Reloading Archive

This is my Lyman M die.

I love this die. It expands the case mouth and inside sizes the neck after I undersize the neck with a neck sizer with no expander ball. Really irons out the neck nicely and makes he prettiest flare at the top that flat back bullets just sit on the case. The problem is that it is a universal die, and is not self centering for 223 (I use it for 223 on my progressive). If the case does not align perfectly on the expander WHAM!!! Bunged neck opening!!!

The ID is .577″ and the OD of .223 is .375″. So I super glued in a series of O-rings that I glued to together over a bolt. Now it works kind of like a spark plug socket!!! Self aligning!!! No more dinged necks!!!

Note the stack of O-rings.  I used thin super glue to secure them to each other and then to the die.  Worked very well.  Super glue works very well on Buna O-rings.

Here is the die with the case inserted.  You can see now, the case is self aligning!!!  Finally!!  I have ruined a lot of cases with this die (but I use them for 300 Blackout so I don’t get in a twist).

What I have tried to do here is offer my fellow precision shooters a set of targets that can be printed directly from the browser. These targets are formatted in such a way that the shooter can use these pages to form a logbook in a common loose-leaf notebook. These are the pages that I use personally, and they carry all of the data that I deem to be helpful to working up loads (buy a chronograph AND USE IT).

It is also a hell of a lot cheaper than buying targets!

 Included are the following:

The 100-yard standard target. This is a good target for logging load data at 100 and 200 yards. There are data forms for each target, and conditions can be recorded for general info. This also makes a damn good rimfire target for 50 and 100 yards. I copy the crap out of these things!

The 200-yard standard target. I call this the 200-yard target but I find that is really more useful at 300 yards. It is just large enough that even in a blow you can get groups and small enough that it will still fit in the notebook.

The 200-yard g-hog target. I use these for long range practice (as far away as I can get). It is useful to have the animal image. It is very important to learn to “Kentucky Windage” in terms of “hogs” or “dogs”. The images give a size reference. The g-hog would actually be considered to be spring hog sized. A fall hog will not fit on the paper (twice that size).

The 200-yard p-dog target. Also used for long range practice (as far away as I can get). The image is about spring dog sized. This helps to reset my eyes before going to S. Dakota.

Instructions for use:

Click the thumbnail and let the browser open the image full size (these are big images).

Use page set up in your browser.

Set all margins to .25″, the bottom will go to .5″. 

Set your printer to the same margins, most all printers will handle this.

Hit print… Print the image. The image is sized so that it should only require (1) page, and the squares should resemble ½” and 1″ and increments.

Go to Kinko’s and copy the shit out of them… Use the cheapest and best deal you can find for copying. Use black and white. Color is too obnoxious.

Use their (3) hole punch and, “Presto”! Logbook targets!

Buy a loose-leaf notebook and some separator sheets. Get a big one! Keep everything you shoot. Study what you shot when you get home. You’ll be surprised how much your confidence in the field improves when you can double-check yourself while sitting in front of the TV.

How do you think I got all these targets to scan!

EXCEL TARGET DOWNLOAD:

FOR THOSE WHO PREFER MICROSOFT OFFICE, YOU MAY DOWNLOAD THE ZIP FILE AND DECOMPRESS  “LOG BOOK TARGETS.XLS”.  THE TARGETS ARE PRESENTED IN BOOK FORM AND ARE SEPERATED BY SHEET.  YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE COMPRESSED ZIP FILE BY USING THE LINK…

TARGET LOG TARGETS

I have literally been loading .223 for twenty years.  It is the most forgiving cartridges I have worked with in my entire career of reloading.  It really is not hard to get this wonderful little cartridge to shoot very well.

****NOTE!!!  ALL LOADS TESTED BY ME ARE MOLY COATED.  YOU MIGHT FIND YOUR LOAD IS .5 GRAIN LOWER****

55/52 grain loads (for 100-200 yard practice)
(COL of 2.25-for reference only)

27.5 R15-  this is great load and burns very clean at that charge, it rivals just about any 55 grain load I have tried.  It is a very safe load because, frankly, you can’t get any more powder in the case.  This is will not work on a progressive, as you need to shake the case or use a drop tube to pack the case.  Yes, this is compressed…  and boy does it shoot.  Excellent velocity too.  Keeps the barrel cool too…  I’m not sure why.  I always joke that you could take an LC case, dump it in a bowl of R15, shake it level, and stick a bullet in and it would shoot pretty darn good (although this is heresy in modern reloading circles).

26.5 Varget-  This load is also SNEAKY good. It is capable of bug hole groups at 100 with a good bullet.  Basically this load is about 1/8″ from the top of a LC 223 case with no shaking.  You can run it on a progressive but you will get spills occasionally.

