The Firearms MagEzine
A publication of
CenterFire Central
http://www.centerfirecentral.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Firearms MagEzine is no longer published
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VOL. 2 ISSUE 4 April 1999
Circulation 1275
IN THIS ISSUE
THE EDITOR'S NOTES
Twelfth Issue
ANOTHER DAY AT THE RANGE
By Gary Lawrence
FEATURE ARTICLE
Case Preparation
By Bob Buckland
A NEW PLAYGROUND
By Bill Wade
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A WORD OF CAUTION
CenterFire Central and contributing writers are not responsible for
mishaps of any kind which may occur from use or misuse of data or
information published, electronically or otherwise by CenterFire
Central. Activities involving firearms, ammunition, components and
equipment require strict safety precautions and training which are not
detailed herein.
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EDITOR'S NOTES
This issue is the 12th issue of The Firearms MagEzine. Time does fly!
I have thoroughly enjoyed putting this together each month and the
feedback that I get from it. There are so many topics and ideas that it
is exciting. Finding the time to pull it together gets a little tricky.
I have avoided political issues intentionally. It is not that I do not
have an opinion or thoughts on these issues, I simply do not want to
start a flame war or risk stomping on toes. I probably step on enough
toes already.
The number of subscribers has grown to well over 1200 and I appreciate
all of you giving me the opportunity to share some information with
you.
Where to from here? I do not have any major changes planned for the
Ezine. In June, I will attend the Prairie Dog Conference and am excited
about what I will learn. It should be a fantastic trip. Preparing for
the trip should be an eye opening experience in itself.
On my wish list I have added another Ruger MKII and a 45 Long Colt. If
I can make either a reality, it should make for some interesting
information to share. The reloading equipment wish list just keep
growing even while I chisel away at it. In fact it is growing much
faster than items I get checked off.
I recently traded trucks and that was a big check mark but it needed to
be done. Of course I bought another FORD, see there is that toe thing.
It is nice though. It is my first 4x4 and I got the 460 so I should
really be able to get stuck deep now, if I can get away from the gas
pump.
Thanks again to all of you for your loyalty and feed back. It is a
pleasure.
Bill Wade
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ANOTHER DAY AT ANOTHER RANGE
By Gary Lawrence
I enjoyed your article "A day at the range" in the January issue,
explaining how you sighted in a 7mm Mag for a father and his son.
I had a similar situation that I would like to share.
I had brought my 270 Winchester to the range to make sure it was
sighted in for deer season. Fired 6 rounds and it was hitting right on
target.
I also brought my 6mm Remington, the first deer gun I used when I was
12. It originally came with peep sights and it has a Hart Stainless
Steel barrel. Having just installed a new scope and planning to use it
during the Doe season, I got it out and placed it on the sandbags.
I only had 1 box of shells; I knew that I needed to bore sight the
scope to keep from wasting shells. I pulled the bolt out and proceeded
to look down the bore of the rifle, making sure not to move the gun, I
then looked through the scope to see where she was aimed.
A guy on the next bench asked what I was doing. I told him I was bore
sighting the rifle. He said it couldn't be done that way. I explained
that I was shown this trick 20 years ago by my grandfather and it has
always worked.
I use a 2 inch black circle as a target and if you look down the bore
you can see the circle at 100 yards. If you carefully move up and look
through the scope you can see when the scope is pointed. You can make
your adjustment from there without firing a shot. This method will get
you on the paper without tenderizing your shoulder or wasting ammo.
I wanted to share this story with the readers because this method has
saved me from shooting round after round and not hitting the paper. A
friend bought a 338 Winchester and after pulverizing his shoulder gave
my method a try and hasn't regretted it yet.
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ARTICLE
Case Preparation
Bob...I am interested in how to begin neck turning and what steps to
take......at what stage of the case preparation....how do you know the
stopping point and if some of your cases are within tolerances, which
ones not to turn, etc.
Thanks Greg
Bob Buckland's Reply
I think this is going to be a book!
First, use new brass as the best starting point. Second choice would be
once fired. If you go beyond that, necks must be annealed, as they
become too hard for the multiple step process.
Once fired gives you the advantage of a fire formed case, and hopefully
some neck growth. Measure the chamber; I suggest one of the slugs from
Sinclair. If you can run a longer neck than the trim to length listed
in the book, you will get better support for the bullet.
Dies are important. I use a Redding complete comp.set with the bushing
for neck sizing. I do not recommend trying to neck size with a
full-length die.
Some guys weigh their cases before touching them. I like to get a
little closer, and make things equal.
(1) Decap all cases.
(2) Tumble or Vibrate clean.
(3) Check for any media left in the cases.
(4) Use Sinclair primer pocket tool, seats on the head, and will cut
the primer pockets perfectly even. I have both the hand and the power
driver adapter. Use the power. The Sinclair tool will produce a
perfectly even depth pocket, you cannot go too far.
(5) Neck-size all brass.
