berettaprofessor
Member
Once upon a time, I was a new reloader, turning out ammo and just happy when it went bang. The I discovered THR Handloading and Reloading and I began to worry about powder temperature stability, and wet tumbling versus dry tumbling, and optimal OAL, and whether a small SD or small ES was more important in a load. And finally, recently, wondering if my runout was up to par.
So I just this week purchased a Hornady L-N-L Concentricity Gauge and found time today to check a bunch of ammo. And every rifle caliber I reload, 223, 224, 243, 308, 300 B/O, my already reloaded ammo was all within 0.001-0.002, sometimes not even twitching the needle.
The only exception was the 6.5 Creedmore, which had 4 rounds out of 20 that were between 0.003 and 0.004 runout. What a waste of time and money when I don't have a range nearby over 100 yards!
Any ideas why my previously untested runout is so decent? Is it simply because I use almost all Hornady ELD's or Match rounds to load rifle and Hornady is just so darned consistent in ogive? (I have some 90 grain Berger rounds in 224Valk, but those are the only non-Hornady round I've loaded recently).
Just for the record, all those loads are loaded with Lee Pacesetter die sets on a Lee Breechlock Single Stage.
So much for precision dies at 3-4X the prices and all the red vs. green vs. blue battles. And I have yet to try the recommended "trick" of seating a bullet and then rotating the cartridge and seating it again.
Someday, I'm going to have to find a 1000yd range to shoot at and try that concentricity gauge again. But until then, it's going onto the shelf. My $130 bought me peace of mind, I guess.
And you guys need to stop leading me towards the bottomless pit of reloading perfection!
So I just this week purchased a Hornady L-N-L Concentricity Gauge and found time today to check a bunch of ammo. And every rifle caliber I reload, 223, 224, 243, 308, 300 B/O, my already reloaded ammo was all within 0.001-0.002, sometimes not even twitching the needle.
The only exception was the 6.5 Creedmore, which had 4 rounds out of 20 that were between 0.003 and 0.004 runout. What a waste of time and money when I don't have a range nearby over 100 yards! Any ideas why my previously untested runout is so decent? Is it simply because I use almost all Hornady ELD's or Match rounds to load rifle and Hornady is just so darned consistent in ogive? (I have some 90 grain Berger rounds in 224Valk, but those are the only non-Hornady round I've loaded recently).
Just for the record, all those loads are loaded with Lee Pacesetter die sets on a Lee Breechlock Single Stage.
So much for precision dies at 3-4X the prices and all the red vs. green vs. blue battles. And I have yet to try the recommended "trick" of seating a bullet and then rotating the cartridge and seating it again. Someday, I'm going to have to find a 1000yd range to shoot at and try that concentricity gauge again. But until then, it's going onto the shelf. My $130 bought me peace of mind, I guess.
And you guys need to stop leading me towards the bottomless pit of reloading perfection!
