Military Rifle Reloading

[zwerge]

I do- I also cast bullets-swage bullets-make my own gaschecks. We do a lot of shooting as a family and that's the only way we afford it. The most in depth reloading I have done is making 7.62x45(Czech vz52 rifle) brass from 220 swift. You have to form it-trim it-turn the groove down with a lathe-anneal the neck-The caliber is a REAL pain to make but worth the time to keep the ol girl running!

Check out the measurements on 6.5x54 MS or 6.5x52 Carcano,they would be a lot less work.....Pete.

[arjacobson]

Pete- That's what I started out with but the 220 swift was actually a better choice. I had heard 6.5x54MS just needed formed and was good to go.. I don't recall at this time but I THINK the 6.5 ms brass needed turned down at the base. The 220 swift just needed a new extractor groove turned along with just the rim. I ground up a tool and can do it with one plunge cut on the lathe. I haven't made any in quite some time as I have over 400 pcs of brass now. I use 22gn of 4198 behind a lee 155gn gas checked lead bullet. Very accurate load and it drops the brass right at your left foot!!

[TonyE]

Sadly not in the UK!....

What nonsense!

There is nothing to stop anyone with a suitably varied Firearm Certificate reloading in the UK.

I reload for my rifles in the UK and have done for nearly fifty years. All components are readily available at only slightly above US prices.

I get very annoyed with people bleating about the UK legal position. True we lost our self loading rifles in 1988 and pistol ownership has been severely limited for the last few years but it is still possible to shoot Heritage pistol and there is a thriving rifle shooting community.

I no longer shoot competitive target rifle (age and eyes) but I own a number of vintage rifles, mainly .303 inch and shoot all of them regularly in vintage events.

Stop moaning about what you think you cannot do and find out what you can do!

Regards
TonyE

[JERSEY 34]

As a shooter here in Jersey Channel Islands I only use factory produced ammunition as many thousands of pounds if not millions in some cases have been spent on the fine tuning of the rounds purchased to ensure they are exact every time and failure to fire is virtually non existent. The chaps who do re-load are often to be seen having problems of one sort or another, primers popping out, not enough powder bla bla boa. Although when quizzed about the failure it is always some other factor that has caused a misfire or actual damage to the firearm or user. In these days of health and safty I am surprised that home loads are allowed on the range. I am not sure how insurance companies would deal with a really bad failure/blow up would be handled especially if shooters on either side of the home load shooter were affected. I like the idea of doing home loads but having seen the amount of problems I would not want to subject myself or my firearms to possible damage or possibly those around me. Its also possible that those who re-load in our club are just numpties and other people who do home loads have total success, but because of the problems I have seen here locally I won't entertain re-loads. I am sure others of you would totally disagree with what I say but I am just going on my own experience. I am sure the actual process of sitting down and making your own rounds is very therapeutic but I would rather shoot with totally consistent ammunition than have failures on the day.
All the best from Jersey,
D.

[Wagriff]

I've loaded thousands of rounds of all different calibers and never once had a misfire or a failure of any sort. Not so with factory loads. The companies are under obligation to load ammunition that will function in Any firearm of the caliber, whereas the reloader can fine tune his loads to get the peak performance from his gun that he loaded it for specifically. Factory loads are always on the weaker side to be safely used in weaker actioned older weapons as well as the modern pieces also. It is absolutely true, though, that there will always be the reloader who insists on jacking up the pressures Too high, trying to get that extra bit of velocity and knockdown advantage, and will end up blowing his fingers off or destroying a perfectly fine rifle simply by being stupid. As a rule, I never reloaded Any brass more than 7 times, and regardless of the number loaded, always inspected each and every case before repacking it again. You can quite often see a light ring in the brass just above the base, and if this is seen, you toss that shell away. No exceptions. It's just common sense and safety to do so. That means that case is going to Separate and when it Does so, you have only your own foolishness to blame for any injurys and damage. I've seen horrendous occurrences happen to even the best firearms by idiotic reloading failures. One, I recall, was a newer Smith and Wesson Model 19 that the shooter was using cases that had been reloaded 15 times. The top of the cylinder blew out and took the top strap along with it-as well as 2 fingers and an eye. If a person doesn't know what they are doing, they have no place reloading Anything.

[TonyE]

That is an interesting take on the subject, but I think you answered your own question. The people of whom you talk are the "numpties" if they experience the problems you describe.

A methodical and well researched approach to reloading will result in ammunition that is usually more consistent than factory loads. No serious reloader should ever arrive at the range with "not enough powder" in his rounds. Have they never heard of check weighing?

I also admire your faith in factory ammo, especially these days. Sure, if you buy RUAG or similar you will receive excellent and consistent rounds at a price, but I have also seen factory new ammo with reversed primers, no primers and a multitude of bullet and case faults.

Reloading is not for everyone and if you prefer to shoot only factory loads then well and good. However, I think your local experience of hand loading is not the norm.

Regards
TonyE

[JERSEY 34]

Judging by what has been said here and elsewhere regarding re-loading I believe what you are saying. Personally I do try to keep clear of the the reloaders just in case of a major malfunction. I would even prefer if they were gathered at one end of the range and keep them to one side just from a safety point of view.
D.

[Nitram]

Judging by what has been said here and elsewhere regarding re-loading I believe what you are saying. Personally I do try to keep clear of the the reloaders just in case of a major malfunction. I would even prefer if they were gathered at one end of the range and keep them to one side just from a safety point of view.
D.

I agree with staying away from other people's reloads. Never know what they may chuck in there.

The only ones I would use are ones reloaded by either the reloader who's teaching me (because he knows what he's doing, and why it's meant to be done that way), or factory rounds. Factory rounds more often then not I use Fiocchi.

[Lugerlout]

Some interesting points from both TonyE and Jersey34 from a UK perspective, it surprises me that many of those contributing to the forums who are UK based spend a lot of time criticising the UK firearms laws and bemoaning the fact that 'we cant do that here'..............I agree with TonyE 100%.......if you are genuinely interested in shooting historic firearms instead of collecting dead deacts then the opportunity is there.......we do have some of the tightest firearms legislation in Europe but in my experience it is far from the most restrictive when compared to other EU countries.

And returning to the original thread I am a UK shooter and reloader, I own two .303 Lee Enfields, two Mosin Nagants and a straight pull version M1 Carbine amongst other rifles and carbines, I also own a Webley Mk6 Revolver and an Ithaca M1911A1.....all of these I shoot and reload for and have been doing so for many years without mishap......reloading is safe if it is done properly.....the price of factory ammunition is so high that at my own club now during range sessions reloaders are the majority and not some little group of excentrics that need to be shunted up to one end of the firing line..............if you want to shoot these great historic firearms you can, you just need a bit of patience and persistance to navigate your way round our firearms laws............I think it is fair to say also that the specialist firearms liason officers and police firearms departments are usually very helpfull and unobstructive if you can show that you are responcible and knowledgable enough to be granted a Firearms Certificate.

[zwerge]

Thanks for the different opinions on reloaders,personsaly I feel much safer at the range than I do driving to get there,sure is a lot of drunks and bad drivers on the roads these days..........