jaredr

i hear that pre-orders will be personally delivered by Elvis...

thanks - so far, i'm having no problem chambering rounds loaded in this fashion (i.e. backing out FL sizing die to just size the neck). I've loaded up some dummy rounds and then pulled the bullet (hornady amax 168) and i'm not seeing any signs of damage to the jacket. I'm loading a couple of batches of test ammo (using IMR 4064, WW large primers) so I'll see if Ihave any problems with bullet creep under recoil, but they pass a "press test" (using a comparator collar to exert pressure on the ogive and then seeing if I can push the seated round any deeper with hand force - so far, nothing gives so I'm not too worried that they'll jump in the magazine under recoil). just wondering if I am missing anything here?

at 3000 fps from a 1:9 barrel, that bullet is doing 4000rpm (out of a 1:7, it's about 5,100 unless I've hosed up the math). I'd be surprised if any plated bullet would hold together at that speed - i've had problems with rainer's coming apart at 1100 FPS from a 9mm (which is barely doing 800 rpm using a 1:16 twist barrel).

i splurged and bought a lot of 500 new WW .308 cartridges for a savage .308 bolt gun, full-length sized them all on the first pass (mostly out of paranoia - there was very little resistance on almost all of them so my guess is they were mostly in spec). now i'm loading them up for their second go around, have just backed out the die so I am just tightening up the neck (made sure I've adjusted the decapping pin so the expander ball is getting a pass through the neck). Seems to work fine, just curious if anyone else is doing this (or am I missing something critical here by tring to use a full-length die for neck sizing only)? I don't do much reloading for precision rifle (load a boatload of .223 on a 1050 but that is all for carbine work within 100 yards, mixed headstamp and cheap-o ball powder) so this is new territory for me. Appreciate any feedback folks have to offer. BTW - bushing die is probably on the list next for the .308, but not sure if I feel like being that retentive. farthest I can shoot is 100 yards (without expending lots of effort) so if I can get MOA with this approach, I'll probably be happy enough.

before you swap out the stock, i would put 100+ rounds of .308 ball through it and decide what you do/don't like about the current stock. if it is a new 10FCP, it should (or at least may) have the savage aluminum bedded accustock, which may actually give you satisfactory accuracy. also - if it is a model 10, it <should> be a short action, the 110's are the savage long action model for 30-06 length cartridges

thanks for the post, i didn't know that - much appreciated.

http://www.accuratep...%20to%20187.pdf suggest you start with the starting loads listed for the nosler 55gr or hornady 53 gr bullets. you can always post here soliciting load data, but good source is to just google the manufacturers load data to get a good baseline and also validate whatever advice you might get from other posters.

just checked my math and i'm coming up with almost the exact same cost that sarge mentions below ($6/box of 50) when I'm reloading my own previously-scrounged brass. i've attached a copy of the simple spreadsheet I use to calculate cost per round based on cost of materials. this one won't automatically calculate amortization of the cost of your press, but you can work that out based on your own assumptions about how long you'll have it and how many rounds you think you will reload. at a savings of $4/box, you'll pay off the cost of a $300 press at around 3,750 rounds. if you do decide to get started reloading for pistol, i'd buy the 550 over the SDB as the 550 will also do .223, and once you see how quickly you can crank out quality ammunition on it, it might be hard to go back to a single stage press (my $.02). shotcost.zip

diversmith - curious to know what you feel is holding you back with your current BCM upper? you mentioned it's a 14.5 - is that 14.5 with a permanently pinned flash-hider to bring it to 16" or do you have an NFA-registered lower? If the latter, you may do well just putting a good comp on the barrel, getting a magnified optic, and running it as is. if it's a permanently mounted flash-hider, then you're SOL on the easy change-out of your muzzle device...

the 1911 inserts don't cover the mag release, so you can just reach in and depress the mag release to change magazines between strings of fire (as you mentioned, when the pistol is rotated up to allow clearance for magazine removal) . there is also a relief cutout for the thumb safety allowing it to be depressed. also - just to be clear to the OP, when using the rest for a 1911, you have to remove the grips on the pistol and install the pistol frame into the rest - the ransom rest inserts for a 1911 have cutouts that will mate up perfectly with the pistol's grip screw pillars on either side of the frame.

h335, aa2230, ww748 are popular powders for 55 gr FMJ loads in .223, and also work well for some of the heavier weights as well. you didn't indicate what projectile you're loading for, but you'll probably have better luck using one of those powders if you're loading in volume using a powder measure.

i still shoot a lot of lead 200 gr semi-wadcutters through my favorite 1911, and use a bit of copper chore-boy around a brush to get the lead out every 500-1000 rounds. my M&P and glock 9mm's get no real cleaning of any sort, barrel or otherwise...

i'm a huge fan of honeycrisps. we don't always get them here in NC, and they're usually priced at a bit of a premium ($2 - $2.99 /lb vs. $1.49 - $1.99/lb for jazz, fuji, gala) but the honeycrisps are definitely worth it when you can get them. it's easy to walk out of the supermarket with $10 worth of apples (and they'll be eaten in 2 days).

