Thanks to the advice I have gotten here I am almost ready to begin. I am only waiting for a few delivery's to arrive to set up my bench and I am good to go but I am still a bit confused..

First off the rifle is a M70 7mm Rem Mag fully blueprinted with a 26" Hart Barrel. I am NOT a competitive shooter and this is a hunting rifle so I do not expect or require 1 hole groups, however the gun IS shooting 1/4" 3 shot groups at 100 yards with Federal Premium 160gr Accubonds, so I do want to duplicate this level of accuracy.

Since I will only be using my own once fired brass, I ordered (Redding S series) a seating, neck bushing, and body die with the intention of neck sizing only, trimming case length, and bumping the shoulder when needed.

So let me get to my concerns and please feel free to post anything you have to say!

I learned so much in my extensive reading on reloading that I am now confused as to which steps are necessary to preform for my purposes, and which are for target and benchrest shooters...neck-turning, bullet runout, weighing cases, matching case length to chamber, etc. It seems that you could spend an hour on each case!

So I guess what I am asking is what is necessary for me, what do you guys do/recommend and what procedures should I expect to do?

I know that this is allot of reading so thanks!!

I have 2 rifles in the works. Both new cartridges to reloading bench. I'm anal a/b my reloads. But this is what I will do.
Uniform the primer pockets and flash holes.
Uniform the case lengths
Chamfer the case mouths in/out
Set up a dummy round w/ the bullet seated long and fully colored w/ a black or blue sharpie.
Attempt to chamber the dummy
Progressively seat the bullet deeper til it is just off the lands
Check to make sure it fits in the magazine
Consult the AR forums for load data. Compare w/ multiple manuals. Pick the powder that you have(or can get)
In a caliber like yours, start 3-4 grains below max working up .5 gr s at a time
I load 4-5 of each
Color code the primers for each load w/ matching notes
Make up a target for each load
Check ALL the screws on the gun
WhenI go to the range I arrange all the targets from first load to last w/ all the targets arranged so that they slightly overlap each other so that in essence you have a large piece of paper to track any errant shots
Boresight the old school way at the range
Shoot one for location purposes-adjust as needed shoot to confirm
Set up the chrono
Keep accurate notes
Pick the best load
After the brass is fireformed, I partial neck size and check case length and reload.
Only one time in 30+ years have I had to do more than this

Hope this helps

Kill,
This is exactly what I am looking for thanks!

So you don't bother with neck-turning, etc etc??

I would love more imput/opinions guys as I am sure that everyone has their own techniques.

THANKS to ALL!

Sounds like your making it more difficult than you need to. To reload a round of ammo all that is needed is to re-size the case. Make sure the case is trimmed to under the max listed length. A case to long can crimp the bullet at the throat and raise pressure in an other wise safe load. Full length die is all that's really needed. 7mm mag's are notrious for sloppy chamber's so best bet is to partial re-size or what is call that. First time you re-load the case, neck size with a FL die and don't size all the way to the shoulder. Shoot it again and it might not re-chamber. If it does, partial size again and after that shooting the thing should not chamber. Now start screwing the die down a quarter turn, at most, and re-size. Try the round in your chamber. If there is any more sizing needed you will either 1) not be able to chamber it or 2) you'll feel it rub when you close the bolt. That is the bolt face rubbing on the cartridge case. Go down just a bit more until there is no drag and the case chamber's easily. What you'll have done is to fit the case to your chamber. The mag case is belted and the headspace is on the belt, there fore chambers can be a bit sloppy. If you don't make the case fit the chamber, right in front of the belt you will probably find a dark ring after a few shot's, that is case hear seperation starting. Once you have your die set, lock it in right there. It will move the shoulder back and resize the side's just enough to let the case fit properly. End of the case sizing. Next you need to replace the primer. A lot of people think the pocket needs cleaned, I don't know that it does but I clean mine. I use a 16 penny nail glued into a wood handle and sharpen the end. I turn that around the bottom corner of the pocket and the carbon just falls out. If you want to spend money, you can buy pocket cleaner's and swedger's but unless your a bench rest shooter, you won't gain much if any. re-seat a primer with what ever tool you want to use, I like the Lee hand tool. Been working well for a long time. You'll feel the primer bottom when you seat it, stop there. If your not sure it's deep enough, set the case on a good flat surface. It should not wobble. If it does, seat a bit more. If it wobble's it's because the primer is not all the way in and is protruding out from the case a bit. Never touch the primer with your finger. A bit of grease on your hands can render it useless. If I have to pick up primer's one at a time, I use a set of tweezer's.

