Greenday

I should have separated that. He shoots competition. He also has a Ruger American. Those two aren't related.

I'm not trying to hit max. I'm starting at loads my friend uses in his Ruger American for competition shooting. Except for the last two he gave me that are over the recommended max. I'm starting lower in the range in the Sierra manual.

I'm not. I just want to ensure that IF the most accurate load is closer to max than min, I know what max actually is so I don't load too much and just stick with good enough.

Stick to your factory loads then if following a reloading manual scares you so much.

I'm not zeroing in on max loads. Just saying if that's just what works for that bullet with that powder in that case in my rifle, it'd be a benefit. So let's take H335 which I bought recently on sale. For the SMK 52gr, I'll probably start around 26.2gr of H335. Then I'll make some at 26.7 and 25.7. Sierra lists max as 27.6. If 26.7 turns out to be the best of those three, I'll then bracket that with loads close. And if say 26.9gr is better, I'd slowly work upwards.

Just a FYI, I'm using a bolt (Ruger American Ranch in 5.56). And I should clarify my comments on reaching max pressure. It's more of knowing what the max grains are so as I work a load (which I don't start near the max), if the highest load I test works best, from there I'd test slightly above and below that (So if I think 23gr is my original guess, I'd start with 22.5, 23, 23.5. Then if 23.5 gets most consistent results, test 23.7, 23.3). So eventually, ideally knowing what the max safe load is, I know how much wiggle room I have.

I can totally appreciate that. It feels like a lot of work. But it's nerdy and that's just me. I love this kind of stuff. Statistics is fascinating. Honestly, if I could use my equipment at work so I could figure out the EXACT amount of gases produced so I can figure out exactly how much powder I could use to reach just below max pressure, I would but that's frowned upon.

Decided to just go ahead and buy a chronometer. Hoping to get to the Range tomorrow to use it but we'll see. Testing out 3 loads of my SMK 52gr's w/ H4895 and 2 loads of my SMK 69's w/ Win 748. My friend gave me loads with those two for his Rugar American Predator 223. But both are overloads. And while I trust him as he's been a competition shooter before I was born, I still want to be cautious with new powders I have no experience with. But he's got me recording just about everything I can measure: Powder, Powder Lot, Powder Amount, Bullet, Bullet Lot, Primer, Primer Lot, Trim Length, Datum Length, Base to Ogive length, C.O.A.L., Date I made them, Date I fire them, Avg velocity, weather, velocity spread, and notes. He keeps a little pocket notebook and I created a MS word sheet where six templates per piece of paper are printed with all those sections. They are perfect for him to tape in his notebook to save him time from having to write down all those metrics. Now he just has to fill in the numbers.

I'm fine with my knowledge about hollow points. For instance, you can't just drive around with them in NJ for the lulz. The only technically legal way to handle them are as JohnnyB said. You can own it. You can use it at the range or for hunting. But just like your guns, they aren't allowed to just chill in your car.

Wasn't this basically an example of what red flag laws are for?

Some may be. Just not the ones in this case. Storing guns right next to him, riding around with hollowpoints for no legal purpose, riding around with guns while not going to the range. Of all the cases of people from out of state getting arrested, THIS is where people want to make their stand?

Did you run out of tin foil?

I'm not sure I would. The picatinny rail is kinda short. Definitely enough room for two rings for a scope. But I feel, at least for me, I wouldn't think it useful to use iron or fiber optic sights. Maksim, if you still haven't tried one, you are welcome to try mine in 5.56.

Well, if companies who make fake meat or profit heavily off people driving for them while calling them "independent contractors" instead of employees so they can screw them with pay and benefits are saying guns are bad, who are we to disagree with these experts?

Who are you to say what laws should be enforced and which shouldn't? It's not a cop's job either to choose which laws have to be enforced. How do you know who is bringing guns into the state for criminal use or not? I wasn't aware there was a max age limit on committing crimes. Why is it the cop's fault that this idiot was too lazy to store his guns properly and not bring them into NJ? What PA gun owner that lives near the NJ border doesn't know that our laws suck? Should a cop pull someone over, find a backseat full of cocaine, and just let them go because they personally think drugs shouldn't be illegal? Wouldn't want to ruin some 70 year old's life over wanting to party?

He better pray for probation or pre-trial intervention. Ain't no way Murphy is going to pardon him. I'm not comfortable with cops turning a blind eye toward felonies that have 5 year mandatory punishments just because the laws are stupid.

Make people pinky swear they won't do those things?

So...72% of Democrats think it's fine? Meaning most Democrats are fine with the NRA?

That's correct. It's also possible the OAL was too long for the bullet I was using.

Basically yes. Comparing violent crime rate per capita to gun control rank, there's effectively no correlation between the two. Societal factors are probably the biggest indicators.

I've been going in the order of: Universal decapping die > Wet Tumble > Resizing Die > Camfer/Debur/Pocket Ream/Pocket Clean > etc. I find going in that order gets the pockets nice and clean and the stainless steel media isn't a problem getting out.

Yea, if I could use it with help, I'd appreciate it. This way I have it setup correctly.

My RAR is 1 in 8 twist. Despite the shorter barrel, I've tested some 77s and seems fine from a cursory glance.

Because at 100 yards, why would I need anything heavier? Unless it's stupid windy out, 52gr HPBT will do great at 100 yards. Once I go out further, I'll switch to 69gr and 77gr depending on weather.

Yea, it's the next logical purchase in line. I so far base it on groupings and I have one load that consistently provides tighter groups. But using a chronograph would help not only that but enable me to do calculations to estimate bullet flight paths for various ranges. So realistically, I have a powder dialed in at 100 yards for the 52gr MK but since I don't know the velocity, I don't actually know for certain where it'll hit at 200 or 300 yards. I'd definitely appreciate having someone show me the nuances of using a chronograph.