which dies?

[RangerRick]

The Lapua brass (or Alexander Arms brass which is made by Lapua) is a also little thicker than Hornady and may work, but expensive.

[bwaites]

Hoot,

I'm impressed you tried it!

I use the .289 bushing for my Grendel and was considering the .291 since I also shoot a .300 AA chamber.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what my measured cases are because I just finished reloading every last case I have getting ready for competition season.

I can offer you the use of a Lee die to see if it would help. I've not reloaded enough Hornady brass to be 100% sure, but the necks seem thinner than Lapua, for sure.

The caliber is VERY accurate, but finding that most accurate load is always a challenge! My best groups ever were with Lapua brass, sized with a Lee die, (before I bought the Reddings) when I had between 500-3000 rounds on my rifle. I regularly shot .25 inch groups at 100 yards. I'm no David Tubb, so the caliber has plenty of potential.

My rifle had the standard AA chamber, as well.

[pinzgauer]

Anyone with a Forster who can tell my what OD their resizing die yields?

.290 with IMI, .289 with Hornady (resized case, no bullet). Somewhere I have the measurement without the expander ball, I'll see if I can dig it out.

As to the chamber..... I'm seeing great results with .300, and do not want to compromise reliability. Bill Alexander in previous posts has indicated they did much testing and could not find any advantage in the .295 over .300. But I'm not trying to make the grendel AR's be a bench rest rifle.

[Hoot]

Hoot,

I'm impressed you tried it!

I use the .289 bushing for my Grendel and was considering the .291 since I also shoot a .300 AA chamber.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what my measured cases are because I just finished reloading every last case I have getting ready for competition season.

I can offer you the use of a Lee die to see if it would help. I've not reloaded enough Hornady brass to be 100% sure, but the necks seem thinner than Lapua, for sure.

The caliber is VERY accurate, but finding that most accurate load is always a challenge! My best groups ever were with Lapua brass, sized with a Lee die, (before I bought the Reddings) when I had between 500-3000 rounds on my rifle. I regularly shot .25 inch groups at 100 yards. I'm no David Tubb, so the caliber has plenty of potential.

My rifle had the standard AA chamber, as well.

Bill, you are a Gentleman in the truest sense of the word.

In my heart, I know this caliber can shoot better than my limited experience with it so far has yielded. The blame is not entirely upon the caliber and probably not the barrel. It is as much upon my lack of technique getting "Black Rifles" to behave like my bolt guns which I can get to shoot at times, less than .5 MOA on the 100 yard range down the road. They're just so intermittent in my hands. I'm working on that, though I lack a trained observer to coach my technique. I'm simply learning by experimentation and that is probably the slowest method out there. Also, my component selection has up to now been narrow. Hornady brass, Nosler BTs and extruded powders. To which, I have to say 8208XBR has the potential to rival the popular spherical powders for this caliber. I just have a bone up my butt about spherical powders because of where I live and the extreme temperature swings. I'm just enthralled with this caliber in a black rifle because it's the first one I've encountered with a non-military chamber, where you can seat if you choose right up to the lands without exceeding the magazine length. And with an off the shelf (read affordable) barrel. I believe there is much merit in having that be your choice to make. Lots of experimentation opportunity and that's where the fun is.

That, having been said. I have been watching for some 123 Amax bullets, but they seem to get scarfed up as quickly as Hornady can reluctantly put them on the street. I say reluctantly because they no doubt have a higher profit margin selling loaded ammunition. That goes for all the ammo manufacturers who sell reloading components, not just Hornady, but I digress.

I penned a sob story email to Hornady's customer service explaining what I had happen and why, asking them to quote me a price for a new die. In all honesty, to see if they'll just send me one like they did when I once damaged a seating die because the guide sleeve hung up and gouged it. I suspect that if they will sell me one, it'll cost as much as a Forster, which Midway has in stock, hence that decision dilemma. I don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. It's painful enough for my ego and wallet to be in the frying pan in the first place.

I sure would like to find a combination of brass and die that would resize to where the neck is not being needlessly worked so much and that will take some time. Now that I have a process that works quite well for opening the neck, I could just get the replacement die and have anther go at it again but keeping a closer eye on the progress than I did. Perhaps someone with a Forster dies will yet chime in on the resulting neck OD. Perhaps Hornady will supply me with a die that doesn't neck the brass down to .285 the second time around. I realize for the price that set sells for, they're not going to lose sleep over a few thousandths and one customer's issue. We'll see. I've been pleasantly surprised before by their customer service.

