General Reloading Process?

[pugnado]

So I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot about how the reloading process works and just trying to put it all together because I might want to start reloading 6.5 Creedmoor for use in semi-automatic, and reload as precise as that will allow.

Here's the basic process I've come up with that I think might work with a single stage press and I'm looking for feedback.

Not quite ready to think about the numbers, lengths, loads, seating depth, bullet weights, etc...

1. Wash packed dirt out of old range brass, if necessary. Dry on nail board.
2. Decap spent primers in press with cheap Lee decapping-only die.
3. Wet tumble brass w/Steel media / water / Dawn + Lemishine + Distilled Water to clean primer pockets and inside. Extract media with magnet, rinse, dry on nail board.
4. Primer pocket swage in press with RCBS 9481. Also removes crimp.
5. Lube clean cases with One Shot.
6. Case resize in press. Full or Neck Only? TBD
7. Case neck length trim / chamfer / deburr, primer pocket uniform cutter, flash hole uniform & deburr.
8. Turn neck. (eg Hornady 041224 Lock-N-Load Neck Turn Tool)
9. Tumble again to remove lube and brass shavings, extract media with magnet, dry on nail board etc...
10. Install primers with hand tool.
11. Measure and add powder.
12. Bullet seat and crimp in press.
13. Check with Ammo checker gauge.

I was thinking of using the Frankford Arsenel wet tumbler and motorized brass cutting station.

So am I in the ball-park with this process?

 

[spife7980]

That’s a really in depth process and will surely give you some nice brass with turning and all.

The one aspect I would add is to sort your brass into like headstamps and don’t mix them. Possibly weight sort them. Old pick up range brass will be all sorts of different things with different internal volumes and case dimensions leading to wildly different results. Or just get new brass of all one lot.

 

[pugnado]

That’s a really in depth process and will surely give you some nice brass with turning and all.

The one aspect I would add is to sort your brass into like headstamps and don’t mix them. Possibly weight sort them. Old pick up range brass will be all sorts of different things with different internal volumes and case dimensions leading to wildly different results. Or just get new brass of all one lot.

Good to know I'm on the right track, and thanks for the sorting tip!

I have a couple hundred once-fired Hornady cases of my own that I'd start out with so some of those steps might not be necessary, but I wanted to get a general idea of the process so I can start budgeting for equipment.

 

[spife7980]

Well I would full length size, especially if for a semi auto. You don’t need to size back to minimum specs, just enough to bump the shoulders back .003-.004” from a case fired in your chamber.

A hornady or sinclair headspace bushing that goes on a caliper will allow you to take that measurement.

 

[Supersubes]

For the sake of learning the big important stuff, like proper sizing, id forego the neck turning and primer pocket/flash hole work. Just not necessary, especially out of a gas gun. You may also consider just using vibratory tumbler and corncob for the case cleaning duties, as opposed to wet tumbling. It will be much simpler, and won’t require a drying phase. FL sizing is a must.


Regarding your Hornady brass, are you sure it’s crimped? Never seen crimped primer 6.5 creed ammo.

 

[Sniper266]

I recommend imperal sizing wax for step 5. Hornady one shot *works, but ive found imperial sizing wax to make sizing a lot smoother. Also a $10 tin will last a very long time.

 

[pugnado]

For the sake of learning the big important stuff, like proper sizing, id forego the neck turning and primer pocket/flash hole work. Just not necessary, especially out of a gas gun. You may also consider just using vibratory tumbler and corncob for the case cleaning duties, as opposed to wet tumbling. It will be much simpler, and won’t require a drying phase. FL sizing is a must.


Regarding your Hornady brass, are you sure it’s crimped? Never seen crimped primer 6.5 creed ammo.

I haven't had the chance to pop any primers and look at the pockets yet. Just trying to establish 'the process' in general so I can make a few purchases and get started. Good to know that I need to full length resize and to use some wax.

 

[Supersubes]

I understand. There’s really nothing there in the pocket. Primers won’t be crimped, and the pockets won’t require any attention whatsoever to accomplish your goal.

 

[rifledoc]

Frankfurt arsenal with some lemishine, dish soap and water works wonders on brass. And you dont have to deal with steel media collection later!

