New to Rifle Reloading - UPDATE

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:03 pm

I just made my first attempt at reloading rifle cases this evening. I've been reloading handgun ammunition for many years now, but decided to start in on reloading for my 30-30 and eventually the .270 Win. I learned a very valuable lesson tonight, at the cost of 17 perfectly good 30-30 shells, a little case lube goes a long way...and a little more case lube puts real neat little "hydraulic" dents in the shoulder and case.

Oh well, I'll try again another day. I'm not so sure I put too much case lube on the lube pad, but I believe I probably allowed case lube to get onto the shoulder of the case. I guess lessons learned the hard way are hardly forgotten. Any input from veteran rifle reloaders for a first timer??

JLaw

longtooth · Post by **longtooth** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 4:42 am

Yes, too much is not good. I have a single stage RCBS & may take more time than about anyone. I hand lube my brass by finger touching the pad then very thin hand coat the case. If they are not trying to stick in the sizeing die that is enough lube. That stuff will build up in the die too. Not good there either.

We have all done it though so you are in very good company.

Houston1944 · Post by **Houston1944** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:38 am

Hornady One Shot is a good lube to help prevent the hydraulic effect. It is a spray and goes on very thin. Since you are new to rifle reloading I will share a few things I have learned over the years that are not applicable to handgun calibers. I assume the 30-30 is for a lever gun so you will have to continue to full length size which requires lube. If the other calibers are for bolt action rifles then you should consider neck only sizing. No lube required for neck only sizing and it increases the use of the brass without having to trim. Accuracy will be improved by the use of Match primers. The group size of every rifle caliber I load dropped when I swicthed to Match primers. (223, 7mm-08, 308, 270, 30-30). The cost adder is only about 6 bucks per 1000 and it is well worth it.

phddan · Post by **phddan** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 4:41 pm

I'll second the Hornady One Shot. Beats a lube pad everytime.
I had the same problem as you on my first rifle reloads, read a few reloading
forums, and pretty much found the consensous was HOS.

Dan

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:44 pm

Looks like I'll be looking for some One-Shot soon. Second question, the RCBS instructions that came with the dies recommends trimming the case to ten thousandth of an inch shorter than max cartridge length. Is this more beneficial than just trimming the case to the "trim to" length??

JLaw

Houston1944 · Post by **Houston1944** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:22 pm

10 thousandth below max length is the standard "trim to "dimension. This gives you a functional case with room to grow before you have to trim again. Case trimming is not the "fun" part of reloading for me. That was what I did not like about reloading 22-250. Those hot little rounds always seemed to need trimming twice as often as my other calibers.

dws1117 · Post by **dws1117** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:17 pm

I am just getting the stuff together for 30-30 reloading as well. I'll be watching here for pointers.

JLaw, maybe when you get it figured out you can give me some pointers. BTW, what rifle is are you shooting?

KinnyLee · Post by **KinnyLee** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:05 am

I don't understand. Why would one be trimming their rifle brass?

KBCraig · Post by **KBCraig** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:34 am

KinnyLee wrote:I don't understand. Why would one be trimming their rifle brass?

Because brass stretches when the cartridge is fired. Resizing doesn't always return it to spec.

It's always a good idea to segregate your brass to specific rifles (if you have multiple rifles in one caliber). Chambers always vary. If you keep your brass sorted, it's already fireformed to that chamber. You can neck-size only, and greatly extend the life of your brass. Even then, you'll occasionally need to bump the shoulder back with a full length die, and/or trim the length.

Kevin

KinnyLee · Post by **KinnyLee** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:42 am

KBCraig wrote:
KinnyLee wrote:I don't understand. Why would one be trimming their rifle brass?
Because brass stretches when the cartridge is fired. Resizing doesn't always return it to spec.

It's always a good idea to segregate your brass to specific rifles (if you have multiple rifles in one caliber). Chambers always vary. If you keep your brass sorted, it's already fireformed to that chamber. You can neck-size only, and greatly extend the life of your brass. Even then, you'll occasionally need to bump the shoulder back with a full length die, and/or trim the length.

Kevin

Make sense. Thanks. I guess I'll be buying more stuff because I'll be reloading rifle ammo as well.

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:35 pm

dws1117 wrote: JLaw, maybe when you get it figured out you can give me some pointers. BTW, what rifle is are you shooting?

You betcha. I'm reloading for my Winchester 94 Trapper...

JLaw

longtooth · Post by **longtooth** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:46 pm

Good looking youngun. I have a Marlin 336 that I cut the stock down for the grandkids. I load them a light enough load that they shoot it comfortably. Startum young & they l;ove shooting all their lives.

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:14 pm

Yes sir longtooth, that was the plan. My son loves shooting his Henry .22, but I figure I'll load some light, low velocity rounds up (sometime in the future) and surprise him by letting him shoot the 30-30.

JLaw

longtooth · Post by **longtooth** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:23 pm

God job. Hornady makes a low velocity expanding bullet w/ a flat nose for the 30-30. I can't remember the load I did for them in my head & right now can't get out there to look it up. I can pistol shoot it. At 100 yds it mushrooms good to nearly .45 Cal. when digging it out of the soft burm. They don't need to shoot any farther than that anyway. At 130yds though it really takes a nose dive.

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 9:29 am

UPDATE:

All is well with the new batch, good advice on the One-Shot. I've got a new question, and maybe I'm starting to get a little too particular, you decide.

The Speer manual for the 30-30 states a max case length of 2.0395", and the RCBS dies state trimming to 0.0010" (that IS one thousandth of an inch, right?) shorter than this length, which would eqaute to trimming to 2.0385". However my once fired factory brass, after resizing, measures in anywhere from 2.0255" to 2.0335". Should I re-trim all cartridges to the 2.0255" length and readjust my seater/crimper die for this length? Ignore the length until they stretch to 2.0395"?

As stated earlier, I'm a pitsol reloader, this is my first attempt at doing the rifle thing. I'd appreciate your opinions and letting me know your way of doing things.

Thanks for all the help!

JLaw