Really?? Oh, man, this makes me not happy. I only use smks for my 223 AR, the 69 smks, to be precise. My bolt gun is on a steady diet of Bergers, and those things are so sweet.. Same size, same weight, same everything. Really a premium bullet, but... They do command a premium price, one that I cannot justify for an autoloader.

I bought the Redding micrometer three die set. I like them a lot and will probably buy them for a couple of other rifle calibers.

So, if I run those cases through a resizer, would I have to retrim also? I guess I could just run them through a case gauge and just see if they are still in spec. So does the Sheridan case gauge do the same as the Wilson, maybe just a little more precise?

So the entire redding set or the redding sizer and the Forster seating die? Since I have the RT1200 should I just get the sizing die for it?

I'll do some more research on the pulled M80's. I had not heard that. I was hoping to get those for plinking for my 300blk and my scar 17 (when I get one ). Are there just not very many cheap "plinking" bullets for the 30's?

Thanks for helping me muddle my way through all this. I've enjoyed learning from you guys and can't wait to run some rounds through mine

If you run the cases through a resizer, you may or may not have to trim. Depends on if/how you are going to crimp. If you're going to crimp during seating (Depending on if your seating die does this), then you want the case lengths to be pretty close to one another. If you're cimping with the Lee FCD, my understanding is that it's a bit more forgiving (again, just my understanding - still waiting for my stuff to get here). Either way, eventually, you're going to need to trim.

With regards to the RT1200, I can't comment on that, since I don't have one. I use a WFT.

Not sure the attraction to the sheridan gage, except that they have that "cutaway" version that allows you to see the round while you're gaging it. A novel concept, but I can't see my way to spending that money. Rounds either gage, or they go in the reject bucket where they are disassembled and go through the whole sizing/loading process again. Wilson gages will tell you if your dies are right, and you can damn sure drop loaded ammo into them to see if it will chamber. Measure OAL from the ogive, use quality equipment, and you should have no problems.

My preferred rifle setup is a Redding sizing die and a Forster Ultra Micrometer Seater. Again, this is mostly personal preference, pretty much any set of dies out there will make ammo that is to spec and perfectly fine for plinking. I just really like the micrometer seater dies because they have a very deep channel or "tunnel" and support the entire case and bullet as it is going into the die. The bottom of the die, towards the shellplate, has a spring loaded collar, which holds everything, so no more finger pinching. That, and the ability to just dial in your adjustment on the top is really nice if you switch bullets often, or are into precision stuff where adjusting the jump/jam has an effect on accuracy.

The M80 pulls - you really should read the whole 11 page report for yourself and put pen to paper to see where the dollars meet the sense. You may or may not find that it will be an issue for you. For example, if the barrel wears out 2 - 3 times faster with the bimetal jackets vs regular FMJs, but barrel life is 15k with FMJ, then that would mean you'd need to replace the barrel roughly every 5000 rounds with bimetal. How long will it take you to shoot 5000 rounds? Do you shoot a lot, or is 5000 rounds approaching the 10 year mark for you? Also, weigh the cost of a barrel vs the cost of the better ammunition. I could be wrong, but I'm thinking a SCAR barrel will run you quite a bit. Not sure what barrel is on your 300, but you can get pretty good quality AR barrels in the sub-$300 range.

Me? I'm kind of high volume (at least in my .223 AR, the rifle that was used in the report/comparison), and not only that, but I can't justify additional wear on my barrel for the privilege of shooting LESS ACCURATE ammo.

We'll see what happens with 300. Powder valley sells the 125gr SMK 500-count boxes for $148. That's not too bad. The 220's are $193. I can't see myself being THAT high volume that I'm not willing to spend an extra 10 cents a bang for a more accurate bullet that won't wear my barrel as fast.

For the record, M193 and M855 are not bi-metal jackets. For some reason though, M80 is. Dunno. The trick to knowing if you should buy pulled bullets or not is to see if they are magnetic. If they are, then they are bimetal, and you don't want them. If they say non-magnetic, you should be GTG.

The Redding seating die also can do a roll crimp, but you do not want to roll crimp any bullets that do not have a cannelure. I back my seating die out so that it seats only and then use a Lee FCD to give a factory crimp on any type of bullet.

Wilson case gauge is fine. The only extra thing that the Sheridan gauge checks is for the case neck diameter. The Wilson is a little forgiving on case diameter and the Sheridan is to SAAMI specs. I honestly probably prefer the Wilson.

Guys - here are a deal on plinking bullets if you want them.

150gr M2 (Copper jacket, NOT steel jacket like the old M80 147's) - $395/2000 http://www.wideners.com/itemde...ir=278|281|1081|1161

Of course I've not shot these or relaoded them yet, but several guys on the 300 BLK forums picked some up and are saying they are good, so I thought I'd post them here. $.20 for a 150gr.. Not a bag deal. That's about what I've been paying for 69SMKs for my 223. LOL

I wonder how these would work. They are about the same price (actually just a tad cheaper).

http://www.wideners.com/itemde...ir=278|281|1081|1161

I saw those...

But last I looked, they weren't in stock.