26 IMR 8208-  I have not tried this yet.  I will soon.  XBR 8208 is showing higher velocities than R15 and Varget in my 6br.  Great powder.  I love the way it meters and it is super duper clean.

25.5 IMR 4895-  Good load.  Not great.  Cheap powder used to be available so I used it for bulk loading.

25 AA 2015BR-  THIS IS MY FAVORITE 55 grain load.  It will shoot lights out at 100-200 yards with match bullets or 55 grain varmint bullets.  It burns super clean.  Runs fine in a progressive, and meters slightly better than Varget and doesn’t fill the case so high.

25 VV133-  shoots the same as 2015BR, but while I like VV powders I don’t like the expense.

25 R10x-  I think this is Alliants version of 2015BR with a copper fouling additive.  Shoots the same as 2015BR.  I have not done enough testing to know if I would switch yet, but in a pinch I would buy R10x to replace 2015BR.  It does burn with a black goo similar to R15 (I think they use the same fouling additive) but I don’t have any problems cleaning my barrels, it’s just that first patch comes out BLACK!!!

xxx H322-  this is the load that might replace the 2015BR load because it burns so clean, seems pretty stable for temp, and it meters like ball powder.

I have been collecting the loads for long range .223 here are some:

77 SMK (COL of 2.25):

24.5 R15
23.3 8208
23.5 Varget
21.7 H322
22.5 IMR 4895
24.5 AA 2520

I assume these charges are very close for 75-80 bullets.

55/52 grain loads (for 100-200 yard practice)
(COL of 2.25)

27.5 R15
26.5 Varget
26 IMR 8208
25.5 IMR 4895
25 AA 2015BR
25 VV133
25 R10x
24.5 H322

****NOTE!!!  ALL LOADS TESTED BY ME ARE MOLY COATED.  YOU MIGHT FIND YOUR LOAD IS .5 GRAIN LOWER****

77 SMK (COL of 2.25-magazine length Ar-15):

24.5 R15 -this is the THE “go to” Highpower “across the course” load.  Used for 75/77/80’s at magazine length and seated out to the lands.  R15 has a lot of black carbon, that looks like hell but doesn’t really effect anything accuracy wise of function wise.  I think it has a an anti-fouling additive that makes the carbon look real black.  No more heat sensitive than Varget in gas guns.  Throws to the .5 grain in a progressive…  which is still good enough for darn near everyone, including High Master Highpower shooters.

23.3 8208-  this is the the NEW/LATEST “go to” Highpower load that everyone is raving about.  I have not tried it, but their is ample evidence this is a shooter.  I tell you what, this stuff is CLEAN BURNING!!!  I love the small kernels too…  It throws like H322 (and looks like it) and is darn near as accurate out of a progressive as a ball powder.  It probably holds +/- .1 no problem without the usual long/short throw every so often.

23.5 Varget-  this was my 300 yard load for across the course Highpower for many years.  Seems like everything 1-9 twist or more shoots this load very well.  I found Varget to be very sooty (with kind of a grey colored carbon) but I kept my space gun well greased and never cleaned it (the old Derrick Martin trick of grease/strip/grease works very well), so it must not have been too bad.  My Kreiger barrel lost little in the way of accuracy over a week’s shooting.  Throws the same as R15.

21.7 H322-  this is the pet load of a guy here on this forum and he swears by it.  I am going to test it, as I love this powder.  It has those small kernels that work very well in progressives and an anti heat coating.

22.5 IMR 4895-  this is a load I used for 8# of powder.  It is at least .75 MOA in an AR-15.  It works MUCH better in some guys guns…  Like .25 MOA, but I never got it.  Good for surplus powder if you want to shoot accurate on the cheap.  See test by Derrick Martin.

24.5 AA 2520 – VERY accurate load, and was very popular when this powder was cheap.  Loads awesome in progressives, as this is ball powder.  VERY!!!  Heat sensitive in the summer.

I assume these charges are very close for 75-80 bullets.  Most guys I know used the same powder charge (shown above) no matter the bullet or seating depth within the 75-80 grain range.  Of course, some tweaking up or down might make a difference…  but darned if those guys doing extensive testing don’t keep coming up with almost the exact same loads…

I think there have been HUGE advances in the discussion of SS media brass cleaning.  I know my learning curve was logarithmic.  Lots of people have submitted some very good data and findings.  Really got me thinking.

There have been a lot of threads on the internet about SS media tumbling and various finding, problems, and solutions.  Here is what I have found personally.  I think this is the coolest tool for cleaning just about anything metal.  I not only use mine for brass but it works great for vintage guitar parts too!!

I have a Thumbler tumbler and I use pins I purchased from these guys.

http://myworld.ebay.com/skilam/

I love my pins.  They are perfect and appear to be very high quality.  I started with 5 lbs.

