New rifle..................

[Guest martin]

Well I've bit the bullet,so to speak,and,bought myself a new rifle.It's actually a second hand remington 700 ADL in .243cal with a 22" barrel with a T8 moderator and Harris bipod.I've also got a 2.5-10 x 56 Schmit & Bender scope with a 30mm tube coming Tuesday with Leupold mounts and rings.I will be getting an H&S Kevlar stock and a floor plate conversion a bit later as well.I would very much like to say how happy I was with the service that I received from Tony at 'Witshire Rod & Gun' in Swindon.He is a top bloke,and very accomodating,and,also up for a deal!!!Oh,and he makes a nice cup of hot chocolate as well.I would definitely recommend his shop to anyone.

[craigyboy]

Hi Martin, looks good what cal? .222 by any chance?

[Guest northernchris]

Good going mate what calibre is it????

[Guest martin]

trust me .....eh!! All I can say is,I was still excited,so I forgot the calibre it is .243cal,and I've amended the post.........martin.

[Guest Sprags]

Very nice Martin!!

[Streeker59]

Looks great martin. If it's a 1 in 10" twist you'll get best results from sticking to below 90 grain bullets from my experience mate.

My sako prefs Hornady 87 grn HPBT for 600 yard plus targets. Never had decent accuracy above 90 grn.

Rgds..

Grant..

[njc110381]

As long as you enjoy it mate it's a cracking gun. I like it. Some spend a lifetime (and a fortune) looking for that little extra accuracy, and I doubt they enjoy their shooting any more than we do

 

Nice scope too when it arrives, let us know how you get on with it

[Guest northernchris]

.243 is a cracking all round calibre,you should have fun with it. Are you going to load for it???

[Guest martin]

.243 is a cracking all round calibre,you should have fun with it. Are you going to load for it???

 

I certainly would like to home load,but,I know absolutely nothing about it.So..........you guessed it,get ready for a whole lot of stupid questions from a loading virgin!!

 

question No.1 of many to come is..........what equipment do I actually need to load effectively at home?

 

Thanks in advance ...................................martin.

[Guest northernchris]

Martin

 

What sort of budget would you have towards you loading gear??

[col48]

I certainly would like to home load,but,I know absolutely nothing about it.So..........you guessed it,get ready for a whole lot of stupid questions from a loading virgin!!

 

question No.1 of many to come is..........what equipment do I actually need to load effectively at home?

 

Thanks in advance ...................................martin.

 

hi martin

 

first of all there is only 1 stupid question,and thats the one you don't ask,as its better to ask first than wish you had.

 

the first thing i would do is read the many many articles on the subject on the net, and i think Vermincinerator wrote something on here about reloading,i do believe it was a very good write up.

Here's the stuff you'll want to start with

• Current Reloading manual

  
  

• Brass cleaner, either vibration or tumbler.

  
  

• A press, used for many steps in the process

  
  

• Dies for each caliber, these go into the press

  
  

• Shell holder for each caliber (for the press, primer tool, etc)

  
  

• Case trimmer

  
  

• Powder measure

  
  

• Powder scale

  
  

• Powder funnel

  
  

• Powder trickler (if making finely tuned rounds)

  
  

• Primer inserter tool

  
  

• Shell blocks (holders to keep rounds sorted and ready while reloading)

  
  

• Plastic boxes to put your reloads in

  
  

Here's some other stuff you'll need to buy more often;

• Powder

  
  

• Bullets

  
  

• Primers

  
  

• Case Lube (for rifles)

  
  

• Brass (or buy factory loads and shoot them to make your brass)

  
  

Get your press bolted down solidly to the table you are going to use. I chose a table about the height where I can work comfortably in a chair.

make sure the table is sturdy,and i have all so fastened it to the wall,this helps with stability.

First step in the reloading is to inspect, resize and remove the primers from the old brass. This is all done at the same time, put the first stage from your die kit into the press and set it's height. You do that by pulling the lever all the way down on the press with no brass in place. Now screw the case sizer down to where it just touches the raised case holder on your press. That way when you push the brass up, it will be resized all the way to the bottom. Then drop the press and screw in the primer removal post to where it's lower than the base of the shell. Now add a piece of brass and push it up with the press, it's sides will cram into the die and be forced back into shape, and the center post will push down the primer hole and pop out that old primer

Now drop the press and you have a piece of brass all sized back to factory specs,or neck sized,depending on what type dies you have purchased. and the primer is out. Then throw the brass into my tumbler and grab the next one, repeat a few hundred times then when all your brass is in the tumbler / vibrator.The brass will need to tumble in corn cob flakes or walnut pieces until it's shiny and the primer pockets are cleaned out a bit.

Don't assume that because the cases are new that they are OK to use. Inspect for any irregularities (e.g., splits, bulges, or enlarged primer pockets). Separate your cases by headstamp, number of times fired,

don't forget if you chose to full length size you will need to lube your cases,before you size them in your die,other wise you will get one stuck in your die,and then you will have some sport on trying to get it out,(don't ask.been there)After firing, the case neck is too big to hold a bullet firmly,this is y you need to resize your cases,

there are a few different ways to size your brass, neck size,(fixed neck tension)bush neck size,(you can alter the neck tension on the bullet,basically this method lets you alter the amount of pressure the case has on it to hold the bullet in the case)and full length size, this method puts your cases back to same size as when you first brought them,and they should chamber nice and smooth,and this method is normally said to be the best for hunting,as you should be able to chamber your rounds essayer.By the way, most standard resizing dies also decap the primers in the same step.

all so it might be worth mentioning now that you will need to buy 2 different shell holders, one is for your press,and the other is for your priming tool.(now i think there is some priming tools out there that use the same shell holder as the one in your press,but i have not used one yet.)

