Reload Testing?

[roysroyce]

Kcheung2 - yeah I was talking 5 Grains off, but I had no idea what a case is "likely" to weight, and the increments on my manual (not digital) scale are by 5's and I was thinking they were 10's (or something...?) so I really wasn't off until I started measuring it AGAIN w/ the powder and realized.. .ut oh, something waaaay wrong, but powder was correct (cuz I measured that too) it's just that the math wasn't adding up. (cuz yeah a digital scale would fix that).

[roysroyce]

Thanks guys... I feel confident in my checks and rechecks... just since it's my first time, I don't want to have false confidence...

1) Digital scale should help my stupidity w/ my scale increments (or It'll eventually become natrual)

2) Check charges is the other most important thing.

3) Jump in a fox hole

Lastly... When i seated the bullet (w/ my press and a cannulare bullet) I hear of Crimping it... is that a separate process or am I ok w/ just seating it?

[Capybara]

Pics or GTFO.

[JMP]

It seems like folks are focusing on charges. That is very important; however, an improper fit of the ammo with the chamber and bolt is very often the cause of problems.

[JackEllis]

I'm also pretty new to reloading. To avoid double charging, I weigh the cases, weigh the bullets, put both into a spreadsheet (on an iPad I can take to the bench). I weigh filled cases and then filled cases with bullets. right now I'm doing .30-06 and while it is pretty hard to double charge without over filling the case, I still want to make sure the charges are accurate.

I also sample cartridge lengths. What I have found is that OAL can vary by close to .01", and that has to be due to variations in the shape of the bullets.

Sometimes load data can be wrong, too. I'm loading 150 grain Hornady GMX with H4350. Hornady claims you can use SST load data but 58.5 grains leads to a compressed charge even though the max allowable charge is 60.9 (I have a note into Hornady about this). Another good reason to work your way up instead of starting closer to the max load.

[lostinsurf]

Watch for squibs! If it doesn't have a big bang, STOP! Clear the barrel.

More often a culprit than double charge.