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New to reloading this cartridge. First venture with a .177 bore centerfire. It's an absolute laser beam with the factory 20gr ammo from Hornady. Have dies on the way from Bruno Shooters Supply and gathering brass and consumable supplies, challenging in the current market. Anybody have some good data to replicate the 20gr Hornady V-Max load? Tips and tricks for this tiny case?
I haven’t loaded that one buddy, but I can say that you may want to order some skinnier fingers, those bullets are tiny. What brand dies did you end up ordering? The sleeve one the Hornady seating die was a godsend for me with the 17 Remington. I have Redding dies for the 17 fireball, and have problems keeping the bullet straight.
JTD
Hornady New Dimension. I like their dies.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffreyDeGraff
I like them too.
JTD
Looks like my dies should be arriving today. I had to settle on mixing an RCBS shell holder with Hornady dies, but my plan is to just bump the shoulder so I don't think it will be an issue. Still need to get a Wilson case holder for my trimmer. Struggling to find appropriate powders. :buttkick:Seems to be projectiles available.
The powders are good blackout powders, so definitely hard to find.
JTD
:damnit:Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffreyDeGraff
Finally found a pound of AA1680. Sized the fired cases I had. Damn it's challenging to get any consistency out of this little cartridge. I usually just set my sizer to bump the shoulder but I was getting a wide range of measurements while trying to set the die so I tried to full length size one with the die touching the shell holder just to see and crushed the case. My fired cases are .014" longer than the factory loaded ammo I have. After sizing I'm getting measurements from -.oo1" to -.008" (datum set to zero on an unsized fired case). Unsure what the issue is. Why would these vary so much?
Wow! That’s some crazy variance. Ive never seen that big of a difference before. I’m wondering if you are getting some stretch when you are pulling the brass over the expander. Have you tried sizing any without the decapping pin in. I’d be curious to see what the variance is when done that way.
JTD
I did just that. I've got the die set so I'm basically neck sizing now and not touching the shoulder with the expander but no decapping pin. I've got 10 rounds loaded with 11.4gr of A1680 and 20gr V-Max that I'll test fire this evening. We will see how it works. I've got just one manual with any load data for the cartridge but checked on line, while this load is a max in the Lyman book if appears to be a starting load compared to what I found online.Attachment 1732
That’s a beautiful gun!!!! Glad you got the shoulder bump figured out
JTD
She is a beauty! Zeroed the new scope yesterday. Shot some factory 20gr VMax loads (a whole 25rd box getting zeroed), 5rd 15.5gr NTX, 15rd of 25gr HP and my reloads. Everything shot fine, nothing stellar. Best group was the 15.5gr NTX at shade over 1/2 MOA with the 25gr HP coming in second at 3/4 MOA. No pressure signs at all with the reloads. Last night I reset my sizer as I discovered that I wasn't getting the entire neck up in the die, most but not all. Used some feeler gauges to sneak up on the shoulder neck junction and I think I'm set now. The shoulder is bumped back .005 which is more than I'd like but at least it's consistent now and I'm getting good neck tension and concentricity. I may have to invest in a neck sizing die for this rifle. I sized all the once fired brass and reloaded another 10rds at 12.2gr of A1680 with the 20gr VMax. I know it sounds like a big jump but this is the accuracy load that I'm finding from my internet digging.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffreyDeGraff
Neck sizing is probably the way to go. I know on my 22 hornet brass, all I’ve ever done is neck size and it’s on its 5th firing with no ill effects.
JTD