Logjam

The bottleneck is no longer the reloading bench. Now, actually delivering the lead to steel is the problem. I guess I could load up the stinking small primer 45 auto brass...

Whew!

Prepped 700 cases tonight. That kinda sucked. Including 200 odd cases that needed the Glock bulge removed* and 40 or so that needed a trim. But they are ready to prime and go anytime now. Though I do need to check the case length on the 45 brass...

*I had to buy more storage bins today for all the 40 S&W brass I've collected. Oh, woe is me, I know.

Forty

Playing with 40 S&W reloads. 135 grain Nosler jhp over 7.2 grains bullseye. Punchy. 180 grain Berry's over 3.8 grains bullseye. Ran. Dropped it to 3.6 grains for the next few to try next time. CCI small pistol.

I like the Lee deglocking kit. I saved a metric ton of Tula brass cases fired by a coworker's G23. The kit removed the bulges just fine for use in my M&P.

Organizing (And Fail! After Action Report)

I've forced myself to set my system in 6.8 like I do in 300 BLK.

Primed cases go into the 40 S&W tray on the left. Upside down so I'm not temped to grab them and stick a bullet in them.

While charging cases, they are in the white tray. If you note the powder level in these cases, it is only 29.4 grains of Re10x.*

Grab a bullet, seat it and place it in the green tray. 90 grain Speer TNT, in this case.

Use the Lee Factory Crimp Die and place into case. Done.

I do posses more loading trays. But they are the "dirty" trays covered in case lube. I don't like that crap around powder period. The 40 trays are a handy, compact way to keep brass together. 9mm trays work fine for .223 Remington based cases.



*I now know what I did to screw up. Besides not putting powder into 4 cases and not checking the powder level before seating bullets. Note the height of powder in these cases- some are very near the top, others not so much. Hornady cases vary in weight by lot number. Of the 100 once fired cases I prepped tonight (primed with a CC450 primer) 20 weighed in at 117-120 grains. 80 of them weighed 127-130 grains. The lighter cases have more case volume. Meaning a lower powder level in those cases. Most of the last batch were of the high volume variety. Save for one. I fixated on that one, (#21 of 30) weighing the powder two or three times to assure myself it had the same charge. I then skipped to #26 and continued charging cases. And failed double check my work before continuing.

With 300 BLK I check every time. The powder level is so low in the case that it is almost never visible from an angle. I've done about 1K of them since the last time I loaded 6.8 SPC.

That made a huge difference

Finally got some AA1680. (Thanks to my wife, no less) That stuff rules for subsonic 300 BLK. Even with the heavy buffer, it locked back at 11.2 grains, magnum or regular primers. Carbine or pistol. The 150 grain loads worked in either pistol or rifle with H110 loaded to 16.6 to 16.8 grains and regular primers.

Range time

Made a hipster load for the 300 Blackout. 130 grain round noses meant for a 30-30 levergun. Speer 2007. In my gun, they feed fine.  The lighter of the two didn't lock back one time with a Pmag, but ran fine in GI style magazines. No clue what the OAL is, I made samples that loaded in the mag properly and fed, then based the rest on those. Update- 1.90-1.91" Short bullet is short.

50 yard target. Top left, top right and bottom right 130 grain 6.8. Center is my hipster 300 BLK load. Bottom left???? Center bottom is a 30 round mag, irons, 125 grain TNT 300, 17.5 grains H110, Rem 6 1/2 primer.

 

Center- 5x2 attempts at subsonic. 200 grain Speer. The only functional loads- 12.3 grains H110. I think they were supersonic. Bottom left was 150 grain Speer Hotcores over 16.8 and 17.2 grains H110. 6 1/2 all around. 25 yards. Top left 30 rounds of the 125 grain load, irons. Top right and bottom right were the 130 grain loads, adjusting the irons L to R and up to where I want them.

Well, that went better

The 300 BLK brass I made today fit in the chamber and went bang. Always a bonus. Now I'm running up against the not enough .308 bullets wall.

