I have a Rem. 700 xcr let in. 223. The best groups averaging .4 in @ 100yds. Came from fed. Premium 55gr. With sierra gameking ( no longer produced). Thinking of reloading.

I want to hunt coyote and target shoot out to 400yds.
My rifle has a 26" bbl, 1 in 9 twist. Don't even know where to start. I like the sierra gameking bullets but not married to them. Brass?, primers?, powder? Reloading equipment?
PLEASE HELP!

Get a Hornady manual and read it. How much do you plan to load and spend? We can start from there. You can do it with lots of things between a $20 Lee Loader to a progressive press (Hornady is best to me).

You will obviously need a press and dies. Also, get a scale to unsure consistent powder charges. You will need to ream or swage primer pockets if you use military brass.

As far as component go, for load devolopment, you will probably end up trying 2-3 powders and 2-3 bullets. But maybe not all at once. The size of bullets you memtion should be great for your twist rate. Primers would be the last item to tweak in my opinion. With brass, just keep it consistent within lots, but prep it all the same. Go ahead and use any brass you have saved from factory loads.

All that said, you probably don't want to start off with load devolopment until you have some practice under your belt. I would just pick out 1 powder and 1bullet and just do light loads first. Light loads are more forgiving of errors and bolt guns cycle manually.

Welcome to the forum.

I've done it with (100) 458 loads I bought for "components" from GunBroker. No issues using inertia puller and no problems with the primers. Did take awhile though.

quote:

Originally posted by stix1975:
I have a Rem. 700 xcr let in. 223. The best groups averaging .4 in @ 100yds. Came from fed. Premium 55gr. With sierra gameking ( no longer produced). Thinking of reloading.

I want to hunt coyote and target shoot out to 400yds.
My rifle has a 26" bbl, 1 in 9 twist. Don't even know where to start. I like the sierra gameking bullets but not married to them. Brass?, primers?, powder? Reloading equipment?
PLEASE HELP!

If you are going to be loading for just this one caliber and you are unsure of your future reloading then get the Lee Loader kit for your caliber. Get a bottle capping press at the second hand store or yard sale and use it in place of a mallet.

I used them to load for my first two guns for several years before I bought a scale, press and all the little dodads that I can't seem to do without now.

Some of the loads were better than others but I found one for my '06 that shot 1/2" groups at 100 yards using the military sights! I am sure that it will be easy to duplicate your smallest groups with the cheap little Lee Loader kit and you won't have to worry about investing $100 - $500 in gear.

If you get hooked then you can buy the press and dies and scales and trimmers and reamers and the rest of the dodads that we all seem to collect. I would be willing to say that most of us who have been loading more than a few calibers for more than a few years have more than $1000 invested in replacement costs for our gear but I started out with the simplest and least expensive reloader on the market and I still have them and others I have picked up since. They make darn fine ammo and cost around $20 all in.

I agree; start on a Lee Loader and move up from there. I loaded the first 2500 rounds of 30-30 and 30-06 on them starting in 1968; once you learn the basics, you will know what you need to go from there. Don't just jump in too fast with presses, and everything else. And Lee loaders will produce ammo as good, or better, than very expensive presses.

Get a good book and read the reloading section front to back a couple of times or more. Then get a Lee Loader and start reloading.
Until recently, bench rest shooters were setting records with basic tools quite like the Lee equipment and using dippers to measure their powder.
Once you have your feet on the ground, a Lee Auto prime and a chrony would be nice to have purchases.

Thank. You for all your help. I have my first manual on the way. I plan on reading it before I order my equip. Anyone have favorite loads for similar rifle/purpose?

One avenue you may wish to consider it to take the NRA Basic Metallic Reloading course. Many clubs and shops sponsor them. It's a great way to get started reloading. You will learn safety as well as the process and how to get started. The best thing is you will get some hands on experience making up some rounds under supervision and try some equipment so you will know what to look for and what you like. The NRA Education Dept. lists classes near you. Just another route if you prefer the class room style for learning.