Just fishing for ideas guys...

It is too cold, rainy, or windy to go to the range this time of year. I don't have the fortune to attend an indoor range. I do have four rifles that I have not found "the load" for (that would be all four of my rifles). I have loaded for them all, but have not tried as many powders as I would like.

1.) Would you load some rounds now to shoot when the weather warms up or do you wait till just prior to your range trip?

2.) If you think it is ok to load now for a shooting session in six weeks, how do you organize your loads? I don't want to get the rounds mixed up. I've thought of using masking tape to tape groups of five of the same loading together. How do you organize this? Basically I'm just itching to get into my loading room, but I don't want to get too far ahead. How do you spend your off-season time?

Mark the primers with different colored felt tip pens. Make a legend on your recipe sheet.

Seat all bullets long, then put your seating die in a Lee hand press and take it to the range with you.

Mark the bases with a Sharpie or other relatively fine point felt tip pen. I do this as standard practice for range testing...usually just with the last digit of the powder charge. Add in keeping different powders in differnet boxes (20 round boxes are perfect for this) and taking good notes, and you should be easily able to stay organized. I started doing this after dropping a box and getting the shells all mixed up.

Loading is a GREAT way to get through the nasty days of January-Feburary, and it makes the odd good day a quick "pack and go" proposition! The worst thing that can happen is that you find a great load the first try and get a lot of trigger time (always a good day) practicing with the less useful ones...

What I do is get Medium size Ziploc bags and just mark all the vital load info on one side and the range results on the other after I have tested it. I do this often. It is a great way to have that perfect load figured out. Good luck-

I use the ziplock sandwich bags and some adhesive sticker tags. I mark all the load info on the adhesive sticker and paste it to the platic bag. I take a little notebook to the range and write down the results of the loads. When I get home I update my computer reloading notes (Microsoft word) which I have organized by caliber, then the data, based on the dates of the range trips.

Good ideas guys...I use Ziploc bags a lot too. I had not thought of the Sharpie to write charge data on the case.

So, if I want to start loading test ammo tonight...

I have three powders listed in my manual for a given caliber, three bullet weights, large rifle and magnum primers. Which variables do you test first on a new load? Do you use the same bullet and test the three powders first? Same powder with three different bullets? And of course, the primers make a difference...

Which first?

Thanks in advance for the great information.

I use the 20 round boxes with a rubber band on it to keep it from dumping out. I also use the next higher caliber boxes with foam in the lid to pad the bullets. ( I know its an overkill, but i am trying everything I can think of to get the best groups). I never thought of the primer marking. I use a sharpie and make ink bands around the bullet out by the head. I have used dots on the spire tips for id as well, but I think the colored primers are the ticket. But I still prefer the hard cases.Less chance of banging them around before I get to shoot them

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:
Mark the primers with different colored felt tip pens. Make a legend on your recipe sheet.

Seat all bullets long, then put your seating die in a Lee hand press and take it to the range with you.

WOW! I never thought of color coding for the range day. I just write my powder charge right on the side of the brass with a sharpie. If I am loading all the same charge, then I write the decimal of OAL I am shooting. Ziploc baggies get old, especially if they start blowing away and such at the range. Anyhow, when I am done with load development, I use any copper remover to get the numbers off. I also mark my brass with a sharpie with hash marks to show how many times the brass has been reloaded.

The Sharpie marks come off in a tumbler, with alcohol, or a bit of rubbing. In fact, I think it comes off too easily to use for tracking brass life...but thats me being overly careful.

quote:

Which variables do you test first on a new load? Do you use the same bullet and test the three powders first? Same powder with three different bullets? And of course, the primers make a difference...

Which first?

I pick a very reliable and accurate bullet (Matchking, Nosler BT, etc.) and work up a load by varying powders (qty and type). So far the most accurate powder with matchkings has also been very good with my chosen hunting bullet. This way there is no question about the bullet's contribution to group size.

Similarly, I use the sharpie and just write right on the case. I use the MTM 50-round plastic boxes, and keep one powder type per box. I'll usually have around 6 different powder charges, same everything else--case, primer, bullet, seating depth, and start my analysis there. 5 or 10 rounds of each charge, and shoot for groups.

Like CDH, I will pick a bullet that I know is accurate in the weight range I intend to shoot in that rifle, usually it is the bullet I plan to hunt with, my 3 favorites are all really accurate for me--NBT's, XXX's and Accubonds. Occassionally I'll use match kings, if I had some I bought on a good deal.

I also like to have a notebook to record info about the loads as I go along, sometimes I chrono them, sometimes not-- I like to make note of unusual things especially--like one charge shooting markedly different from others close to it.

Good shooting--Don

A Sharpie works great, but just get the MTM 60rd boxes & write the info on a piece of paper. Organize by the qw slots in the box.

My loads are all recorded on a worksheet I made up myself. Has all the pertinent data about rifle, brass, bullet, primer, powder, etc. It also has a separate line for each load-and the only thing I vary at first is the bullet jump/seating depth. Once I find what jump the rifle barrel likes, I may tinker with powder charge too, but usually that is it for me. It is more complex than that, but not enough space here to describe it. If you want more info, send me a PM and I'll give you the whole thing.

