Some Finer Points on Handloading/Reloading Nit-picking and improving accuracy by care

[John Boy]

A long read ... Enjoy
http://varmintal.com/arelo.htm

[WardT]

Lots of good points.
Is Varmint Al still around ?

[alamogunr]

If you read on down and get to the picture of his "Mini Lathe", click on it and it takes you to a completely different article. That article is sort of an autobiography. Very interesting.

Overall, a good way to spend a couple of hours on the two articles.

[ipopum]

It is to bad that much of what is in his to do list has been debunked by people have more experience than he does.

Some of it is in the area if it makes you feel better do it.

Of course that is my opinion. I have tried some of it and could not see any difference.

[Stephen Cohen]

I come across this some while back and found much of it did help a great deal in the accuracy department. I uniform cases in regard to length flash holes primer pockets and cleaning up necks, and I found all this does help a great deal with accuracy in my hunting rifles. I found my 357 Maximum to really shine with cast after performing case unification. I am no longer a long range shooter but if I can make a 2'' shooter shoot from 1'' to 1 1/2'' I consider it well worth the time,s does my brother who now does the same prep. I am sure it may not be for everyone but I would certainly suggest one try. Regards Stephen

[John Boy]

A material overlooked process ... POLISH THE DIES.... I polish the inside of my rifle reloading dies. Most die manufacturers leave the die bores smooth but not polished. A polished die will resize with much less axial force than one in the as-received condition. I disassemble them and put a little Flitz on a cotton bore mop held in a drill motor and polish each one for 30 seconds or more at a 300 to 600 rpm speed. Sometimes I have to wrap a paper towel around the swab to get a good fit. Then I clean all the polish out with hot water and dry with a paper towel wrapped around a clean cotton swab. The polishing process does not remove a measurable amount of material, but results in smoother operation, minimizes the scratching or scoring of the brass, and minimizes crumpling problems when I use them while forming wildcat brass.

WHY POLISHED DIES HELP.... When you are resizing brass, there are combined forces involved. In necking down a diameter, there is a radial force moving the metal toward the center and an axial force, produced by friction, that tends to shorten the column length. For larger changes in diameter, the radial force increases. Since the axial force is equal to the friction coefficient times the radial force, a corresponding larger axial force is produced. High axial forces can crumple the brass when its critical buckling load is exceeded.

[dave 45-90]

Start with a good barreled action stock and chamber
Fire form brass to a dedicated gun and cast chamber. Check Headspace
Primer pocket depth and flash hole centers
Turn to a spec length
Turn the necks or ream Experiment
Size with a bushing neck die. So just keeping the bullet from falling out and tighten a little at a time to tune
Use Wilson hand dies to seat bullet and experiment with different seating depth
Run concentric gauge on finished round
That kinda starts the process
Different powders and weight, primers, I like Lapua Brass . It's an endless process.
The process is different for autos

[Stephen Cohen]

John Boy I also polish my dies for the same reason, anyone who loads for 458 WM will know how easy it is to crush shell with rough dies. Regards Stephen