Check you equipment for the New Year.

H

HovisKM

NRA Life Member
Well, every now and then, we all take things for granted. I learned this lesson the hard way last year. The year started out fine but in general, progressed badly, shooting worse as the year went along, I discovered that I had a front base coming loose (actual coming off) at the nationals and after tightening, things went better. I didn't shoot anymore after the nationals because I just really didn't feel like it after the humiliation of taking so long to figure such a simple problem out (the darn screws were even JB welded into the action holes so I thought...that could never be the problem). So after I put everything away, I thought to myself, this isn't going to happen again so I said to myself, I'm going to check everything from my reloading gear to rifles this spring before I start shooting. Well, of course, I kept putting this off but this last weekend and Monday, as I was laying in bed sick, I thought, if I can just get over this a little, I'm going to start checking things. Well, about seven o'clock in the evening, I went out to the garage and brought my loading box in. I set it up by the bed and the first thing I did was screw a bottle of my vintage 8208 on the measurer and mounted it. Now, I wasn't checking out my measurer yet, but my wife knows that if I passed out from being sick, a couple of dumps of that powder on the carpet would bring me around a lot quicker than smelling sauce. Anyway, I got out a good set of slight used cases. I checked the runout on these fired cases, no surprises...the needle didn't move on the outside or inside of neck. Then I sized some cases with both my primary FL dies... same result, so I am quite happy now and am starting to think I am wasting my time but since the only other thing I had going, was going to the Head to check out what I had ate earlier, I drove on. Now, I have two primary seating dies also and six heads/stems to go with them. I also pulled out the two primary bullets I currently use (68gr BT Hottenstein's and 66gr FB 9ogive Knights). Now this is where things started to get interesting. I seated each bullet, three different times in three different cases with each die and each head in each die. So basically, I seated a lot of bullets. One thing that I found was that the head/stems read the same runout no matter which bullet or die body was used. That was the good news. The bad news was some of the readings.

Head/Stem Runout
1 .0015
2 .0015
3 .002
4 .0025
5 .0005 max
6 .0005 max

So what I found out was that four of the head/stem combinations I have been using are unacceptable (at least to me). One question might be...does .002 runout or so make a difference at the target. Well, I don't know but this is one area where it definetly can't hurt to have less.

Know what else am I going to check. Well, this first run through was a baseline. Now, I've got a second press to check with a known good die and shellholder (both my BR presses are Harrell's Combos) and cases. Then if all checks well for sizing, I'm going to start checking the other five ppc shellholders to see if any of them induce runout in the sizing process. After that, I will be checking my measurers, repairing/checking flags and stands, and then checking my rests and bags. Also, the new rifles and my action for my railgun (first year with a rail) will be in this week (so I'm told). Gotta go over them but I'm not anticipating a problem since I had my gunsmith go over everything and the new barrels are in the safe ready to go and at this point, my gunsmith is about the only thing/person I trust.

The morale of the story, these seater head/stems are ones I have used for the last couple of years and hadn't checked them. I used to check everything a few years ago to start the season off but had gotten complacent about it, thinking that since I hadn't ever had a problem with a new item, that I wouldn't. Goes back to the old saying "New just means unproven".

Check it all.

Hovis
 
On that note- How often do y'all check torque/tighten action bolts and rings screws?

Cheers,

Mark
 
Hovis,
You know you have a problem when you gasp from your sick bed "just get my reloading box and I'll be ok"," Now if you could just help me set up my powder measure and dies next to the bed here".:) If you could just set up my rifle and rest on the dresser there , just so I could look at it ?
Too much stuff is a curse,and all dies,bushings,stems,etc are not equal( as you have found).
Eat a bunch of grapefruit in the morning and drink lot's of cranberry juice all day ("trust me", I used to be a mortician's assistant).
Get well,Spring is just around the corner.
Joel
 
Kevin

I have been digging around in all of my boxes, and the one thing I can't seem to fine is a nice .150 agg hiding out.

If anybody happens to have a couple of extras that they don't need, I will be glad to take them off your hands.:D

Seriously, one of the things I have a bad habit of forgetting about is cleaning the insides of my dies. I know they look like cr-p from the outside, but that is all a smoke screen. It's what's inside that does the work, and to work properly, dies have to be free from dirt, crud, gobs of sizing wax, and what ever that stuff that blows around at Midland is.........jackie
 
You're right....

jackie schmidt said:
I have been digging around in all of my boxes, and the one thing I can't seem to fine is a nice .150 agg hiding out.

If anybody happens to have a couple of extras that they don't need, I will be glad to take them off your hands.:D

Seriously, one of the things I have a bad habit of forgetting about is cleaning the insides of my dies. I know they look like cr-p from the outside, but that is all a smoke screen. It's what's inside that does the work, and to work properly, dies have to be free from dirt, crud, gobs of sizing wax, and what ever that stuff that blows around at Midland is.........jackie
Click to expand...