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

1. Tumble in corn cob overnight
2. FL size and bump shoulders back about .002" and decap in the same step
3. Tumble to remove lube, about an hour
4. Trim if necessary
5. Chamfer case mouths
6. Seat primers
7. Throw powder
8. Seat bullets

I don't debur flash holes or uniform primer pockets. My time is worth more than what it costs to buy Lapua brass.

I also wet tumbled once. I sold the wet tumbler the same week. Never in my life would I have thought it was such a time consuming PITA.

Dry tumbling works well enough that to me, it's worth the time savings.

Also, I would double check, but I have yet to hear of any manufacturer that crimps primer pockets on 6.5 creed brass.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

I recommend imperal sizing wax for step 5. Hornady one shot *works, but ive found imperial sizing wax to make sizing a lot smoother. Also a $10 tin will last a very long time.

This right here. One shot is excellent for smaller calibers, 556, etc, but for the larger pieces of brass, 6.5, 308, 30-06, I use Imperial. I got tired of having to pull stuck 30-06 out of my die. There is nothing better than Imperial, and yes, you will get thousands out of a single small tin.

 

[pugnado]

Alright, so I read A TON and this is what I came up with for a more detailed 'complete process', with a dry tumbler.

1. (Optional) Wash packed dirt out of old range brass, if necessary. Dry on nail board, oven etc...

PRIMER POCKET PREP:

2. Decap spent primers from uncleaned brass in press.

- RCBS 9356 Rock Chucker Supreme Press - $149
- RCBS Shell Holder #3 (6.5 Creedmoor) - $4
- Hornady 044099 Lock-N-Load Conversion Kit - $10
Converts Rock Chucker to LnL Dies, comes with three Threaded to LnL Adapter.

- LEE PRECISION Decapping Die - $14
Use LnL Adapter

3. Clean fouling from primer pockets with primer pocket cleaning tool. (Tumbling might not get this.) (Rotary Tool?)

- Hornady Large Primer Cleaner - $8

4. (Optional) Inspect and swage primer pockets with special die in press if they look out of round or have a crimp. Or throw out. Over-pressured?

- RCBS 9481 Primer Pocket Swager Combo-2 - $30

5. (Optional - For once-fired / new brass only.) Cut the primer pocket to uniform depth. (Rotary Tool?)

- 21st Century Shooting (.0002" ) - $68
or
- Hornady 041211 Primer Pocket Uniformer, Large - $17

6. (Optional - For once-fired / new brass only.) Deburr and uniform the primer pocket flash hole. (Rotary Tool?)

- 21st Century Shooting Flash Hole Deburring and Chamfering Tool ( $50 )
or
- Lyman Flash Hole Uniformer - $16

ANNEAL (Optional - Every n Reloading Cycle):

7. Lee salt bath at 500 degrees C for 5 seconds just past the neck.

- Lee Precision Melter $35
- Salt Annealing Kit, http://ballisticrecreations.ca/order-form-usa, $100

CLEAN BRASS:

8. Vibratory tumbler for 3 hours with walnut media and 1/2 cap of car wax.

- Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-EZ 110V Vibratory Case Tumbler for Cleaning and Polishing for Reloading - $40
- Frankford Arsenal Walnut Hull Media for Tumbler, Reloading and Shooting Bags, 18# - $20

9. Filter out media.

- Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-EZ Standard Media Separator for Reloading - $8

FULL LENGTH RESIZE (Semi-Automatic):

10. Spray cases with One Shot lube and/or wax.

- Hornady 99913 One Shot Spray Case Lube (10 fl oz Aerosol) $13

11. Full Length Size Case, Bump Neck .003" back from fire-formed dimension. Use Hornady Head Space Tool.

- Hornady HK66 Lock-N-Load Headspace Gauge Kit with Body - $42. Use D400 gauge (.400") diameter for SAAMI spec.
- Hornady AB1 Lock-N-Load Anvil Base Kit - $12
- Forster Full Length Bench Rest Sizing Die for 6.5 Creedmoor – 005348 - $60

Don't use neck expander ball or depriming pin. See next step.

12. Size the neck: Use a neck sizing mandrel that sizes inner neck diameter to the same diameter as neck turning tool mandrel, .002" less than caliber.

- 21st Century Shooting Neck Turning Lathe (.0001" / self-centering - $135 comes with press die and neck sizing mandrel.)

Note that this step might not be necessary if the full length resizing die in Step 11 adequately sizes the I.D. of the case neck.
Forster says .002 less than caliber... so...

