mineralman55

Lasher, get the progressive. I started on an RCBS 4x4 30 years ago and never looked back. Just take your time and LEARN. Watch the youtube videos on reloading, get a couple loading manuals and ask lots of questions. Cautions: 1.) Get a case gauge for each rifle caliber. USE IT. You'll never have to say thank you for that bit of advice. 2.) Wear safety glasses. 3.) Have fun. Shooters' Pro Shop has a great deal on Dillon equipment. http://www.shootersproshop.com/catalog/product/view/id/7242/s/dillon-rl-550b-reloading-press/category/2/

This guy is GREAT!

A few years ago I asked Alliant about their AR Comp for loading the M1 30-06. This was their reply: "AR Comp should be a good choice as it is very slightly faster burning than RL 15. The charge wts for AR Comp are slightly lighter than for RL 15, approx. 5% or a little more." I would say begin experimenting. Start low, work your way up. Let us know how it works.

What about Aero Precision's 16" bbl? Everything I've heard about their other products is outstanding, but I have not heard anything in particular about their barrels. http://aeroprecisionusa.com/m5e1-308-16-mid-cmv-complete-upper.html

Sisco, it doesn't bother me, but it is an interesting quote. I'm not a machinist by day, and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night either. I'm just an occasional weekend hack with machine tools.

Is that a slur about machinists' manhood?

Every once in a while I get an inkling of encouragement from developments. Not major, but a good trend. I was invited to attend a ribbon cutting at the local college for their new CNC program and complete shop. Interestingly, the wiring and HVAC for the shop was installed by the students in those programs. Now, this might not sound like much, but it is an impressive shop and their program is thinking years ahead. Industry down here is hurting for qualified machinists. There were several mayors in attendance, state senators and representatives, someone from our federal senator's office, a bunch of local industry CEOs. There are two Haas CNC machines, a bank of CNC simulators in the attached classroom, and things that warm my heart... a manual machine tool section with three restored 16" Southbends, some Bridgeports, and some other machines. It was great. BTW, can anyone tell me what the last "Summit" mill machine is? I'm not familiar with it.

Ordered a trigger yesterday. Van said the $105 sale price was still in effect.

My condolences to his family, and prayers for him. Rest easy.

Actually, Dave at Tennessee Arms told me they intentionally make them tight, so I may need a little emery cloth to get it to fit.

Okay, here's why I asked. I couldn't resist, and bought one of Tennessee Arms' polymer AR308 lowers. $75! Now I need to find an upper. A friend of mine bought a dozen of their AR15 polymer lowers and I was very impressed with them. Very tight fit on a number of different uppers. I can't seem to paste pics for some reason. www.tnarmsco.com

Yeah, but it's dry heat <laughs> On the uppers, who's are the best machined, or most rugged, or best designed. Or are there any I should avoid (does CMMG make uppers?) As I first posted, I have a Mega and a SI upper. Both are real nice pieces of equipment. Any others I should consider? Prefer to stick with a DPMS-style upper.

I'm looking for your opinions on what you think is the "best" upper AR308 receiver. Best can be defined anyway you want, just say why ("free" doesn't count). I currently have a matched SI upper/lower and a matched Mega upper/lower. Both are beautifully machined and I'd probably be happy with another of either. The only parameters I'd put on it is the resultant rifle must be reliable and accurate in that order. Whatcha got?

A "Club Gitmo" polo shirt :)) . Thought I'd piss off a few people at work.

46 grains is close to optimal in a 30-06 underneath a 168 BTHP. That is waaaay too hot for a .308. This is what 46.4 grains in a 30-06 and a 168 BTHP Hornady looks like.

Robo, can you elucidate on the MechArmor iron sights? Will the rear be both elevation and windage adjustable, and will the front sight be easily adjustable similar to the KAC front sight? The KAC is a head-slapping "why didn't I think of that?" item.

Decided to break out the AR15 just to try some more load development. I'm finding a lot of bullet/powder combos that provide acceptable accuracy (2 MOA +-), but only a few with outstanding accuracy (<=1.5 MOA+-). I always gauge the performance with iron sights, front bench rest only and 100 yds (that's just me, you might use other criteria.) Anyway, with this AR, the barrel is a 1:8 20" HBAR. The Hornady 75 BTHP never seems to get any better than this. Once I run out of others, I'm sticking with the Sierra 69 BTHP. They are just outstanding in this rifle.

I've flown enough prop planes to know I don't want to be around spinning props in my spare time. Let someone else have the fun of it. I like my normal "2-dimensional" bike.

Try <gunbot.net/reloading/powder> They have Reloader 15 right now. It's expensive, but has been available for a long time. I can get it locally for ~$28/lb.

/\/\/\ Thought the same thing. Eight spinning, unshrouded props within inches of me? I don't think so!

WOW! Widener's was very fast, just a couple days from order to receiving my cases. Even included a few extras in each caliber. Will load these up soon. Thanks Widener's.

I had the old style Lee hand primer. It was a gem. Finally wore it out after tens of thousands of rounds. Bought the new style Lee and it sucks! Don't waste your time on it. Got the RCBS with the universal case holder head and it's okay, but just not as good as the old Lee.

Widener's has Starline nickel finished .357 and .44mag brass. I ordered a bunch of each. Haven't seen either in a dog's age.

Needed to start this thread again so others can live vicariously. A friend and I built an all-1955 M1 Garand with a NIW 1955 Springfield Armory barrel I found on the CMP forum. Unfortunately, It shot horribly. With the sights bottomed it shot over a foot high at 100 yds with a pattern that was worse than a shotgun blast. We looked at everything, couldn't figure out why the performance was so bad. So I gave in and bought a new Criterion M1 30-06 barrel, put it on and bam!, top notch groups right from the start. This is a shooter! Inspection of the SA barrel showed it was bent. That sucks. Lessons learned. For those interested, this is a handload, 168 Hornady BTHP, 46.4 grains of Varget, LC cases, WIN LR primers, 3.320" LOA. Oh yeah, 100 yds with a front rest only.

I want a rug, not rags.