Going to start reloading

[preventec47]

I taught myself to reload for pistols and rifles by purchasing used
press from Ebay and watching the many videos on YouTube showing
how it is done. Also the reload equip mfgrs like LEEs which are
the cheapest have many videos on their websites showing how they
are used. Reloading Supplies Products -MidwayUSA
is a good source for info about lots of different equipment and supplies
such as the new technology and very cheap digital scales etc.

---------- Post added at 04:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 AM ----------

I forgot to say that I did my first reloading by merely pulling 8mm
steel core bullets from Milsurp ammo and replacing with soft point
Speer hunting bullets. HA! before that I was taking the lead core
8mm milsurp cartridges and grinding off the pointed tips to make the
bullets flat nosed of about 177 in caliber ( the nose part ) this exposed
the inner core of soft lead and these worked very well on two deer
and one 175 pound hog. Well the hog was actually shot with a milsurp 8mm round of 198 gr with the bullet actually inserted into the case backwards. That bullet did not result in a pass-through !
but it did create a heck of a hole in the hog from a distance of 30 yards
from a YUGO 8mm Mauser.

[CINDERS]

Reloading is good economic sense but a few tips, the fastest load is not the best load.
BASIC INFO
Look at your data start low go in .2gn incretements same sight picture say at 100m and look for the nodes in the group, you will get dispersion in some loads and others the group will tighten up.
The load that produces the tightest group node is what to use.
Clean shells and primer pockets are a must.
What works in your mates 303 may not work in your besides I do not shoot any one elses reloads in my rifles that no matter what they say and is fraught with dangers.
Take your time and learn from others as we have all made small errors and are still here to talk about it like a primer in backwards oops.
At the very start stick to a rigid sequence as that is all reloading is a sequence as when you multi sequence things get missed like primer only in the case.
Always use a load that is above the cases 50% load capacity that way if you double charge one the case will over flow (Makes sense eh!)

1 powder on the bench at one time like you do not want 40 grains of Bullseye in your 303.
303's love stretching cases so keep an eye on them and get yourself a stuck case remover I have heard you can shove another live one up there with the bolt and it jams in the stuck case and will pull it out but do not do this get the right gear
Anyway there is more I could say but do not want to flood you just enjoy the journey and remember if in doubt ask the wisest of pelicans on this site as the advice is hard won from years of playing the game and you cannot buy that type of experience.

[WarPig1976]

I have to ask,, did you purposely seat the bullet backwards? or was it untouched surplus? And then,,WHY would you shoot a known defective round?
Hopefully your paying attention to bullet weight vs powder charge when your swapping bullets. I don't mean to chastise you but for a newbie your doing some "iffy" stuff. I would down shift and get a firmer grip before I proceeded.

[preventec47]

WARPIG said:
I have to ask,, did you purposely seat the bullet backwards? or was it untouched surplus? And then,,WHY would you shoot a known defective round?
Hopefully your paying attention to bullet weight vs powder charge when your swapping bullets. I don't mean to chastise you but for a newbie your doing some "iffy" stuff. I would down shift and get a firmer grip before I proceeded.

///////////////////////////////

This was a few years ago and I am well down the road now but at the time, I had
an opportunity to go hunting and had no hunting ammo whatsoever. So it was either make
do with milsurp or no hunt for that day. I didnt even have a press but used my bolt
action to push the bullet back into the case.
I did not alter the powder quantity of the milisurp bullets that I ground the tips off of or the
one that I turned around backward to shoot. That was a YUGO sniper 198gr I believe
and when turned around it became the worlds largest hollow hollow-point-boat tail-
bullet ever. Shot from about 30 yards and a little high at the hog quartering away.
It went in in the 5th or 6th rib and above the heart and blew up the insides pretty
good before coming to stop against the far side shoulder. Hog only went 3 or 4 steps
before lying down.