My goal has been to be able to clean brass to two levels.

1.  Clean range brass for processing- This is when I load up the unit with a lot of cases.  I never really tumble long enough to damage the brass.  The cases get very clean inside and out…  especially compared to walnut or corn tumbling.

2.  Clean brass to “like new”- this includes the primer pocket being completely clean.  That lead or whatever is in that pocket from the primer is stubborn…

That’s why I started playing with the pin ratio.  The case mouth peening is real (although I am making 223 from de milled Lake City 223 right now and every mouth is peened…  yes that’s right…  they clean after trimming at Lake City…)  I am convinced the damage comes from the case on case collisions, not the pins at all…

I promise I will do some work and post the results.

Anyway…  This is what I found.  I use water, Dawn, and about a half a teaspoon of Lemishine.  You don’t need Lemishine but the cases come out noticeably prettier and shinier with it.  I have recently started playing with ratios of brass to pins and tumbling time based on reviews and feedback from other users on the forums.  People had complained about the necks getting peening at the mouth.  I too had witnessed this myself.  I have had it so bad on my 6Br cases it wouldn’t let the bullet seat.  That was back when I was doing long cycles with lots of brass.  Those cases had a VLD inside ream so the mouths were very thin.  I think it is far less evident on say LC cases that are cut at a 90 in trim and never really champferred.  It like makes the mouth look like a trumpet or flared.

Many theorized that the brass colliding with itself was causing the peening.  I think I am going to agree.  I think that people are trying to do too many cases at once.  I did a test recently and using my 5 lbs of pins I cleaned 50 308 cases.  I only had to tumble for about 45 minutes in my 5 lbs of pins to get the cases completely clean inside and out.  I saw no real peening that concerned me at all.  Nothing like I had seen when I was doing 200 6BR cases at a time and tumbling for 3 hours and the cases were just as clean.

Long story short…  clean as few cases as possible or buy more pins.  I think the brass has to be swamped by pins and the cases need to be buried and separated as much as possible from the other brass if peening is a concern.

I doubled my pins to 10 pounds. Or you could use 5 lbs of pins and use smaller batches of brass.  It does the same thing.  My point is that most people are using too much brass to pins and the peening is coming from the brass on brass contact not from the pins.  The pins are very, very gentle and work better to more the brass is buried in the pins.  Cleaning the brass inside is better in smaller batches.

I am going to say the ratio that is the most efficient as about 100 223 or 50 308/6br cases per 5 lbs of pins.  Tumble for about an hour or less.

It is definitely more effective.  Period.  Small batches take less time and the peening is reduced significantly.  Primer pockets clean much faster.

250 Lake City Cases in Tumbler with 10 lbs of Pins

I am cleaning 223 from the ground to like new in one hour.  I fill the Thumbler 2/3 full.  Nearly exactly 250 cases. But the brass is clean is one hour.  Very clean.

Lake City Case Clean

Rinsing in denatured alcohol fixes all rinse problems and shortens drying time to half an hour.  I dry my cases at 180 degrees in my convection oven  🙂

Let me start by saying that I have been moly coating since I started a shooting rifle nearly 20 years ago.  I have always moly coated my bullets.  I have always used the typical dry method and I had the same jar of moly for many years.  I have tried all kinds of methods.  Bowfisher is a 6Br Forum member and he sent me a PM about moly coating bullets using water.  Well I just did two batches using the moly in the water method and I can’t believe this isn’t the suggested method.  I have been moly coating for 20 years and this is the cleanest, easiest, and best coating method I have ever tried.

I always coated my bullets in small containers (mostly old 1 lbs powder jars) in my big Dillon tumbler.  I would put the bullets in the jar and add the moly.  Jam them into the Dillon by jamming them with the lid, then tumble for three hours.  I would then throw rice in with the bullets to soak up any excess moly and shine the bullets.  Then I would shake out the rice using a lid with holes drilled in it.  Lots of shaking later and leaving the moly coated rice in my yard I would have nice black billets!!!  My coated stuff came out beautiful if I do say so myself.  There was always dust and moly mess however, and I only liked to do coating in big batches to get it over with.  Lord don’t get moly on the bottom of your shoes and track the carpet!!!  OH GEEZ!!!!

That being said the new method entails adding water to the bullets during the tumble in the bottle.

• I try to use use only enough water to cover the bullets and I use a little more moly than I used too…
• Tumble for four hours.
• Take the bottle to the sink and rinse out all the black until the water coming out of the jar is clear.
• Sift out the bullets onto a paper towel and dry with another.  The bullets are clean, dust free and the moly is gorgeous!!!  Best coating I have seen!!!

Some bullets I received in a trade before I re-coated them with the wet method.

No mess.  No dust.  Faster clean up.  Wonderful coating and no black left to get on your fingers…