For the last couple years I gave up the zip lock type bags [for the most part] and now use soft [not brittle]plastic snap lid boxes that I get at the 99 cent store.The 2.3"x3.24" sell 4 for a dollar and the 3.4" square sell for 3 for a dollar.The smaller holds about 15 rounds of .223 and 8 rounds of .308 size cartridges.The larger holds up to 18 rounds of 30-06 size cartridges.

These space saving boxes have a low center of gravity and do not tip over. They also stack nicely in my ammo carrying box. Getting the shells in and out of these boxes is easier FOR ME than anything I've come accross yet

The boxes have all the loading information on an attached computer generated 2 5/8" x 1" preprinted shipping lable. When I'm lazy I hand write all the info on a strip of paper and put it in the box with the ammo. If I'm not going to use the boxed ammo right away I store it in marked stackable toots.

As a side note, there are a large variety of sizes and styles of these inexpensive, space saving, high quality boxes now avilable that can be used for bullet and brass storage. I've gotten rid of all my coffe cans. Almost.I hope you can use this info. roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
I've gotten rid of all my coffe cans.

Wow, that reminds me of my grandfather's basement back in the day! Never seen a coffee can full of ammo though.

quote:

Originally posted by gixxer:

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
I've gotten rid of all my coffe cans.

Wow, that reminds me of my grandfather's basement back in the day! Never seen a coffee can full of ammo though.

Never said I was a young puppy! roger

YOU guys sound like me....

A ton of loaded number of rounds sitting around in ziploc bags.... If I only hunted and didn't do any range time for the rest of my life.... I could hunt 365 days a year and not run out of ammo, even if I shot an animal a day....

Me, I do the ziploc bag... and put a 3 x 5 card in there... keeping a list of the loads that particular brass lot ( I just give them a number ) and keep recording info for each reload on the 3 x 5 card.. until I get a few neck splits... and then I scrap the lot... but I know how many reloads they have had and what the loads were...

Anal retentive but it tells me what I need to know to reliably not have problems in the field or at the range....

cheers
seafire

I write the powder charge right on the cases, and sometimes I color-code the bullets with a sharpie. Don't color the bearing surface of the bullets, it will make a good load shoot like crap.

I use something similar to dustoffer.

I have a work sheet that list each step of the process from decapping to group size. I usually attach the targets to the back of the work sheet.

I use those 20 round MTM cases putting a X on one corner. then using that for an index, I can load 5 rounds with 4 different charges. the boxes are numbered and that number plus a loading cycle goes on the work sheet. IE. Box 5-5 equals box 5, fifth reloading of that brass.

Then I have a summary sheet for eqach rifle showing what box-reload # with the powder detail, bullet detail and group size.

OK Roger, what the hell is a 'stackable toot'

I hope it is not anatomy related!

Don

One example would be Fjold's avatar!

Now I like them twoots!!!

I wish Fjold would quit posting that picture of my girlfriend.... she wants it 10 times a day....and she is about to wear me out!

cheers
seafire

I mark the load on the side of the case with a sharpie. It comes off easy after when I clean the cases for the next loading. I have to write down the results of the load immidiatly after firing at the range before the marking comes off from handling.

I use a combination of the postings above. I prep
and prime the brass during bad weather (have settled on CCI BR primers for most loads). I load a few combinations and store them in 20 round plastic boxes. I print a small label with bullet, powder type and wt, primer, OAL, etc. and stick a piece of clear tape over the label on the plastic box. After I shoot them, I peal the label off and stick it on the target, then I punch holes and put it in a 3 ring binder for record keeping.

I use felt markers too, but my method is a bit different.

All my loads go to the range in 50-round Midway plastic boxes. I buy 1/2" x 2.5" stick-on labels from the stationery section at Walmart or Staples, and for each different load in the box, usually ten rounds per recipe, I place a sticker with the vital info on the outside of the box adjacent to the rows which hold the rounds of that recipe.

Labels of the size mentioned above are narrow enough to allow applying them even if only a single five-round row in the box is used for each load.

I mark the primers of each batch with a different color, and also place a mark of the same color on the corresponding label.

By coding the label the same color as the rounds it describes, even if the entire fifty rounds get dumped and mixed-up, it's dead easy to sort things out again. I use the 50-round boxes because the 20s are so danged easy to tip and spill (don't ask how I know).

The Midway boxes only cost about a buck or two if bought in case-lots of ten or twelve boxes. I must have hundreds of them around here by now. They're not as strong or durable as MTMs, but they cost MUCH less, and for going to the range they work just fine.

Curious if any of you folks that "Write onto the Cases" ever notice any Body Splits in those same Cases?

I'm very careful about keeping Ammonia away from my Cases and have always wondered if any of those Marker Inks have Ammonia in their Formula.

Due to that, I color code the Primers as some others have mentioned, with a corresponding color code on the Load Data Sheet. Then when the Primers are punched out, nothing remains on the Cases.

I actually prefer the Plastic Federal Cartridge Holders that come in their Factory Ammo for carrying Test Loads. There is a WIDE flat on the back side to place a piece of Masking Tape and then write notes on it. Plus, those Holders have a fairly decent grip on each Cartridge so they are unlikely to spill.

Even use those same Holders to carry my Hunting Loads in. Normally just load the rifle and leave the Holder in the truck. Good design which lends itself well to Recycling.

Cant say that I have had any splits yet, my brass has only been fired up to 4 times so far, and I am not shooting max pressure loads.