Enjoying some time on the loading bench.

[NF1E]

Working with 100 once fired Lapua and 50 Starline cases. Annealed, sized, set neck tension, trimmed and primed. Will be headed down to the bench after a short break to calibrate the RCBS Matchmaster and start loading 23 gn of Varget under 73 gn Bergers which have been HBN coated. Whatta Hobby!

 

[CFJunkie]

It will be interesting to hear if you found any difference in primer resistance between the Lapua and Starline brass reloading.

My current 100 Lapua .223s are still tight when seating primers after 17 reloads.
For the first 5 reloads I had to use two hands to seat the primers using my RCBS hand primer tool. But I admit, that at my age, my hands aren't as strong as they once were.

The Starline .223s were showing very loose primers at around 12 reloads and had enough neck splits by then that I didn't have enough remaining to load 50 rounds.

I didn't see that much difference in performance of the two different brass sets, but I stopped loading the Starline brass after the 12th reload.

 

[ONE-TEN]

I would figure the same. Obviously, we are comparing a standard, inexpensive brand to not only Premium, but essentially The Gold Standard, in Lapua brass. Lapua, Alpha & ADG (Atlas), are the only three brass manufacturers I will buy for loading my 260 Remington loads. I’m more relaxed with 223 brass, as it’s only used in my AR.

 

[NF1E]

Haven't seen any primer pocket problems with either Lapua or Starline brass. I have plenty of batches that have gone past 15 loads with both. I use a Primal Rights tool with an extended handle for all my priming. Had the same problem with worn out wrists and elbows after priming 10K +cases annually. Now with the Primal Rights it's no problemo to just keep going. I use a vibrating tube loader for primers so it easy squeezy. Whatta Hobby!

 

[17Hornet]

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NF1E, I'm trying to find out what my .223 Savage 110/ 1:7 Criterion barrel/ Bell Carlson stock / Jard trigger prefers. I loaded up your recipe of Berger 73s with 23 grains Varget and headed to range yesterday. Best group was .33, not bad for first outing. Will see what some more fine tuning will do. Thanks for that recipe

 

[ONE-TEN]

Haven't seen any primer pocket problems with either Lapua or Starline brass. I have plenty of batches that have gone past 15 loads with both. I use a Primal Rights tool with an extended handle for all my priming. Had the same problem with worn out wrists and elbows after priming 10K +cases annually. Now with the Primal Rights it's no problemo to just keep going. I use a vibrating tube loader for primers so it easy squeezy. Whatta Hobby!

View attachment 976View attachment 977

Well shucks! Using that BIONIC MACHINE, you could probably “seat” a primer in a solid piece of brass without feeling much resistance! Until the primer lit off I guess. It’s like a Hand Primer on STEROIDS….. and CRACK!

 

[NF1E]

Well shucks! Using that BIONIC MACHINE, you could probably “seat” a primer in a solid piece of brass without feeling much resistance! Until the primer lit off I guess. It’s like a Hand Primer on STEROIDS….. and CRACK!

Works great. With the micrometer depth set I can set it for the .004 crush I like and it's right on the money.

 

[NF1E]

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NF1E, I'm trying to find out what my .223 Savage 110/ 1:7 Criterion barrel/ Bell Carlson stock / Jard trigger prefers. I loaded up your recipe of Berger 73s with 23 grains Varget and headed to range yesterday. Best group was .33, not bad for first outing. Will see what some more fine tuning will do. Thanks for that recipe

I think that once you establish your seating depth, you will enjoy that load. I have one rifle with a 26" Criterion 1-7 that I found liked that recipe a couple of years ago and all my other rifles like it as well. I do vary the seating depth depending on what I am shooting the ammo in, but he load remains the same.

 

[ONE-TEN]

I don’t doubt it. It’s a fine looking machine.

However, aside from cost, and WHO sells it, my Lyman E-ZEE Prime, hand primer works flawlessly. Albeit, it’s not quite as spiffy as that one.

 

[NF1E]

I don’t doubt it. It’s a fine looking machine.

However, aside from cost, and WHO sells it, my Lyman E-ZEE Prime, hand primer works flawlessly. Albeit, it’s not quite as spiffy as that one.

Well, I used hand primers for 60 years and my hands are just worn out. We do what we can. I did experiment with a pile of other types of priming tools before settling on the Primal Rights. Whatta Hobby!

 

[ONE-TEN]

Wow! That is quite a bit of time & money invested into priming; something I think of as a very simple part of reloading.

Arthritis, what not in the hands, I completely understand. I just don’t feel like the absolute precision in priming affects accuracy precision to a high degree. Much the same as I don’t follow Receiver screw Torque Spec Tuning for precision. Honestly, I don’t even Weight-Sort my Brass.

 

[NF1E]

Wow! That is quite a bit of time & money invested into priming; something I think of as a very simple part of reloading.

Arthritis, what not in the hands, I completely understand. I just don’t feel like the absolute precision in priming affects accuracy precision to a high degree. Much the same as I don’t follow Receiver screw Torque Spec Tuning for precision. Honestly, I don’t even Weight-Sort my Brass.

Every variable that can be addressed helps. Some weigh primers, carefully attain exact seating depth, flash hole uniforming along with annealing after each firing. All depends on what your definition of precision is. So many choices of disciplines. Whatta hobby!

 

[ONE-TEN]

Oh I know.. The Rabbit Hole goes as deep as one is willing to delve! But uh…, I’m not much up to Spelunking myself.