Why should I homeload?

[Mod]

I will use the scoop method to start with firing at targets. If I am happy I will crack on with live quarry. If not, I will invest in scales and look at how I am making the stuff to see how it can be improved.

No need for arguments, it's all good stuff and we all have our own ways of doing things.

For the love of Allah (peace be upon his name) £5.39

Bay item# 121509266897

Likely to be somewhat more consistent, gives an readout in gn (grains) per every reloading manual, and may just make your life easier!

Please - think of the children!

Mod

[phil384]

God (or Allah) I'm weak

Scales purchased from Amazon.

Happy Now?

[Mod]

Your camel will thank you...

[223AI]

For the love of Allah (peace be upon his name) £5.39

Bay item# 121509266897

Likely to be somewhat more consistent, gives an readout in gn (grains) per every reloading manual, and may just make your life easier!

Please - think of the children!

Mod

Hmmmm the worry is that cheap electronic scales can be less accurate and less repeatable than a scoop! I have a cheap £12 set and a secondhand hornady set. If I weight the same case 3 times in a row I'll often ge 3 different weights!

To the OP, find someone with some beam scales just to check the accuracy of your electronic scales, that way you can have faith and avoid a lot of frustration if they turn out to be inconsistent.

[bewsh]

^ This

They lie! crap scales are worse than no scales!

[bewsh]

Yup, which is why homeloads can be more consistent than factory. And I'll bet that the factory routinely samples those loads and weighs them.

I bet they bloody don't!.
that would be like suddenly checking the length of a 12" subway sandwich in CM just for the hell of it
or weighing a litre of milk just in case.....

With no scales how can you (the OP) possibly verify this?

That's the point! he doesn't need to
I only did this in the beginning because...below

sorry but .
I started checking scoops mainly down to niggling thoughts from comments like this
my scoop technique throws charges with less than +/-0.1gr
most electronic scales cant measure that and you will get more inaccuracies through poor sizing and inconsistent neck tension than you ever will with +/-0.1gr charge

[phil384]

Still reading with interest.

just waiting for my case trimmer to arrive from Kranks then it's go go go....

[223AI]

I have a lee .7 Cc scoop and a home made scoop made out of a piece of wire and a used .22 case. I can use them to dip 12.8 grains of lil gun 9 times out of 10 so scoops can and do work you just need to be consistent

[Randy Bohannon]

I bet they bloody don't!.
that would be like suddenly checking the length of a 12" subway sandwich in CM just for the hell of it
or weighing a litre of milk just in case.....




That's the point! he doesn't need to
I only did this in the beginning because...below

Aye, but how does he work up loads mate?

I couldn't see it posted yet and so post the table that gives charge weight for various powders using the dippers:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite/Manuals/Dippers.pdf

Dippers work but the sake of under a hundred quid, why be without a good balance beam that will outlast you?

[Randy Bohannon]

Hmmmm the worry is that cheap electronic scales can be less accurate and less repeatable than a scoop! I have a cheap £12 set and a secondhand hornady set. If I weight the same case 3 times in a row I'll often ge 3 different weights!

To the OP, find someone with some beam scales just to check the accuracy of your electronic scales, that way you can have faith and avoid a lot of frustration if they turn out to be inconsistent.

These are the same scales that Mod recommended to me when I first started.

They are pretty accuarte when weighing a discrete charge but no good for trickling to a weight as they don't register little changes.


For a fiver I now use them to batch weigh cases.

A good balance beam is the best first scale purchase.

My camel thanked me for it.

[Silver Bandit]

First post on the forum so hope its helpful.

Apart from the first box of ammo I bought to get cases some 13 years ago, I've never bought factory loads since, (besides at Bisley competitions when I cry and spending £1 a bang but there you go.) The initial outlay is without doubt the painful bit but if you assume you're going to shoot for a good few years and across a few calibres then the outlay is soon absorbed into the savings from home loading. Lee dies are a great cheap die, not in quality though and if you look after them then they last years, their powder dispenser is the most accurate around for the money, always clean your cases and check them for damage and do buy the best reloading press you can afford and treat it well.

Home loading also allows you to monitor your bullet seating to judge wear at the throat of the barrel (especially for long range target) and more importantly the right load/bullet weight for your rifle. Your groups will tighten and if you happen to shoot paper targets with .38/.357 then loading down can maintain accuracy at the shorter distance but allow nearly twice as many cartridges from the tub of propellant. You do have to enjoy it though and you can't be doing anything else whilst doing it!

For me it also helps me understand the firearms and what happens when your finger squeezes the trigger. Bullet weight to suit the twist of the rifle, more powder doesn't mean more useful velocity, burn rates etc. a bit like tuning a car only more fun! and a lot cheaper over the years I shoot around 4000 .357's a year so it's saves me a fortune. The wife doesn't quite see it like that but there you go!

For interest I load; .308, 30-06, .300Win Mag, .38, .357, .45LC and .243

[1066]

First post on the forum so hope its helpful.

Good first post - Sums it up pretty well.

[phil384]

Ok, bought some once fired brass, lee loader, scales, micrometer, primer tool, case length gauge and case trimmer, chamfer tool (Free from Zanes on here - thanks) and of course the rubber mallet

I've been prepping the cases by knocking out the dead primers, cleaning the primer hole and trimming to length. I've found the tool for knocking the old primers out is a REALLY tight fit in some on the necks and needs quite a bit of welly to get the tool down the neck. Is this right or should I be binning the cases with the really tight necks?

I appreciate I need consistency in the ammo, surely one with a really tight neck will be a struggle to get the bullet seated and the bullet will come out slower?

[zanes]

Not having used the Lee loader, the way it works with normal dies is that the depriming pin is an easy fit in on the way in, the die squeezes the neck down as the case gets all the way in and then the expander "ball" expands the case neck back to a set size on the way back out- but the lee loader could well work differently.

Consistent neck tension is indeed important, but I wouldn't bin any of those cases just yet.

[dodgyrog]

'I've been prepping the cases by knocking out the dead primers, cleaning the primer hole and trimming to length. I've found the tool for knocking the old primers out is a REALLY tight fit in some on the necks and needs quite a bit of welly to get the tool down the neck. Is this right or should I be binning the cases with the really tight necks?'

I use a Lee universal decapper first and then clean the cases in citric acid solution for a couple of minutes followed by a couple of hours in a vibratory case cleaner.
I lube the cases lightly (including inside the case necks) and resize and deprime again (which cleans the primer pocket out). Wash again in soapy water (fairy liquid is good) and wash thoroughly in boiling water and dry in the airing cupboard.
Reprime and load when dry.
Fiddly but it works for me and no excess pressure in the die when sizing.