trail mix, planters roasted peanuts, cliff bars. water from camelback

kcult - nice picture of the .50 bmg rounds, but your avatar photo actually had me laugh out loud! will save a copy of that to show my kids...

i've always been happy with my leatherman wave. thread drift to comment on new leatherman "MUT" the MUT model looks interesting, but it's selling for about $135 mail order now, and I can't see how it's worth twice the price of a wave. as cold absolute zero pointed out, the wave's needlenose pliers work just fine if you need something to stick into the ejection port and push the bolt back. while the MUT apparently has some specific tool for this but I'm not sure how much more useful it would be. the carbon scraper i can do without (since i've never scraped carbon off the bolt tail before, not sure why i would start now). They offer an "EOD" model, but i don't see myself getting much mileage out of the C4 punch...

hmm - when i saw it at shot, i recall the the sales guy explaining that the three chevron's were set up as BDC indicators for 300, 400, & 500 yards (or maybe meters?). He also said that they were going to be out "late Q1"... so maybe I should be taking the whole conversation with a grain of salt. at least he didn't say "i love you" or "the check is in the mail"

i'll chime in for the S&W VTAC. I picked mine up about a year and half ago and have been very satisfied with it. you may be able to do better if you buy a stripped upper and build it up yourself but for me, I was happy to just buy something out of the box that was guaranteed to work and had everything I needed - VLTOR stock for storage and (my opinion) better cheekweld, JP single stage trigger, JP/VTAC rifle-length rail. also included the light and mount for less than I could get them separately, but if you don't need a light then that may be irrelevant for you. Little while back velocity shooter (BE forum dealer) had them for $1299 - I can't even get them from my distributor for that price! alternately, maybe worth looking at firebird precision and seeing what they can do for you if you're only looking for certain features (e.g. round handgard, single stage match trigger, but otherwise ok with standard stock and grip, etc).

my jackass $.02 - I'm pretty lazy when it comes to actually cleaning my direct impingement AR (S&W VTAC model), but have never had a malfunction (about 18K rounds in this gun) due to anything other than magazine or ammunition, i.e. no problems due to bolt, bolt carrier assembly tho have had several learning experiences with Cproducts magazines and wolf ammo. not saying anything bad about LWRC products (i don;t own one but have heard only good things about them). am saying that a cleaner weapon may be desirable in and of itself, but if you keep a traditional DI gun well lubed you may get exactly the same (very high) reliability provided you feed it good ammo through good magazines. granted, there are others on here who go through lots more ammo than me, so keen to hear whether others have seen reliability/function problems on DI guns due to a dirty rifle.

my $.02 - doesn't sound like a headspace issue. if you had too little (i.e. chamber was cut too short), the round wound not chamber properly and the bold would fail to close. if you had too much headspace (i.e. chamber was cut too big), then you might see your brass stretch on firing (or possibly see a case head separation where the brass cartridges breaks in half and the extractor pulls out the back half, leaving the forward half stuck in the chamber).

i find this works very well for me. rollover prone works fine as well but i have found it difficult to compensate for cant at (small) targets more then 30 yards away (i.e. I need to consciously aim high left if I am shooting right handed, rolled over with the ejection port down).

OP - here is an example of the o-ring eku is referring to (specifically the black donut looking thing). not sure where you got your parts kit, but if you go this route and purchase this from BCM, I would swap out your existing extractor spring and use theirs so you are starting off with a known quantity. Also - murch question on ammo is very relevant. if this happens only with one particular brand of ammo (or your own reloads), but does not happen with (for example) winchester white box, then you may really just have an ammo issue (particularly relevant if the ammo giving you problems is remanufactured or reloads from friend).

what's with all the laughing smiley's? jeff's got a great program here, suggestion I would make is thinking twice about the actual loading operations once you've completed your brass prep. after the dremel touch-up with flitz, you may want to consider just stopping there. i'd reccomend a purged environment container (nitrogen is ideal, but if you have access to welding equipment then argon is an easy alternative). seal your polished & prepped brass in a rigid container (glass display cases for lab specimens are ideal) either in vaccum or with a neutral gas that won't promote oxidation. occasionally, you can unseal a container and take out a few cartridges to admire them and rub them with a cloth diaper...

i've gotten postive results (1-1.5 moa) using hornady 55gr fmj and 24 gr of aa2230. i'm using mixed headstamp brass so keep powder charge near starting weight... maybe an obvious question, but to the OP - how are you testing from the bench? if you're already using a magnified optic and front and rear bags, then disregard the question. If not, maybe worth looking at your benchrest technique? the load I mentioned above will do 1-1.5" or so from a bench, but only if I put on a magnified optic and sandbag the gun. if i keep the eotech on there and just shoot prone, I get 3" groups. i think this probably says more about my shooting abilities (and handicaps) then my reloading skills... you could also start doing some ladder testing but they may be overkill (i.e. not return definitive results for the effort required) if you're just shooting at 100 yards. edited because i cannot spell

i had the same problem with my 10 round shooting star mags, actually loosened up the extended ejector on an early 90's vintage pin gun after an overenthusiastic magazine insertion (oops). never had any problems with my wilson mags, have since retired my CMC's...