Hello, and welcome to the Reloading Podcast here on the Firearms Radio Network.
Tonight the gang is talking with Paul Nelson about his approach to handloading vs reloading.
handloaders APPROACH TO A NEW RIFLE CUSTOM BARREL As a handloader, I approach a new custom-built rifle as described below. The rifle is based on a Nucleus Action by American Rifle Company, and the barrels are Bartlein Barrels 6 millimeter left hand gain twist. One barrel is a 1 in 14 to 1 in 10 gain twist for lighter bullets and the other is a 1 in 12 to 1 in 8 gain twist for heavy bullets. The rifle is a switch barrel rifle which allows me to adjust this prairie dog hunting rig to conditions. My tool list is a pretty long one but as I have been handloading for over 40 years I have built up a considerable collection. My first step is to consider cartridge that I need or want, as smaller capacity but high velocity was needed. Selection range was 6mm bench rest, 6 mm PPC USA, 6 x 47 Lapua and the 6XC. For this my choice was the 6XC. Good brass is available from more than one supplier, shoulder angle is steeper and neck is longer allowing shorter bullets to still have good neck tension and bullet holding ability if handled roughly. Next bullet selection, I selected Sierra GameKing 6 mm HPBT #1530 as my standard light weight bullet. It allows me to get to 3200 fps and high enough B.C. to be effective past 600 yards in winds up to 20 miles per hour. I ordered 1000 Norma 6XC Cases and 500 bullets. I also ordered reloading dies, a full length sizing die was ordered along with a Micrometer seating die. One more step was to size, 5 cases and check neck thickness quickly and seat bullets so no more than 1/3 of the driving band was in the case. All measurements where recorded and the action, barrels and cases where shipped to the gunsmith for chambering and fitting. Case prep: All cases are sized in a full length sizing die without setting the shoulder back. Cases are then checked for neck thickness with a Sinclair case neck sorting tool. This allows me to sort thru cases quickly, finding any that have a lump or are out of round due to neck thickness variations. Cases that are out of specifications get neck turned with a Sinclair neck turning tool. I am not looking at turning all cases but just taking out the high spots. Primer pockets are next, they get run thru a R. W. Hart primer pocket cutter that has been set to the primer brand that I have selected for that cartridge based on powder type, primer size and case capacity. A Sinclair flash hole deburring tool is lightly touched to the flash hole just enough to remove any burs. This tool is preferred as it has a flat cutting edge as not to form a V shaped flash hole. All cases are then checked for length and trimmed so all are even in size. A Wilson or Forester trimmer is used for the as they are finely adjustable. Next is case capacity, it is checked by weight as filled with water. Water volume is charted and out of average cases get put a side for sighting shots and copper fouling shots. I have run into situations where cases were just to out of spec and have rejected whole factory lots of brass. All capacity is checked with an A&D EJ‐123 scale that measures to .02 of a grain. Priming: Primers are selected by application as certain primers I trust work better with certain case capacities, or powders (Stick or Ball) and bullet weight. I will leave that out as not to upset or show favoritism to one brand or the others and some primers I use are no longer imported. Priming is done with a modified RCBS Bench Priming tool (Holland’s Shooters Supply) it’s an adjustable stop that you can adjust to recess the primer, stress the primer so the anvil is set and not break the priming pellet. Other priming tool is the RCBS Hand Primer. Powder Charging: Powder charging is accomplished with 4 tools, I have a Harrell’s Custom Powder Measure, a Lee Powder Measure, and Hornady power trickler along with my A&D scale. In experimenting charges the Lee and Hornady are used. The Lee measure has a polymer cutting edge that does not shear large stick powders. Once I have a powder charge nailed down the Harrell’s Measure is really nice as its micrometer adjustments are repeatable and precise. I do see me moving up to the newer electronic setup that AutoTrickler is coming out with. It will be version V3 and offers lots of neat features. I measure down to .02 of a grain with my EJ‐123. Load selection: I use a number of manuals to determine the powder used. For small capacity cases I try ball powders first if they can give me the velocity needed. Medium and large cases will almost always get stick powders. I select a velocity needed or wanted and a powder that gives me 90 to 100% case fill. I’ll load two tenths of a grain above max load and load down from there till I am two grains below max load. This will be my starting load. If a factory load is made for the cartridge I will buy a box to get pressure measurements of the head of the case. The case is measured before and after firing with a blade micrometer. As for all my precision tools Mituoyo is the brand that I prefer, for this operation the Mitutoyo 422‐330‐30 which gives me accuracy to .00015”. Ten firings give me the average case head expansion for load development. If no factory load is available I will fire and check expansion of the case head and stop when I get .0001” expansion. Other pressure signs are watched as well, Primer flatting, case markings, ejector spring dimple, brass flow into extractor grove, primer pocket looseness. One thing to stress here is primers do lie as pressure indicators, flash hole sizes and over reaming of flash holes, oversized primer pockets can and do cause false pressure signs. Bullets and Bullet Seating: Bullets that are not hollow point are sorted by bullet length, bearing surface and weight. Hollow point bullets are meplat trimmed and pointed in a Whidden Bullet pointing die. The Meplat trimmer is a Hoover meplat trimmer. High volume shooting has caused me to start coating bullets with HBN2 or hexagonal boron nitride powder. I feel I am getting more barrel life and less fouling. As HBN is non hydroscopic I don’t worry about rusting under the coating and clean‐up is very easy with little to no copper fouling. The plus side is that I am getting 50 to 100 fps increase in speed. As the chamber was cut to allow 1/3 of the bearing surface inside of the case, I have room to grow and chase the lands as the barrel wears. All bullets are seated with a supported shoulder die with micrometer adjustments. Bullet stems are polished and adjusted to the bullets nose. It is more than likely I will end up with more than one seating die, so to save money Hornady seating dies and their micro seating stem help.
All links will be listed in part II’s show notes
Cartridge corner: none tonight
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