CUT BRASS FROM NECK:

13. Trim, chamfer and debur. Confirm case length with calipers. (Rotary Tool?)

- Trim-It II Case Trimmer Chamfer Deburr - $133
- Trim-It II Case Trimmer Caliber Die for 6.5mm Creedmoor - $20

14. (Optional - For once-fired / new brass only.) Neck turn for consistent neck thickness and concentricity.

- 21st century shooting neck turning lathe (.0001 / self-centering - $135 comes with tool for neck sizing mandrel.)
- Sinclair case neck sorting tool - $90

15. Tumble again to remove lube and brass shavings.

16. Inspect primer pockets, install primers with a hand tool.

- RCBS 90201 Universal Hand Priming Tool - $50
- Verify installation pressure isn't too loose or tight.
- Verify primer is seated to the full depth.

17. Measure and add powder. How much powder? Need a reloading manual.

- Hornady Reloading Handbook 10th - $29
- Hornady 050068 Lock-N-Load Auto Charge - $170
- Hornady Powder Funnel For 22-45 Caliber - $5
- RCBS Universal Case Loading Block - $8 x2

18. Bullet seat and crimp in press with micrometer seating die and stem for ELD bullets. Seat to 2.8" OAL (Magazine Length / SAAMI Spec )

- Forster Bench Rest Ultra Micrometer Seater Die 6.5mm Creedmoor - $121

19. Shoot and measure speed / accuracy etc...

- Magnetospeed V3 Chronograph Barrel Mount MSV3HC - $380
- Can mess with barrel harmonics, bullets hit it etc... safer better labradar $599 instead?


TOTAL COST: $1432 + Chrony ($380 or $599) = $1812 or $2031

Need: bullets, powder, primers, cases, etc....

 

[spife7980]

I can tell you’re going to do just fine reloading. Excellent summary and sequence, you’re just about at a benchrest level process right now.

 

[mheimer_45]

Wow dude. It’s for a semi-auto. Grab the brass and throw it in the tumbler. If it’s full of dirt throw it away. Full length resize with imperial, trim if necessary, debur the flash hole and prime and load. And yes sort by headstamp.

 

[mheimer_45]

And I would forget the tumbling after removing primers. You’ll spend hours digging out media from primer pockets. Throw it in a gallon baggie and hit it with a squirt of brake cleaner and rattle around. Dump on rag and rattle around. Remember you can always upgrade later as your skills increase and your needs for various calibers increase. And if your going to anneal why do it before tumbling?? Tumbling work hardens your brass.

 

[ncr92]

I recently started reloading and went through a similar thought process to you. My primary advice would be to buy the absolute minimum equipment you need to get started. You learn things from actually reloading and may change your mind about how you want to run your process and what equipment you need. If try to buy everything that you think you might need up front, you will likely end up wasting money on gear you never use.

One of the first things I learned was that decapping on your bench press makes a terrible mess of your bench. I didn't like this and went looking for a solution. I bought a cheap lee hand press and decapping die and started decapping my brass on this as my first step before washing. I put a towel on the coffee table and decap my brass while watching TV. It's fast and easy and keeps my whole reloading process much cleaner.

Heres the video that put me onto this solution:
How do you decap fast? Let me show you how...

Regarding wet vs dry tumbling, one of the considerations is dust. Primers leave lead contaminated deposits inside cases. Cleaning this out in a dry tumbler can create fine airborne dust contaminated with lead. Some people are OK with this, others have a big problem with it. I'm currently cleaning my brass by shaking it in a plastic bottle of warm water with dish soap. I'm planning to buy a wet tumbler partly because I'm concerned about the toxic dust issue. Down the road I may also get a dry tumbler to polish the brass and remove most of the lube after resizing.

 

[spife7980]

And I would forget the tumbling after removing primers. You’ll spend hours digging out media from primer pockets. Throw it in a gallon baggie and hit it with a squirt of brake cleaner and rattle around. Dump on rag and rattle around. Remember you can always upgrade later as your skills increase and your needs for various calibers increase. And if your going to anneal why do it before tumbling?? Tumbling work hardens your brass.

