I just pulled the trigger on a Lee Classic Loader. I know many of you are not fond of loading live rounds with a hammer. I get that. Some of you would prefer me to plunk down 400 bucks on a basic kit and some of you balk at NOT spending 20k on the SuperLoader 2000. unfortunately, I don't shoot enough yet to justify the spend and my wife would just plain kill me. So I'll eventually move up to a simple press but for right now this 20 dollar kit got me to the point that i can START developing loads.
Along with the loader, i grabbed the Lee book, a funnel cus i'm lazy and have shaky hands sometimes (blood pressure drugs suck ass) and a primer pocket cleaner. I have access to a case trimmer and will address case prep first.
based on what I've read, all cases should be between 2.005 and 2.015 - all my once fired brass from magtech is 2.011 consistently with one found to be at 2.015 - this round will not rechamber and was tight when removing the spent round. I will trim them all to 2.005 to start.
I plan on using 150grn SGK SBT's with CCI primers. With trimmed cases, the next step should be setting the seating depth of the bullets which as I've read is a WHOLE 'nuther thread in and of itself, but for a starting point I should seat a bullet tall in a resized, trimmed, uncharged and unprimed brass and lightly chamber the round allowing the bullet to come in contact with the lands. I've read that the Marlin chamber can be on the long side and there is a slight chance my bullet simply won't contact the lands...if not, nothing much I can do. If it DOES contact them and i see the tell tale markings on the bullet when I extract it (removing the round should be sufficient force without pulling the bullet lose, correct?), then I can measure this round, subtract a couple thousandths and provided these fit in my magazine (presumably shorter than the MOL of 2.800) then I should be good to go here right?
The part with this in which i'm struggling and can't seem to find the answer is if I should remove the extractor from my bolt to keep from pulling the brass off the bullet which might be stuck on the lands a little. It seems to me (again...i'm new with alot of ideas that can't possibly be new) one could make a casting of the chamber with oh...I dunno...wax? Silly putty? SOMETHING that gets hard but will still come off the rifling? I know...i'm putting too much thought into this...
Next is the damn dipper that comes with the loader...believe me the very next purchase is going to be a decent scale and trickler...i fully understand that this is a disease and there is a larger plan here. By getting things one at a time, it's easier to fly under the W1F3 unit's radar...but for now a 3.1cc dipper is what I have to work with. It is said to throw a 42.4 grain load of varget and 4895 or RL15 at 43.9 grains - all are middle of the road loads with will get me comfortable with loading and shooting my own rolls. I WILL want to tinker though and will subject myself to a "ladder" test after seeing which powder load works best...
Am i on the right track here? Sometimes I just wish I could leave well enough alone. Cheap federal SP's from walmart ($14 a box) shoots consistently at .75 inch, with my smallest group ever at just over 1/2 at 100. I should just be happy with this, right? it's JUST a hunting gun but I really want to get out and play with the long range (400 - 600 yard gongs) and relearn and UNLEARN most of what I learned with my existing mildot scope. I really just want to get this marlin to the point that it's mundane to shoot it. Just exactly where I am with my 22mag - it's just boring to shoot anymore, the bullets go where I tell them too and as long as I don't have to dope the wind i'm golden
Last thing I can't seem to find an answer on concerns using a chrony. I don't have one and have been unsuccessful in finding a generous soul in the Pittsburgh area that is willing to assist in developing a load...is there a formula in which you can determine velocity if you know the sight height, zero height, POA, POI, and BC?
sorry for the book...i'm reaching out guys....
Along with the loader, i grabbed the Lee book, a funnel cus i'm lazy and have shaky hands sometimes (blood pressure drugs suck ass) and a primer pocket cleaner. I have access to a case trimmer and will address case prep first.
based on what I've read, all cases should be between 2.005 and 2.015 - all my once fired brass from magtech is 2.011 consistently with one found to be at 2.015 - this round will not rechamber and was tight when removing the spent round. I will trim them all to 2.005 to start.
I plan on using 150grn SGK SBT's with CCI primers. With trimmed cases, the next step should be setting the seating depth of the bullets which as I've read is a WHOLE 'nuther thread in and of itself, but for a starting point I should seat a bullet tall in a resized, trimmed, uncharged and unprimed brass and lightly chamber the round allowing the bullet to come in contact with the lands. I've read that the Marlin chamber can be on the long side and there is a slight chance my bullet simply won't contact the lands...if not, nothing much I can do. If it DOES contact them and i see the tell tale markings on the bullet when I extract it (removing the round should be sufficient force without pulling the bullet lose, correct?), then I can measure this round, subtract a couple thousandths and provided these fit in my magazine (presumably shorter than the MOL of 2.800) then I should be good to go here right?
The part with this in which i'm struggling and can't seem to find the answer is if I should remove the extractor from my bolt to keep from pulling the brass off the bullet which might be stuck on the lands a little. It seems to me (again...i'm new with alot of ideas that can't possibly be new) one could make a casting of the chamber with oh...I dunno...wax? Silly putty? SOMETHING that gets hard but will still come off the rifling? I know...i'm putting too much thought into this...
Next is the damn dipper that comes with the loader...believe me the very next purchase is going to be a decent scale and trickler...i fully understand that this is a disease and there is a larger plan here. By getting things one at a time, it's easier to fly under the W1F3 unit's radar...but for now a 3.1cc dipper is what I have to work with. It is said to throw a 42.4 grain load of varget and 4895 or RL15 at 43.9 grains - all are middle of the road loads with will get me comfortable with loading and shooting my own rolls. I WILL want to tinker though and will subject myself to a "ladder" test after seeing which powder load works best...
Am i on the right track here? Sometimes I just wish I could leave well enough alone. Cheap federal SP's from walmart ($14 a box) shoots consistently at .75 inch, with my smallest group ever at just over 1/2 at 100. I should just be happy with this, right? it's JUST a hunting gun but I really want to get out and play with the long range (400 - 600 yard gongs) and relearn and UNLEARN most of what I learned with my existing mildot scope. I really just want to get this marlin to the point that it's mundane to shoot it. Just exactly where I am with my 22mag - it's just boring to shoot anymore, the bullets go where I tell them too and as long as I don't have to dope the wind i'm golden
Last thing I can't seem to find an answer on concerns using a chrony. I don't have one and have been unsuccessful in finding a generous soul in the Pittsburgh area that is willing to assist in developing a load...is there a formula in which you can determine velocity if you know the sight height, zero height, POA, POI, and BC?
sorry for the book...i'm reaching out guys....
