lancetkenyon

So it would only take me 200 minutes to do a normal batch of 100 cases. Great example of "ya its possible" vs "practical use of time". Exactly. It CAN be done, but is in no way efficient. 3 1/2 hours or 15 minutes. You decide. Plus, my results are better and more consistent as evidenced in the photo.

A lot....

Sure. Super easy and fast. Maybe Saturday? I am shooting/hunting all day Sunday, weather permitting.

Deer and elk out to 1000, you should be looking at a 7mm or .308" caliber cartridge in my opinion. If I had to have ONE rifle to do it all and I did not reload, it would either be a .300WM or 7RM. Factory loads available EVERYWHERE, and lots of choices. You can get a lighter rifle for carrying in the mountains without punishing recoil. My other options would be .300RUM or 7RUM/7STW. More power, but at additional costs/recoil/less choices of factory loads.

www.stockystocks.com has their own line of composite stocks for $199. I don't know how good they are though. You can almost get a Bell & Carlson for $200 if you shop around. Usually $250 or so.

OK, my apologies to forepaw first and foremost. A candle can definitely anneal brass. But.....I burned the crap out of my fingers while trying with a .223, .25-06, 7mmRM and .300RUM case. It took about 30 seconds for the .223 to burn my fingers, with no annealing achieved. In a vice grip, I held it at the point of the flame for 1:00 with no color change visible. At 1:30, a very slight color change appeared on the neck (probably annealed at the neck only). At 2:00, neck and shoulder annealed. For a 7mmRM case: I could hold it for 55 seconds before it burned my fingers. No annealing visible. In a vice grip, @ 1:30, neck looks annealed. At 2:00, neck ad shoulder annealed like my torch does at 6 seconds. I only had one .300RUM case that was not annealed, so I had to use the same case for all the tests. I could hold it for 1:15 before I burned my fingers. No visible color change or annealing. At 2:00, neck and shoulder annealed to my liking. .25-06 burned my fingers at 50 seconds. No visible annealing. 1:30 showed signs of neck annealing. 2:00 shows neck/shoulders annealed like my others. So a candle CAN anneal brass. I still stand by my response that I cannot hold case with my fingers and get proper annealing. And the efficiency is not there at all. I can do a case in an average of 6 seconds, vs.2 minutes with a candle. Bottom to top: 0:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30 Here are some 7RM cases. Top is 1:30 seconds over a candle. 3 on the bottom are 6 seconds in a MAPP gas torch.

Annealing a brass case is temperature AND time sensitive. I don't think I personally could hold a case long enough to get the neck to 900° before the base got to 480° and burned my fingers with an 1850° flame. Plus, it would take forever. Again, I have never heard of someone doing it before forepaw. Candle flame: 800-1000°C (1480-1850°F) dependent on oxygen, humidity, wax, etc. MAPP gas: 2925°C (5300°F) Propane gas: 1980°C (3600°F) While I have tried propane gas torches, it takes about double the time to get the necks annealed correctly, 9-14 seconds from my observations. That is a forced consistent temp flame @ 1980°C. The base gets WAY too hot to hold before the neck starts to glow or flame change. I only tried this a few times before I lost some fingerprints. I will go try it right now though. Keep up the discussion though. Good info, and I learn stuff every day.

I did, and feel like so less of a man now.......

