Reloading

Anyone in AZ reload? I am thinking about getting started to work some loads for my 300 wm.

 

Not in AZ, but have been an avid handloader for 42 years.

On the 300 Mag front, I have personal experience with 300 Winchester, 300 Weatherby and 300 H&H. Have not messed with the 300 WSM or any of the Ultras or Dakota.

 

What reloaders do you use? I been eyeballing the kits from rcbs.

I want to build an all purpose 165-168gr round for the 300wm. I was thinking about a 150 and 180, but I've been reading a 165 is more consistent than a 180 in the wm.

 

I do not (yet) but am somewhat interested. Especially with as fast as i go through 223.

 

I have been using mostly RCBS since the 70's. That's not knocking any of the other stuff...but RCBS was what was available in southeastern Wisconsin in 1974!

I have never been tempted to change...good gear.

Every rifle/cartridge combo can be a law unto itself. I could never generalize that one bullet weight is better than any other.

This also depends on your most important performance parameters, which are dictated by your intended use.

I took a 300 H&H to Africa last year. I took 15 animals ranging from a 25 pound Jackal to an 1,800 pound Eland.

Ranges varied from 20 feet to 300 yards.

I took one load with me. It expanded fast enough on that small Jackal to dump enough energy in it to open it up as though it had been shot by a 22-250.

The same bullet/load completely passed through both shoulders of the broadside Eland.

When you say "all purpose", can you define what that means to you? What targets at what ranges?

The above mentioned load was certainly all-purpose for my trip last year!

Oh, it was a 180 gr Barnes Tipped Triple Shock loaded to 3,050 fps muzzle velocity. Hornady cases, Win magnum primers and a bunch of IMR 7828 SSC powder!

Regards,

Tim

 

When I say all purpose, I am looking for something to elk hunt and something I can take for Coues deer in AZ, around the 500 yard range on the top end.

 

My largest elk was taken with a 150gr Barnes Triple Shock. First round through both shoulders (exited) and dumped him on his nose.

I figured he was a goner...but the second he started to try to pull his head up I gave him another through the lungs and that rolled him over. He never took a step.

For the tasks you are looking to accomplish, if I wanted to do all that with one load, I believe the 168gr Barnes Tipped Triple Shock would be a great place to start. The bullet has a ballistic coefficient of .470 and will expand violently on a light Coues, while still giving all the penetration needed for Elk. I went with the 180 grain in Africa because Eland was on the menu and they weigh about twice as much as an Elk!

One thing with the Barnes X bullets is they tend to shoot best at 40 to 50 thousandths off the lands...as opposed to much closer to the lands with typical lead core bullets. That has been the general experience, and my experience agrees (over 15 years of using variations of them in a half-dozen different calibers).

Now, that's not to say a Nosler Partition or Accubond, or Swift A-Frame, or any number of other good bullets won't work well. The Barnes TTSX just combines (for me) the accuracy and ballistic coefficient of the Accubond with the rapid opening of a Partition and penetration equal to any of them.

Hard to beat!

I know, I sound like a Barnes commercial. Trust me, I use and appreciate other makes of bullets, and have at least 10,000 of other maker's bullets in my loading room. But when I go Elk hunting this fall, I'll be carrying ammo loaded with Barnes TTSX.

Best of luck!


Tim

 

Interesting info on the "distance to the lands" with Barnes. I load, no expert by any means. Mostly .308 and .30-06 (whitetail only) and some .223 for paper and a few varmints.

 

I was skeptical when I first heard this way back when. And there are folks who have different experiences....but the Barnes do very often seem to like a different seating depth.

 

Just 20 and 12 gauge shotties for me. Would love to make the leap to brass one day.

 

I hand load for .308, and .223 on a Forster Coax. I would highly suggest checking out Snipershide.com, and Accurateshooter.com if your new to hand loading.

 

If any of you reloaders want spent cartridges in 45ACP, 9MM or 5.56, let me know. I go to a lot of weapons classes and there is always a ton. Next up will be a rifle class at Gunsite on the 15th from which I can grab buckets of 5.56 brass...

 

Ehm for you to come pick them up or met somewhere between North Phoenix and East Mesa (home<->work.) No cost, I'll grab what I can and let you know when I have some.

 

Check out Dillion Precision for reloading gear, and some of the best customer service going.

 

Absolutely, if you're going to save money and not buy a Dillion, go with Lee. I've loaded alot of good rounds with a Lee before I sprung for a Dillion.

Honestly the only mistake is trying to go somewhere in the middle of those price points.

 

I spent some time this evening pulling bullets from some of my "oops" rounds. I salvaged enough bullets and powder to reload 8 rounds out of the 11. I also managed to break my kinetic bullet puller. I tried to glue it together - we'll see what happens. Oh well, I had fun doing it.

 

If you're going to be unloading, got a collet puller for a single stage press, otherwise just throw them away...

 

It is on the list. I just happened to have the kinetic puller so I gave it a "shot".

 

Anyone need a #10 Lee shell holder for the priming tool? (not for the press) I ordered 2 thinking they were shell holders, and was shipped out replacements and they did not want these back. I'll snail mail it out to you free of charge if you need one.