Hope those of you that shoot the .300 Winmag can either help me out, or cry in sympathy.
So, I sit down in my ez chair, lean back and grab a bag or box containing 50 new brass. TV is off. Wife is reading her smut book. Dobermans are snoring. Life was great till I looked at my flavor of the month brass. Winchester? Comes in a heavy bag like the Dobe’s food. Re-sealable for some reason. Case mouths are all lopsided and/or dented, so I cannot chamfer them till I run them over the expander button. No problem, I’ll just uniform the flash hole. Well, if I can find it. Winchester might have a centerpunch that is lined up on a center, but the machine that punched these holes is all over the map. I use a Hornady flash hole uniformer. It has a stepped plug that fits into the case mouth, in any of the superior cases, the stepped plug centers the uniformer button in the flash hole. Not with Winchester brass it doesn’t. What normally takes me 15 minutes for 50 virgin brass, takes 35 to 40 minutes with Oliver’s finest. I guess the uniformer won’t center into the flash hole since every damn case neck looks like my uncles chicken, after he rung its neck. Shit. Winchester goes on the shitlist. Fits at the top, below which sits PPU with 10-15% lopsided case necks. Federal, might be good to go, as long as I buy it from Midsouth or Bruno’s. Midway packs it so sloppily, it will look like shiny Winchester brass, with the case necks that are warped. Hornady? Comes in boxes in 5.56mm, great stuff for case prep, even if it does expire too early. If I ever find it in .300 Winmag, I hope it comes in boxes. Nosler I cannot find, but if I remember correctly, it is nice brass shipped in boxes. Lapua? Never have I seen any other than .375 caliber. No thanks to that one. IF Lapua actually makes their fabulous brass in.300 Winmag, maybe somebody can tell me where to locate a couple hundred virgin examples? I think it may be a Unicorn.
I normally find myself running a hundred virgin brass over an expander button, with the sizer die backed off, so that the neck doesn’t get touched. I read of Mandrels, but don’t know if it is the same philosophy, or an entirely different tool? If a tool, is it better than the sizer button? If so, best place to get one?
Normally, once the necks are uniformly round, I uniform the flash holes, then seat the primers by hand. I weigh each load of powder, double-check on a different electronic scale, then seat the bullet a few thousandths off the lands. In my newest rifle, this gives me a loaded cartridge overall length of 3.517” from bullet tip to base of cartridge. By collimator, I have 3.750” coal. The manuals state 3.340” as max coal? My rifle uses AICS mags, allowing greater length, up to 3.80” or near that length. Hope I am doing the right thing here. I am used to loading 5.56mm to max length allowed by the magazine. Bolt gun is a new thing. I have the equipment for neck sizing or full length. Coming from using Small Base full length dies, I’ll have to maybe try the neck sizing route.
I would like to get the greatest amount of loads per case possible. Any suggestions on the best case for doing so, as well as the best resizing method to use? Rifle is used for steel or paper. This is retirement relaxation only. No competition, as I use pistols for that. All suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks!
So, I sit down in my ez chair, lean back and grab a bag or box containing 50 new brass. TV is off. Wife is reading her smut book. Dobermans are snoring. Life was great till I looked at my flavor of the month brass. Winchester? Comes in a heavy bag like the Dobe’s food. Re-sealable for some reason. Case mouths are all lopsided and/or dented, so I cannot chamfer them till I run them over the expander button. No problem, I’ll just uniform the flash hole. Well, if I can find it. Winchester might have a centerpunch that is lined up on a center, but the machine that punched these holes is all over the map. I use a Hornady flash hole uniformer. It has a stepped plug that fits into the case mouth, in any of the superior cases, the stepped plug centers the uniformer button in the flash hole. Not with Winchester brass it doesn’t. What normally takes me 15 minutes for 50 virgin brass, takes 35 to 40 minutes with Oliver’s finest. I guess the uniformer won’t center into the flash hole since every damn case neck looks like my uncles chicken, after he rung its neck. Shit. Winchester goes on the shitlist. Fits at the top, below which sits PPU with 10-15% lopsided case necks. Federal, might be good to go, as long as I buy it from Midsouth or Bruno’s. Midway packs it so sloppily, it will look like shiny Winchester brass, with the case necks that are warped. Hornady? Comes in boxes in 5.56mm, great stuff for case prep, even if it does expire too early. If I ever find it in .300 Winmag, I hope it comes in boxes. Nosler I cannot find, but if I remember correctly, it is nice brass shipped in boxes. Lapua? Never have I seen any other than .375 caliber. No thanks to that one. IF Lapua actually makes their fabulous brass in.300 Winmag, maybe somebody can tell me where to locate a couple hundred virgin examples? I think it may be a Unicorn.
I normally find myself running a hundred virgin brass over an expander button, with the sizer die backed off, so that the neck doesn’t get touched. I read of Mandrels, but don’t know if it is the same philosophy, or an entirely different tool? If a tool, is it better than the sizer button? If so, best place to get one?
Normally, once the necks are uniformly round, I uniform the flash holes, then seat the primers by hand. I weigh each load of powder, double-check on a different electronic scale, then seat the bullet a few thousandths off the lands. In my newest rifle, this gives me a loaded cartridge overall length of 3.517” from bullet tip to base of cartridge. By collimator, I have 3.750” coal. The manuals state 3.340” as max coal? My rifle uses AICS mags, allowing greater length, up to 3.80” or near that length. Hope I am doing the right thing here. I am used to loading 5.56mm to max length allowed by the magazine. Bolt gun is a new thing. I have the equipment for neck sizing or full length. Coming from using Small Base full length dies, I’ll have to maybe try the neck sizing route.
I would like to get the greatest amount of loads per case possible. Any suggestions on the best case for doing so, as well as the best resizing method to use? Rifle is used for steel or paper. This is retirement relaxation only. No competition, as I use pistols for that. All suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks!