Catch-22

Love the above ☝️

Super OCD and organised, love the commitment to orderliness.

There’s a big portion of me that would LOVE to do the above. But there’s just a slightly bigger portion that’s just too lazy. But I’m definitely with you in spirit.🤘

Just don’t clean your brass if you’re colour coding segmented brass - the Sharpie will come off in the tumbler (unsure about US cleaning though).

Currently shooting two Bartlein (6.5mm and .338).

Have had Bergara in the past, good for the money.

About to have a GB cut rifling barrel spun up (former Border Barrels chaps).

Awaiting a new rifle from the States complete with a handful of cut rifled PROOF barrels (not the carbon fibre but their all stainless barrels in their ‘competition’ contour).

I’ve found the Bartlein’s are easier to clean than the Bergara was.

Offas Dyke Rifle Club (ODRC). 

Rogiet is a lovely range. Car park is only but 30m from the 600m firing point, though the firing point has a steep-ish (if short) incline to the top of the embankment. There are ‘steps’ cut into the embankment to help with the walk. I doubt you would get a wheelchair up there if needed though (unsure if you have one or not).

Rogiet is only shot at 600m, unless you need to shoot a HME test, which is briefly done at 100m. Some of the other ranges (eg Kingsbury A) split the day 300m and 600m.

There is a tarmac road going down to the butts and there’s usually a car to help take people down there and back if needed.

2 hours ago, Soggy biscuit said:

The reason I ask is I rang around a few of the big names a few months back about having my rem customised and most refuse to use sassen and had a very low opinion of them.

Very interesting. Was there a specific reason given for the low opinions? And we’re those opinions related to their buttoned or cut rifled barrels?

I’ve a number of Bartlein barrels (chambered and blanks) and they’ve always been great. 

A few months back I bought a GB cut rifled barrel (direct from them - they were brilliant to deal with) and soon to have it chambered up. The GB barrels have a very good reputation.

https://m.facebook.com/GBBarrelsLtd/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0

Thanks, yeah already consulted this, along with RS, RAMSHOT, Lovex and Hodgdon.

Tbh, I think N160 is just a tad too slow but N150 a tad too fast.

I actually have a 1/2 tub of Lovex SO70 in the cupboard from my earlier testing in the 6.5x47 and heavy bullets. Seems this will be a good fit for the 30-06 and 190gn+ bullets.

We shall see.

Cheers!

Post above is correct. Forum rules state that you must clearly display a price for the item you wish to sell.

If it’s chambered or threaded then you’ll need to fill out an export form. A chambered/threaded barrel is a firearms component and strict rules exist.

The chap will also need to setup an import his side and have documentation (eg FAC) to prove he has authority to acquire. I think you’ll also need to receive copies of his FAC to satisfy your export permit, HMRC handling the export and the exporter doing the shipping.

Doing the paperwork yourself is a nightmare as one tiny mistake could land you in legal hell. For that reason, it’s always best to work with a good firearms importer/exporter, like PBS International. There are many others who also specialise in shipping firearms stuff.

However, once you add up the cost and effort involved, im almost 100% certain that it’ll be cheaper for the chap to buy a blank and have it chambered locally to him. Shipping alone is likely to be £100. The cost of using a shipping company is likely to be around £50-£100 to handle the paperwork for you. Then there’s taxes to be applied his end for importation. Etc etc

Got a 30-06 barrel coming. The reamer I have was ground with a 1.5 degree lead angle (replicates .308w, normal 30-06 lead is 3 degrees) and freebore optimised for the 190gn to 200gn bullets. Barrel finished length will be 30”.

Im planning to shoot the Sierra 195gn TMK, Lapua brass and Murom LR primers.

I had thought I’d try Viht N160 but wonder if it’s maybe just a tad slow? I’ve also got Lovex SO70 on hand, which looks to be about perfect perhaps?

i was also thinking RAMSHOT Hunter (though I hate working with ball powders).