 

Make sure the primer is seated firmly, and is just seated under the base of the case,

Always use a powder scale,Start with a light load but do not go below those recommended in reloading data manuals. Some cartridges can behave unpredictably (dangerously) when loaded too light. Use your funnel to pour all of the measured powder into the case.

 

how to find your seating depth,

well there are a few ways to do this,cut case method,this is where you cut the case neck down the vertical,with a dremel, this leaves you able to put more or less pressure on the bullet,so when you chamber the dummy round,(no powder or live primmer in the case)in the rifle, you can get the bullet to stay in place when it presses against the lands,(start of the rifleing) and the bullet should go in to the case,but not pull out when you carefully extract it.

you will then be able to measure the case and bullet to the ogive, with the aid of a comparator,(this is a small bit of kit that lets you measure the seating depth of your bullets accurately) just type in google stony point, or hornady comparator,

when you have done this you will be have a starting point for where to seat your bullets in to your cases,

now you will have to keep good records of what you try, IE different bullet weights/seating depths/powder types/amounts.and so on.

PLEASE DON'T BE TEMPTED TO MIX YOUR POWDER.

now this all seems quit complicated,but it really is not,if you could get a competent hand loader to show you the ropes,it will all become clear.

but please make sure they are competent, as there are a lot out there that have got some strange practices.

ATB

Colin

[Alycidon]

All sound advice, I use the kichin table and C clamp a press and dispenser to it.

 

It would be advisable to get someone to give you half a day hands on training to show you how to safely go about it. If you indicate a rough area that you are in or would be prepared to travel to then I am sure someone will appear.

 

A

[village idiot]

Col48, good post, thank you.

[Greenbear]

Hi mate,

 

real nice rifle that in a nice all round calibre as well.

 

the guys on here will certainly point you in the right direction for home loading.

 

Have fun with it and enjoy.

[Guest martin]

Col,thankyou very much mate,that was a very in depth answer,and,I will certainly make sure that when I am ready to reload,I will try and find someone close to me that will maybe show me the ropes.Money is maybe a little bit tight at the moment,but,things have a way of being acquired(legally may I hasten to add)I'll just have to put off a few of the bills for a while LOL. .....................martin.

 

 

Northern chris.........what sort of budget would I need mate,cos I have absolutely no idea! .................martin

[Guest northernchris]

If you were to get the basics

 

Beam scales RCBS/Redding/Lyman

Powder trickle RCBS/Redding

Press RCBS/Redding

Dies Redding/RCBS

Shell holder Lee

Trim tool Lee

Primer pocket cleaner RCBS/Redding

Deburing tool Lee/RCBS

Powder Funnel Lee/RCBS

Primer tool Lee

 

You should be able to get the above for around £200-£220 if you shop around.

 

 

And the rest below around £100 depending on what you get.

Powder

Brass

Primers

Bullets

Load Data Book

 

So for under £350 that would get you going on the road to rolling your own.

[col48]

martin

 

if you are on a very tight budget

 

http://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/produc...ANNIVERSARY+KIT

 

this should get you reloading,but it is far from the best stuff,

 

or you could try

http://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/produc...+Reloading+Kit/

 

or even

http://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/produc...+Reloading+Kit/

 

i think that this stuff represent very good value for your hard ernt

 

so for as little as £98 TO THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

 

ATB

Colin

[baldie]

Yep, as Col says, the lee anniversary kit is excellent value, and will do perfectly well to start off with.One thing i wouldn,t touch with a bargepole of Lee,s ..is their scales...they are extremely difficult to read, and simplicity itself to make a mistake with....dont use them.

[Jager SA]

I certainly would like to home load,but,I know absolutely nothing about it.So..........you guessed it,get ready for a whole lot of stupid questions from a loading virgin!!

 

question No.1 of many to come is..........what equipment do I actually need to load effectively at home?

 

Thanks in advance ...................................martin.

 

 

Martin

 

Before you lash the cash find a mate who currently reloads and learn the basics, get him to load some ammo for you, learn the prpcess and then gradually look at buying the necessary gear over time. Its not a cheap hobby by any means.

[ejg223]

For reloading gear don't forget to look at the german market.

As far as I see the UK prices are a nice bit higher.

Just check shipping costs.

I bought one of those RCBS starter kits last year at around 170 Euro.

Got the Lee kit for a friend at around 100 Euro's.

I think the RCBS is worth the extra. Although I've never used the scales.

 

edi

[Streeker59]

Ah..... I was just about to offer Martin a set of beam scales for free to help him on his way. They're a set i dont use anymore but they're Lee..lol.

Cant say i ever found them to be hard to read though..

Well anyway, if you want them martin you're welcome. PM me with your addy and i'll get em off to you..

 

Rgds

 

Grant..

[6mmBR]

A great looking rifle. I hope you have a lot of luck with it.

Good luck with your reloading endevours, if you get stuck there's plenty of lads on here to help you out.

Cheers

Dave

[Streeker59]

Baldie i've found your long lost twin mate.....

[nuttyspaniel]

Martin scour ebay for a lee aniversary kit mate! All you need after that is dies, a case trimmer againg lee do a basic model which works very well, a tool for cleaning the primer pockets and 1 for deburring the neck once trimmed (I cant remember if that comes in the kit!!) I set up for £100 total via ebay and the states and all the gear was new! Oh nice stick mate, a sako would have been better

[Streeker59]

Well i'll go to the foot of our stairs !!

You have a german cousin too !!!!