Recent content by spitballer

If you've got the time try drying it out with a can of DAMP-RID and a five gallon bucket. I get 16% humidity using this configuration.

My e-scale is accurate but it can also waste valuable time if it's not pampered to it's liking. I'm thinking about drilling a custom scoop for my top load, at least. That said, I would never abandon scales altogether. Good luck in your quest

My luck it would probably weep inside without some kind of desiccant. You'll be able to see them though.

Haven't trekked to the range in over a year, mostly because of a medical condition. I reload for personal achievement, not for profit, and only for .223. I try not to run my mouth about other calibers or firearms that I'm not familiar with but I visit THR almost daily to stay informed and to...

... agree safety comes first. Once I got leapt on for suggesting that large .223 flash holes designed for unleaded primers were making my ballpowder loads unsafe. Hope nobody got hurt as a result of that one.

Good information over years but I've taken gut punches for flouting safety. Seldom stray from the reloading forum.

There was a good article in Hodgdon's Annual Relaoding Manual that covered this very subject a couple of years ago. Author by the name of Pearce as I recall. Takeaway was magnum for ball powder and regular for stick, but no hard and fast rule. Since then I've always used regular for stick powder.

Thanks for heads-up GW I was fixing to order another diffuser.

Bullet mfr recommendations notwithstanding, I generally stay .010" - .015" away from the lands with my .223 bolt gun.

For field expedience one might very well make good use of brass with slightly short necks or even slightly shroomed heads but I wouldn't use stuff like that for a treasured target rifle. Lucky for your .308 lol

I'd be inclined to use the heavier bullets with a 9" twist but that's just me. A little overspin probably won't hurt with a well-made barrel but you may run into disintegration if you're pushing those lighter pills at top velocity

Not for my bolt rifle.

Records are key. I'm not one for voluminous notes but I do use a cheap spiral-bound notebook to write down velocities at the range and to trace the holes (works best at midrange, not as effective with ragged holes) at the end of the day. This data helped me to find the answer to slick polygonal...

...yup, load data can be confusing, and shopping the charts for the highest velocity can be downright dangerous. FWIW some advice from Richard Lee: "Use the starting loads... Starting loads are consistently more accurate... Starting loads reduce wear on the gun and lengthen case life by a...

I can remember getting a slightly larger sizing die from Wilson, for fired cases. The full-length sizing as described by Bart B. is making more sense now thx