(6) Measure all case lengths, and use the measurement of the shortest
one. If you have chosen to trim to book length, set up and trim them
all to that measurement. If you want the necks to grow, trim to the
shortest length that is longer than the listed length. Cull out all
cases shorter than the listed trim to length. If they are all short,
trim to the shortest length regardless. You are going to have to make
a decision here based on the measurements of the brass you are using.
(7) Inside Flash hole uniform, cut till you get a perfectly smooth
feel, takes a little time. This is one of the top things you can do to
improve accuracy. Flame from primer ignition, must be even.
(8) At this point, you need to inside chamfer the necks. (inside only,
we are going to turn the neck, so the outside does not matter). The
inside will let it slide on the sizing mandrel easier.
(9) You should get a .001 oversize mandrel with the Sinclair tool, one
reason I said talk to Bud at Sinclair.
(10) Run all the cases over the mandrel, evenly and steadily. Don't
come down hard on the mandrel, it will bottom and you could possibly
set the neck back. Use a tiny, tiny amount of Imperial sizing wax on
both the turning tool mandrel, and the sizing mandrel.
(11) The turning tool will come with a bunch of instructions on how to
lock and adjust the cutter. This of course, will depend on the tool you
have chosen. You want the cutter to cut only about 85% of the neck.
Start by making sure you do not touch with the cutter. Slowly adjust
down, until you have barely cut the neck. Do the complete neck and just
barley cut the shoulder. If you chose the Sinclair, they will tell you
all about it, and combined with the instructions and playing a little,
you will get a smooth, average cut, leaving just a bit untouched. You
do not want a perfect cut all the way around, as you will have trimmed
away too much brass. You will probably waste a few cases getting set
up. Once you have decided your cut depth, it will be locked in and you
will not have to adjust again for this brass. Some may cut all around,
most will not. If you cut several and they clean up all around, you're
too deep.
Now all the cases can be weighed and separated into lots. I do this for
my target rounds and my hunting rounds.
(12) Back in the tumbler, just to remove sizing wax, and any shavings
left over; keeps brass, and wax from making the powder stick while
loading.
I hope this helps. It's really easier than it sounds. You will now be
on your way to making your rifle perform to its potential.
This is the beginning. These rounds will be accurate. When they are
fired they will now fit the chamber exactly on center.
Grand Finale!
In the above steps we full length sized the neck. (the whole neck, not
the case). Now when you reload these, only size the portion of the neck
down to about .010" below your bullet seated depth. The fire formed,
after turning brass, neck will now fit the chamber perfectly centered
and supported at the part of the neck that you did not size on this
second go round. The part you did size, which by the way is; (minimum
seating depth, .224 .010) ( substitute the bullet diameter (minimum
seating) for your actual seating depth determined by how far off the
lands you seat, will be held perfectly in the center and aligned with
the rifling.
*** These are your most accurate rounds***
Farmer Bob
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A NEW PLAYGROUND
By Bill Wade
My dad, brother and myself have hunted deer together since my first
trip in 1971. Over the years, we have hunted several pieces of land. A
couple of the properties we were able to hunt for several years while
others only lasted a couple of seasons.
Gaining access to private land has never been too tough. I frequently
add coyote hunting ground to my list. Some the this ground I have
hunted for over 10 years. Deer hunting though seems to present a
greater challenge.
We have run into all kinds of problems over the years, ranging from
jealous neighbors to property changing hands.
One neighbor to property we hunted, iced the cake for us when we scored
and he did not. He got mad, complained to the land owner, and since the
land owner has to deal with him as a neighbor, we lost.
Part of the problem is that we hate to give up on tradition and hunt
separate from each other. Now my son is in the picture and this only
compounds the problem. It is tough to get and keep permission for 4
hunters. My brother has a son that is just a few years from joining the
group.
We thought of leasing ground but after discussing the horror stories
and problems that can come with leasing, we opted to purchase ground
instead. Eighty acres in Northern Missouri, should take care of us for
years to come.
The transaction took place in late February 1999 and the month of
March, found us tearing down the old farmhouse on the property. We had
hoped to use it as a hunting cabin but it was too far gone. Dismantling
to save the lumber, we ended up with plenty of usable material,
probably will build a nice shed and drag in a mobile home.
The Department of Conservation has been out to the farm by request and
is anxious to help in creating habitat. They have supplied us with
phone numbers and contacts for getting ponds built and other soil
conservation plans.
It is exciting to consider all of the potential the property holds for
our future while learning of the history of the farm.
Part of the farm was given as payment for service in the civil war. We
spoke with a direct descendent and learned some pretty interesting
things. The property holds an Indian burial mound, and the only well
and pump that worked in the drought of the 1940's. The house was built
around 1880 and the property was farmed with horses until the 1980's.
I could get off track very easily with this, as I was fascinated with
the history of the farm.
The bottom line is we solved the deer hunting problem. Hopefully we
have taken care of our sons and daughters in the process and I am proud
to be part of improving wildlife habitat. It is an area of hunting that
I really have never had the opportunity to work on before and there is
much to be learned.
Bill Wade
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Copyright 1999 by CenterFire Central
All Rights Reserved