Reloading problem with .243....any thoughts?

[txfireguy2003]

Your going to have different point of impacts using the three different brasses. Pick one only. The volume of the rem case isn't the same as the Barnes. Thus iaying your going to have inconsistencies in powder volumes inside the cases which will in return have different ballistics..

For the record, I did only use one brand of brass for the test. But for those who say that you can't load consistently with mixed headstamp brass....I'll agree that for a benchrest gun, it might make a difference, but for my purposes, I've successfully loaded in mixed brass in several calibers and made loads that shoot as good as I am capable of, and as good as the rifle is capable of. 1/2" groups are good enough for me.

[Skyjunky]

Buy a Dillon case gauge for the caliber and test your first round before cranking out more.

[Winman]

Did you forget to trim your brass?

I noticed that missing step also....if you didn't trim to spec,then most of the "once fired" cases are too long...factory loads are usually crimped into the cantelure and when fired this straightens out the case....you don't crimp the handloads so the cases turn out too long...

[xman59]

a lot has been covered,, any time you use someone else's brass, full length resize, box and sort anything new you buy, one lot of brass can be different han the next from the same manufacturer,,
one person did say something that gets missed a lot,, it is very easy to bulge the shoulder when seating and crimping the bullet,, and it can be a very small bulge that causes problems...
buy you a set of permanent markers,, when you have a brass problem, color the case shoulder and neck even the rim, and mouth of the caertridge, when you close the bolt or action this spot will usually leave a noticeable mark were it removed the color of the marker.... most problem are with the brass length or the shoulder, check those first always..

if you dont have a dial caliper, get one it will save some aggravation!

its always easy to get ammo mixed up, especially if someone else is along or helping ( my kids loved to help load) i kept a log book, i would put a colored mark on the page and beside that mark the specific load data and number of rounds i loaded,, i took that same marker and painted the exposed sides of the bullet, i always used red for the hottest loads and always used blue for the mildest loads,, and i gave up on boxes and went to zip lock baggies,, i might have 10 loads in 1 baggie with several different colored bullets,, i also placed a slip of paper in the bag that had the loads on them and made for a great note sheet on the range, my log book always stayed home safe and dry..
each baggie contained the same brass, the same bullet only the charge weight was changed inside that bag,,, so if i shot 3 loads each of 125gr, 150 and 165 gr bullets, i might have three bags with 9 rounds each,,, cheap and very effective..

also the marker colors often left a slight color ring around the bullet hole on white paper,,, so i didnt have to worry about marking every few shots most of the time

[txfireguy2003]

Okay, I loaded up another batch last night, just adjusted the decap pin way up in my sizer die and resized all brass, then loaded. Checked every round in both rifles, all cycled smoothly, should be good to go, hopefully the rain hold off this afternoon and I can make it to the range to Test fire after I take Kaitlin to the ortho doc at 1:00, she broke her arm Friday.

[TheCracker]

i see that you figured out your problem and learned that it is good to test that they will chamber.

Once I had a 308 FL die not set up correctly. the shell holder has to make firm contact against the die or the shoulder will not get pushed back all the way! I spent 3 hours one evening pulling 100 rounds of 308 down, runing the case through a FL sizer again, salvaging and reseating the primer remeasureing the powder and reseating.

I learned the check that your rounds chamber lesson the hard way esp when FL sizing and using a new type of bullet.