whats the hardest round you've loaded?

hk940 said:
What do you mean by a two step expander. It is a straight wall case, so I only need to bell the mouth enough to start the bullet.
Click to expand...
You could do that and continue getting poor results or you could try a new way that has worked well for many including myself. The most recognized version of a two step is the Lyman m die. Those absolutely work, but I prefer the noe product because of 1. Cost, 2. They were available and the M die wasn't when I needed, and 3. They sell a bunch of increments so you can get exactly what you want.
 
AJC1 said:
You could do that and continue getting poor results or you could try a new way that has worked well for many including myself. The most recognized version of a two step is the Lyman m die. Those absolutely work, but I prefer the noe product because of 1. Cost, 2. They were available and the M die wasn't when I needed, and 3. They sell a bunch of increments so you can get exactly what you want.
Click to expand...
Does Lyman make a .300 Rook die?
I welcome the input, could explain the process of using the Lyman die.
I was loading for a friend and bought all new components, (dies, cases, heads).
I have not heard back from him, but the rounds did not look right to me.
 
hk940 said:
Does Lyman make a .300 Rook die?
I welcome the input, could explain the process of using the Lyman die.
I was loading for a friend and bought all new components, (dies, cases, heads).
I have not heard back from him, but the rounds did not look right to me.
Click to expand...
These expanders are based on bullet size not specific cases. I use the same expander on 308, and 30-30 when loading cast. I would use a smaller one for jacketed as I shoot .310 cast.
 
hk940 said:
That's what I don't understand every thing was brand new (dies, heads, cases)
Click to expand...
You most likely have a seating stem that doesn't fit well, but if they start strait they are more likely to stay that way. A seven and a half dollar option is a cheap way to try and fix it. A new or custom seating stem is more expensive.
 
7mm TCU gave trouble until I found what brands of 223 brass work and which do not.

Necks of the .30 Luger tend to bulge which prevents the rounds to chamber. After VERY carefully adjusting seating and FC dies I've almost got it into control, but still maybe 5 - 10% of loaded rounds has to be run through the resizing die with the depriming pin removed.

But the winner with a wide margin is 9mm Browning Long. Weird bullet diameter, must resize 9mm Makarov pills. No caliber specific dies available, so a combination of 38 super, 38 Special and 9mm Para dies has to be used - if my memory serves, because of frustration I haven't reloaded this caliber for years.

Never had any great trouble with 9mm Para, even with commercial cast bullets. That's one of the bulk cartridges I reload, because the range I mostly visit does not allow jacketed pistol bullets.
 
9mmx56 MS.the bore on these is supposed to be 355-356 but mine turned out to be 353. That and the fact very little load data is available for this round. It took me down several rabbit holes along the way before I got it all sorted out. I learned a ton more about reloading than with any other round. It was exasperating and exciting all at the same time. I now am loading 3 different bullet weights and have ordered a swaging die to take the 180 grain 355 legend bullets down to 353 and give them a try on deer. I am currently using 250 grain roundnose hornadys on wild hogs and it tips them over very convincingly.
 
You didn’t think the army would throw out 40 lbs of brass every shot did you?
 
Guess I should have asked Gunny, if our 3" 50's were handloads, or reloads!!! Never gave it a Thought.
 
.22TCM for me. It's the only pistol cartridge I have to trim, and getting the case sized properly can be challenging. I still haven't gotten it figured out. I can make usable ammo but it's not consistent. Yet.
 
5.7mm Johnson.

It's a 30 Carbine case necked down to .22.

Contradictory load data, inconsistent barrel diameters (i.e. .233, .2235 and .224), differences in feed-ramp dimensions, all combine to make this the wildcat's wildcat.

Once you conquer all of this - and it has taken me nearly 40 years to do so - you are rewarded with a 40 or 45 grain bullet speeding off to the target at 2,800 to 3,000 fps with essentially no perceived recoil.
 
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