Frankly, I worry about all the new reloaders. There are folks getting into this that seem to have no idea what is going on. They read a few post, watch a couple videos and think they have it figured out. It’s not that simple.
This activity is one of those cool, but dangerous things we have not “over safetied“. Think Remington triggers. This is because people like us generally load in safe or at least predictable ways.
Calipers: Ask your self, how do you know your calipers measure accurately. Did you know you can buy decent gage blocks for under $20 to check?
Scale: There are scales from $10 to $1000’s used for reloading...how do you know your scale is measuring right? Again, check weights are cheap insurance. Checking a charge on 2,3,4 other scales you have really tells you nothing.
Case fit: IMO, you cannot blindly size cases. You need to understand how much your die is sizing vs a case fired in your rifle. Too much sizing exposes you to early case head separation. Too long and you pinch the bullet causing high pressure
Bullet Seating: I have loaded from jam to 0.2” off the lands. I can tell you that max loads seated to jam is over pressure. So, you have to know where jam is to avoid it. Honestly, many folks are reporting very good results 0.050”-0.1” off lands.
Powder handling: Know what powder you are loading. Most kabooms are related to powder. Light charges causing squibs, wrong burn rate, heavy charges, and so on. Know what you are loading.
Last, find a book, find a mentor. Books have a process. They usually have an author who studies the material with experts. Then they are often reviewed for accuracy and technical correctness. A post or video is rarely more than one guy telling you what he thinks he knows that day. Mentors have the benefit of experience they can share.
On the subject of mentoring, pm me. If we start talking, I’ll share my number. Maybe I can help. I reload daily/weekly.
I’m sure i missed a bunch...what can you add?
This activity is one of those cool, but dangerous things we have not “over safetied“. Think Remington triggers. This is because people like us generally load in safe or at least predictable ways.
Calipers: Ask your self, how do you know your calipers measure accurately. Did you know you can buy decent gage blocks for under $20 to check?
Scale: There are scales from $10 to $1000’s used for reloading...how do you know your scale is measuring right? Again, check weights are cheap insurance. Checking a charge on 2,3,4 other scales you have really tells you nothing.
Case fit: IMO, you cannot blindly size cases. You need to understand how much your die is sizing vs a case fired in your rifle. Too much sizing exposes you to early case head separation. Too long and you pinch the bullet causing high pressure
Bullet Seating: I have loaded from jam to 0.2” off the lands. I can tell you that max loads seated to jam is over pressure. So, you have to know where jam is to avoid it. Honestly, many folks are reporting very good results 0.050”-0.1” off lands.
Powder handling: Know what powder you are loading. Most kabooms are related to powder. Light charges causing squibs, wrong burn rate, heavy charges, and so on. Know what you are loading.
Last, find a book, find a mentor. Books have a process. They usually have an author who studies the material with experts. Then they are often reviewed for accuracy and technical correctness. A post or video is rarely more than one guy telling you what he thinks he knows that day. Mentors have the benefit of experience they can share.
On the subject of mentoring, pm me. If we start talking, I’ll share my number. Maybe I can help. I reload daily/weekly.
I’m sure i missed a bunch...what can you add?
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