Guys,
Just wondering how many of you serious varmint hunters use "benchrest techniques" for reloading your ammunition? For example, do you outside neck turn, ream necks, use a flash-hole uniformer or deburrer, sort cases by weight or use custom seating dies, arbor presses etc...? Seems many varmint hunters are almost as pedantic on spot-on accuracy, but are there benefits for the varmint hunter? Wrestling with the idea as I begin my foray into the 17Rem.
Cheers...
Con

I use Redding dies when reloading my varmint calibers.
I also do the primer pockets and flash holes on them

Con,
I am not as pedantic as some but I uniform all primer pockets and flash holes, neck turn cases, weigh every charge of powder and sort projectiles by weight. When I insert the projectiles I also seat then half way then withdraw cartridge from the die, turn the case half a turn then completely seat the projectile.
Pete

Con ,
Have tried deburring flash holes and sorting cases by weight . Don't believe that either produced significant varmint accuracy improvement , particularly when quality brass (Lapua) is used . Neck turning is tedious and considered by many to be more trouble than it's worth for varminting . Current trend seems to be to buy quality brass and have your gunsmith chamber your varmint rifle with a no - turn neck .
I weigh all powder charges .
In my opinion projectile choice is by far the most important factor , followed by powder / charge weight and then seating depth .
Minimising runout on seated bullets is considered by most to be important . Try neck sizing with a Lee collet die and use a good seating die like a Redding and you shouldn't go far wrong .

Con,

Yeah, pretty picky but have tried to make the process as automated as possible since for the Varmint/Target shooting tend to load at least 200 catridges at one setting, sometimes many more.....also once I've a standard bunch of cases and a load established it is pretty easy after the initial case work to reproduce very accurate loads in large batches.

The .17 Remington may make some of this process a little bit more expensive since alot of the gizmoes purchased for my reloading tend to be available economically for .224" caliber and above, the .20's and .17's could require some added expnse/research/logistics.

1. Set the dies (all vanilla-flavored RCBS, Lee or Lyman) specifically to each rifle/cartridge combo, some get the full-length treatment, others neck-sized but all are matched to a die set, cartridge case & rifle.

2. After establishing an accurate load, powder/bullet/primer/case combination (with the bullet set-up correctly off the lands, I use a Stoney Point tool for each catridge). This is established by the use of each cartridge, hunting, target or varmint, as the hunting stuff will get alot harder use than the target & varmint loads that get transported around carefully in MTM boxes.

3. Use a table drill press for all the case work, this really speeds things up, flash holes and primer pockets de-burred & uniformed but this is only done once (initially), trimming, use Lee Case Trimmers with the Drill Press - very fast! After sizing I also use an RCBS nylon neck brush to ensure the inside of the necks are brushed out and free of any sizing & trimming particles, graphite, lube, brass trimmings, etc. for consistancy. I also use the Drill Press to brush out the necks if the brass has been tumbled since there appears to be residue inside the necks from tumbling media.

4. I use an RCBS Powder Measure for the charges, while measure set-up is done with a scale (as it should be) very attempt is made to consistantly replicate the same settings every time.

5. I don't bother with neck-turning since I only shoot factory-chambered rifles. Nor do I weigh cases, just buy them in lots of 100, 200 or so depending on the requirement and pay attention to initial imperfections. They get individually binned along the way as the cases start to expire. Eventually the whole lot will go but that is normally after many reloadings.

6. My seating routine is to first lightly (very lightly!) press the bullet just onto the top of the neck mouth to ensure it is aligned with the neck & bullet seating stem before seating it completely into the case. If done haphazardly I seem to feel the bullet just being jammed into the case. Can't say whether this is scientific evidence but appears to deliver very accurate loads for me without the additional expense of special bench-rest dies.

Net, I try to be as consistant with large batches as I can and minimize the amount of work after the intial case prep. Yeah, appears kinda anal but this attention to detail has in the past & continues to deliver outstanding accuracy with large amounts of cases at one time allowing me to just grab ammo as I go and get consistant results - every time.

Have fun with your .17 Remington and loading!

I size all new cases, uniform the flashholes and primer pockets, trim to length and chamfer then sort by weight. I just cull the extreme high and low weights. After that I just load them and shoot them.

Thanks guys,
At this stage the Rem is bog-standard and intended to be a walkabout varminter for foxes, so MOA accuracy is all I require and anything under a bonus. But there are plans for later on! Question partially arose as some have recommended various components for accuracy, like Lyman FL sizer, Lee Collet or Redding for necks, and either Hornady new dimension or better yet Redding for seating projectiles. This becomes an expensive exercise pretty quickly! But...it seems that most are doing the basic case prep, which I'm more than happy to do. Might try a generic loading die set and see what the rifle ends up saying about it all. Sort of agree with Bushchook that the projectile seems to be the major determining factor in accuracy.
Cheers...
Con

Con ,
Redding dies are generally considered to be better than many cheaper brands . I have some Hornady new dimension dies, have had RCBS and Lee and don't think they're in the same class .
I'd be inclined to go for a Redding body die (not FLS die) and seating die and buy myself a Lee collet die for neck sizing .
Dies can be bought individually at slightly higher cost than buying in sets .
Toys for Big Boys in S.A. are Redding agents .
Lee collet neck sizing dies are the duck's nuts for minimising runout , cost and convenience (no lube required) .

Bushchook,
I'll pick up a set of Lee dies to begin with and see how I go, that'll get me off to a start. But plans are for a Maddco barrel eventually so I'll definately be upgrading reloading equipment as my accuracy expectations increase. At this stage, rifle is still bog-standard and currently sitting on the kitchen table with its bore soaking in Sweets. I thought it was perfectly clean, but another good brush this morning brought the blue streaks out. I'm testing it with factory ammunition this weekend and then I'll know whether the old girl is worth persevering with!
Cheers...
Con