What to do today?

[JGalt]

Hmmm. 6" of snow, so I'm not going anywhere...

Maybe I'll work up a load that that old 30-06 of mine. I'll start with some cases that have been full-length resized, deprimed, and cleaned in the case tumbler...

Next I'll trim the cases all to the same length, as stated in the reloading manuals: 2.484"

...and remove the burrs from the inside and outside of the case mouth...

Every case has to be the exact same length of 2.484", plus or minus a couple thousandths..

Then I prime the cases with some large rifle primers...

Next I'll look up some data for this particular caliber, weight of bullet, and powder. I'm going to use IMR 3031, which is a good rifle powder. besides, I have a lot of it...

The data-books say a starting load of 42 grains should give a velocity of 2450 fps, and the maximum charge would be 48.4 grains for 2900 fps. I only have 35 150 grain .308 bullets, so I'll load up seven groups of five rounds, from 42.0 grains of powder to 45.0 grains, in increments of .5 grains. Normally you'd only increment the charge by .1 grain of powder per step if you're approaching the maximum load. But I'm well below the max, so I'm incrementing the charge by .5 grains per step. We're shooting for accuracy here, not velocity. Lower-velocity bullets are more accurate. I'll dispense the powder from an RCBS powder dispenser. It has an infrared link that communicates with the RCBS powder scale. I also double check the wight on a smaller digital scale..

Next comes the bullet seating. Every bullet needs to be seated to a precise depth, plus or minus a couple thousandth of an inch. The overall length for this round will be 3.230". I'm not using a crimp on these, because they're being used in a bolt-action rifle...

And here's the finished product. Why go through so much trouble, you ask? Commercial ammunition is generally manufactured to work in any gun. It may not be the most accurate ammo for your particular firearm and it's designed to work safely in any gun, so working up a load can match that ammunition to that particular firearm. Here's what I made: If it ever warms up, I'll get out to the range to see which powder charge produces the most accurate groups...

 

[Tax Man]

That looks just like my reloading stuff. I use full jacket spitzer boat tails.

 

[JGalt]

That looks just like my reloading stuff. I use full jacket spitzer boat tails.

I'd use them if I could get a good deal on a bunch of them. All I had lying around was a partial box but will probably go to town a buy a couple boxes tomorrow. Damned jacketed bullets are expensive: About $30 per 100. I could save some money by getting a 30 caliber bullet mold, sizing die, and some gas checks on Ebay, but would have to keep the velocity down.

I've cast bullets for 9mm, British 303, and .44 magnum with pretty good luck, but this is the first 30-06 I've loaded. Had pretty good luck with 6.5 Japanese using jacketed bullets. WW2 Japanese Arisaka vet-bringback rifles are pretty plentiful in this area. I have both a Type 38 in 6.5mm and a Type 99 in 7.7mm.

 

[Tax Man]

That looks just like my reloading stuff. I use full jacket spitzer boat tails.

I'd use them if I could get a good deal on a bunch of them. All I had lying around was a partial box but will probably go to town a buy a couple boxes tomorrow. Damned jacketed bullets are expensive: About $30 per 100. I could save some money by getting a 30 caliber bullet mold, sizing die, and some gas checks on Ebay, but would have to keep the velocity down.

I've cast bullets for 9mm, British 303, and .44 magnum with pretty good luck, but this is the first 30-06 I've loaded.

I been reloading for 30 plus years.

 

[JGalt]

That looks just like my reloading stuff. I use full jacket spitzer boat tails.

I'd use them if I could get a good deal on a bunch of them. All I had lying around was a partial box but will probably go to town a buy a couple boxes tomorrow. Damned jacketed bullets are expensive: About $30 per 100. I could save some money by getting a 30 caliber bullet mold, sizing die, and some gas checks on Ebay, but would have to keep the velocity down.

I've cast bullets for 9mm, British 303, and .44 magnum with pretty good luck, but this is the first 30-06 I've loaded.

I been reloading for 30 plus years.

Takes practice, don't it? I reloaded for .38 Special back in 1979, but just got back into it a couple years ago. The myth is that you save money by reloading, but you actually end up shooting more.