On your recommendation, and Erik's, I bought a 21st C .222 mandrel and die, and a few pins to check final dimensions. My first foray across the chrono showed a marked decrease in sd/es. So...next step, I just ordered the Short Action bullet and case comparators to get more accurate seating and bump over the existing Hornady set ups. I even found some Lapua .223 at a very low price and bought a couple hundred. All this for a Savage Axis action. Your style is what it is, but I see a lot of usable content even for a lo-buck shooter like me. Thanks.
I've watched many of your videos and I have to say, "WOW!". You should be a professional consultant to the ammunition industry on reloading. That's some serious knowledge, time and money you invest in your passion. Kudos to you!!!
Bought a Sinclair neck sizing die and mandrel after watching your videos. What a difference! I was struggling to get single digit SDs until changing to that die and ditching the one that comes in the FL dies. It is not a problem now! Thanks for all the info and data!
I'll be glad when components are more available all my projects are on hold . Great information I work on the tight budget end of custom loading but have had great success just takes a little more patience.
Great video with great "basic" things to consider if you are re-loading. I've been re-loading for about 15 years now and I'm still learning. Finding the best method for setting neck tension is probably where I'm still sorting things out to some degree, but getting better.
All great info. I really believe my commitment to lubing and cleaning necks rigorously played a pivotal role in improving my loads. My tip: multiple passes with incrementally larger expander mandrels to expand necks to their final dimension without introducing runout. Also helps remove excess carbon. Yeah, OCD. I know.
My kit came with a neck brush, but I stopped using it after a while. Gonna have to start again. Thanks I also have a 21st Century expanding mandrel & die headed my way.😊
Annealing is easy, it is not necessary for all cartridges. In the end it is as necessary as you are stressing your brass. The cheapest way to anneal it includes using a product opane torch a non thermal translating material and a lazy Suzanne. The goal is to give it a gradual warm up to a slight radiating color and then stop. The idea is to relax the stress and not melt it.
Annealing doesn't improve accuracy or precision in many experiments. Primer pockets generally wear out first as well. The expander in mighty armory dies is giving runout as good as 21st century turning arbors.
Great video! But I think you have some issues in your case volume table. For 5 of the 7 case brands, the "Min" case volume is more than the "Max" volume. Makes me wonder about other spreadsheet errors. Like for Federal, isn't ES supposed to be 0.37 based on what appears to be your min & max? Oh, may I assume the units for case volume is grains of H2O?
Hello and good catch. This was something I took from 2 previous videos The first one was only on Lapua Norma and Hornady and added the others to the table at a later data and the entries for those had max first and min second when I did the analytics for them. (which is 4 of the 7 not 5) Most people discuss case volume in grains of water, so yes your assumption is correct. As far as the error in the federal data I have to go into my archives as its from several years ago. ( I copied the graphic not the table into the video, I will fix it if I need to use it again)The point I am trying to get across is that different brands (and lots) have different case volumes and they will affect the performance of your loads. I believe that the the point in valid that I am making in the video. Thanks.
I tried switching to the 21st Century expanding mandrels but had to switch back. The necks on my 6.5 CM brass were collapsing. Maybe that only works well with premium brass. It's was certainly a problem with Hornady and Starline brass. I'll try it again when components come available.
@@BoltActionReloading It doesn't happen on every case. Maybe 1 in 15 or 20. My resizing die is a Redding FL sizing die and set to bump the shoulder .002. I set the 21st Century die high enough so it doesn't contact the case mouth. I'm using the .262 Expander mandrel with Lyman dry neck lube. I'm wondering if the culprit is the brass. I'm using annealed Hornady and Starline brass. Maybe the shoulder is too soft?
Just reloaded my first round the other day (.45 ACP)... I have a Dillon 550, with Dillon tool heads. Biggest problem I ran into was lead shaving. Am I using the wrong bullet? I used Hornady 230gn LRN. Or maybe I didn't open the neck enough? Other issue I had was inconsistent charging. I looked at the load data and it looks to call for 4.1gn as a starting point. My powder measure has this small nut you have to crank to make the fine adjustment... Idk if my scale was just wonky or the measure is just inaccurate... Lot of work to figure all this out...
In my experience it could be not expanding enough or "crimping" the neck too soon, before the bullet is fully seated. You may need to raise your die a touch.
Love you videos, but must admit watching a hand wave around is most distracting. Maybe get a sock hand puppet and learn how to make it talk, or just show yourself like everyone else? Good info, just have to close my eyes and listen because of your hand waving around everywhere.
Well done. Good stuff. Thank you. I realize how amateur I am as a reloader. I have reloaded off & on for over 3 decades. Mostly handgun & shotgun but thousands of rifle in those years. I am a hobbyist but watching your content & other guntuber reloading channels has challenged me to up my skill. Thank you.
#7 You don't necessarily HAVE to stop using the expander that came with your size die. You must test it thoroughly to see if it's any good, including rolling the decapping stem in a concentricity gauge. Sometimes, when the stars are aligned right and you use the right amount of pixie dust, they can work and work well. 🤠 Good video.
Valuable info.. But I will say from a metal working background, pulling a sizing ball through the neck versus stuffing a mandrel down in the neck will cause more inconsistencies because of the way you are forming the neck shape/size. You have more tension when pushing into it the neck to help keep the metal/brass more consistent in shape! But how much does it count well I’m sure mileage may very.
For the "average" reloader, I doubt more than 5% possess the skills, the equipment, and the knowledge necessary to take advantage of the finer points of reloading. From matching bullet weights, OAL tuning, case matching, neck tension, etc.etc.etc. heck, even cleaning procedures. Not to mention the countless hours of testing documenting and fine tuning every aspect of the process to make it possible to duplicate the results. Just my opinion, but I've seen people get bogged down in the details and stop "having fun."
