Just a point of clarity folks to help assuage any misunderstandings: - I think it's wonderful that there are so many content creators talking about precision rifle stuff these days. I think you guys should watch ALL of it. Gathering information is a critical way to advance quickly. A few channels I could recommend are: @FClassJohn @ErikCortina @winninginthewind @BelieveTheTarget @Ultimatereloader I've had customers mention getting good info from those channels over time, so please don't misunderstand. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't watch other folks videos, nor am I saying my methods shouldn't be challenged. However, I am saying that I will not allow people to bait me into situations where I'm asked to be critical of other people. Gossip, essentially. That's what I'm against. If you'd like to talk about a method they advocate with me, you can... just keep their name out of it. I will happily talk about ideas, but I will NOT engage in talking about people if I can at all help it. I also will not allow the "appeal to authority" logical fallacy in our conversations. The methodology I teach stands on its own, if you think someone else has a better method, go use it. I don't need or want to hear about it. The expectation to not gossip is a very old and established principle, and I find it to be a righteous principle. If you speak about someone else in my presence, it better be an uplifting message!
Thanks for clearing that up. I was a bit confused, as I know that without learning and being open to other ideas and methods I stagnate. I have learned much from many.
An old saying comes to mind and I use it a lot when customers start talking about hot loading or GrandPa's old hot loads. "There are Bold Reloaders and Old Reloaders but there aren't any Old Bold Reloaders". Being a Gunsmith for close to 30 years now, I have seen a lot (but not everything). On the sooting you described that topic very well, I generally see die problems and over sizing/under sizing of the brass (pushing shoulder too far back which can also cause head space problems and case head separations) due to die setup and a from die not matching the reamer used to cut the chamber or on factory rifle the chamber is oversize (common problem) or the person who chambered the rifle did not have it dialed in fore and aft and also the lack Annealing as you pointed out as well. Thank You for putting these video's together I know it's a ton of work for you folks, as a life long reloader we are always gleaning something from other reloaders (hopefully). Also thanks for the mini sermons and speaking your heart and mind a wise person should more importantly be gleaning from that as well.
I like the fact that you provide useful information and take the time to go into detail to make sense of it.. I don't expect the average person to understand the physics involved in a firearm Cartridge operation. But, if you keep producing content like this, more people will get it.
Greg, thanks for the explanation and stand taken to raise your personal bar of excellence and to show your unwavering commitment to it in your personal and professional life. You his will make those that truly follow you and learn from you so much better, you know your audience and are thoroughly committed to giving your best while also showing that you have made and will make mistakes.
Greg. You have really helped my reloading process. But most of all you have made me look closer to my relationship with my God. Think you and God bless you.
Many years ago I experienced a flash over and it absolutely destroyed a fine rifle.. The load came straight out of a DuPont loading manual. It's something I'll always remember.
Great content Mr. Greg! Great logic with case fill. So far everything I tried at your recommendation worked. You are a valuable resource. Taylor is my goto for chambering as well.
Love the tough talk Greg - Thankfully I 'get it' without you having to have to lay it out as plain and clear as you did - I'm hoping that the people you are aiming this at start to 'get it' - Unfortunately there will just still be some peoples that one has to just give up on - They truly don't deserve the knowledge you share with us - To each their own I suppose - I certainly appreciate all the time and effort you put into this hobby - Test and verify any suggestions that anyone offers and be strong and decide on your own what works best for your situation - Greg is not here to hold your hand - And hate is a very strong word - so use it only when you understand it's ramifications -
Thank you, Greg! God bless you! I feel very fortunate to be learning with you. God has definitely given you some great gifts of precision rifle shooting and teaching and I feel God is really setting me up for success in this discipline. I feel confident from what I've learned from you so far, that I will not have 95% of these soot problems and I feel very grateful and fortunate that I will not have to learn that stuff the hard way by myself and that I have someone like yourself I can contact if I do have those types of problems. I have only (3) hobbies in my life right now, Precision Rifle Shooting, Precision Rifle Reloading, and Ultralight Backpack hunting where I hike into the woods for 6 - 7 days at a time and don't come out until I harvest. That type of hunting takes a lot more time, skill, knowledge, planning, and preparation than most typical hunting trips. Especially if you go solo! Most people can't do or don't want to do that type of hunting.
Just got to the end of this vid and learned your intended target audience and it dawned on me why i connect so well with your content. You are doing an excellent job connecting with the shooters your reaching out to whether they realize it or not.