Also got to fix a case over bolt malfunction. I made this batch a little shorter, and the aluminum mag hated them. Couldn't load over 20 rounds, and the last two decided to leave the mag at the same time. I pulled the buffer tube out, cleared it. Worked fine for the next PMag. Another PMag was fully loaded, no problems. Locked back properly, 3 o'clock ejection. 17.5 grains of H110, 125 Speer TNT, Rem 6 1/2 primers. 2.06 or so OAL. 2.09 has run fine in the past; this was also a new mag. And I was using it as a rest. It was raining, and I decided to just shoot at an existing target. So no pictures.

Range time

Sighted in the Blackout with my reloads. 16.8 grains H110, CCI 450, 125 grain Speer TNT. 2.10 OAL. All at 25 yards.

 

Playing mix and match with the purple. The A2 stock is a little long. Who decided on that length? I'm 6'5" and it seems like a stretch. But, the scope might be a little forward for an A2 stock.

 

The 6.8 target. 50 yards, 115 grain Nosler, 25.8 grains Re10x, CCI450. 2.29" OAL

The readjusted cases worked better. (bolt closing is good, right?) Lock back was intermittent. Hell, feeding was intermittent. This thing was dead nuts with new ammo. Now, anything over 10 rounds, it is pissy. Thought the rifle extension and its heavy buffer would slow it down. It might be too slow. I will also try a different bullet, see if it will digest some 130 grain hot cores. Its sister eats those for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. but groups like crap with the 115 grain Noslers. This load was on the light side.

Center was cold bore. Top right 8 were the finale. Top left 7 was shoot, clear, shoot, clear. Lube stupid bolt carrier more, shoot, clear. Bottom left and right were 15 round mag shot slow, steady with flyers caused by a cranky trigger yanker cursing the single shot crap.

One nice thing about 6.8 SPC

Diversification. I can use either large or small primers to reload, as I have all four (6!) flavors of brass. Remington and S&B large primer brass. The small primer brass from Hornady, Silver State Armory (Barrett) and now small primer S&B brass I picked up from Ammo.net a few months ago. So, for the main caliber I reload, I can be happy that the local stores have just about any rifle primer in stock.


Just a thought after resizing 300+ cases and justifying keeping all those head stamps straight. Normally I only shoot one kind of brass at a time, but my last range trip pretty much had some of every brass loaded up. I try to keep .223 separated for ammo I shoot for accuracy. Not so much for plinking ammo.

Looks like I'll be going into 300 BLK without any loaded ammo of any kind. Guess I'll be testing the roll your own abilities of the cartridge. Might be a good time to finish my annealing setup. Of course, by the time all of the alleged "in stock" parts arrive, Rubio will be running against Fauxcahontas for president.

Reloading with odd powders

It is a win win right now for me. Scored some more AA2200.

Now if my 27 lbs of Nosler bullets would get here...
(Sounds cooler than saying 6 boxes)

Sunday range trip

Took the 6.8 out for a few shots on Sunday. Nothing major; 350 reloads of various grains. I've it said before, if I don't shoot for whatever reason, I still reload a few more. Had to buy some more ammo boxes this time. Also ran some .223 reloads through Fugly. I am convinced it works much better with a commercial bolt carrier vs a mil-spec (m-16) carrier. Or my M-16 carrier sucks. Or I need an XM177 moderator....wait, that would be 2 stamps in one....

 I actually tried on this target-the corners are 110 grain Prohunters that I loaded in a ladder. The best groups were the lowest and second highest loads. There is a "but" I will get to later. Like a dumbass, I spilled the box of reloads after the first time through. So that batch turned into blasting ammo. Guess I could have brought it home and weighed them. Nah....

 The center was 130 grain of some type. I don't have a picture of the 120 grain Hornaday SSTs- I loaded them hot and they hit about 3" above the center of the targets. Ok, I do have pics, but they are of 25+ round groups. Not very informative.

