Farmer

How does American Select compare to e3? I’ve seen both used and they both seem really close, just wondering.

I am not familiar with your press or powder measure but when I start a sequence (empty press shell holder) I always pull the first shell that gets powder dropped and put the charge back into the hopper. On mine it takes 3 cycles to get to the powder drop and the vibration during those empty cycles can raise the charge around .3 grains. Not much with a light load but with a max load it could sting. Something you may just check on with your setup.

Take your time setting up and familiarizing with the machine’s movement’s, sounds and feel. Everyone gets in a hurry to try the new toy and things get missed, bent or broken. I’ve seen guys try and cycle the handle at the speed of light for what reason I don’t know. Just remember,, “Always enough time to do it over but never enough time to do it right!”

Have had good luck with Tightgroup in my Blackhawk and 255 Lee’s.

I once did a test in which I took some loaded 38 specials and submerged them past the primer in a pan of WD40 for two weeks. It ate the nickel coating off most of them but they all shot just fine. Also have some 1940’s 30-06 rounds that shoot quite well.

Just for giggles try seating at 1.150 and or using a SR primer if your not at max charge. Also I see a lot of mention of .376-377 crimp and when I measure my cases with the bullets seated most are .375. So basically you’re not crimping at all unless your brass is thicker. I usually try for a crimp ring right at the mouth that’s.0005-.001 smaller than just below it. Some powders are just dirty unless your using heavy bullets and running at max.

You could but you wouldn’t like it. Imagine polyurethane spray paint with sand in it. Don’t know how long it would take to wear off or what solvents you would use.

Actually try a slower powder. Generally takes more but will give more Push to help cycle. May be a bit dirtier though. I tried some light ones with Clays that wouldn’t hardly open the slide but with Universal Clays they worked fine, just a little sooty/flakey. Could also use SR primer to clean it up if your not already. This was in a pistol.

Anyone try Spray Grit from Brownells? I haven’t tried it on my guns but have used it on slick walking areas, running boards and it holds up pretty good on that. Just spray and let dry.

Anyone only have one good eye? At about 12 yo I lost the sight in my left eye from an accident. It’s like having a #13 shade welding lens over it. Fortunately I’m right handed but it’s kind of crazy that I still want to close that left one when I shoot. It seems to sometimes sharpen the focus of the right one when I do.

Been using the Lucas extreme duty gun oil that came with my gun and so far I like it. It stays put but doesn’t seem to get thick, leaves a nice slick film. I’m in a very dusty area an so far it seems to not gum up or turn into lapping compound. Also works good on small electric motors as it hangs onto the shaft.

If you do get a meaningful answer please post it. Thx

Good thing my dad wasn’t a RO because he would just pop you in the back of the head with the clip board till you got it right.

Depends on bullet weight/bearing length. For 115g in my XDM a round nose is more accurate than the TC. When I get to 124g the TC is pretty good but a FN is better and a 135g TC is as good. Longer bearing length usually will give better accuracy unless the bullet as a whole is too long for your twist rate.

Try a different brand of brass if you have some. Generally Hornady, Fed (without the crimp ring) Speer, Starline, Buffalo(also Starline) and WW are a bit deeper.

Almost looks like a bullet stop ring for 115g bullets. I would load em & shoot em. Seat a bullet past that ring and see if it bulges.

Full power #9 gives me best accuracy and velocity with 180 & 200’s. I have a bunch of IMR 7625 and that works good for lighter stuff as does Win 244. Federal 165 syntec at 1050 FPS makes a nice practice round with the 244.

Seems to go in cycles. In the 80’s we always used CCI primers because the were cheap, local and everyone sold them. Bought a thousand SR & SP and noticed they changed the packaging from the white sleeves to a beige one, no biggie. You couldn’t seat any of them without totally flattering them! Thought it was the brass but it didn’t matter. Switched to WW and they felt like they fell in and the groups improved too. Same thing with brass. WW used to be great, RP was crack/split prone up until 20 yrs ago then WW got thin, flash holes off ect and Rem improved. So I suppose as stamping dies wear, management changes, supply’s vary and demands increase things are gonna vary. I gotta say though that Starline brass is one that has stayed very consistent over the years.

Did you happen to pull one if the factory rounds to see how much was loaded in it?

Dawn and Lemi-shine works well. A squirt of Dawn and about a Tbs+ of Lemi in a gallon of water works pretty good. Dump in a plastic or SS bowl and swirl them around. They WILL be very dry though, as in very clean surface wise. You can add a little Turtle Wax Wash-n-Shine instead of the Dawn to slick them up for easier sizing.

Sounds like they haven’t changed. Bro in law gave me some once fired 30-06 Frontier brass and the primers looked like they were part of the case head.

Bottom center is “getting there”. I’ve had some crater within the same loading while others look fine. Hell I’ve had factory stuff flatter and more cratered than your bottom center.

Clumping is pretty normal for quite a few powders. I’ve pulled some factory rounds that you almost needed a jackhammer to get it out of the case. I have a couple Lee powder measures and am pleased that they Do throw consistently. One other thing to try and do is be consistent with your movements while operating the press. Stop at the top and bottom with the same force or smoothness and try not to introduce extra tap’s or bumps along the way. Once you get into a good rhythm things will go easy and quickly but if there’s a hang up you’ll notice it right away.

They use a three point stamp to crimp the primers in. I think it has a tendency to shrink the pockets farther down into the pocket than the typical full circle crimp on mil brass. At least that’s what it feels like with my pocket gauge.

Some feel that if the coating is scratched off and there’s exposed lead they will leave lead in the barrel. While this is sorta true, it would have to be pretty bad, like a 1/8” strip down the side ect. Even then, there would have to be quite a few of them and if it’s on the taper or nose that doesn’t touch the lands/bore anyway. Even if you get some leading during practice or whenever you’re gonna clean your gun....Right?