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Needing some feedback here.

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Replied by txlongshotb4 on topic Needing some feedback here.

I'm guessing you're asking what kind of reloading set up I have and not rifle-
I'm using an RCBS rock chucker single stage press with the competition precision micrometer dies for .308. I weigh my powder with the old school beam scale and hand trickler-call me a bit of a perfectionist, but I don't trust digital scales and powder tricklers. I prime my brass with an RCBS hand primer unit, and I clean it in a Cabela's brand tumbler with their own formula polish and either corn cob or walnut hull media.
I've never crimped a bullet in my life, and I have a chamber spec that I got from Lilja when I bought the barrel-but I can't find it to save my life-grrr. I'm trying to find an RCBS precision chamber mic for .308 but I cannot find them in stock anywhere. I'm also not too thrilled about not being able to find powder anywhere, which I'll need soon. I have enough powder and bullets to get me about 150-200 rounds. Back when I was loading for bolt guns, it took me at least that many to find a good recipe for the gun-I assume now that I have to worry about all of the nuances of a semi-auto action, it'll take more...Does anyone out there know of any place that has powder and bullets in stock?
11 years 5 days ago #22536

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Replied by silverman1 on topic Needing some feedback here.

The Toledo Oh. G Mountain ,had 2 # of 4064 in stock last week,
One was tagged @ $28.99, and the other was @ $32.99
I have 300 rds loaded,but need about 500 for a prarie dog hunt in July.
But I refuse to pay 32.99 for a $18.95 pound of powder.
Dang thieves are at every gun show,and behind every sign,taking advantage of shooters.60.00 a brick of .22LR . I wonder what the actual price is from the MFG,and distributor now.
11 years 5 days ago #22538

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Replied by Siscowet on topic Needing some feedback here.

Longshot, I will send you a PM.
11 years 5 days ago #22539

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Replied by Siscowet on topic Needing some feedback here.

That is the market. A local store just shipped 70 pounds out to Wyoming and that is what they were charging. I would go back and get it.
11 years 5 days ago #22540

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Replied by txlongshotb4 on topic Needing some feedback here.

Well here's the latest update-I spent the mass majority of my day cleaning out that aformentioned garage from hell. (man, I found things I still don't think belong to me.) There's still a sizable pile o'crap, earmarked for some hypothetical future garage sale that I know damn well will never really happen, but "household 6" (the wife) just couldn't bare seeing me throw everything away and since I don't care to actually sleep in the garage I had to compromise. None the less, I have re-claimed enough of the great American man-cave to do what I need to do...I got my press and my case trimmer mounted on my workbench, set out all of my gear, and got to work calibrating everything. I tumbled about 20 rounds and resized them using my RCBS competition sizer die (aperantly made for AR-10 type rifles) and trimmed my cases to 2.014-1/1000th short of the listed maximum case length for .308 as per my Speer manual. I then loaded a "dummy round" (no powder, no primer) using a hornady 168 grn. bullet at 2.814-again, 1/1000th of an inch shorter than listed max overall cart. length. Then I loaded this dummy round into a mag, put it into my rifle, held my breath, and released the bolt...and it locked into battery-SCORE!
I have an RCBS precision case mic in route via FedEx-tracking info says it will be here Monday...better to be safe than sorry...but I have a question regarding crimping. When I was reloading for bolt guns, I would purposly leave my bullets seated a few 1000ths long, so that as I locked the bolt down, the bullet seated into the lands and grooves of the rifleing in my bore. On a semi-auto like my AR-10, I know that theroretically, as the bolt pushes the round into the chamber,the intertia of the force behind it should cause an uncrimped bullet to slide forward in the case neck. My thoughts on this are, if I can EXACTLY map my chamber, I might be able to set my seating depth a few thousanths behind my lands and grooves, and efectively force my bullet into the lands with pure inertia. It seems-from a bolt gunner's perspective-like a good idea...but it has occurred to me that there is a very good reason why everyone else doesn't do this...so, fellow shooters and reloaders-what say you?
10 years 11 months ago #22871

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Replied by Siscowet on topic Needing some feedback here.

:thumbs: Congratulations you are off to a good start. The one thing I can think of is the fact that the magazine was designed to operate at the standard cartridge length. Also as far as crimping, by the time the last round in a twenty round magazine reaches the chamber, it has been subjected to nineteen jolts that may affect where the bullet is seating if not crimped. The more knowledgeable guys on the site will have some good input I am sure.
10 years 11 months ago #22875

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Replied by LebbenB on topic Needing some feedback here.

If I understand you correctly, you want to intentionally set back the bullet on contact with the bore?

Sisco's comments about uncrimped bullets riding in a magazine are spot on.

Another point I would bring up is the feed path. The round has to pass through the feed ramp on it's way into the chamber. The angle from the top of the mag to the edge of the feed ramp is fairly steep on an AR and the first part of the round that touches the rifle is the bullet tip. The potential for an uncrimped bullet to set back a bit here is pretty high. (The Army changed the specs on the M4 to have small scallops cut into the receiver below the feed ramps - extended feed ramps - to increase the reliability of feeding and to help mitigate the potential for bullet set back.) By increasing the round's overall length, you're also increasing the chance that the bullet will set back prior to getting to the chamber.
RLTW
10 years 11 months ago #22881

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Replied by jtallen83 on topic Needing some feedback here.

I haven't had a chance to check any of my work yet because of the crappy weather here but I recently posted about my failures in the crimping process. Scaup58 had an alternate method I decided to try, when I get the time and the weather together I'm going to bring some calipers and see what happens.
www.ar10t.com/forums/reloading/13254-fun-with-crimping
In the past I've seen the 180 grain soft points turn flat in the magazine so I know there is some force involved. I've got a Lee crimping die on the got to get list just to be safe.
LIBERTY FIRST!
10 years 11 months ago #22887

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Replied by Siscowet on topic Needing some feedback here.

I remember from my old days of reloading, that when it comes to both the expander ball and the crimping on the case mouth, you just want a light "kiss" on the case mouth and nothing more.
Last edit: 10 years 11 months ago by Siscowet.
10 years 11 months ago #22890

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