If you tumble with rice you get zero dust and you only get a wedged pocket maybe 5% of the time and it’s easy to look in the holes as I trim.
Most people tumble twice, I anneal after initial clean but before lube clean off. What’s it matter if it’s on clean brass?
And the hardness thing is only for stainless tumble and it’s also not true
“Tumbling cases in stainless steel media does not work harden the entire cross section of the case wall. This contradicts our earlier findings.“

https://www.ampannealing.com/articles/40/annealing-under-the-microscope/

 

[Aggrofish]

I don't know why you keep talking about swaging? Personallly I think your wasting a lot of time messing with primer pockets.

 

[47guy]

Personallly I think your wasting a lot of time messing with primer pockets.

and several other things on the list.

 

[pugnado]

and several other things on the list.

I'm trying to work out the absolute best process to turn range-found brass into the best quality ammunition it can be, write up a little manual for myself and then work back from there eliminating steps as needs dictate, rather than muddling my way through it and missing something important.

I already have a couple hundred cases of once-fired in my semi Hornady brass and there aren't any signs of overpressure on the cases or primers, so I doubt I will have to do much than just pop the primers for those, but I want to accommodate for less than ideal brass in my process.

I eventually want to purchase a bolt-action rifle and get into bench rest shooting where a lot of these steps seem more important.
(Such as seating close the lands when magazine length is not a factor.)

I also want to be able to reload for .223 AR-15 and 9mm if there's ever an ammo shortage, as those are the other calibers I shoot.

I have a ton of random .223 range brass that I'm pretty sure has crimped primers because it was collected from a law enforcement range, but right now I'm focused on my new 6.5 Creedmoor semi.

 

[pugnado]

I recently started reloading and went through a similar thought process to you. My primary advice would be to buy the absolute minimum equipment you need to get started. You learn things from actually reloading and may change your mind about how you want to run your process and what equipment you need. If try to buy everything that you think you might need up front, you will likely end up wasting money on gear you never use.

One of the first things I learned was that decapping on your bench press makes a terrible mess of your bench. I didn't like this and went looking for a solution. I bought a cheap lee hand press and decapping die and started decapping my brass on this as my first step before washing. I put a towel on the coffee table and decap my brass while watching TV. It's fast and easy and keeps my whole reloading process much cleaner.

Heres the video that put me onto this solution:
How do you decap fast? Let me show you how...

Regarding wet vs dry tumbling, one of the considerations is dust. Primers leave lead contaminated deposits inside cases. Cleaning this out in a dry tumbler can create fine airborne dust contaminated with lead. Some people are OK with this, others have a big problem with it. I'm currently cleaning my brass by shaking it in a plastic bottle of warm water with dish soap. I'm planning to buy a wet tumbler partly because I'm concerned about the toxic dust issue. Down the road I may also get a dry tumbler to polish the brass and remove most of the lube after resizing.

That's my plan, to buy just a few things at a time and see what works.

I'm definitely going to go for a dedicated depriming press or hand tool after watching how fast and dirty it gets on that video. Thanks!

I am not too concerned about the toxic dust issue because I will be tumbling in a closed off room that has an exhaust system, or possibly outside in the garage. That being said I really like how clean the wet tumblers get the brass, but I think I'm going to start off dry because it's cheaper and less of a hassle.

 

[47guy]

I'm trying to work out the absolute best process to turn range-found brass into the best quality ammunition it can be, write up a little manual for myself and then work back from there eliminating steps as needs dictate, rather than muddling my way through it and missing something important.

I already have a couple hundred cases of once-fired in my semi Hornady brass and there aren't any signs of overpressure on the cases or primers, so I doubt I will have to do much than just pop the primers for those, but I want to accommodate for less than ideal brass in my process.

I eventually want to purchase a bolt-action rifle and get into bench rest shooting where a lot of these steps seem more important.
(Such as seating close the lands when magazine length is not a factor.)

I also want to be able to reload for .223 AR-15 and 9mm if there's ever an ammo shortage, as those are the other calibers I shoot.

I have a ton of random .223 range brass that I'm pretty sure has crimped primers because it was collected from a law enforcement range, but right now I'm focused on my new 6.5 Creedmoor semi.

I get where your going but until you get into BR shooting a lot of this is unnecessary.

until you get a gun that’s capable of shooting the tolerances your talking about your better served getting more trigger time...reloading has become SOOO over thought it’s not funny...I’ve been there!

 

[Aggrofish]

My life was greatly simplified when I picked an acceptable level of accuracy and reloaded accordingly.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

That's my plan, to buy just a few things at a time and see what works.