Ya got a primed case now, need powder next. There are powder measure's to despence powder but despence a bit light. Weight the charge and use a trickler or a spoon to add a small amount of powder to get the weight right. That's what I do because that's what I've always done. Factory ammo has the powder charge thrown in bulk, most of it works very well. I have no doubt you could do the same with your powder measure but, you need to throw it the same way each time. With the cylinder MTY, run the handle up and drop powder into it. Then bump the handle up a couple time's. That will settle the powder in the cylinder and if done the same every time, will throw very accurate weight's.

The 7mm mag will need pretty slow powder and that powder should fill the case up to at least 85-90%. I always used a powder that fille the case as close the the bottom of the neck as I could. Start with either one of the 4831's or RL-22. Now you have a case that fit's your chamber that has a new primer seated and is full of powder. On to the bullet.

Good place to start is with the bullet seated to the base of the neck, where the neck and shoulder meet. Might not fit in your chamber the or it might. If it doesn't, seat the bullet until it will fit in the magazine without rubbing. If it will fit then seat the bullet about one calibre depth on the case. Now it might not chamber due to the bullet being out of the case far enough to stop at the lands. Don force it, you feel any pressure, pull it out and seat maybe one turn deeper. You will get close enough that you can't feel pressure but the bullet is still touching the lands. You'll be able to see the land mark's on the bullet at the bullet's ogive. You get them, rub them off with a bit of 0000 steel wool and seat a bit deeper. You want those marks to go away. When you've reached this point, you'll have a round that fit's your chamber and a bullet just back off the lands. From here, you can start tweeking if you want to. I don't do a lot of tweeking, getting a .024" smaller group is not important to me. I don't weight bullet's or cases and I don't ream necks. I do try different powder's snd primers changing only one component at a time. I star with changing the powder first, get it as good as I can and then might change primer's. I have a rifle shooting 1" to 1 1/4' at 100yds it's good enough for me.

a trick to speed up the bullet seating.Leave the bolt in your rifle and run a cleaning rod down the barrel until it stops at the bolt face. have a plastic plug in the rod that is squared off. Put a pencil mark on the rod where it stops right at the end of the barrel. next, remove the bolt and drop a bullet into the chamber. Level thee rifle and use a new wood pencil through the action to hold the bullet against the lands. The rod goes in again to the tip of the bullet and mark the rod again at the barrel. measure the distance between the two marks and that is your overall length with the bullet up to the lands. Get that and seat the bullet about a quarter turn more and you'll be just off the lands. Don't use the measure to the tip of the bullet. What you have is the measure to the ogive. Bullet's vary a big in length but the only length to concern yourself with, in the round fit's the magazine, is the ogive. The length to the ogive will never change no matter if the bullet is a bit long of a bit short, ogive never changes. But to re-set the seating die for a different rifle, you'll have to start all over, takes just a minute.

Won't take long and you'll be ready to tweek as you might want to, lot's of different ideas on that. my major tweeking come's in the form of re-bedding the rifle, doesn't sound like your's needs that. But the most accuracy gain to be had with a factory rifle is the bedding, nyou can actually measure the improvement with a ruler on the target. Your rifle shoot's great with those factory loads you use, don;t change the bedding on it, it's alright even if it does touch somewhere.

First make a good loaded round and them learn to improve on it.

Don't over think your first effort.

All you need is the following to get the hang of the basic steps. You can add the nit picking refinements later.

1. Make sure your brass is clean and free of all dirt and grit. This is important so you do not scratch your dies.
2. Knock the primer out with a hand punch if you want to get all of the grit out of the cases before sizing.
3. Lube the cases and size. Setting the die can be tedious the first time. Set it to just touch the shoulder or neck size if you prefer.

4. Wipe the lube off of the cases.
5. Check the length - trim if more than .010 too long
6. Prime
7. Charge with powder
8. Seat bullets.

All of the steps above do not have to happen in the same sitting. For me they never do.

I process all cases through each step in large batches and set aside.
Naturally charged cases are not set aside. They have bullets seated immediately.

Exactly; what the last poster said; keep it simple and forget about all that other stuff. I started out reloading with a Lee loader and loaded a few thousand rounds with it until I got a press. I recommend everyone do the same to learn the very basics but everyone wants to jump into presses, electronic scales and everything else endemic to out modern society, before they learn to crawl. All the details can scare off new reloaders at first. You will learn over the next 50 years as I did.

quote:

a trick to speed up the bullet seating.Leave the bolt in your rifle and run a cleaning rod down the barrel until it stops at the bolt face. have a plastic plug in the rod that is squared off. Put a pencil mark on the rod where it stops right at the end of the barrel. next, remove the bolt and drop a bullet into the chamber. Level thee rifle and use a new wood pencil through the action to hold the bullet against the lands. The rod goes in again to the tip of the bullet and mark the rod again at the barrel. measure the distance between the two marks and that is your overall length with the bullet up to the lands.

This is what I do and I have found the 'jamming' method so many people use gives me different results. But what I do is remove the firing pin from the bolt, seat a bullet very long, chamber the round (empty, no primer, powder etc) close the action until the bullet seats, then hold in place with a rubber band. I put a piece of scotch tape on the cleaning rod where the rod enters the muzzle at the long and short lengths then hold a very sharp pencil at the end of the muzzle and spin the rod to make a line. After this I measure with calipers 3 or 4 times, not looking at the numbers until I am set and this yields a very accurate reading in my experience.

I also SF'ed reloading until I did it a bit. Now im much more comfortable. One thing I do is trim cases every time, most times all it does is square the mouth, but then I know for a fact I have a good chamfer and nice bevel on the outside. Even though I don't go to the lengths some do, I want what i do to be at least consistent so when I have an issue, I don't have to worry whether it was a bad prep job. I also trickle each load, but then I don't reload hundreds of rounds at a time either. Good Luck.

Before you even start to reload, go to a store and ask to look at a Lee Loader. It doesn't even have to be one for a 7mag. Spread the few simple tools out and read the simple, straight forward instuctions and know that is all you need to reload. Hundreds of thousands of good, accurate, reliable ammo has been made using a Lee. Until recently, the same sort of set up was used by world class bench shooters. (as an aside, I watched a lady open up a tuperware bowl full of powder, rake a dipper through the powder and strike it off even with a credit card, and dump it into her cases. IIRC, she finished third)
You don't need a high dollar german set of calipers, nor do you need a $100 set of "competition" dies, nor a $500 press. You don't need special neck dies nor bullet spinners. You do need tools that will basically do what the Lee does: knock out the primer, resize the case, prime the case, load the powder and seat the bullet.
You do need to understand your tools and how to handle them. There are a good number of reloading books that will take you through the process from start to finish. The Lyman 48th comes to mind but there are others.
If you are still unsure, load up a few dummy rounds with primers, and bullets but no powder. See if they feed from the magazine and chamber okay. If they do, you're ready for the big step.
Good luck, it's really only as hard as you want to make it.

OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL
Match the oal of the selected load and find a mild starting load and work up.

Which powder is far less likely to matter than which length

OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL OAL

Have a good supply of RL22 handy. 7mags love the stuff.

It's your choice how you want to do it. You must:
1) lube and resize
2) check length and trim if necessary
3) Chamfer if you trim
4) remove lube (I usually throw in a tumbler for an hour or two)
5) Check that the flash holes are clear
6) Prime
7) Charge (I only trickle if the powder won't meter better than +- .2 gr for hunting loads)
8) Seat (make sure you have the OAL that your rifle likes and will fit in your mag)
9) Shoot and enjoy
You can do lots of other stuff and if you aren't duplicating or bettering factory loads you may need to add steps but the above are the mandatory basics.

Thanks guys. It seems that you all recommend doing the basic steps...no neck turning,run-out adjustments, etc.

Are the steps that you have given me in the above enough (usually!!) to duplicate my factory ammo groups, or are you recommending basic stuff to a new reloader to make a SAMMI Spec round that will go BANG and not blow me up

BTW...if none of you do the case turning, run-out stuff, then who is doing this and why??
Just the competition/benchrest crowd of for the obsessive-compulsive types??

You are asking to be born the reloading equivalent of Usain Bolt without learning to walk. You need to learn to crawl. Then learn how to walk. After a few years of walking you can learn to run. Then after a few years of running you can tell newbies here that they have to learn how to crawl first.

Summary:
Do not look so far ahead. Concentrate on learning how assemble ammo. You will learn how to shoot better in the process. After that you can concentrate on the urge to shoot tiny groups.