Some have mentioned Viht N150 but concerned it’s just a little too fast. Dunno?!?

Does anyone shoot 30-06 with heavies? I’d appreciate thoughts on suitable powders based on experience.

Cheers

It is precisely for this reason that I own all my reamers.

Walnut shell is better than the corn cob media.

Agree that those sold by most gun shops are waaaay, waaaay overpriced.

I bought 25kg off eBay a few years back for around £15 delivered.

I now ultrasonic clean as the dry tumbling method leaves a fine dust and soot around, evident when handling the cases after tumbling. Your hands and fingers go black with it...that’s all those toxic chemicals and carbon. Horrid. To stop your dies and action from also receiving this film of dust, really you have to wipe your cases down.

Above is all a faff when compared to U/S cleaning, so much simpler, quicker and mess free imho!

Tbh, I’d be looking at RAMSHOT Hunter as a good replacement for Varget. Only thing I don’t like about it is it’s a ball powder. Fine if you have an accurate thrower but I hate using ball powder in my Autothrow/Autotrickler. 

Rogiet is helpful for some load dev. Shortest range I have. As Sennybridge F is a FF range (so out of commission) and now J3a is too, I’ll take what I can get. Regardless of range, a .338 is always guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Point is though, the Mil are just being a bit of a pain. All very unnecessary.  

Nope! 😤🤬😭

I suspect this could have something to do with the wider field firing ban currently imposed on MoD ranges. 

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Mil were doing an arc of fire assessment across all MoD ranges. 

Once they’ve sorted it and agreed conditions/rules for all ranges, the ban will be lifted. 

Whatever is happening, let’s just hope it’s over very soon as my .338NM is itching for some more range time. I was hoping to be out on Rogiet and Sennybridge J3a soon...but this has put the kibosh on it for now 😭

50 minutes ago, Miseryguts said:

Hi Catch, been following this thread with interest,as I too have become disenchanted with tumbling media and am looking to make life a bit simpler as I reload 5 calibres in all. So, which of the above recommendations did you go with in the end?

I like the thought of cleaning my moderators that way too!!

M (all excited in sunny monmouthshire)

Alright Misery,

Yeah all the dry tumbling - just a real PITA. And it just takes sooooo long to actually get a half decent clean, at least 1/2 day rattling around in there.

So a key goal of mine was to keep it cheap. Looking around on Amazon and EBay, there are super cheap (and small) and also more expensive models. Many of them all appear to come out of the same factories somewhere in China. The ‘industrial’ units suggested above also appear on EBay, just under different names. Looking at the control panels and the specs you can see they’re the same.

My issue with many of the EBay units were a lack of any guarantee.

In the end I went with a unit off Amazon. Cost £63 and I think it’s exactly the same as the Lyman but half the price. Slightly different control panel and name badge, but everything else appears to be the same. Has a 2.5L tank and is small enough to pack away in a draw when not in use (another consideration for me). It was one of the few units that came with a 1 year warranty and had a few reviews, so I thought I’d chance it and can always return if it goes kaput.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07PZVK5P1?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I also bought a cheap food dehydrator:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01N8OWBLQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Works well and dried the cases and muzzle brakes nice and quickly.

Based on the advice from Fizz, I got some Bicarbonate Soda and Citric Acid. Cheap off eBay and using only a teaspoon or two of each, will last a while! 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F161958572264

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401647051460

1 hour ago, John MH said:

Got some for my 33XC & 300NM not tried it yet though.

John - I’m sure you’d said somewhere you had been using RS80 in your .330NM as well as me in the bigger brother?

If so, how did you get on with RS80?

I managed to quickly find loads that grouped into 0.2” and 0.3” with an SD of around 5-7fps. Below are some 5 shot groups during load dev. I’ve yet to alter seating depth as I don’t think there is much need.