Last of the zombie chick targets:

Zombie bacon:

I mentioned a "but" earlier. I was not shooting off my normal rest. Other people were using them, so I was shooting my ARs off a crappy sandbag and 2 loose 2x4s. Yeah, might be time to get/make a proper rest. It was funny, watching one of them resting the barrel directly on the 2x4s. Um, you have a bolt gun that is free floated.... ah, never mind. Says the guy shooting a non-free floated AR :)

All targets 50 yards, irons or cheap red dot. 1395 rounds since early October on the 6.8. Put 90 through Fugly, including some Fiocchi 40 grain v-max. Shoot that, then shoot 140 grain from a 6.8 back to back. The latter does not feel like a poodle shooter.

Soon to come- case annealing.

6.8 reloading deal alert

115 grain Nosler overrun bullets $15.95 /100 at Shooters Pro Shop.

I guess I will find out how long it takes for them to ship. I've never caught them with blems/overruns in stock before.

1000 6.8 SPC rounds in less than one month

Yeah, I couldn't help myself. I loaded up 100 more last night and lit them off after work. My main goal was to keep them on paper. So now this upper is at 1005 rounds. Since October 2nd. Not my highest round count in one month. The highest 6.8 SPC round count, though. The video explains the target. 50 yards.

And the aftermath

At least I have figured out that if I keep the cases separated at the range, it makes prep easier.

Range trip

I reload 50 or 100 at a time. If I don't go shooting, I use that time to reload 50 or 100 more. So I had built up 250 rounds, plus found some loaded Hornaday V-Max that was on sale. For a little more than the price of brass. So I went out today and finalized sighting the irons, and shot 300 rounds through the PSA 6.8 upper. That brings the total to 905 rounds.

 Hornaday V-Max. 10 shot groups.

 130 grain Speer or Sierra Spitzers. They shoot interchangeably. BUIS at 50. That is a 5 shot group.

 More of the same, I call that a flyer. I have video of how I beat this gun somewhere....

First BUIS group- figured out the stupid thing had loosened up. Tight now.

This is the current configuration. That is a Mako GLR-16 non-recoil reducing stock. It has the option of a cheek piece, which I did not get. Might be useful with a scope. Oh, and a BCM Mod3 charging handle. Only a few bucks more than a standard handle. I see the plus side to adding a second way to charge the gun, and feel it out weights the risk of wearing on the upper. At least the BCM seems to be a solid piece.

It shoots the factory V-Max near the POA of the 130 grain bullets that I am liking very much. 110 grain Prohunter groups opened up quite a bit save for one loading. I did a ladder, it was actually the second lightest load I tried. The 130's shoot like the 120 grain Hornaday SST. I worked a new mag into the rotation- it is a sticky, nondropping turd. And one other mag does not like to seat unless FIRMLY installed. This showed up with 10+ round loadings. Glad I am trying more than just 5 at a time.

Also finished sighting the 11.5 with a standard carry handle. It is so dirty it will not even lock back on XM193. I've lost count how many rounds since I cleaned it- June or so. 1K+ at least. Maybe 1500. Time to clean that one.

Took the 6.8 out today

Ran 245 through the PSA upper. In under an hour. It was windy. 30 mph winds across/down range and drizzling. So, I gave up on targets- they would not stay on the cardboard. Put some cardboard up at 25 yards and plugged away at that. It was more of a bullet/minimum load test anyway. Turned it into a full mag test- found out one mag hated being loaded past 16 rounds at 2.295+ OAL, so it wasn't a total failure. Also placed a cardboard box on the ground at 100 yard and plugged away at it. Okay, it blew off the stand and ended up there. Had an interesting hole in the backside with 130 grain Speer #1458 bullets. All shots fired standing, kneeling or sitting. The benches and tables were soaked, the concrete was dry enough to sit on.

I think it was from a lengthwise shot at an angle- about 2x3" total. This pic was taken after recovering the moving box and tacking it the the 25yard stand. Most of the holes were from 90 grain Speer TNTs.

 These were from some 130 grain Speer 1459 bullets. Do like. Referenced on the crease.

