Gang,

Here are my results of my quest to reload. I was pretty intimidated about the whole reload thing but once I got going it was fun!

I first de-primered and sized the brass. Then I tumbled the brass and washed. I trimmed all of the brass in the trim die. I had to resize some of the brass that I knicked the mouth with the edge of the file. I cleaned the flash holes out with the RCBS brush. I re-tumbled the brass and washed in soapy water (dawn soap). I let them dry overnight upside down in a custom shell holder . I used my RCBS hand primer and installed CCI 200, large rifle primers in Remington brass. I proceeded to load up 43gr through 47gr of H4895 in 10 shot increments of 1 grain. I used 10 shells, 5 for me and 5 for my boy's gun. I used my Hodgdon magazine which called for 3.300" C.O.L. and dialed it in perfectly, I am off +- .001. It took me a bit to get my uniflow up to speed, more learning how much to turn to get a grain, or 1/2 whatever. That Uniflow is handy. I did do the powder trickler on the scale but it took forever. The shells themselves are +- .5 gr off from each other. I did trim each and every shell as I wanted each shell to be the same length when I started.

Here are some pictures.

These are the first five. Only a few adjustments to get the seater fine.


Pretty cool. I was excited. My wife reminded me that the PITA part was worth it.


Another view:


From the left, 10 shots of 43gr, 10 of 44gr, 45gr, 46gr, 47gr respectively. The max in my Hodgdon Mag was 47.5 but I wanted to stay a grain within each other and came up with this. I'll see this weekend which shot is the best.


I ran several of the shells in my 30.06 and they seemed to chamber just fine and eject just fine.

Can't wait to try them out.

My next powder is IMR4350 as my Nosler book says it's the most accurate for the bullet I want to use. I have 2 boxes of 150gr bullets but not sure if I want to use them or not.

Can't wait to shoot.

I also loaded up 75 shotgun shells in 2 3/4, 1 1/8 7 shot with Fed 209 primers with Winchester AA shells and WAA12 wads with 25gr of Alliant Herco powder. They should go bang! No pics. Sorry, I dropped one of the shells and BB's went everywhere so I had some cleaning to do!

Good night all!

Thanks for the great articles, helping me personally and helping countless others from what I read. I hope my shells go bang and hit paper!

L8R

Aaron

quote:

You know it's going to be a bad day when you crossthread the cap on the toothpaste

Hopefully Crest - someone's gotta pay my retirement!



Aaron,

Appears well organized with lots of attention to detail; from my POV you're on the way to success with your first loads.

I remember my first .38 Spl handload, well; a long-g-g time ago. I ws relectant to tug the trigger - perhaps my 8" Dan Wesson .357 Mag. was gonna blow-up, and that with a 148 gr. Wadcutter & 2.8 grs. of Bullseye! One 50 round box later I was hooked! Never looked back since.

With those bullets (my favorites in the .30/06 Sprg., too) being "off" +/- .001" is a good place to be 'cause with those lead tips up front you're not going to get them perfect every time anyway - as long as the seater is adjusted correctly you'll get them as close as possible with the ogive.

Speaking of ..... you may want to drop the seater stem outa the Die and give it a lick or two inside the seater cup with some steel wool (an electric screwdriver) as you can see ring marks on the bullet ogive. Fine tweaking actually FWIW makes not too much difference but you know the bullet is seated correctly in the seater cup.

Only other remark is the outside chamfer; you only need to give it one-two twist of the wrist; just to take the edge off the "square" of the outside of the case necks, inside too, well; just small twist or two.

From the first photo can easily see the bullet seating depth inside the neck looks like you've got good tension there.

If you're using a semi-auto H-4895 is a good place to be. If another action type (bolt-action?); perhaps in the long run you'll appreciate the loading density obtained with H-4350 with these bullets.

150 grainers defeinately have a niché in the .30/06 Sprg. bandwidth too; especially if the primary objectives are Deer.

Have Fun and let us know the results of your shooting session?

Excellent results there Aaron.

You will find that H-4895 while maybe not giving the utmost in velocity, is VERY forgiving and has a wide range of loads to work with. In talking with them a couple of years back about the Youth loads for my grandson, they said I could start at the lowest load listed there and work all the way up through the top end standard load with no issues. That's quite a range for one powder to cover. Best part is just about every load I have tried with it has been well withing minute of deer accuracy out to 200yds.

