Reloading for Metallic cartridges

[picksbigwagon]

I kind of wished I had gotten an ar-10 instead of the ar15, and I love my ar15

[DRH1175]

Great post! Very awesome pictures for anyone who hasn't done it. How do you like your chargemaster? I use the scoops, a powder trickler to finish it off and a balance beam. It works. but measuring could go faster. I would like to add that lubing, resizing, before is nice cause it then will clean up your cases. I like lay the cases down on a tray, spray, rotate half turn and spray again with case lube. I have used one shot, rcbs, and the lee stuff they all seem to be good. Thanks again for such a great post!

[DRH1175]

Last on line midway dot com is a great for reloading supplies.

[WalleyeGod]

Excellent reloading pics!

.308 is a very good cartridge and will hold its own for most North American hunting situations. Manageable recoil, wide variety of bullets available, many gun configurations ie. bolt, lever, auto and also different manufacturers. Currently our "camp" record for a confirmed kill on a prairie dog is held by a .308 at 815 yards. Obviously an inherently accurate round. Reloading for her is pretty easy and is very user friendly in that aspect as well.

I think we need a reloading forum category here on FM.

WG

[waskawood]

Reloading is a very addicting hobby. I find myself going to the range to shoot just so I can relaod again!!!!

[WalleyeGod]

Waska:

Sounds like you have the "disease" too.

It is very addicting. One thing just leads to another. Very satifying shooting critters/targets with your own roll.

WG

[waskawood]

Hey there WG. How have you been? Do you have all those guns shooting straight? It was an awful summer here. Had the boat off the lift once and never did get up to Elbow Lake to shoot. Made it over to Morris a few times but not as much as I wanted. My wife had some health issues and ended up haveing surgery so I stayed close to hpme. She is on the mend now that the weather is getting cold.

[picksbigwagon]

WG and Waska, I have only been reloading for a couple years but I do love it, especially the finding what works for each gun and what the magic recipie is. Not sure if we will get a seperate forum but feel free to add posts and questions in this forum. I think there are more of us reloaders out there.....

[WalleyeGod]

Waska:

Glad to hear she is on the mend. Hadn't heard from you in awhile and wondered what was up.

Guns are shooting good. The driver is a little off kilter though. Had a pretty good season which ended on a good note. Have to send you a pic of my last target sometime.

Had Bertskie stop in this morning. Looking for barrels and was heading north to talk to the master.

Pigs:

Lets keep pulling/promoting for its own category as I think you are correct. More "roll yur own" guys out here and guys that are curious and want to learn more and get into the hobby/sport. There are other websites that address this but why not here too? Seems a good fit.

WG

[picksbigwagon]

I agree WG, but I would like to keep it a little low key, I too have been on some of those other sites and there gets to be a hoity toity mentality at some of those sites. I have stopped posting on a site because the moderator was always quick to be judgmental and jump down peoples throats if they didn't agree with his views....

[waskawood]

WG, What is Bert thinking of this time around? I am not happy with my old 788 Rem. .223 so I am thinking of a .223AI. More than likely go the Savage route again. If I sold insurance I would be more apt to look at Remington, but....... I would be more excited if I didn't have more work to do on the 6BR!!! We will have to post some pictures from time to time and see if we can drum up some excitement here on FM. More to come!!!!!

[picksbigwagon]

please do and start new posts, not just add on to this one please

[WalleyeGod]

Waska:

BV is thinking of a BR chambering again plus a used PPC barrel as well just for shooting critters with his PPC so he doesn't use up his good one. I understand John is having BV chamber a 6BRX and actually has the reamer and barrel already. He might be considering the LR league for the first time in 2010?

A .223AI? With that short action I would consider going the .204 route or if you don't wish to purchase new .204 brass going with a 20 Tactical and your old .223 brass will work. My next varmint exterminator will be one of those two choices.

Picks:

Yeh, some of those sites are not worth visiting but on the other hand some do an excellent job in keeping it open and informative. Let's see what develops.....

Thanks,

WG

[picksbigwagon]

okay, so you guys start by making this conversation between you a post in the regular forum, that will spark interest since this was a general how to post and you two definitely have knowledge. I wished I was not in the metro and could get more trigger time in. I have an ar-15 that is amazing and a 243 savage that is truly more accurate than I have been able to prove.

[WalleyeGod]

Picks:

I am working on it.... Give me a little bit of time and will get something going. Have to go shoot some roosters first and then will get back here later.

Say, what you have there in your avatar?

WG

[lovebigbluegills]

For quite a few years I've thought about getting into reloading, mainly so I can get out and shoot more, other than just 22's. This definitely has me thinking about it pretty hard.

I'd mainly just be reloading .308, .30-06, and .222

[picksbigwagon]

Sure, rub it in that you are out hunting while I am working....

that is my Remington 870 express with the Boyd's thumbhole stock from Cabela's. It has the rifled slug barrel on it with open sights. I shoots 3" or better groups at 100 yards off the lead sled. After buying my AR-15, I fell in love with the idea of thumbhole stocks, it is a more comfortable hold for me, but it does add weight to the gun

[WalleyeGod]

lvbigblue:

Working on a friends .222 now. Have 6 recipes ready to try at the range when I get a chance.

Picks:

Nice idea with the stock choice on your Rem. Thought you would like to know that I am still chasing roosters. Nice weather but muddy here in SC SD.

WG

[mwal]

Favorite 7mm-08 load?

Suggestions needed for powder and bullets. Will be used for target shooting and whitetails

Mwal

[picksbigwagon]

try posting this as it's own thread, you will get more responses, I don't currently load for 7mm-08

[WalleyeGod]

Mwal:

Like picks said start a new thread so as to not get buried here.

I have a friend with a 7-08 and have some reloading data for it.

I am gone for a few days fishing though so I won't be able to get to the data until next week at this point. Will be happy to get you what I have then.

WG

[Phred52]

picksbigwagon, Nice post! You have studied well. I started in the '70's with 20 & 12 gauge shotgun loading, I started metallic cartridge reloading (mostly handgun, some rifle) in '87. Calibers I load are .32 short, long and Magnum, 9mm, .38 special, .357, .44 mag, .45 Long Colt, .454 Casull & .480 Ruger, in handguns and .243,.308, in rifle. I agree that it's one of those 'hobbies' that you can/ should really get lost in just due to the concentration involved. It's odd how +/- .2gr powder can change your groupings, but it does! Again, Nice Post, Keep yer powder dry ! Phred52

[WalleyeGod]

Worked up some recipes on a friends Savage .223 recently:

Here is my reloading center.

Group of what he had been using for factory rounds; Don't be checking my math here as I was rounding that day.

Group using my .223 load for my Remington.

Group using my brothers .223 load for his Remington.

Went to less than half without hardly any effort at all. Will tweak the load a little to try and squeeze just a tad bit more out of her if I can. Need to do some measuring and possibly try some seating depth changes and some very small changes in powder charge.

Shoot straight,

WG

[gpalma]

Regarding the 7/08. An easy powder to work with is WW748 with WLR primers. That combination gives good performance and normally very good accuracy.

For the 308, have shot more of these than I would ever want to try and count. Lots of good powders work well in it as it is very flexible...WW748, IMR4895, IMR4320, IMR4064, Benchmark, Varget, R15, N135, N140, N150, N540, etc. Best bullet ranges are between 150-180 for most purposes. Have used these in barrels ranging from 18-32" and twist rates from 10-13.5" with bores of .3065" to .3080" to good effect. It's a cartridge that is very hard to find a combination that won't work.

[K_Josh87]

This is a very helpful thread! Keep the comments/ suggestions coming!