Recent content by Matthew T.

I thought it kind of odd that I got two too tight .223 gages in a row. I jaked up the first one by scratching it with vice grips to screw it in. The abrasions on the cutter then made tiny scratches in my case necks.

The .223 gage is doing this on both of my cutters. That's not to say that the threads aren't necessarily buggered. I'll try some of my other gages in the cutters and see if anything has changed since last I trimmed. I may just leave the .223 gage screwed into one of the cutters, since I seem to...

Does someone know a trick to getting Lee case length gages to screw into the cutter? I had a stubborn one in the past, but was able to fool with the threaded end using a screw driver to make it work. I'm on my second .223 gage, having jaked up the first one using vice grips. I got this one...

Once you have some good basic manuals, pick up a copy of Ken Waters' Pet Loads. It gives good technical and historical data about a slew of cartridges and usually has recommended loads for same. Well worth the $50 for 1,000+ pages of good info, some of which you would have trouble finding elsewhere.

The Lee Safety Scale is very accurate. The drawback is that it's hard to read, primarily the 1/10 of a grain numbers. I checked mine back to back with a RCBS 505 and they were always within .10-.20 grain of each other. Usually they were dead on or only .10 grain apart.

I have reloaded a few hundred rifle rounds for 6.5x55 and .243, but have always stuck to book loads. My problem here is that Barnes has not released any recipes for the TSX bullets, only recommendations. Also, Ramshot doesn't list any loads for Hunter powder and Barnes bullets of any kind for...

I got a couple of sub-MOA groups in my wife's .243 with Ramshot Hunter and Barnes 85-grain TSXs. Problem is the primers were a little cratered and starting to flatten. The charges were .5 grain and 1 grain over the listed max. Hunter is supposed to be temperature resistant. Would you consider...

I wasn't really asking if 130 grains was enough bullet . . I was more concerned about the bullet not having sufficient penetration and/or causing significant meat damage if a hot 130 grain cup and core bullet hits a shoulder bone inside 100 yards. Forgive my ignorance.

What are some of your favorite .270 loads with 150-grain bullets? Thanks in advance.

I want to start loading for my father-in-law's .270, a caliber with which I have no experience. I know 130 grain bullets are the most popular, but are they the best for Wisconsin white tails at close to medium range? Would a heavier bullet be less prone to blowing up or am I worrying too much?

Anyone have any favorite loads for their 6.5x55 using Barnes TSXs and Ramshot Hunter? Maybe there's at least one or two folks out there that use this combination.

In response to a post on my earlier thread, will it hurt to leave a coating of PB Blaster in the bore instead of Kroil? PB Blaster I have. Kroil I have not.

I have some Tetra solvent and Barnes CR-10, along with some less intensive general purpose bore cleaners. It still took quite a bit of scrubbing to get all the copper out of my Ruger's bore (should have remembered Barnes' recommendation to get ALL the fouling out before shooting up a bunch of...

Ramshot Hunter Ramshot Hunter is supposed to be more temperature resistant than your average ball powder. Meters great and shoots sub-moa in my wife's .243 Savage.

Does Ramshot Hunter seem to be any more accurate in your rifles than IMR or H4350? I'm using IMR 4350 in my .243 and 6.5x55. If Hunter isn't more accurate than H414, I'm not going to bother with it.