Your also right about the Uniflow, they take a bit of getting the hang of. Once you figure out a rhythm however you can truck right along hitting your loads just about to the tee with a LOT of powders. There are a few of the longer stick powders which will give you fits but overall, you will find, you will still be with +/- a tenth in most cases, and with those longer sticks which are the hardest to throw, that won't matter much anyway. That's why you have the trickler, to add that tiny bit in those cases.

You will also find that some of the factory once fired cases that have the crimped in bullets will be somewhat of a pain to chamfer due to the 4 or 5 sided crimp. Just as long as you get the inside and outside edge off as was pointed out they will function fine.

Also if your new to shotshell loads as well, one thing to keep an eye on is that shot bottle. Make sure you inspect the neck on that bottle regularly for small cracks or stress. The stress will show up as a whitish area in the tighter part of the bends on the molded neck. If you think that one shell made a mess, just wait till one of those bottles drops off the press, while being about half full. Not so bad if you actually DO catch it on the way down, but if not, it either hits the side of the bench and flips over, or you end up slapping it in the process of trying to catch it. Trust me, a half pound of #7 or even #4 will go a LONG way.

Yep been there done that got some smaller shot stuck in the linoleum floor to prove it. LOL Be sure to come back and post up how those loads shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by Nappers:
I had to resize some of the brass that I knicked the mouth with the edge of the file.

I didn't think anyone still used a trim file.

quote:

Posted by Nappers:
...10 shots of 43gr, 10 of 44gr, 45gr, 46gr, 47gr respectively. ...

Looks like you are "almost" ready to go.

By "almost", I'd suggest you make one more addition to the Cartridges - Color Coding the Primers and add a Load Data Sheet(LDS). I like an 8.5"X11" LDS so I can keep them, along with the Targets, in a 3-ring binder. Put as much info on the LDS as you can think of about the Load and the Environment when you shoot. And of course tie the "Color" of the Primer to a specific Load.

The Marks-A-Lot pens come in a wide array of colors, but the basic Red, Green, Blue and Black will do a bunch of options because you can put two colors on a single Primer.

The reason for doing this is because you might accidentally drop the Cartridges and loose track of which one has which Load in it .(Voice of experience. )

Best of luck with the Loads.

quote:

By "almost", I'd suggest you make one more addition to the Cartridges - Color Coding the Primers and add a Load Data Sheet(LDS). I like an 8.5"X11" LDS so I can keep them, along with the Targets, in a 3-ring binder. Put as much info on the LDS as you can think of about the Load and the Environment when you shoot. And of course tie the "Color" of the Primer to a specific Load.

First time you drop that loaded box and 3/4 of the shells fall out on the ground you will wish you had.

My new family!!!!! I'm glad I found my place with organization. I have a D-Ring 2 1/2" 3 ring binder with notes and what not for my first loads and for my last load I do ever!

H4895 is my only powder as of now, but if they go bang and hit paper I'll be happy for now. I plan on getting IMR4350 and RL19 (or 22 can't remember now.....). I have a Nosler book and to keep things simple, use Nosler bullets for now. Things aint cheap!

I don't have a case trimmer and my dad bought me a trim die to humble me. It made me humble but I will probably trim as necessary in the future but wanted to get in the flow and feel how the press works and....you know.....

I'll check out the bullet seater.

For the shells, I have them in order as you see in the box but I do plan on doing something to distinguish them apart when I start to mass produce. I have 100 150gr bullets that I either want to trade the store with 165's or just shoot them up for reloading practice.

I can't wait to shoot them!

I plan on taking large sheets of paper and blast a few shotshells and see how they go. My only shotgun for testing is an old 870 wingmaster (no choke,oldie but a goodie and it was my dad's). My boy wants to shoot clay birds and I'm gonna get a clay hucker and some clays and let him go to it. My dad's buddy is a president of a skeet club and can get me as much Win AA shells as I can stand.

My shotshell reloader is a Lee Load All. Not the best one but it has worked good so far and I only crushed a couple of shells so far (gave too much oomph on the crimp stage.....).

Thanks for the kinds words, advise and I will update this when I blast a few rounds. I hate shooting my .06 as it's loud and kicks like a mule. It's a Remington Model 700 ADL, wood stock.

