dauntedfuture

when you pick up the primers, you should be picking them up cup down. If your doing it the other way you would wear out the tip quick. I have had some pick up tubes for 20 years and I still think some are on their first tip.

N135 is a little fast for heavy bullets in .308. I had some good success with it, N135, and 155's at 1000. You can get plenty of velocity. I also used to use N-135 with all my 69g .223 200-300 loads for NRA HP.

Im a big fan of the new G3 MI lightweight models. The mounting system works well and there is no indexing required.

An alternative route would be to look into NRA competitions on KD ranges. You would learn a lot. You could shoot with a sling on a standard target or shoot F Class on that target. You cant have a comp on the rifle but depending on the range, they might put you off to one of the sides and let you shoot.

gents, I was at a local 3g this weekend and a shooter wanted to stage ammo on the COF. I said, no you cant do that. Another said, yes you can, the stage description does not say you can't. My understanding is that the default for ammunition is that it has to be on your belt unless otherwise specified in the COF. Am I correct? Thanks

take your BCG apart and take the CH out of the upper. Insert the BC and see if things are binging in or around the gas tube. About 1/2 from closed is where the gas tube starts to go into the BC gas key.

I might suggest that if you are going to put some weight into a rifle then the barrel is the appropriate place to do so along with an optic. You can save some weight when you select a hand guard, stock or optic mount.

I never said that I found a 300.00 barrel that will shoot .5 MOA. People claim all the time ".5MOA" gun, i'm simply skeptical and if they are shooting .5MOA then its likely a 3 shot one off group. I have a DD 18" STW and a 16" Micro MOA that I have been happy with and both shoot about an inch or so.

4895 (IMR or H) is one of, or THE most versatile powders out there. It works well for almost anything from a .22 hornet up to 30/06 provide your not shooting normal weight bullets. The powder will hand up a little in your Dillon. I use the same powder par setting for 24.2 TAC with some surplus 4895 so things stay the same which nets me 22.5 of 4895 which is a light load. It functions fine with 62g surplus bullets. This is what I load for practice. There are some things that will help your Dillon: polish your funnel, use a Dillon powder alarm (the weight keeps the powder settled) and when the case is in the up position, give the handle a moment and a little tap to let any loose powder fall.

I think that about all else I would add is that I think there are LOTS of great choices at or under the 300.00 mark. I would not spend 550.00 on a 3 gun barrel. I call it "good" when I can shoot a 10 round group that's about an inch. If you search high and low for a 10 round 1/2" group you will be searching and tuning ammo for a long long time. Also remember that a 10 round group will be on average 2x the size of a 3 round group and provide a better picture of performance.

Years ago the AMU tried Tubb CWS in their service rifles. The found that they did nothing so i'm skeptical about accuracy increases and my own use was similar, my guns shot the same. What the heavy mass of a carrier does do is retard bolt velocity. In an AR platform, if you run the bolt too fast you can get extractor marks on the brass or even tear the rims off when pressures get high. Or to state it another way, in an AR the bolt speed becomes the limiting factor before the primers start to go. As such, if you can slow the bolt down a little, the cases handle pressure better. When you compare one carrier to another its a little bit of an apples to oranges unless your using the same bolt.

I suspect that your reloads are underpowered or right on the edge of using too fast of a powder in a modern auto loading pistol. Most reloading books talk about this in the forward. The G26 is a small pistol and this exacerbates the issue. I also suspect that your wife is limp wrist-ing the gun and you are not and as such it works worse for her. Try more powder or slower powder or change out the springs in the g26.

I have tried several coated bullets and I have gone back to Precision delta 147's FMJ in 9mm. They shoot better in my guns and there is less crud in the gun.

This is kind of a coke vs pepsi argument you are asking. If you are limited to the Ruger Precision rifle in 308 vs 6.5cm the you are going to get more performance out of the 6.5 with less barrel life. the choice of caliber has no effect on accuracy. Its all about the BC of the bullet, bullet construction and how fast you can send it.

We kind of got off topic here I think.... a 16" barrel should be slightly more maneuverable then the 18" of the same contour type. The 18" should give you on average another 50-100 fps. Your average 18" will be a little heavier. If you want rifle gas there are fewer choices in a 16" rifle gas barrel. I shot NRA highpower for years. Kriegers dominated the sport for years as they were cut rifled, so they lasted longer, and they shot very well. Because were shooting magazine length bullets for 3G, we can start with a shorter throat. Because were shooting non-VLD bullets they will shoot well even if they jump. Because we do shoot a lot of shots very fast 3G barrels will heat up quick and we need a barrel that shoots well after 30 rds in one minute I test for accuracy again after the barrel is hot to see how things hold up. Say what you want, but I still find it hard to believe that some of these pencil thin barrels will maintain accuracy or POI after a magazine dump and a transition to a far target. As such, ill take a slightly heavier barrel then some. I have a 18" DD STW and a 16" Micro MOA and I cant tell the difference really.