Before I go buying 2100 of them, I'm going to see how they do. I found that same bullet in 100 packs at a local place, picked up 300. I'll let you know. Probably won't be for at least 2-3 weeks though, so if you want to be the guinea pig, don't let me hold you back.

I do use the 150 gr hornady FMJ w/c for my general plinking round, relatively inexpensive and can usually find them in stock. Lil' gun was the powder I landed on for the mid weight projectiles. YMMV so test a few.

What was that load you let me shoot at the MN SF shoot this summer? Was that a 150 with lil gun?

You, BTW, are the reason I'm getting into this. I KNEW shooting that thing would cost me money. LOL!!

Hah, that's right! Yep, those were 150's over 14 gr of lil gun using cci #400 at 2.065 OAL. That's ok, I'm going to blame you when I buy my ssg 3000...call it even?

Works for me!

Woo-Hoo!!! I scored some 1680 today I don't like buying powder 1lb at a time, but I'll take what I can find. As soon as my dies get in, I'll be loading up some 125SST's and I think I may try those 150's too.

Nice score. Where'd you find it?

My Redding dies, shell holder, Lee Factory Crimp die, 3x100 round boxes of 240gr SMKs, and some extra plastic ammo boxes should be arriving today. I got clear colored boxes so I can easily tell them apart from the smoke colored boxes I keep .223 in.

I orederd a LE Wilson case gage from another seller and it should be here on Tuesday.

I want to get a trim die from Brad's Warehouse soon but for now I will just use my forster trimmer with power drill and 3 way cutter.

I was looking at the harbor freight mini chop saw and 300 BLK cutting Jig, but having to anneal the brass is the main stumbling block for me. If I do that, I want to do them consistantly and in volume, and to do that well it takes some serious bucks. I think at this time it will be more economically viable to juts buy converted brass from one of the many sources on line.

Question about the annealing. I read earlier in this thread that annealing should be done before sizing, and some of the sellers do that but it looks like others do it after sizing. Which is correct? Doing it before the idea I guess is to soften the new neck area to allow for better sizing, but isn't the idea of annealing to heat up the worked area to relieve the stresses after to kind of let the metal stucture relax in its new shape? If so then after sizing wold be the way to do it. I admit I don't know much about the annealing process. Most of what I know is what I gleaned from my late father-in-law that work for many years in a steel mill that was supposedly known for their annealing process. He was always proud to mention that all the steel used in the moon buggy, all the federal prison bars made inthe 70's and the ribs for the statue of liberty when it was refurbished in (the 80's?) came from their steel mill.

Any way, what is the propper way to anneal the 300BLK converted brass, and why?

Also, my Aimpoint PRO came in for my 300BLK upper, so I can't wait to get some more ammo to sight it in. Maybe I can find some ammo or brass at the local gun show this weekend.

Gonna go back to the one gun shop and see if they have any of that AA1680 left and buy it after work today.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
Nice score. Where'd you find it?

A reloading store in Amarillo, TX. I got 2 lbs. should I get more? I usually like to buy 8 pounders. $22 per pound adds up. What else is this powder good for?

From what I've read, 1680 is the DE facto standard, best powder for suppressed 300blk loads. For supersonic, there are lots of other choices too, but many guys use 1680 for that as well. I have w296 right now to try out. Found some Lil gun. Can't find 1680 to save my ass. Lol

As for how much you should get, it depends on your load. I figure I can get about 250-300 loads from a pound of 296. How much do you want to load? How much do you want to keep on hand? I don't like to run out of stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by C Swimm:
Any way, what is the propper way to anneal the 300BLK converted brass, and why?

I have read also that some do it before sizing and others do it after.

My personal reason for doing it before is that if you don't then the brass you are forming is harder than it would be if it was once fired factory 300BLK and you will probably get a better sizing with the softer brass.

From what I know, which is limited, the reason for annealing is to lengthen the number of times you can reload a piece of brass. Brass begins to harden as it gets worked from being fired and re-sized until eventually it is to hard and the case neck splits.

After 3-4 reloadings, when you anneal the brass it then softens the brass so that it can now be worked a few more times; repeat process.

I have shot some converted brass one time that I did not anneal and also shot brass I annealed before re-sizing and I did not notice any major accuracy differences. It is really in extending the brass life but I am sure there are other benefits such as slight accuracy improvement and better case sizing.

ok, I can buy that. Either way as long as it is annealed. Before would make sizing easier though. Got it.

If I am buying converted brass though, I am not the one doing the sizing so as long as it's annealed, it doesn't really matter if it's before or after. I can live with that.

Got my 240gr SMKs today. Boy are they long. I am going to call my 300 Blackout rifle the "Spear Chucker". LOL.

I went to a local gun shop and picked up 2 more pounds of AA1680 powder where I got that one pound last week. They had 3 more pounds on the shelf but I really hate buying rifle powder a pound at a time. I don't want to buy too much until I get a chance to try it out either though. Probable should have grabbed them all while I had the chance, but at $25 a pound I will hold off.

All I need now is more brass and I can load me some rounds. There is a gun show this weekend. Maybe I can find some there. Lots of luck. Maybe some loaded ammo at a decent price that I can make ammo out of. Not likely either but one can hope.

Ugh. I'm so jealous that you guys can find 1680 on the shelves. No such luck round these parts...