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:
Thanks guys. It seems that you all recommend doing the basic steps...no neck turning,run-out adjustments, etc.

Are the steps that you have given me in the above enough (usually!!) to duplicate my factory ammo groups, or are you recommending basic stuff to a new reloader to make a SAMMI Spec round that will go BANG and not blow me up

BTW...if none of you do the case turning, run-out stuff, then who is doing this and why??
Just the competition/benchrest crowd of for the obsessive-compulsive types??

BTW...if none of you do the case turning, run-out stuff, then who is doing this and why??
Just the competition/benchrest crowd of for the obsessive-compulsive types??[/QUOTE]

SR,
Thanks for your time regarding your response and I do totally agree with your sound advice.

I am wondering what groups to expect after doing the basics as you described in your reply and would like to know how you experienced reloaders answer my above quote.

Thanks Again!

Performing the very basic steps, as on a LEE loader, will give you ammo that will shoot as well or better than factory loads. (They neck size only so that helps. Do not worry about all the extra steps; they will come in time; you will be surprised. You said it; who is doing all the fancy stuff?; BR shooters and those who have a lot of extra time on their hands. For hunting rifles, and AR types, it simply does not make any difference in the field.
But in reloading, often you will be running on the first try.

If you're shooting 1/4" 3 shot groups with factory loads, good luck with the duplication, you'll likely need it!!!

I know and I'm pissed at Federal since they discontinued this loading!

Federal Premium 160gr Accubond. Shot =or- 1/4" groups all day long from my 26" Hart barreled M70 at an average of 3,056 FPS!

If you are gettimg .250 ctc groups w/ factory loads,
1) You are a very good shot and very lucky
2) take pictures of your targets w/ the measuring device and close up of the .250 measurement
3)Make copies of the target and then frame the original and copies.
(4)Call Federal and tell them you have something they want to buy.
5)Get the lot # off the ammo and borrow money to buy all you can get or see if Federal will recreate the exact load for you.
Do not expect these results again w/ factory or handloads. Sorry,It just does not work that way.

Kill,
Fat chance for getting Federal to load specially for me or get more than a one sentence reply on an email inquiry!

I do still have 5 boxes left. I want to handload the new Accubond LR bullets and TRY to duplicate my past glory with the factory stuff.

I'm not BS'ing about those .250 groups. What results do you handloaders shoot for and what are you happy with?

I am not claiming or insinuating you are bsing. I'm telling you you are a good shot and very lucky. I'm no benchrester, just a hunter who takes pride in my reloads. I've shot a lot for a long time. Reload for over 20 different rifle cartridges and do terminals on my loads.
My eyes are not near as good as they used to be and my shooting suffers from it.
I loaded some cast bullets for my 416 Taylor that I had built. They all touched at 100 yds using a 2.5 x 8 scope. I call that very good. I think I measured the group at .875. My short barreled M700 in .223 and long,heavy barreled 220 Swift will do a measured .500 on a good day. I leave the range happy when that happens. I've run straights on the trap & skeet fields and made some really good shots on game and paper, but never shot a .250 group. I think the best I've ever done was .375 w/ the .223 after working up loads. That was a benchmark day.
Good luck on your quest.

Once you are comfortable with doing basic reloading and have shot some good groups and maybe killed some stuff, you may want to take it to the next level.
Everyone in cyberspace has a special little facet that will put you on the straight road to ultra accuracy. Try them all. But try them one at a time so's you can see if they do indeed increase your accuracy. Each step will take considerable testing. A three shot group shot from a prone position with a bi-pod isn't gonna tell you anything. If it doesn't help you, discard it and try something else. After you've tried and discarded the pointless exercises, you'll find you are quite near where you started but at least you'll feel that you haven't missed out on anything. A hunting rifle only has so much potential. Even one that is "blueprinted". Somewhere along the line, you will find that trigger time and bench technique will have a greater effect on your accuracy than a lot of the happy horseshit that some people will tell you must be done to get accurate ammo.

Gonna mostly repeat what some of the others have suggested. Keep it simple, start with the basics. You may find you have no need or want for the more esoteric stuff. Get a basic, repeatable foundation built before you try to run.
Just a thought, if you have or can get some of the factory rounds, measure the OAL, use that as your starting point.

Primers. Make absolutely sure that you have no high primers. You don,t want the possibility of a round going off while you are closing the bolt. Seating them too deep is also problematic, too much reach for the firing pin to get a solid hit can lead to ignition problems. Which can be somewhat nerve wracking and possibly expensive.