At 50 yds you are at or inside of the parallax of your scopes. If this was a sample size of one group each then you could have had different head position between the groups. It is also possible its a harmonics issue. Zero your rifle with your heavy bullets and at that same range see where the light ones print. I suspect that if you zero for the heavies at 200, your 55s will be a little higher. If its more then a few inches then its a harmonics issue.

The only reason that you should "need" to crimp in an auto loader is if you dont have enough neck tension. You should size .002-.003. Most seating dies have a built in crimp availible but its more difficult to adjust when you change bullets. Your rifle bullets should have a crimp grove if you are crimping them.

If your brass is not sized enough you are effectivley sizing the brass when the bolt slams home. Provided the bolt closes, this is safe. When the round is fired there is too much tension on the side walls of the case and the extractor marks the brass. In extreme cases you can pull the rim off and leave the fired case in your rifle or ruin the brass. It is common to see a "little extractor mark" on many rifles but not a huge extractor mark. Over-gasses carbine gas rifles will leave little marks too as there is still lots of pressure when the rifle unlocks.

try different ammunition. .22 rifles are pickey about what they like to eat. If that does not fix the issue, send the rifle back.

There are two reasons that you get "little notches" in your case rims; You are not sizing your brass enough or you are shooting a load that it too hot. Recycle that brass.

it will work just fine in a 550. It will work better for loading into .30 then .22 as the funnel is larger. I run surplus 4895 with 62g as my junk ammo and on occasion a few grains of powder fall out. Not an issue for what im asking of the ammo. you can polish the funnel and that will help. You can also pause when the case if fully raised and five the press handle a little consistent tap each time to knock any bridged powder loose.

At one point i had an AR 9mm SBR upper and it would do the same thing. I was using a GI trigger. If i remember correctly what was happening is that the "tail" on the back of the hammer was contacting the rear of the trigger / disconnector and as such would not completely reset. I cut the tail off the back of the hammer and it fixed the problem.

Depending on the powder that you are using, leaving a case in the chamber can increase velocity by up by over 100 fps, or enough to put you a few inches high at 600 plus yds. Since we are shooing a given number of rounds in competition in a stated time period we simply do not have the option of letting the rifle barrel cool completely between shots. As such, it is prudent to shoot for groups and or test you ammunition in a condition "close" to your match conditions. If were talking NRA highpower, thats 10 shots in about 5-6 minutes; you have a minute per shot but 5-6 minutes is about what it takes provided the pullers are up to snuff. It is also important to note what ammounition you are planning on shooting before you are shooting LR. As such, its common to shoot some short range ammo first through your barrel to see what if any effect there is on your LR ammo. Or in three gun, shoot a little of your short range stuff and heat your rifle up before testing your LR ammunition. As such, you are testing ammunition in a match-like condition. Reference stress relief and accuracy; decades of competition have determined that thicker barrels are better for competition because they are more ridid and to not warp or bend with heat as much as a skinner barrel will. There is a limit to this of course. As a result, i am more skeptical of a light profile barrels ability to shoot well hot then i am of a medium contour barrel. A light vs. heavy barrel might both shoot the same 10 shot groups but how will they shoot after 30 rounds in a short range portion of 3 gun match stage. All things to consider and there are no absolutes.

What ever combination of FL, NS or NS with shoulder bump you use, you should not have to smack or forcibly close the bolt. You risk damaging your lugs. If, with what ever sizing system you use, you have inconsistent bolt close "feeling", this is normally an indicaiton of inconsistently sized brass. This happens. A FL size will normally bring all cases back to the same dimension.

"The downside is there is a theoretical degradation in accuracy as the barrel gets hotter, hot loads will make a barrel hotter quicker obviously. Also I have pooped a couple primers in AR's with warmer loads and I believe it to be a bigger risk with hotter loads. I personally have the philosophy that I want to do everything I can to keep the bolt in battery a little longer so the pressure will start to abate before the bolt unlocks. Military 5.56 in known for pooping primers even with crimped pockets. I also use only once fired military brass that I have swaged the pockets on as you are. There tighter than domestic commercial brass" Not exactly...... - The type of powder you use has more to do with barrel heat. another .2g of powder will not make a (practical) difference in barrel heat over 10 rounds, the type of powder will. - Poping primers will happen when you are pushing pressures too high. Reliability is paramount, if primers are coming out your too hot. - The amount of powder, practically speaking, has little to nothing to do with pressure curves and or port pressure. Yes, hotter loads produce more pressure and more port pressure but the pressure curve of the powder and amount relate to port pressure. 24.0g of XX powder does not delay bolt opening measurably then 26g, - If you want to keep the bolt closed longer, use a slower powder. - Not all MIL primer pockets are smaller than all comercial brass