Just loaded my first rifle rounds... What a P.I.T.A.!!!

[Bully 749]

I just finished setting up my new(to me) trimmer and loading 20 rounds of 300 AAC Blackout.

 

Rifle loading is a serious pain in the arse!!! The trimming and sizing and yadda yadda. Why the hell do I do this to myself?

 

Just wanted to vent. Nothing more. I'm hoping to have the rifle to shoot these in ready in the next month or so. Just trying to figure out what hand guard to get. We'll see if my work paid off then.

 

C

[BlueLineFish 615]

You better get good at it so you can load for two

[MidwestPX 172]

If it's any consolation, you won't have to trim every time.  Removing crimps from primer pockets really irritates me.  If you haven't already, look into using Dillon's One Shot lube.  That stuff is amazing.

[alec.mc 180]

If it's any consolation, you won't have to trim every time.  Removing crimps from primer pockets really irritates me.  If you haven't already, look into using Dillon's One Shot lube.  That stuff is amazing.

 

Hornady makes one shot, no reloader should be without it !

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/438512/hornady-one-shot-case-lube-5-oz-aerosol

[Vlad G 345]

oneshot really sucks for small rifle cases, it is a recipe  for getting cases stuck in dies. As much as I love Oneshot for pistol, for rifle you need to use something like Dillon's pump spray or Cabelas, or something with lots of lanolin.

[bhunted 887]

You better get good at it so you can load for two

Ya mean in lieu of only loading one shot at a time?

 

 

Sent from John's iPad 2 via Tapatalk HD

Typos courtesy Apple...

[Old School 611]

oneshot really sucks for small rifle cases, it is a recipe  for getting cases stuck in dies. As much as I love Oneshot for pistol, for rifle you need to use something like Dillon's pump spray or Cabelas, or something with lots of lanolin.

 

Sorry Vlad I load lots of 223 and never a problem.  BTW I use a carbide sizer and it's the Cat's A$$ !!!

[Old School 611]

I just finished setting up my new(to me) trimmer and loading 20 rounds of 300 AAC Blackout.

 

Rifle loading is a serious pain in the arse!!! The trimming and sizing and yadda yadda. Why the hell do I do this to myself?

 

Just wanted to vent. Nothing more. I'm hoping to have the rifle to shoot these in ready in the next month or so. Just trying to figure out what hand guard to get. We'll see if my work paid off then.

 

C

 

 

Hey handsome! don't load any more until you test fire them

[njpilot 671]

oneshot really sucks for small rifle cases, it is a recipe for getting cases stuck in dies. As much as I love Oneshot for pistol, for rifle you need to use something like Dillon's pump spray or Cabelas, or something with lots of lanolin.

Sorry Vlad I load lots of 223 and never a problem. BTW I use a carbide sizer and it's the Cat's A$$ !!!

Agree. My .223s resize very easily using Hornady One Shot. Some .308s take some extra force & I worry about getting stuck, but not with .223.

[njJoniGuy 2,133]

If you created .300 Blackout brass by cutting and sizing and trimming .223 brass without annealing the 'new' necks in the process, all that hard work will need to be repeated sooner than you'd like.

 

And as was said above, don't make any more until you fire these first ones.

 

Welcome to the world of rifle reloaders!

[Bully 749]

If you created .300 Blackout brass by cutting and sizing and trimming .223 brass without annealing the 'new' necks in the process, all that hard work will need to be repeated sooner than you'd like.

 

And as was said above, don't make any more until you fire these first ones.

 

Welcome to the world of rifle reloaders!

Thanks all for the encouragement and laughs.

 

As for the annealing, the stuff I've been reading suggests that doing it or not has little to no effect on brass life.

 

And yes, I've loaded 20 rounds. That'll do until these get fired and they are proven to work.

 

C

[MidwestPX 172]

Hornady makes one shot, no reloader should be without it !

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/438512/hornady-one-shot-case-lube-5-oz-aerosol

And my derp moment of the day goes to...  

