I've owned a Remington 700 ADL .270 Win. for about 10 years but I've hardly ever shot it. Between being busy with work and the expense of ammo its spent most of its life locked away in storage. I doubt it even has 50 rounds through it since it was new, so its not even broken in yet. I've never attempted rifle cartridges before though. I've been loading straight wall pistol cases in .357, .38 special, .44 magnum, and .45 ACP for awhile now and I feel pretty comfortable with it, but rifles are uncharted territory for me. I figure if I could shoot the dang thing cheaper I would shoot it more often. I'm not sure where to start so I have a few questions.

My biggest concern is headspace. As long as I stay within the specified OAL, seating depth, and case length of the cartridge, do I need to be concerned with headspace measurements on a rifle this new? I'm a little confused with the terminology and the tools for measurment of this dimension and how they relate to the reloading process.
Also, I see there are full length sizing dies and neck sizers availible. Which is the preferred method of sizing and why? I already have a decent case trimmer and all the other equipment needed except the dies. If I can handle this I would like to know a little more about it first. I'll review my manuals when I get a chance but I don't remember reading much about headspacing.

rowdyredneck--if you are experienced loading the pistol cartridges, I think bottleneck rifle cartridges will be easier. You get to leave out one step (no flaring the case mouth) and you don't have to crimp the bullets unless you are reloading for a rifle with a tubular magazine (such as Mod 94 Winchester) or a really heavy recoiling cartridge. If your rifle is in good condition (and it should be), you don't have to worry about headspace problems for many many rounds. Stay within the max OAL, components, and powder charge limits as shown in any of the major reloading manuals and you'll be OK. Just don't switch components or start out with a max charge---work up to the max in increments, and since economy is a consideration, you may find a super accurate load at below a max powder charge, thus saving money to reload more rounds to shoot more to save more money--OOPs!! There I've done it--if any of the wives out there in cyber land read this, it absolutely DOES NOT apply to your husband's reloading!

rowyredneck:
What dustoffer said. Just set your sizing die up according to the instructions that come with them. I think I'd just start with FL sizing then go from there as I gain experience. Don't forget to trim the cases. Personally, I partially FL resize my .270 cases but that's a subject for later. Don't know what you're gonna use the rifle for but I always use a 150 gr. Partition and 57 grs. of Rldr-22 and I seat the bullets 0.010" off the lands as measured to the ogive. I get 2937 fps at the chrono and easily under an inch at 100 yds. Hope this helps a bit. Later, Bear in Fairbanks

You couldn't have picked a better cartridge to begin rifle handloading with, IMO. There are a bunch of powders that will really make the .270 sing her song, and as has been said before, if you are experienced in loading for handguns, you know the basics. I would make sure you don't mix cases from someone else's rifle with yours, read a bunch, and ask questions of the folks on here. We have all been where you are now, and most of us remember what it was like.

For my .270, I like 130-grain Speer Grand Slams, cartridge OAL set at .010" off the lands, 60 grains of AA3100 and lit by a CCI-200.

Don't worry about the headspace terminology. Just set the dies for Full length resizing by hte instructions and don't look back. It sounds as though you will not shoot enough to worry a lot of the stuff that some of us do for fine tuning. Just keep it simple and save money. Second that post about not mixing brass from other rifles and don't mix brands when you are trying for accuracy. Stick with one no matter who your favorite is. All of them will work.

+1 on the 270 being a great 1st rifle round to reload.

There are lots of bullets and powders that will work great with the 270. At the price good factory ammo goes for it won't take you long at all to recoup the cost of the dies to reload a new caliber.
Follow the instructions from the dies and manual and don't worry about headspace, you'll figure it out pretty quick............DJ

Thanks for the advice. I bought this rifle as a coyote/deer rifle but I don't get much time to hunt, so I would like to use it for some target shooting. I have an RCBS turret press but I'm not real happy with it because the head flexes too much. Its ok for my handgun rounds, but I'm afraid the flex might affect the runout to the point of hurting accuracy of rifle loads so I'm thinking about buying a Rockchucker. I wouldn't mind having another press anyway, sometimes I have my dies set up in the turret and I would like to load for another round without changing them back and forth. As far as brass, I have some once fired cases from this rifle around but I was planning on buying some new brass so I have enough to experiment with.
When you say seat the bullet .010" off the lands, how do you get this measurement? I was looking at the Stoney Point Chamber-All OAL gauge and shells, though I'm not quite sure how they work. I was just curious how to make that measurement.

Rowdy-
The Stoney Point parts you need are:
1.Stoney Point OAL gauge
2. Stoney Point modified case #mc-270
3. Stoney Point Comparator body
4. Stoney Point comparator body insert 6-27
If you decide to measure only the OAL of your cartridges, you only need #'s 1 & 2 above. If you decide to measure to the ogive, you also need #'s 3 and 4.
I'll try & explain what to do using my situation. Remember, I'm measuring to the ogive here. I use a 150 gr Partition bullet. Using the gauge & the modified case, I gently push the bullet into the chamber until I find resistance. I lock the set screw on the OAL gauge and remove it. The comparator body/and insert are attached to my calipers & then zeroed. The modified case / bullet is inserted into the comparator body & the jaws are closed & I get my reading.
In my case, I get a reading of 2.772" from the base of the case TO THE OGIVE. Since I want the bullet seated 0.010" off the lands, I seat the bullet to 2.762" AS MEASURED TO THE OGIVE.
Hope I've been clear on the description. Once you have the necessary items, it's really straight forward. BTW, Lock, Stock & Barrel has all of the items I mentioned above. Hope this helps some. Don't worry, this puppy's gonna shoot. Later, Bear in Fairbanks

Thanks. I live near a Cabela's retail store so thats where I buy all my reloading supplies. I've seen the OAL length gauge and the modified cases on the shelf but I'm not sure if they have the comparator and inserts in the store. I hope to make it over there this weekend so I'll see what I can find.

I guess I don't really understand the need for the comparator to measure off the ogive. It seems that measuring case head to bullet tip is accurate enough for transferring a length and setting a seating die.

quote:

Originally posted by Slatts:
I guess I don't really understand the need for the comparator to measure off the ogive. It seems that measuring case head to bullet tip is accurate enough for transferring a length and setting a seating die.

The way I understand it, moving the bullet closer to the rifle lands improves accuracy by ensuring the bullet is as close to centered as possible when it grips the rifling. Since the tip of the bullet never touches the rifling, you need to measure off the ogive. The info in reloading manuals specifies the OAL to the bullet tip, which will work fine. But to optimize accuracy the seating depth is adjusted to your particular chamber by measuring the point where the ogive contacts the rifling and transferring that to the seating die.

One more question:
After doing some research on the topic of OAL I found that as you increase OAL the chamber pressure also increases. Do I need to be concerned with this as long as I stay with the minimum powder charge?