I now do proper loading with scales and press etc but I wont forget how to make do
in a jam if you only have misurp on hand. I read later that Eskimos sometimes
do the same thing with 7.62x54R as the ammo is cheap and milsurp apparently
fires well in cold weather. Saw where one guy for relatively close range hunting,
snipped the tips off milsurp ammo with wire cutters and tried to shape the tip a bit
to be uniform and he said they worked weil out to 75 yards.

[WarPig1976]

Using your rifle as a press,, that's a new one.

[vintage hunter]

Trimming the tips on FMJ bullets to make ersatz soft points is not a good idea at all. During manufacture FMJ bullets have the core inserted from the rear and have an ''open base'' as opposed to soft points where the core is inserted from the front and have a closed base. Trimming the tips creates a bullet that's open on both ends with nothing to hold the core in place and the high pressures can under the right circumstances push the core out leaving the jacket in the bore and if undetected the next shot would surely be detrimental. If milsurp is all you had available to hunt with you'd be better off leaving is be and making head or spine shots.

[preventec47]

I certainly appreciate the thought Vintage Hunter as it may be a possibility that
SOME FMJ bullets could separate but not in the case of these Milsurps with tough
tough tough jackets. In fact I think the jackets are magnetic. A copper steel
alloy of some sort. But i was skeptical like yourself at first and ran about twenty
down the barrel getting on paper and sighting the gun in etc before the hunt.

I made sure every hole in the target looked good. Nontheless, I do believe the
bond between the jacket and the inner core is greater than the friction
of jacket to the barrel. Not just that but the jacket has to be swaged somewhat
to allow the inner core to slip through like you say. Shooting guns are calculated
risks and our jobs are to minimize them by paying close attention .... and
not to abandon the hunt.
I did however always know that my barrel was unobstructed and it is
easy to check if doubt exists. Anyway, thats my story of how i got started reloading.

[WarPig1976]

Surplus 7.62+54R contains a mild steel core, some people think its armor piercing but it's not, that's what attracts a magnet. There is only a very little lead at the tip. By snipping the tip off in effect your shooting a steel slug which does not mushroom. Leaving the tip will not cause the bullet to mushroom either because,,,,,,, it's steel cored.

[preventec47]

WarPig you would be right if ALL 7.62x54R milsurp was steel core AND I was using some
of it. The milsurp ammo I have ( bought 880 rounds in spam can ) has soft lead
core surrounded by jacket that looks copper color AND attracts a magnet. YUP copper steel
alloy sounds pretty funky but it must be true unless there is some other material that is
magnetic. My biggest worry is that the steel jacket is overly tough on bore and will wear
the grooves off. But I've never heard of that being a problem so I guess not.

I remember when I was first checking it out as I thought what you thought when magnet
picked up bullet. SO, I peeled the jacket off the core with needle nose pliers and chisel etc
and tested with magnet like that.

[CINDERS]

Hopefully you have stopped the making your own kick ar*e projies as I am sure one day your gunna find the copper jacket may come off the core whatever its made of same recoil etc slam another round in 'cause there is a whole mess of vermin your eradicating and fire!!! Hmmm projie meets cooper jacket stuck in bore with about 40,000 psi behind it, ooooh lookee here a bulged barrel at the least one hopes without any damage to the shooter.
Sorry bloke one does not use a rifle as a press and as stated do questionable things reloading as you are really playing with dynamic forces which when go into an uncontrolled state can kill you, just ask the guy who tried to tap out a stuck live round with a cleaning rod at a rifle range, well you'll have to go where he is buried to ask him or the person who was injured from flying shrapnel eminating from the chamber backwards when the stuff let loose.
And just buy a stuck case remover they are pretty cheap as I have only been told about using another round why risk having a serious jam in your rifle and wreck a hunting trip.

The Germans in WWI carried a few rounds with turned projies in their cases to act as a kind of minature squish round to defeat the armour on the British tanks which was only about 1/2" thick as the base hit first supporting the core and allowing it to penertrate the armour and bounce around inside with the crew doing what bullets do best.