[Vlad G 345]

On the other hand I use small base dies (as do lots of competitive shooters who hate oneshot for volume reloading) so my experience may be influenced by that. I've had .223 cases get stuck in Dillon, Lee, and RCBS dies when using oneshot, never when using a different spray. I'm glad it works for you, but for me it makes no sense to not spend and extra $5 per 1000 cases to not spend 30min yanking out a stuck case, even if it only happens once every 1000 rounds

[raz-0 1,259]

Small base might be it. I've used one shot for .308 no problem. My .223 is small base and one shot got me stuck cases more than once.

 

I just use royal sizing wax, it smells good.

[usnmars 136]

I didn't anneal for a while then after a friend showed me how to years ago I realized that I am getting a lot longer brass life.  Now annealing is second nature. 

[njJoniGuy 2,133]

I didn't anneal for a while then after a friend showed me how to years ago I realized that I am getting a lot longer brass life.  Now annealing is second nature. 

Especially in the case of .300 Blackout where you've created a neck and shoulder out of the previously-never-annealed area of straight sidewall of a .223 case.

Topher will be lucky to get one more loading of that brass before the neck splits (the biggest problem with bottleneck rifle cartridges.)

[Rob0115 1,107]

I just started using one shot for all my cases except 5.7 due to the lacquer requiring something heavier to protect.  Did 200 rounds of .308 cases with no issues sat all.  I just ordered up more, much better than rolling on an inking pad.

[T Bill 649]

Get the liquid lanolin and 95+% isopropyl alcohol from Amazon.  Mix them by warming them in a warm water bath (1part lanolin to 4 or 5 parts alcohol).  Best lube around.  Annealing brass is a pain but they do last longer.  Can get 5 reloads out of 300BLK brass before problems start.

[Old School 611]

Especially in the case of .300 Blackout where you've created a neck and shoulder out of the previously-never-annealed area of straight sidewall of a .223 case.

Topher will be lucky to get one more loading of that brass before the neck splits (the biggest problem with bottleneck rifle cartridges.)

Big Plus One on this one!

 

Chris.. I can show you an easy set up.

[A-Tech 8]

Get the liquid lanolin and 95+% isopropyl alcohol from Amazon. Mix them by warming them in a warm water bath (1part lanolin to 4 or 5 parts alcohol). Best lube around.

+1 here. I got more than a few stuck .223 cases with One Shot. Started this mixture and it's been great. I swear it almost feels easier to operate and no sticking what so ever.

[NJKen 23]

Thanks all for the encouragement and laughs.

 

As for the annealing, the stuff I've been reading suggests that doing it or not has little to no effect on brass life.

 

And yes, I've loaded 20 rounds. That'll do until these get fired and they are proven to work.

 

C

For what its worth annealing definatley adds life to brass when done properly!  If you see it glow it has most definatley exceeded 750degrees!  Since I started doing it I no longer throw out .223 at 8 loadings with split necks.  I have some brass I just shot with NJPilot that was on its 12 load and stll shows no sign of impending failure.  I also dont load too hot either.  I typically load a 55gn to about 2900fps for plinking and a 69gn to about 2600 for serious work.  Keeping the loads on the lighter side slows brass stretch.  I hear good things about the RCBS X dies but have never tried them.  They are supposed to eliminate trimming after one initial trim.  Once you get in the grove of riffle reloading it is not that bad.  If you made the 300 cases yourself you have chosen the maximum workload of relaoding.  The next time around will be a little quicker.

I do all my reloading in stages.  Ill clean a bunch of brass one day, size, trim, and anneal if necessary the next, prime, charge and load at another time.  I do everything single stage on a RCBS rockchucker or RCBS Summit press, including pistol.  By breaking up the process like I do I find that I can load quite a bit of ammo.  When I shoot, I shoot a lot! 

As for my take on lube.. I use Oneshot for pistol brass and .223 sometimes.  I have had decent luck.  I usually use imperial sizing wax or hornady oneshot sizing wax (seem to be the same except for color) for rifle up to 300 win mag.  Anything bigger and I get the lube pad out and use the RCBS caselube.

 

Ken

[Respect2A 0]

The worst part of loading rifle is the damn brass prep.