Reloading newbie .243 winchester

[Addison84]

Dear all,

 

As the title suggests....i am very new to reloading having used 100gr PPU soft point rounds for deer stalking. Theyve proven to be fairly accurate but not perfect, i have accumulated a lot of fire formed PPU brass so ive decided to jump on the reloading band wagon having bought a Lee challenger reloading kit with sierra 100g SP, N-150 powder and federal primers.

 

I made 8 rounds using minimum recommended powder weights for N-150 and instantly had a sub one inch groupings at 100yds, great!

 

But.....im concerned that N-150 maybe to fast a burning powder (only because ive heard that i should be using a slow powder for a heavy bullet) , and that the crimp created when seating the bullet isnt enough (i can push the bullet back into the case using some force, whereas factory ammo wont budge!)

 

Im happy with my grouping i just want to iron out a couple of unknowns.....any advice appreciated

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Adam

[rem708]

Nothing wrong with N150! Looks like you're getting a good group so why change. Certainly you could use N160 or even N550 to get a higher velocity but it costs more and if your current load groups good enough then stick with it. I come from a target background and hence always trying to squeeze that group down smaller or going that extra bit further. For most hunting the levels I go to are overkill (whoops no pun intended).

 

I am more concerned you have loose bullets. Neck tension is all you need unless you are going to have loads in a magazine or running full auto! in which case a crimp is necessary. If the bullet does not have a cannelure then a crimp is a waste of time causing more damage to the case.

 

Do you know someone else you could borrow a sizing die from for comparison or even give some of these loose cases to someone else to size for you.

Are you full length sizing or using a neck sizer such as a Lee Collet Die?

[pestcontrol1]

where abouts are you ?

And are you using lee dies

[Livefast123]

I don't know to much about reloading dies as I only use a Lee Loader but I would check the sizer is adjusted correctly as it sounds like it's not quite sizing the neck down quite enough.

 

On a different note, welcome to the dark side. Reloading is addictive and you'll soon be pushing yourself to get the Nth degree of accuracy out of your load and taking pictures of the stuff you make

[Addison84]

Im near Canterbury, Kent

 

Yup using Lee Dies, ive only been messing around with it for a couple of days, your right i need to het everything set up correctly....somehow!

 

I can already see it becoming an obsession

[pestcontrol1]

push the handel down on your press with no case in the shell holder as far as it go"s. Then screw your die into the bushing untill it hits the case holder then lift the handel and give the die a 1/4 turn more that should get you some where near. I put some marker pen on the neck of a case and size it and you will see how far it is been resized as it will mark the pen on the case and dont forget to put some pressure on the handel at the bottom of the stroke to close the collet to resize correctly ( lose fitting bullet ) Dont forget to lube the cases alittle when using the full length die.

PC1

[kent]

Just check your all deer legal with that load. .243win is a funny one coz they based the legislation on it, to be honest though some factory don't always make it especially with short barrels. I use N160 with 95 /100 grn .243 win personally, switching to Hogdens H4895 and Varget for lighter and mid range bullet weights.

 

The chronograph is the hand loaders best friend, especially if you want to shoot longer ranges as Standard deviation becomes very relevant in load development.

 

Pushing the bullet back in? well it depends on how much force your using. What you don't want is a bullet lodged in the barrel and an action filled with powder on unloading for an obstacle. (that could ruin your stalk) Crimps are normally not required in a bolt action .243 win but some like them as they can act as a straightener.

[fieldwanderer]

I've got a set of lee dies and have been experimenting with them to try to get everything straight in my head. I'm by no means an expert but I do have a suggestion for your neck tension that I've seen posted a few times now;

 

Remove the depriming pin and put it in a drill (no need to over tighten chuck and be careful not to damage the little "head" on the collet die's pin). Use some very fine sand paper, on the part of the pin that would be where the bullet goes, to take a very small amount off, a few thou' could well be plenty. This allows the die to squeeze the neck in just a touch tighter, therefore the bullet will be a tighter fit.

[kent]

I've got a set of lee dies and have been experimenting with them to try to get everything straight in my head. I'm by no means an expert but I do have a suggestion for your neck tension that I've seen posted a few times now;

 

Remove the depriming pin and put it in a drill (no need to over tighten chuck and be careful not to damage the little "head" on the collet die's pin). Use some very fine sand paper, on the part of the pin that would be where the bullet goes, to take a very small amount off, a few thou' could well be plenty. This allows the die to squeeze the neck in just a touch tighter, therefore the bullet will be a tighter fit.

Many remove the expander bulb (the bit your thinking of sanding, then use a straight neck expander) this stops the neck being pulled of centre. Go on Sinclair international and search "neck expander". Your idea is liely as not going to form a mis shapen neck ie "out of round" and also quite rough on internal finish.

Also removing the entire pin assembly can be worthwile and de-capping via a separate action. 1. fire 2.de-cap 3. clean (this now works on the primer pocket). Also you get a better feel to whats happening to your primer pockets

[fieldwanderer]

What I read was talking about making it a little smaller diameter. I can't see it being far out of round but that's just my opinion. May be worth a try as a last resort I suppose, the dies are relatively cheap to replace after all, I believe you can buy the pins individually too.