Just received my new Forester Co-Ax press day before yesterday ($240 from Midway, cover included) and now since the dies are so easy to remove (just flick them out) I clean the inside after each reloading session. I really like the press; great primer catcher and super easy all purpose case holder. However, it is still the "Partner" that will go to the range with me. Using my Redding "S" type full length die, I get the same run-out (very small) with either press. But when preloading at home I like the connivence of the Forester.

virg
 
Great post Kevin. Last weekend was a great experience for me, but it was most importantly a learning experience. I spent the hole week prior to the shoot making sure i had everything i needed in my new loading box. I was sure, and even double sure i was covered. Well guess what? I forgot one little item and it cost me dearly. I forgot to pack a inside neck cleaning brush. I took a bunch of new cleaned cases to the shoot and had them all nice and loaded ahead of the replays but as the relays went on i started to get sloppy and i was mixing perfectly cleaned necked loads with a few loads i didnt clean the necks on from the relay before. I didnt think it would make much of a difference but it did. My 4th and fifth shot on one replay was with uncleaned necks loaded ammo and the two bullets from those uncleaned necks impacted completely different than the three with perfectly cleaned necks. I could feel the difference when seating the bullets, and i almost discarded them, but i didnt think it would matter. I soon asked to borrow a neck cleaning brush from my pard!! LOL!! Lets see what else happened? Oh ya! I dont really know what the cause was but i noticed big dents in the shoulders of my fired brass after one of the replays. I dont know if it was from the die or from the chamber. Needless to say i cleaned both immediately. My die was filthy inside but i didnt see any large pieces of debris. I dont think it was lube as the dents were really uniform and in the exact same place on all five rounds. Im just not real sure what it was. Anyway like i said great post. I hope your feeling better Kevin!! I guess now i am going to go check my dies. Lee
 
Lee,
Oh Boy, time to regroup.
One time brushed or unbrushed necks shouldn't result in differences of impact? Too much lube ?,dents in shoulder. Kernal of powder up in the seater die( not uncommon)?,kernal sized dent in the shoulder.Fibre from cleaning patch in chamber or bronze bristle in chamber ?,similiar dents in brass.Ya gotta keep dies inspected and clean( Q-tips are handy)If you feel something weird when you slip the seater die over the bullet case combo, might be the powder kernal thing. If you feel something weird when you close the bolt on a loaded round? bristle or cotton fibre,etc up in the chamber.Keep things clean,keep your eyes open,and if something "feels" funny,it probably is.
Joel
 
Joel
You dont think the difference in the neck tension between clean and unclean cases make any difference? Maybe it was all me? I was aware of this maybe i talked myself into it????? I tried to keep things clean but to be real honest i felt a little bit like a fish out of the water. I was worried about having ammo for the next relay, i was worried i didnt get the barrel clean enough, I was also worried that maybe i was cleaning to much. LOL!! I am just glad i made it through the first match. Now i can relax a bit and keep my mind a bit more free! Well maybe after the next shoot. Here in a couple weeks i am going back down to the club for a 600 yard match and a varmint for score. Should be a lot of fun, and i will make darn sure my dies and rifle stay nice and clean!! Thanks Lee
 
Lee,
Yeah,that first registered match is a traumatic experience.My mind trys to block it out, but It was Canastota,IBS Nationals,00' or 01. Lot's of problems(incorrect die set up, excessive shoulder bump,pierced primers and resultant bolt lock up and disassembly on the line) "one minute"," thirty seconds","ten seconds",finished dead ass last.Lot's of good people kept me from commiting suicide,Thanks, Barry Sullenberger, I'll never forget your help.
Lee,you'll be fine now that you've got one under your belt. Look forward to seeing you around.
Joel
 
Lee,

We have all had to borrow items for other shooters at one time or another. The hardest thing to overcome when new is actually asking. Most people that clean the inside of the neck (some don't) use a worn out and washed bore brush. I never felt comfortable doing that and use nylon one's but it's an option and from the number of people that use them, I don't think it makes any difference.

Hovis
 
Like i said above maybe it doesnt make any difference but i sure could feel the added resistance while seating the bullets. You know another thing i wonder about and maybe i shouldnt is if i truly have a perfectly tuned load for my rifle? My rifle shot really good no question but there wasnt hardly any effort in finding this load. .002 neck tension 28.8gr of 133 and a bruno double o. I tried 28.6gr and 29.0gr right before the match and the 28.8 shot the best. I want to keep all this as simple as possible but i cant help but think! LOL!!! Plus i am all out of the bruno bullets. So do i order more or try the ulrich bullets i have? Let me tell you fellas one thing, George ulrich is a good fella in my book! I did shoot some sight targets with his bullets and they also shot really well. I just dont want to over think all this and get myself in a mess. Simple is good, at least for me. Thanks fellas i really appreciate all of you!!! Lee
 
fellas i have one more i forgot story about the St Louis shoot. I hope you dont mind me sharing. Anyway i think it was the heavy varmint 200 yard third relay. I pretty much knew were my impacts should have been but my first shot went really high!! I sat there for a second and thought to myself something isnt quite right. I didnt know what i was a first but i knew if i shot another it was going to be bad. After checking everything i realised that i didnt tighten my course adjustment on my front rest. I use my course adjustment when going from the sighter to the score target. I tightened the the rest but thought to myself what the heck am i going to do???? I went back down to the sight er and fired a couple more shots to double check my impact points. After a few shot i figured it was time to see if i could hold this together. I found the spot on the target i needed to hold and let them fly! Believe it or not i saved that group and it was one of my better groups. I sure hope i dont do that again as it was pretty nerve racking! LOL!!! I had a great time, I really did!! Thanks for letting me share! Lee
 
Joel,

If I remember right (which is rare), I blieve you shoot pretty well at the range the Hog Roast is shot on. Please post or send me a PM on what to watch at the range. Any help or hints on the range would be great.

Hovis
 
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