L8R

Aaron

I reload .30-06 for a bolt gun and for an M1 Garand. For use with 165-168 grain bullets, I use 46.5 grains of H4895 or 47.5 grains of IMR 4064. Both produce a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps, and both of these loads give outstanding accuracy and are easy on the shoulder.

Reloading is fun. I've done it for over 35 years, in many, many, rifle and pistol calibers. It and fly fishing are my two most enjoyable hobbies.

Regards,
Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Nappers:
I have 100 150gr bullets that I either want to trade the store with 165's or just shoot them up for reloading practice. ... I hate shooting my .06 as it's loud and kicks like a mule. It's a Remington Model 700 ADL, wood stock.

Hey Nappers, The rifle might like 150gr Bullets better than the 165gr ones and they will provide a bit less recoil. However, the 165gr weight is absolutely perfect for Deer in the 30-06, flies relatively flat, does not have a lot of Recoil and best of all - routinely makes Exits Shoulder-to-Shoulder on Deer.

I understand about things being expensive. No need to waste $$$HUGE$$$ on things you really do not need. That said, it appears you could benefit from a Pachmayer Decelerator Recoil Pad. They reduce the Recoil Pulse by "lengthening" the time that it takes for you to feel the entire impact. I can recommend them highly for anyone who has not yet built up their Recoil Tolerance. They even make them as a replacement for your ADL stock that does not require Grinding to fit. Two screws hold the old Recoil Pad in place and those same two screws will hold the Decelerator in place.

Similar with Hearing Protection. You can should wear both Ear Plugs and Muffs. This tricks your mind into thinking not much is going on. When I end up shooting next to someone with a very loud firearm, it generally gets my attention and I loose focus on my shooting form. So, I highly recommend you wear both Plugs and Muffs at the same time.

And there is no Law that says you have to do all your 30-06 shooting at MAX Levels. Since you are beginning to Reload, you can adjust the level so it is both SAFE and Accurate at multiple velocities. Your 30-06 can easily perform at 30-30 or 308Win levels and have their reduced Recoil levels. Then the more you shoot, the more accustomed your mind becomes familiar with the Recoil and it becomes easier.
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One of my buddies had a bad experience with a 338WinMag before he became a Reloader. The Factory Ammo used in the old (rag) M70 with a Hard Red Rubber Recoil(?) Pad tended to hammer him more than he liked. Caused him to hate the rifle and he got rid of it.

After he began Reloading, he got a 338-06 and was not having any problems with it. The MAX Loads in the 338-06 are about the same as Starting Loads in the 338WinMag and I pointed that out to him. After awhile he swapped the 338-06 and eventually ended up with a nice Remington 338WinMag and a Decelerator. His first Loads felt as if they had less Recoil than the 338-06 at MAX SAFE levels because of the Decelerator. Now he shoots the 338WinMag at a SAFE MAX and it doesn't bother him at all.

You can do basically the same with your 30-06 and really enjoy shooting it.
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FREE WW-AA Hulls is a MAJOR find. They are just excellent and there is a wealth of Reloading Data for them. You can also adjust the Recoil felt with them, but it generally requires changing Powders. You have to follow the Shot Shell Reloading Formulas as precisely as you can and not randomly change the amount of Powder.

Excellent Shotgun. A friend bought one for $67 when we were youngsters at the local Western Auto Store. He has added a couple of barrels for it over the years as he found them relatively inexpensive. He still has it and uses it more than the rest of his shotguns combined.

My preferance is for 870s as well. There are more expensive shotguns(which I've had) and they are OK, but I do like my 870s.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

My pet load is 45 grs.IMR 4895,with a 165 gr sierra 165 SPBT....fun to shoot and accurate ...many a disbeliever have been impressed with this load !!!

Nice job!

Jim

I may keep the 150's and reload for them.....

My next bullet are the ballistic tips in the same weight. The partition spitzers were on sale and couldn't pass them up!

I'm hoping I can find a good formula! I was just thinking the other day that 45gr would work in my gun quite well, just thinking to myself. 43 minimum, 47 max.....45 is in the middle!

Thanks guys. I may or may not go shoot it this weekend. If I do, I'll post results!

Boy can't go wrong, shooting and fishing! I love to fish too! I have ocean poles, river poles, lake poles, light weight, tackle for all but bass for now. Salmon, steelhead and trout with some bottom fish here and there with my pops.....

L8R