Reloading Barrett .416

[tweater88]

Does anyone out there reload .416? I am looking to start reloading to save some cash. I'm looking to purchase a press, dies, primers, bullets, brass, powder etc. Any help or input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[moto510]

I started reloading416 Barrett last year and it does make it cheaper but it's still not cheap.
CCI #35 primers $140 per 500
US869 powder $125 for 8# jug- makes about 288 rounds
Lehigh bullets $140 per 100
Barrett brass- I bought a couple of cases of loaded ammo and have been reloading it.
I works out to about $2.60 a round,after you have the brass, give or take a little.
Equipment I use:
RCBS big press
Lee dies with CH4D die adapter
torch to anneal brass
Imperial sizing wax seems to work best
RCBS Chargemaster scale and dispenser combo
Deburr tool
Primer pocket uniformer
Stainless tumbling media and tumbler
Bullet puller
And some other stuff I'll remember later

Safety is very important!!!!! 196 grains of powder will do a lot more than damage your gun.

[brando]

I highly recommend you take a class and get someone to help you for the first few batches. Everyone makes mistakes when they start out reloading and when you make a trim length, headspace, seating depth or powder charge mistake with a .50BMG-based cartridge, it might be your last. .223 and .308 are far more forgiving.

But you're on the right track and if your going to focus on .416B, you really should be reloading in the first place.

[tweater88]

I was thinking about taking a class. Should I make sure they load .50 BMG or .416B first or does that matter.

[brando]

An NRA Metallic Reloading class is all you need. The same steps/process applies, it's just that everything is super sized with .50BMG-based cartridges. I don't want to scare you, but doing it on your own without any direct guidance is a problem waiting to happen. Here are a couple examples I know of over the years:

A guy new to reloading didn't set his sizing die up properly and created a batch with excessive head space which lead to a catastrophic head case separation that did some damage to his rifle.

Another guy wasn't paying attention to seating depth and was seating the bullets too far out, jamming them into the lands which lead to a pressure spike and kaboom!

These things can also happen with other calibers, but the results are less severe. In other words, you have a larger margin of error with smaller calibers. About a few months into reloading for the first time I got a bit distracted and didn't trim my .308WIN cases enough. This resulted in an artificial crimp and pressure spike that broke the extractor on my rifle.

[tweater88]

I think the would be the smart thing to do. I guess until then do you guys know where I can pick up some more Barrett .416?

[moto510]

I think the would be the smart thing to do. I guess until then do you guys know where I can pick up some more Barrett .416?

http://www.hdtactical.net/

They have had it in stock before at a good price, you have to call them or email for prices and availability.