Following that I bought 10KG of RS80 but still intrigued about RS76 as it’s more inline with H1000. However I’ve read from numerous sources that H1000 is just a tad too fast for the .338NM and heavy bullets, more suited to the 250gn rather than the 285gn and 300gn.

What do you plan to shoot in the 33XC?

Anyone tried this powder yet?

I’m actually very satisfied with RS80 in my .338NM, shooting tiny groups with the 300gn Scenar. But interested to know what people think of RS76.

Cheers

If anyone doesn’t follow the Precision Rifle Blog (PRB) you should. Some excellent posts about the above calibres, including a bunch of useful load data.

6mm Dasher

6mm Creedmoor & 6.5mm Creedmoor

6mmBR / 6mm BRA / 6mm BRX

6x47 Lapua & 6.5x47 Lapua

6mmXC

Enjoy!

Thanks again for all the advice.

Managed to clean up around 100 .338NM cases and two muzzle brakes. Some primer pockets were squeaky, some still a bit dirty but cleaner than with walnut media. Inside of necks were nice, very fine film of carbon left, so will definitely use some HbN before bullet seating.

The brakes came out nicely too. Couldn’t have done that in dry media, and saved me getting the old toothbrush out and scrubbing with Hoppes #9.

Everything dried off nicely in a cheap food dehydrator. Very handy, waaaaay less mess & faff than tumbling. And none of that horrid fine dust going everywhere. Really annoyed me having to wipe each piece of brass down in a towel to remove the fine walnut powder before sizing. Drove me nuts and my hands were always filthy. 

Happy days! 👍

Yeah J3a is always good fun - not been out on it for quite a while though. Definitely not looking forward to the Sennybridge weather though! ☀️⛈❄️☃️💨🌪

I’ve yet to shoot at Warminster. Issue is that it’s only Thursdays. The last shoot I could make but it was suddenly cancelled. ☹️

Hope you enjoy Rogiet on the 21st!

On 9/2/2019 at 3:55 PM, 1066 said:

Guess I'd better get my scales checked - I find I get around 47 - 52 kernels of Varget to a grain, depending on batch. (around 5 kernels to 10th grain)

I concur with your findings, Varget around 0.02gn a kernel, which is roughly 5 kernels to a 1/10th grain. 

I had originally stated 0.01-0.02gn a kernel but don’t know why I then said 10 kernels to a 1/10th grain. I think my crap fractional mathematics got the better of me that day.

Top = Viht N140 (2 kernels = 0.02gn)

Middle = VARGET (1 kernel = 0.02gn)

Bottom = Lovex SO70 (formally Accurate 4350) (1 kernel = 0.04gn)

Ralph - indeed, between the three of us we had fun doing a number on that v-bull at 300m.

Sadly I won’t be at Rogiet on 21st Sept but I’ll be there on 19th Oct, 9th Nov and Sennybridge J3a on 30th Nov. Hopefully I’ll meet you two then!?

Those last two dates I’ll switch the gun from 6.5x47 to its .338 Norma Mag guise. With my brake, it’ll be murder being in the lane next to me ☠️ 🤣

I would suggest that you also research into availability of mil-surp ammunition to feed the rifle. I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t think there’s all that much 6.5x58 available, so really you’ll need to reload for it I should think.

Something in .303, 8mm Mauser, .30-06, 6.5x55 SWEDE or 7.5x55 GP11 will be more available in either mil-surp and factory loadings...plus easy to reload for.

2 hours ago, fizzbangwhallop said:

Apart from being sticky....I’d have thought you’d need to let lemonade stand for more than a while to get rid of the bubbles? I let the water stand for a day or so to get rid of the bubbles that naturally form on the sides of the container.. less work for the de-gas function.

 If you don’t de-aerate the water, the bubbles will cavitate on the surface of whatever you’re trying to clean thereby reducing the effect as they act as a cushion.  

Catering citric acid is dirt cheap on fleabay....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=cotric+acid&_sacat=0

Cheers

 

Fizz

Superb - many thanks for the insight and help! 👍