I will step back now and let ctrmass have his thread back.

PS: thanks pinzgauer for your post while I was composing this long-winded one. Depending upon Hornady's generosity, if I have to dig into my wallet and rightfully so, I may just buy a Forster instead. Way past my bedtime and it shows in my writing...

Hoot

[bwaites]

Hoot,

I'm intrigued by 8208 also. I bought two pounds, and have just loaded the last of my brass with it and 107 SMK's, since I couldn't find any 108 Lapuas locally. I've been talking about 8208 with Bill Alexander, and he thinks it very likely is a hot ticket for a stable powder for the lighter bullets especially.

I might have some 123 Amax's, interested? I'm out of town right now, but loaded 500+ of them last week and know I had some left over, just don't remember how many.

[LR1955]

Guys:

For the new guys. We have been down this road before. If you guys expect to shoot 7.62 X 39 brass, Hornady brass, Wolf Brass, and the Lapua / AA brass, you need to get the Redding bushing dies as you will find the brass thickness of these different brands to be different enough that you will need a different size neck sizer.

As for such things as run out. I wouldn't be too concerned with a gas gun unless you are firing prone slow fire where you single load and put the cartridge directly into the chamber by hand. What does anyone think happens to cartridge run out when your cartridge is crammed on an angle into feed ramps at a very high speed and as the cartridge enters the chamber the bullet tip slams against the top the barrel before changing direction again and going into battery? I don't know. Maybe someone can measure cartridge run out before the chambering process (from the magazine with the bolt being pulled back and released) and after.

Get the Redding bushing dies with three bushings and you will be set up for any brass.

LR55

[Hoot]

Revelations were made today. See This new thread

Hoot

[aashooter]

+1 for Redding Competition dies. I'm using them for 338 Lapua and 308 Win.

Just purchased a 6.5 Grendel Rifle, and 400 unfired brass from Alexander Arms. I was wondering if anybody could suggest a bushing size... Don't know what is the wall thickness of the case so can't calculate the teoretical size needed.

Thanks, aashooter

[Alchemy]

My Hornady dies work fine

[LR1955]

+1 for Redding Competition dies. I'm using them for 338 Lapua and 308 Win.

Just purchased a 6.5 Grendel Rifle, and 400 unfired brass from Alexander Arms. I was wondering if anybody could suggest a bushing size... Don't know what is the wall thickness of the case so can't calculate the teoretical size needed.

Thanks, aashooter

ASH:

.282, .284, and .286 is what I use. The .282 for the Wolf stuff and a toss up between the .284 and .286 for the rest.

LR1955

[bwaites]

I use the .289 for my AA/Lapua brass. I also the .282 and .284 for Wolf. I also used the .289 for Hornady, but it definitely was looser seating bullets than the Lapua was, so I might need a different bushing for it.

Seeing what LR1955 is using, I wonder if I'm running too little neck tension!

[Hoot]

ASH:

.282, .284, and .286 is what I use. The .282 for the Wolf stuff and a toss up between the .284 and .286 for the rest.

LR1955

Good Lord! Do you grease your bullets to get them in? On a more serious note, how often do you anneal? Are your necks turned to thin them up?

Hoot

[bwaites]

I'm almost 100% sure that LR1955 doesn't do either. I was surprised at those bushing sizes for the Lapua brass as well.

I don't anneal brass either, and some of my Lapua/AA brass has more than 20 loadings on it.

[pappy42]

+1 on the Redding bushing dies. I want to be just like bwaites and LR1955 when I grow up. On second thought; I don't think that I want to grow up at all.

[bwaites]

+1 on the Redding bushing dies. I want to be just like bwaites and LR1955 when I grow up. On second thought; I don't think that I want to grow up at all.

Pappy, please don't aspire to be me, I'm just a broken down old man who has learned by hard experience, (mostly my own!). LR1955 tried to convince me for 2 years to switch to the bushing dies before I did it, and looking back I was really stupid to not have done so sooner!

I'm still on the constant learning treadmill, but try to let others know what I have learned by beating my head against the wall so that they won't have to!