Greg, I am open to a private phone discussion about the presentation of the 2nd half of this video and the collateral effect it has on folks that like and respect you
Mr. Dykstra, I appreciate this video in several ways. Your explanation of soot on fired brass was very informative and a real learning lesson. Thank you for that. I subscribed to the mentorship program to learn. Your method of instruction is easily understood and applied. I chose to train under your mentorship for several reasons. First and foremost you are a brother in Christ. There is nothing more important to me than this. Secondly, your training is not confined to match instruction. I have not shot in a match or on a course since leaving the military. I am primarily a varmint shooter. Your reloading instruction has helped me. To be honest, even things I thought I had nailed down, your method was better! Thank you for sharing your hard earned lessons! Your stance on not getting sucked into others division efforts is spot on. Keep your head in Scripture and eyes on the Cross. Romans 16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. Titus 3:10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warnings.
Excellent content as per usual. In 93 I was hit with a shotgun blast in the right lower flank at 5ft while working. Needless to say massive damage. Half liver,(5 shrapnel in half I kept), kidney, lower lobe right lung, part of intestine, 7 section of rib, half muscle that side, pancreas damage, hole size of cantaloupe, 7 section rib, 13 pints blood, 18 doctors, shrapnel in spine, learned to walk twice etc. Left for dead in a dark hallway. However, I was never alone. An entity with a face like the sun but didnt hurt my eye's. The purest white attire I have ever seen, nothing comparable. It would glide from where I last saw the shooter at end of hall, then back to me. An overwhelming feeling of love and care. No words can explain. Close as I can come is a baby in its mothers arms. Some how I knew everything was ok. Like picking you up from rush hour in New York and sitting you in a broomsage field with everything perfect. After a lot of work I went back to work 2 year's later as a city police officer in a small town. Today Im 100% disabled and retired. There is definitely something after all this! GOD is good! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
To reiterate the importance of powder selection.. I have seen this issue with published load data. The recipe seems to be: Light for caliber bullet.. + slow burning powder + short barrel = significant muzzle flash = heavy sooted cases! Be careful, even with published load data!
Years ago I had problems when reloading for .223 rem , had loaded a lot of 308 Win and 22-250 , and never had a problem , 1st ammo I made , had smoke come out the breech , and the primer was pierced .This was a std load straight out of a reloading manual , not a max load at all . I thought maybe its the brass , swapped out for Lapua , same result , a while later I mentioned it to a ammo making company , and the 1st thing he said , was I using Federal primers , Opps , too soft . So I stopped using Fed for the 223 , use Fed for large mag primers thou , went to CCI .
Greg excellent information. I have to say Between myself and my Gunsmith we have encountered many issues with common brand sizing dies. Without even going into wildcats to mention. So for some time I have been recommending if someone has a custom chamber done by a "Smith", then have them chamber the Die as well. Just my 2 cents.
Soot is common on 450 bushmaster brass all the way to the case head. Doesn't matter if it's an AR or a boltgun. I'm sure it's due to the low 38.5kpsi operating pressure. As you up the pressure in a boltgun the soot goes away.
I like to yhink i helped in the making of this because i emailed you and taylor about this very issue in my 22bra. Thanks for the info. I am curious greg is it possible to see false pressure signs in something like this because the case is stretching from bolt face to emd of chamber rather then expanding inside the chamber?
You can certainly get blowback on the case body from not enough of a slow powder, a light bullet can contribute to it, as well, with brass that has been shot a few times and not annealed. Powder gas moves a bit faster than the bullet does into the barrel, brass hasn't had enough pressure to expand fully yet, it all depends on the timng on it, maybe the shoulder seals, maybe it doesn't, maybe it seals just after some gas gets there, where you don't get a fully collapsed case, just a groove over the shoulder and part way down. I've had cold weather and hot weather hangfires with reduced loads, lube blowbacks in cold weather with reduced loads and cast bullets. I've had unsized cases have lube blowbacks show up in the 300 shot range, with breech seated bullets, never once annealed, and it wouldn't have saved that brass at that point, new brass fixed the issue.
Fantastic video as always Greg, all of it! Just wanting to clarify, can a small amount of soot isolated to the case neck be within the realms of normal and not a genuine issue?
I had this problem with my 300win mag with new Nosler brass. With my starting loads it burned the whole case body black. I just changed to Hornady cases. I got good accuracy with the black cases though.
Two different subjects. You didn’t miss anything at all. I haven’t seen even half of his videos but most of the ones I have seen, he will his faith or some scripture. You can always skip it, but he does offer great information on both shooting/reloading as well faith and God. I encourage you to stick around, but I know we are all in different places.
