Reloading 101?

[matt167]

With a very limited and expensive supply of Carcano 6.5 And any 30-06, I decided to look into reloading, and found that a Lee Challanger Breech lock kit was well under the MSRP at several places. I know that is due to nothing being available in terms of reloading except presses and dies and other equipment at the moment with the exception of some bullets remain in stock

Because most of this stuff ends up on gunbroker due to scalpers, I can obtain a small amount to do just what I need. But being economical I need primers that are good for both an M1 Garand ( no slam fire ) and a Carcano 6.5 and a good powder for both. H4895 and IMR 4064 are both on a Horandy load chart that I would follow for the Carcano. I know both of those powders are viable for an M1 Garand load as well but I will be loading Carcano first

[millman]

I have used 4064 for .303, and 6.5x55, and 8mm.

[matt167]

So 4064 could be the one powder to have on the shelf, during the everything reloading shortage? I will probably hand load 8mm Mauser as well as it isn't that available right now but 8mm bullets at least are cheap right now and I can probably find brass

The one hangup I'm having with reloading carcano is the bore size being .268 nominally rather than .264. BUT all commercial 6.5 Carcano uses a .264 bullet and the guns can generally hit a target while not grouping well.. PPU makes a 160 grain .267 bullet which I think is close to what the original Mil spec was.. BUT the Lee die set which I bought does not include a .268 expander, I'd have to order one custom for a cost of $22 + shipping and 6-8 weeks for Lee to make it. The Horandy Carcano dies which have both .264 and .268, I couldn't find in stock at a reputable supplier

I figured I'd start with the Carcano before loading for the M1, because a bolt gun is more forgiving, although Horandy publishes detailed information for both

[House Beagle]

During the shortage, my “one powder for everything” has been Hodgdon Varget. I use it for everything, from .223 Rem up to 30-06. Was lucky enough to find an 8lb jug early in the pandemic for a reasonable price. I highly recommend it if you can find it.

As for primers, I’ve never had issues with CCI-200s.

[matt167]

I have just found 1lb BLC-2 on Gunbroker close to it's retail price, and the same seller has CCI 250 mag primers for close to their retail price... Hesitant because although there is load data on both M1 Garand and Carcano for it, I don't think it's used much for either

[matt167]

I grabbed the BLC 2 and 200 primers. Doing the math, 7000 grains in 1lb, that will equal about 140 loads at 50 grains.

[matt167]

How strong does my reloading bench need to be? I was considering a 2x12, attached to the studs in the garage with support braces on every stud.

But would 1" material be enough? I have intentions of adding a turret press eventually

[Junk Yard Dog]

How strong does my reloading bench need to be? I was considering a 2x12, attached to the studs in the garage with support braces on every stud.

But would 1" material be enough? I have intentions of adding a turret press eventually

I have used Lee loaders working off a stump of wood on the range with everything stored in a shoebox. For the larger press any ordinary work bench would do. 2x12 might restrict your work area a bit, you want room to spread things out. Scale, lube pad, powder scoops, primer tray, load blocks, you don't want everything crowded in when you are trying to work. I cobbled together a work bench out of scrap wood and had it in an old truck box. Two 2x12's, one 2x6 for the top, 4x4's for the legs, made a storage shelf attached to the legs to stabilize it, and hold powders and such out of the way. Cost me nothing as it was all salvaged material, even the nails were collected up from the floor of junked contractor vans and such. Used it for 25 years before the roof of the box rusted out and I scrapped it.

[matt167]

My work bench has a metal chop saw, drill press and a vice on it. There isn't much room for anything else without cluttering it. Which is why I'm considering a separate bench. I've thought about a fold out leaf for the case holders/ supplies while I'm working. My powder, primers and dies will be stored indoors in ammo cans along with my ammo

[matt167]

Well, here is my new bench. I used some douglas fir 2x8's that I had and the rest was basically scrap. I was going to use mitered supports to the wall but I cut 2 2x4's down and couldn't get the angle right on the miter saw, so legs was the answer... It's going to have a fold out or pull out as well

I don't really know if I'll use the cheap powder measure or not. The kit came with a Lee Safety scale which I have not set up yet. I'm going to make a base for it with leveling feet so that I can set it dead level as the bench is off just a little bit

reloading bench.jpg

[matt167]

Friend gave me an older Redding Boss single stage yesterday and a Redding 1400 case trimmer lathe. I don't know about using the trimmer as I have the Lee quick trim and the dies are cheap. But the press I will set up in tandem

[matt167]

So, am I going paranoid by thinking about shoulder bump and setting up a sizing die exact? I was just reading on it, bump gauges, setting it back .002 ect... but I really have no clue.

If I follow the directions on the FL dies, to adjust the die down until the shell holder touches the die. Will it size the case correctly? I bought 85 twice fired PPU 6.5 Carcano cases, plus 6 that the guy didn't know about. I didn't inspect all 85 yet but they appear uniform

[House Beagle]

I wouldn’t be concerned with shoulder bump, just install the die per the maker’s directions. Some die makers call for the FL die to just touch the shell holder while some call for a slight amount of cam-over (1/8-1/4 turn past touching).

[matt167]

Oh ok, that's kind of what I was thinking. I was watching too much youtube

[matt167]

Ok so I spent my first time at the bench today... I took the internet advice and bought the Hornady case holder for Carcano as Lee supplies the same holder as 30-06 which can't be perfect although it may 'work'

First problem was, the decapper/ EZ expander was not tightened down and first case pulled the decapper out with it. I was able to figure out the problem, and extract the case, re adjust it with the instructions and I FL sized 12 cases. I figured 12 cases was 2 full clips and that was a good number.

I misplaced my $6 digital calipers and had gotten one that should have been a good one from Napa. I had reservations when the $40 caliper came in a nice box but looked identical to the $6 one I had previous.. I measured some cases and they were measuring very long. So I set up the quick trim and die. I trimmed them until the die bottomed out and then measured after the 12th. The caliper was loosing zero and gaining near a full 1/2". So I stopped and ran to get a $40 Husky caliper at Home Depot and a $10 Harbor Freight caliper for redundancy . They were all .03 too short almost exactly with both 'new' calipers . Probably still safe for an antique gun, but I put them in a bag labeled "short", for another day.

I then sized 12 more cases, and when it came to trimming, I didn't bottom out the trimmer. I measured them and stopped at just below the max length. They are not all exactly the same, but between the min and max length's within a couple tenths of eachother. The Lee Quick trim die system in my experience is pretty horrible. I will probably set up the #14 Redding Lathe and get the missing parts for it.

I did the priming manually on the press. Worked fine... When it came to charging, I used the Lee Safety scale, leveled it, zeroed it and then set it to 27.0gr as per the Hornady load data for the bullet I have. Charged 4 cases at exactly 27gr and then noticed one of the cases that I charged had no primer, so it leaked.. So I grabbed another primed case and charged it. Then poured all 4 charges on the scale to re verify their loads.. Perfect

Then bullet seating. Set up the die to the letter of the instructions, and it drove the bullet in way too far. 2.85" and 2.915 is target. So I grabbed another case, turned out the adjustment all the way and began running it in slowly checking every time. I got it close to 2.9 and then noticed it had crushed the neck. I tried another and then figured that I was putting too much pressure on it by destroying that one too.

I managed to get one bullet seated and crimped to 2.914" which I know will be safe. But by that time it was time to give up for the day