Reloading At the Range

C

cwood3

Guest
What are the "in the know" BR shooters using for reloading press at the range????Harrell's...??....etc??

Thanks,

CW
 
Harrels, Hood, RFD "O" Frame, and even the RCBS Partner press.

If you have the money the RFD press is my pick, but it is a bit expensive at $400.00.

As far as seating goes with wilson dies any arbor press will work.

Its just money, right?:eek: (thats what people tell me:D)

Zach
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Press ?

cwood3 said:
What are the "in the know" BR shooters using for reloading press at the range????Harrell's...??....etc??

Thanks,

CW
Click to expand...

I press the bolt upward , eject the empty and load a fresh round I brought wif me. :D

I think you might be better served loading at home, coating your bullets and cleaning when you get home. Leave your reloading and cleaning stuff at home and enjoy your day shooting. Of course you will need to shoot a 30 to do this I think. ;)
 
Last edited:
Press

I have a Harrell's and an RCBS Partner. Julia likes the Partner press so she has two of her own.

eBay is my friend,

Adrian
 
For load development loading at the range is definitely the hot tip. One of our good shooters uses the smallest Lee C press for some of his loading. He also uses an arbor press.
 
Well...

cwood3 said:
What are the "in the know" BR shooters using for reloading press at the range????Harrell's...??....etc??

Thanks,

CW
Click to expand...

I'm questionable in the know, but for my money the Partner RCBS press produces almost dead straight cases and loaded rounds for around $60. Not the cats meow but very effective. --Greg
 
I use the RCBS partner press for FL sizing and an arbor press for seating. This setup makes as good of ammo as anything but the Hood Combo press is slick and takes up less storage space.
 
Cw

Many, (probably the majority), of competitive shooters use a high dollar super stiff premium press such as a Harrels, or a clone. They are very nice.

But, some of us, have a little different take. To me, a press is nothing but an instrument to furnish the power to get the case in and out of the die. I want it to play no role what so ever in the "precision" part of the proccess. That is the job of the loading dies.

So, I use RCBS Partner Presses that I have actually added a little clearence in the rams. That way, nothing in the press can bind the case as it enters the die, and is removed. Keep in mind, unless the press-shellholder assy is dead nuts square and true, you are better off removing it as a potential factor.

Of course, if you are loading large cases at the range, you need a press that is suitable. A Partner is not one of those. A full size 308 taxes one pretty much.

The only proof of how well a press and die combination works is in the straightness and precision of the ammunition that it produces........jackie
 
Cw ...

Here's an interesting thought ... and response by Jim Borden:

Should You Bench Load ???

The majority of top 6PPC competitors load ammo on match day, playing with load weights to suit the charge to temperature and humidity. While this allows you to get peak velocity on a cool day, and avoid over-charges in very hot conditions, "bench loading is a huge distraction", and isn't essential.

Hall of Famer Jim Borden: "I have my ammunition already loaded for [major matches]. It's working, both rifles are Agging in the 'low Ones', with a load of about 29.0gr N133, running about 3300 fps."

"Loading to conditions on match day can kill you. All you can do is go by memory and guess-timates. If your rifle has good vibration control, you'll typically have an accuracy window of 100-125 fps."

"I set preloads for velocity in the middle of the accuracy window which lets me shoot in any conditions. Studies by Jack Jackson convinced me we could let ammo sit for as long as a year and accuracy will hold."
 
Hmmmmmmm, maybe I should just load at home, fill the brass to top, skim off with a butter knife, and smash a bullet in....

Just kidding, the responses above are very much appreciated. I'm kinda in a state of flux due to the fact that I need to also reload for my handguns. Without a doubt, I'll end up with some flavor of turret press for quantity pistol loads and another press dedicated for my 6BR. I've always loved the precision instruments available out there and my excessive compulsive disorder gets me in a lot of trouble.

CW
 
jackie schmidt said:
Many, (probably the majority), of competitive shooters use a high dollar super stiff premium press such as a Harrels, or a clone. They are very nice.

But, some of us, have a little different take. To me, a press is nothing but an instrument to furnish the power to get the case in and out of the die. I want it to play no role what so ever in the "precision" part of the proccess. That is the job of the loading dies.

So, I use RCBS Partner Presses that I have actually added a little clearence in the rams. That way, nothing in the press can bind the case as it enters the die, and is removed. Keep in mind, unless the press-shellholder assy is dead nuts square and true, you are better off removing it as a potential factor.

Of course, if you are loading large cases at the range, you need a press that is suitable. A Partner is not one of those. A full size 308 taxes one pretty much.

The only proof of how well a press and die combination works is in the straightness and precision of the ammunition that it produces........jackie
Click to expand...



Pay close attention to this post :)

Jackie is a Machinist, Jackie knows concentricity and Jackie understands tolerance stack.

"a press is nothing but an instrument to furnish the power to get the case in and out of the die."

this is Good Stuff.

Regarding the concentricity issue, I pack a little Lee press like the one at the bottom of the page here >>> http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1206109350.2885=/html/catalog/rlpress1.html <<< in my varminting kit. It too makes straight ammo BECAUSE it's sloppy. Slow but functional.



That said, I LOVE my Hood. It's small and light, compact and well thought out. It's also very easy on the eyes, I like this kind of Good Stuff too but it's a luxury. For utility and ease of setup, for price VS performance it's hard to beat something like the little Partners.

al
 
I'm not an in "the know" shooter so to speak but find tweaking loads for hunting or comp rifles at the range for me is achived with an RCBS Junior or Partner press ,the pretty ones are good I'm sure but I have these on hand and they suit my present needs.
 
CW

Would it surprise you to hear that some of our HOF, World Class shooters use a Lyman nutcracker tool? With custom made precision dies of course.

Ray
 
Stephen Perry said:
Speedpro
Benchrest Central attracts all kinds of shooters. Most recommend what they use in a press and should be taken at that. Your RCBS Junior & Partner presses will do fine in BR and Field load operations. I have a Hood, Partner, Rockchucker, CH, R2. Any of them would do the job at the range. Learn to use what you got.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
Click to expand...

Duh ! :confused:
 
speedpro said:
Duh ! :confused:
Click to expand...

speed

I'm not sure what the intent of your post was. :confused:

Stephen's answer was clear to me, and he and I usually don't agree on a lot of stuff. I think he was saying pretty much the same thing you did a few posts earlier. That is - most any press will work just fine, learn to use what you have, and most recommendations will reflect the posters preference, not necessarily that it's any better than another.

JMHO

Ray
 
Cheechako said:
speed

I'm not sure what the intent of your post was. :confused:

Stephen's answer was clear to me, and he and I usually don't agree on a lot of stuff. I think he was saying pretty much the same thing you did a few posts earlier. That is - most any press will work just fine, learn to use what you have, and most recommendations will reflect the posters preference, not necessarily that it's any better than another.

JMHO

Ray
Click to expand...

my mistake, something told me that morning coffee was too weak !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top