I'm definitely going to go for a dedicated depriming press or hand tool after watching how fast and dirty it gets on that video. Thanks!

I am not too concerned about the toxic dust issue because I will be tumbling in a closed off room that has an exhaust system, or possibly outside in the garage. That being said I really like how clean the wet tumblers get the brass, but I think I'm going to start off dry because it's cheaper and less of a hassle.

I do all of my decapping on my single stage press and a decapping die, even my pistol rounds. The single stage is much easier to clean than my Dillon, and yes, decapping is dirty.

 

[308pirate]

I've been decapping rifle and pistol brass during the sizing operation since 2001. I've probably done close to 10K rounds that way and have never seen the mess that some of you talk about.

Two things have been said here that should be heeded:
1. Buy as little as necessary initially and then adjust as you gain experience has it right.
2. Determine the level of accuracy needed out of your ammo and then process it only as much as needed to get it

Some can't hold themselves back, spend thousands on all kinds of gucci shit right off the bat and then proceed to do every kind of crazy, anal loading step ever known to man. They end up overprocessing their ammo or confused to paralysis.

The best reloaders don't win matches. The best shooters, with adequate ammo, win matches.

 

[308pirate]

So I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot about how the reloading process works and just trying to put it all together because I might want to start reloading 6.5 Creedmoor for use in semi-automatic, and reload as precise as that will allow.

Here's the basic process I've come up with that I think might work with a single stage press and I'm looking for feedback.

Not quite ready to think about the numbers, lengths, loads, seating depth, bullet weights, etc...

1. Wash packed dirt out of old range brass, if necessary. Dry on nail board. Don't use junk brass to start
2. Decap spent primers in press with cheap Lee decapping-only die. Decapping is done during sizing
3. Wet tumble brass w/Steel media / water / Dawn + Lemishine + Distilled Water to clean primer pockets and inside. Extract media with magnet, rinse, dry on nail board in bulk in a toaster oven at 250F for 30 min.
4. Primer pocket swage in press with RCBS 9481. Also removes crimp. Completely unnecessary
5. Lube clean cases with One Shot.
6. Case resize in press. Full size or Neck Only? TBD
7. Case neck length trim / chamfer / deburr, primer pocket uniform cutter, flash hole uniform & deburr. ONLY AS NEEDED, this is not necessary every single time
8. Turn neck. (eg Hornady 041224 Lock-N-Load Neck Turn Tool) Completely unnecessary
9. Tumble again to remove lube and brass shavings, extract media with magnet, dry on nail board etc... Dump in jug full of alcohol, leave sit for 30 min then shake to dissolve lube. Dry in oven as described previously.
10. Install primers with hand tool.
11. Measure and add powder. I use ball powder, no need to measure every charge
12. Bullet seat and crimp in press. DO NOT crimp precision rifle ammo, not even for a semi auto
13. Check with Ammo checker gauge. I check OAL of the first cartridge. From then on it's unnecessary.

I was thinking of using the Frankford Arsenel wet tumbler and motorized brass cutting station. Harbor freight dual drum wet tumbler for $55 FTW

So am I in the ball-park with this process?

There's a lot of waste in your process. The benefit of over a decade experience reloading thousands of rounds of ammunition for precision use in semi auto rifles (NRA Highpower Service Rifle) is in yellow.

 

[pugnado]

Thanks for your responses guys!

I bought some stuff over the last week. Not all of it, but just enough to get started.

I bought a simple Lee hand press and universal decapping die and shell holders and decapped a couple hundred spent Hornady cases while watching a movie on TV. I chucked a flat head bit into my drill and used that to clean the black gunk from the primer pockets. The pockets themselves look decent so no need to swage, but the flash holes look rough cut and poking a drill bit into them I can tell they're not all exactly the same size.

I bought the $40 franklin arsenal tumbler and was able to get my brass very nicely cleaned with some walnut media and a bit of car polish. I found out the hard way that you should let the polish work itself into the media before adding the brass. One of the shells was packed with this media/polish concoction that would not easily come out.

I bought the Hornady headspace comparator gauge and was able to measure the headspace of factory loads vs fired rounds to get an idea of the properties of my chamber. There is .010" (ten one-thousandths) headspace difference between new and fired brass. 1.521" vs 1.531"

I bought the Hornady reloading manual and there is lots of good beginner stuff other than just the loads in there so I'm reading that now.

