Finally I am getting around to developing a new "target" load for my .308Win. Looking over the components easily available "off the shelf" at my local gunshop, I settled for Lapua 10.85g Pinnoitettu Luoti heads, new Lapua cases, Ramshot TAC powder and Federal Gold Medal Match Large Rifle Primers. The Lapua heads are a 168grn moly coated HPBT bullet and intend using the loading data in the RAMSHOT booklet for the 168grn moly coated Hornady HPBT as the nearest equivilent.

I intend to load 9 roads each (3 x3 round groups)with .75grn or 1 grn steps between the batchs. Once I find a promising batch, I will refine that in .5grn steps.

No to my questions:

Is there anything different I should be aware of new using moly coated bullets or when developing loads for them?

Will I have any problems switching between shooting my hunting loads (which are non moly coated) and these moly coated Lapua?

Does the unfired/new brass need any special preparation? I assume I can just prime them and load away?

What is the best procedure for determining the best bullet seating depth? In the past I have settled on a "guesstimate" depth, determined the best load at that setting, and then tried varying the depth slightly to see if I can improve the group size.

I don't have a chrono nor any bench rest quality loading kit just pretty standard RCBS stuff and I am not entering any competions. This really is just a "learning excerise" to see If i can ring the best possible groups out of my rifle, my equipment and myself!

Thanks in advance,

Pete

Pete, Iam NOT a reloading expert, or any other for that matter, but I believe you may want to resize those unfired cases first, and then prime and load...sakofan..

Pete,

The moly coating leaves a residue in the barrel that is hard to remove. It is best to not switch from one to the other without a thorough cleaning in between to remove all traces of moly or copper fouling.

Jim

You should "season" your bbl with something like Lymans Super Moly Bore Cream, or simply spray some MSMoly on a patch and run it thru your bbl,otherwise you may be disapointed with somewhat erratic results,until you'v ran 20-30 rounds thru it and the moly settles in.As far as brass prep,use a VLD chamfering tool,such as Lymans(starting to sound like I work for Lyman! ),it has a 22 degree taper as opposed to the 45 on most tools,and you won't be scraping the moly off as the bullet enters the neck of the case.Midway carries them for about $6.Also if you use any other data that isn't specifically for mollied bullets,you MAY have to increase the powder charge,by 1 gr-1 1/2 gr to achieve the same velocities,due to the decreased friction/pressure.Though that would be tough to call without a chronograph.
All that said,shooting mollied bullets is new to me also,but I did have some good help and advice to get started.
Jeff

Thanks for the input guys....however I am begining to think moly bullets might be more trouble than they are worth!

Regards,

Peter