Kill,
Oh man, sorry if you thought that I took it that you thought that I was insulted!! I didn't take it that way at all!! Just want to clear that up. Thanks again so much for your reply!

quote:

Originally posted by killartist:
I am not claiming or insinuating you are bsing. I'm telling you you are a good shot and very lucky. I'm no benchrester, just a hunter who takes pride in my reloads. I've shot a lot for a long time. Reload for over 20 different rifle cartridges and do terminals on my loads.
My eyes are not near as good as they used to be and my shooting suffers from it.
I loaded some cast bullets for my 416 Taylor that I had built. They all touched at 100 yds using a 2.5 x 8 scope. I call that very good. I think I measured the group at .875. My short barreled M700 in .223 and long,heavy barreled 220 Swift will do a measured .500 on a good day. I leave the range happy when that happens. I've run straights on the trap & skeet fields and made some really good shots on game and paper, but never shot a .250 group. I think the best I've ever done was .375 w/ the .223 after working up loads. That was a benchmark day.
Good luck on your quest.

LT,
I've been reloading since the late 1950s. I haven't found the perfect reload, yet. However, I reload ammo that makes me confident with the particular rifle I am shooting.

You've stated that you don't shoot competitively.
So my advice to you is to use the KISS Principle.

Keep It Simple Stupid! You are no different than most of us. We all crave those little tools/procedures that we think will produce "perfect ammo".

It is more important to practice than have perfect ammo.

Resize the case.
Trim/chamfer the case
Clean the case
Prime the case
Charge the case
Seat the bullet to the correct OAL for your rifle. As Jeffe stated above OAL cures a lot of ills!
Be prudent. Patience is a virtue!
You are already doing one of the most important things in reloading, "Seeking information". There are no stupid questions, just stupid people who don't ask questions!

Along the way, try to have some fun!
And KISS!

Thanks so much guys. I am actually happy to hear that you are telling me that you like to keep things basic.
Looking at Sinclairs catalog is overwhelming... There is so much stuff available i wondered where to begin. You can spend a ton of money as well.
Keep the comments coming!

I've shot in the 2s with lee hand loaders.

You are wasting valuable time here; time that you should be loading and shooting. Stop reading the fancy loading catalogs for at least a year. Get a lee loader. Make up some loads and shoot them. Then you have a baseline to start from; then you can adjust from there in both loads and equipment. You will be amazed at how accurate they can be as Jeff said. Trying to digest too much info all at once will bog you down. And yes, you can expect to duplicate your Federal loads but you won't do it by sitting at your computer all day reading this.

Funny post and you are correct!!
Still waiting for the rest of my stuff to be delivered... Got my Redding Big Boss on Friday

Overthink the process not the hardware. Use whatever then if/when you want to improve trade up. Have fun; BE SAFE

Just about all of above the advice is good. One exception: Excess run-out on your finished loads will definitely hurt accuracy. In addition, it is a sign of something wrong, such as a bad die, bad chamber, etc.

Misc. comments:
-I weigh cases to get rid of the odd ones. Some lots of brass are better than others.
-Buy your brass in lots of 100.
-Premium brass, such as Lapua, is worth the $$.
-I clean primer pockets, not so much because it is a necessity, but because it allows me another step to look carefully at each case.
-If you keep meticulous records, including every shot, your average groups will get bigger. Don't kid yourself.
-My second best group ever was .221". That was with a CZ .22 long rifle at 100 yards. Which proves that statistically anything can happen.

Have fun! Read loading manuals, Precision Shooting, etc. Sounds like you might become (deteriorate to) a real rifle loonie.

quote:

-If you keep meticulous records, including every shot, your average groups will get bigger. Don't kid yourself.

I learned relaoding about 20 years ago & the advise I got or read about was to stick to the Lyman manuals instruction chapters in the front. That advise is excellent even today.

Just follow the steps from that manual. You will see the steps in the contents page and the details in each chapter.

One other point - since you are using the Redding bussing die, you need to make sure you are using the right size bushing - mic the case necks to see if you have squeezed then enough. The brass thickness varies for each brand of brass. In my 280 Ack Imp, I use a smaller bush (.311) for Winchester nickel brass and a slightly larger bush (.316) for Norma brass. If I used the larger bush on the Winchester cases, the bullets would not stay in the neck with enough tension.