I think the next step is maybe annealing the brass which I can do with a torch and don't mind doing it by hand the first time.
I'm trying to find a Forster Co-Ax press for not-$500 and it seems that everywhere is out of stock.

 

[TSpork]

Thanks for your responses guys!

I bought some stuff over the last week. Not all of it, but just enough to get started.

I bought a simple Lee hand press and universal decapping die and shell holders and decapped a couple hundred spent Hornady cases while watching a movie on TV. I chucked a flat head bit into my drill and used that to clean the black gunk from the primer pockets. The pockets themselves look decent so no need to swage, but the flash holes look rough cut and poking a drill bit into them I can tell they're not all exactly the same size.

I bought the $40 franklin arsenal tumbler and was able to get my brass very nicely cleaned with some walnut media and a bit of car polish. I found out the hard way that you should let the polish work itself into the media before adding the brass. One of the shells was packed with this media/polish concoction that would not easily come out.

I bought the Hornady headspace comparator gauge and was able to measure the headspace of factory loads vs fired rounds to get an idea of the properties of my chamber. There is .010" (ten one-thousandths) headspace difference between new and fired brass. 1.521" vs 1.531"

I bought the Hornady reloading manual and there is lots of good beginner stuff other than just the loads in there so I'm reading that now.

I think the next step is maybe annealing the brass which I can do with a torch and don't mind doing it by hand the first time.
I'm trying to find a Forster Co-Ax press for not-$500 and it seems that everywhere is out of stock.

Brownells. Use coupon code NDU to get t
For $295. Use active junky for an additional 8% cashback rebate

 

[pugnado]

Ah sonofab... I swore I looked there earlier and they were out of stock. Oh well. Thanks for the code and the active junky tip though!

A bunch more of my reloading stuff came in this week.

I bought a Rock Chucker Supreme and the Hornady conversion kit to use those LnL quick change dies on it.

I was able to anneal my brass with a $14 propane torch and a 12mm long socket chucked into a drill to hold the shells and rotate it in the flame without letting the head get too hot.

I got the Hornady die for full length resizing with a neck bushing die of .288"

My fired case headspace was 1.531" and I used the die to bump that to 1.528" and the ID of the neck is .262 for .002" of neck tension.

I got the Trim-It II trim, chamfer and deburr thing and I'm waiting on the proper die bushing for 6.5mm. I think I'm just going to figure out how to hold a cheap Horror Fright drill in my bench vise and use that to spin it.

Most of my case lengths are not past SAAMI specs yet, (1.920" + .020") but I think I might trim them down anyway for consistency.
Most are like 1.926" after resizing.

I got the Hornady micrometer bullet seating die with the appropriate stem for the 147g ELD Match bullet.

I also got the Hornady LnL powder charge dispenser and scale.

I have 250 brass cases ready to go.

My first load is then going to be:

147g Hornady ELD Match Bullet
Alliant RL-17 33.3g to 40.1g
Hornady Once-Fired Brass
CCI BR2 Large Rifle Primers

 

[pugnado]

Well just an update, I was able to find out how far I'd have to seat a bullet to get it to the lands in my rifle.

I took a full length resized brass case and opened the neck up a bit with a dremel on the inside so that a bullet could slide back and forth with a bit of friction. I made it extra long and very carefully put it in my chamber and locked the bolt on it, then ejected it.

It looks like I would have to load the 147g Hornady Match to an OAL of about 2.925" to reach the lands, or 2.9" for a bit of jump, which is sadly too long for the magazines I have. (I can go up to 2.86) So I just decided to load these at 2.8" (SAAMI) and be done with it.

If I can find a bullet that has an open tip and doesn't the plastic pointy thing, I might be able to make it work, so I'm looking at some new bullets.

The experimenting begins!

 

[spife7980]

What mags are you using? And what rifle is it going into? Some you can shave and remove material for extra length.

 

[pugnado]

It's AR-10 semi. I have MagPul SR25 mags (10 round and 20 round) that like 2.8" and ASE 5 round mags that will accept 2.862" but it's a really close fit, so maybe not. I think what I'll do is load some 2.862" and if they have feeding problems I'll just push them down more. I'm still doing load development so I have yet to find the right bullet/powder that my rifle likes. I used that active junky link and brownells to get a Magnetospeed v3 like $70 off.