highlight a few sections of my entire post...
    I would go with standard small rifle primers to start with. I have had no issues with them and I shoot em out of an AR, where the mil spec primers would theoretically be more appropriate, due to the floating firing pin. You don't have a floating firing pin in a bolt gun, so you don't need mil-spec. I haven't had to go magnum or ever tried small pistol in the 300, the std primers always worked fine for me with both subsonic and supersonic.
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,501
    AA Co
    I also agree with those in regards to cast boolits, coated or not, and using an expander to bell the case mouths, which one normally doesn't do for rifle using standard jacketed projectiles.

    There is another option to the M-die or standard Lee expander... that is to get the standard Lee expander and use NOE expanders in place of the Lee version. This is what I do so I can use one cheap die and a handful of expanders to exactly form the case mouth to the different calibers of casts that I make and shoot. That setup works very well for me.
     

    K-43

    West of Morning Side
    Oct 20, 2010
    1,881
    PG
    ...There is another option to the M-die or standard Lee expander... that is to get the standard Lee expander and use NOE expanders in place of the Lee version...

    Thanks for that tip. I'll look into it. :thumbsup:
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    First Dummy Round

    Went through the process and everything seems to be fine. Before crimping, the round hung a little in the Sheridan Gauge. With the tiniest amount of crimp it went in easily.

    Which brings me to the question...how much crimp? Just enough to get it in the gauge easily, or more ?
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    First Dummy Round

    Went through the process and everything seems to be fine. Before crimping, the round hung a little in the Sheridan Gauge. With the tiniest amount of crimp it went in easily.

    Which brings me to the question...how much crimp? Just enough to get it in the gauge easily, or more ?
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    Chronograph results

    Here are my results from a recent range trip.

    I used the 1680 and small rifle primers.

    It looks like 10.0 grains is about right.....unless I am missing something.

    Also, as this is my 1st time.... are there anything from these numbers that are out of parameter's or looks like it needs correcting?

    Is this much deviation and spread normal ?

    Thanks....Bryan



    9.8.jpg

    10.0.jpg

    10.2.jpg
     

    BryanR

    Member
    Sep 1, 2015
    20
    I only was concerned about the speed and didn't really check the accuracy other than to eyeball the target when I was done. Also, my target was only about 40 yards away. Generally, all shots were pretty close together at that range, and I shot 10 different powder loadings. After 50 rounds there was a hole about the size of a 50 cent piece and scattered out to about pie plate diameter. I was not really aiming for accuracy as much as I was trying not to kill my chrono.

    Next I will probly take 9.9, 10.0 and 10.1 and shoot more rounds of each to check for accuracy or see if it makes a difference.

    Also, I weighed each LEATHERHEAD bullet and they where all between 224.4 and 226.8 and one at 228.2
     

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