My first ten rounds....

[insidious_calm]

It's done. My first ten rounds. After finally getting all the stuff I had been waiting on I tooke the plunge today. My load consisted of 178gr Hornady Moly AMAX, 43.0gr of Varget, CCI benchrest primers, and Hornady brass. I used a Hornady full length die with a neck bushing of .336.


I waited 3-5 minutes between shots and was fairly impressed with the results for my first ever handloads. Excluding the 3 flyers, which I attribute to my improvised shooting conditions (IE shooter error), its looks like about a 1/2 MOA group. Not bad for shooting from a bipod out of the back of a truck.

I didn't see any pressure warning signs. Not that I know what I'm looking for other than the pictures in the manual, but I think it is good. Velocity was slightly higher than what the manual said which I guess was because of the molyed bullets. I think I try another 1/2gr of varget to see if it will tighten up a bit more and give a little more speed. Velocity was fairly consistent with a high of 2554fps, a low of 2529fps, and an average of 2542fps.

 

[stans]

Looks great!

 

[insidious_calm]

Another 10 rounds...

Well, I changed something and my AR10 didn't like it at all. The next 10 shot group opened up to around 3". The only change I knowingly made was .3 gr more Varget, and more crimp. I added more crimp because I thought it would help hold the bullets in place when in the magazine. Am I correct in assuming that the extra crimp is what caused this? The first ten had little or no crimp. I used a shell to adjust the seating die and added no more. This time I added another turn.

What is the right amount of crimp and what is the best way to adjust it? I followed the manual but it looks as if I did something wrong. Advice greatly appreciated.


I.C.

 

[The_Antibubba]

The basic scientific rule for determining the reason for a change is: Only alter one variable at a time. Go back and reload two batches-one with the crimp change, the other with the powder change.

 

[stans]

Yep, when more than one thing is changed it becomes impossible to determine which item caused the desired or undesired effect on accuracy.

 

[goon]

I never use a crimp with a rifle round. Most of my handloads are with Speer 165 GR BTSP's and they don't have a groove for crimping. I started loading without a crimp because of that and found that it isn't really necessecary if your expander ball leaves the neck tight.
I have cycled dummies through my FAL more than twenty times with uncrimped handloads and I have yet to see one bullet be moved by doing it. I do put a slight taper crimp on my 9mm rounds just for insurance and I always roll crimp revolver rounds, but you may not need it with a rifle round.
Just my $.02.

IMO, the best way to adjust crimp is to unscrew the seating die and remove the bullet seat. Let the die just barely in the press. Run a sized and trimmed case up in, then screw the die down until it stops. When it stops, you have hit the case with the part of the die that gives the crimp. Then you have to start with seating the bullet until you just about get the bullet seated so that the bottom edge of the groove on the bullet is even with the top of the case neck. Then you just take the whole die and turn it in about another quarter to half turn. This will finish seating your bullet and also give you a crimp.
It isn't quite that simple and it will take a little experimenting, but it isn't too hard once you have the mechanics of it figured out.
Also, you should take a resized, trimmed, and Unprimed case and load one dummy round. Keep it with the dies. Then if you want to readjust your dies back and forth between bullets, all you have to do is tighten them down on that dummy and they are pretty much set.

 

[insidious_calm]

Thanks guys...

...for helping the noob! I figured that changing two things was no-no after I saw what happened. Got another batch made with no crimp. We'll see how that turns out.



I.C.