Forepaw, forgive me for this response. Not trying to start an argument at all. Just a few clarifications. I do agree the shiny ring could very well be totally normal in most cases. My .25-06 Ackley and 6.5 SLR show this ring after resizing. Throw them in a vibratory cleaner/polisher and they all but disappear. I have never heard of a candle being used to "anneal" brass. Brass is not effected by heat less than 480°F. Most annealing starts out at 500°, and continues to 900°, or right when (or very slightly before) brass starts to turn orange or glow @ about 950°F. And since brass conducts heat VERY quickly, I would not recommend holding it in your fingers to anneal it. It must be heated uniformly around the neck, so it needs to be rotated or spun while being rapidly heated. I use a deep socket on a cordless drill to do this. It also acts as a heat sink, helping to draw heat from the case body before reaching the head. My annealing usually only lasts 4-7 seconds (depending on brass make) at the most with a MAP gas torch. Not long enough to conduct enough heat to the case head to reach 450°. I can usually pick them up within 60 seconds with my fingers as the heat dissipates very quickly as well. I also do my annealing in a dark room. Watch the flame, you will see a change of color in the flame from blue to orange behind the case right before the case neck starts to glow @ 950°F+/-. I anneal ever other firing myself. But I usually run hotter loads in my hunting rifles. But I would rather anneal too often than not often enough. Quickly cooing it in water does nothing to the annealing process. "Quenching" is used to harden steel. The only way to harden brass is by working it. Once the heat source is removed, brass releases heat very quickly, so no worry about the base getting annealed an softened if done properly and quickly with a high heat source to the neck of the case. One last comment. "Book max". Only your gun/cases can tell you what the max load is, not any publication or website, or friend who loads his own. It might be under book max (but I doubt it if you consider that manufacturers are notorious for have low pressures and charge weights to avoid potential lawsuits from morons who go right for a max load). And you will get conflicting information from various manufacturers anyway, with the same case/bullet/primer/powder combos. It might be several grains over book max as well. Seating depth of bullets, chamber dimensions, jump or jam to lands, bullet shape and bearing surface, lot variations in powder, primer flashes, neck tension, resizing techniques, brass prep....all make a difference in actual pressures. Seat a heavy bullet deep and it takes up usable case space, causing higher pressures with the same charge weight as seating a bullet out. But that I another topic of discussion.

Thanks everyone, for the prayers and condolences. It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye to a man who changed my life at the age of 16. Without this man, I would not have my wife and kids, the lights of my life. For the past 29 years I have known and loved this kind, generous, and funny man. We hunted together, fished together, laughed together, among many other great times. I thank God for giving us the last week together to say our goodbyes. It will be a while before the pain subsides, but seeing him in good spirits, and coming back to God over the last week, along with knowing he is in a better place with no more pain or sorrow helps ease the pain. We will meet again, and I know he will be up there watching over us, and laughing at all of the stupid stuff I do until it is my time to go meet him again. Just a quick mental picture of this man: 50% Uncle Sy from Duck Dynasty 25% Uncle Jed from the Beverly Hillbillies 25% Popeye 100% Elby "Bus" Robertson

Since a cartridge that is not a belted magnum spaces off the head, to maintain proper seating against the bolt face, you need to make sure you only set the shoulder back .001 or .002" back from your fired case length ato the shoulder. This lets it chamber easily, without seating too deep in the chamber, and stretching rearward towards the bolt face upon firing. Cases stretch a lot easier and safer to the front of the chamber rather than to the rear into the bolt face. When you push the shoulder back a bit too far, the brass stretches right where your ring indicates, and you will eventually have a case head separate from the body. It is a nuisance in the best case scenario with the body possibly getting stuck in the chamber, and dangerous in a worse case scenario, blowing hot gas back in your face.

When I check mules into the Kaibab check station, they do NOT count eye guards. So my 4x5 plus eye guards were listed as a 4x5, not a 5x6.

Just LOOKING at this thread brings a smile to my face! Beautiful pups.

My ladder tests usually take 4 hours or so for 12-20 rounds. I shoot them at 600 yards, so walking back and forth can be ridiculous. We use a method I would never suggest for marking each individual hole after the shot. A radio and a safe staging point are needed.

Go get them!

Turn the die down very snug with the shell holder. Also, I would look at overall case length. I would bet you need to trim .001 to .002" off the length.

Bad luk. Stuk truk. Nice buk. Holey sheets on my bunk. Etc.

Too much.....these were all between 40-110# w. a 14-16+# rifle.

What type of new rings did you go with? Glad it is back to shooting well for you.

.300 WM case length 2.620" SAAMI COAL 3.340" .300 Norma Mag case length 2.559" SAAMI COAL 3.346" .300 RUM case length 2.850" SAAMI COAL 3.600" I doubt .006" would hinder the Norma Mag from fitting in anything a .300WM won't fit in. I know I seat my .300RUM out to a COAL of 3.680" and it fits in the mag still with room to spare.

Never used one, but I have heard good things about them for the AR crowd. I know a guy who has one in .260 Rem on his AR10, and it is very accurate.

All yours Mike. Let me know when you want to meet up.

Updated what is left.

Krylon or Rustoleum work fine with a couple coats of flat clear over the top. I have done numerous rifles and stocks.

Happy belated birthday Terry.