This was factory SSA 115 OTM fired at the end of the trip- again, the only reference point was putting the dot on the crease in the cardboard.

Current config- that is a Truglo Triton TG8365B. So far it has held up to 605 shots through this thing. Still haven't picked out a matching stock.

Today's loads:
130 grain Speer 1458 and 1459. 24.2 grains Reloder 10x, Win Large Magnum or CCI 450 primers.
90 grain Speer TNT, 29.5 grain Reloder 10x CCI 450 or Win Large Magnum.
120 grain SST, 26.3 grains H322 Win Large Magnum primer. These flattened the primers. No swipes.

Added: Ace was supposed to bring out his new Rock River to try it out. Guess I'll buy his excuse that it would be hard to sight in with the wind and rain.....

PSA upper still works

Put another 200 through it Sunday. 50 new and 150 reloads. I've had three problems the whole time. One fail to feed on a 100 grain Speer hollow point. Those buggers have a very odd shape, and I was loading them right at 2.295-2.30" inches. One mag would not feed them properly. Shortening the them to 2.285 solved that problem.  One fail to lockup, the primer was not seated correctly. My SSA brass has crimped primer pockets, I am working on getting them reamed out to seat correctly. Usually, I work around those cases, but was running low on prepped brass. And one failure to eject. At the end of a 30 shot string. My fault again- the brass catcher was full- it has nowhere to go.

It shoots fine when hot too. Of course, it was at 50 yards. I did make a loose cardboard target dance at 100 yards......

Quick range test update

I fired my customary 10 rounds through the Palmetto State Armory 6.8 SPCII upper. It is now good to go against any zombies I might see.........






Yeah, I didn't buy that either. I shot around 150-160 rounds through it over the course of 2 hours.

This target is at 50 yards. All shots from a rest. With a red-dot. (More on that later) The center was 15 rounds fired rapidly (have video!) of 100 grain Speer hollow point reloads.  Bottom right and top right are 4 shot groups of Hornaday 120 grain SST factory loads. Top left is Silver State Armory 115 grain OTM. Bottom left is some .223 reloads used to sight in the other red dot (even more on that later)

The PSA was that accurate with the Magpul buis and front post too.......

More of the Speer 100 grain reloads.

That was strange

I came back from the range with 2 more Fiocchi .223 cases than I shot. Haven't quite figured that one out. All the cases are prepped, loaded with either Remington or Hornaday 55 grain FMJ. 25 grains of Win748 and CCI450 primers, just like I have been using before.

The Fiocchi cases didn't require a lot of force in resizing. Flash holes are mostly off center. Primers didn't seem to be crimped very hard, or at all. New primers slid in firmly, but smoothly. Unlike the '10' marked Lake City brass that seems to be impossible to remove the crimp on without a power tool. Even then I feel like I am destroying the stuff. And I found some PSD brass that I just threw out. That stuff is not worth my time to fight. I need to stock up on the Remington brass. It seems easy to reload without the pain the ass work the other brands require. Planning to get some dedicated brass for hunting rounds, and leave the plinking stuff for practice.

"Did that dumbass say he might hunt with an 11.5" gun?"

Maybe. Why not? Nosler 60 grain are good down to 1600 FPS. It seems accurate. Lighter bullets might be good for squirrel. Though I'm afraid all I will find are bits and pieces. Coyotes. I'm also thinking longer barreled upper for prairie dogs and the like in the future.

That was pretty cool

Found out how many .223 rounds you can load with BL-C(2). With 27 grains of powder, it was 259 rounds. Quick math check. 7000 grains per pound, divided by 27, equals 259.26.


My cost is $5.34 per 20 rounds using 55 grain Hornaday at $14/100, 1 lb powder $23 - 259 rounds. Using Win small rifle primers at 3.79 per 100. (I have cheaper options) Saves $2.60/box on plinking ammo IF you don't mind the time. I need cheaper bullets. I can get them cheaper at Scheels, just need to get out there. Didn't include brass, as it is paid for already, but will need replaced eventually.