NF1E

Got an extra 500 cnt box on the shelf so it's time to load a hundred .308s and have some fun on the range. Load today is Sierra's suggested accuracy load of 43.9 gn of IMR-8208 XBR. Loading in Lapua cases with 210M primers. Whatta Hobby!

Not really, they are all semi auto M14 type rifles, not USGI M14s.

45 deg with light rain out so it time for some loading. Today's choice is .308 fb bullets over 43.5 gn of Varget in Lapua and MEN berdan brass which I use interchangeably for accuracy loadings. Brass has been sized with an RCBS sb xdie with the internal primer punch and expander ball removed, wet tumbled with ss pins and dawn, dried in Frankford Arsenal case dryer, trimmed with Giraud trimmer, neck tension set to .002 with Sinclair carbide tapered mandrel. Berdan primed with Tula primers and boxer primed with 210Ms. Brass prep and priming finished up earlier. Waiting for the RCBS Matchmaster to warm up so it can be calibrated. Whatta Hobby!

Finished up segregating into .1 gn bags today. Majority of the brass is within .5 gn centered at 94. gn Whatta Hobby!

Finished up the last of them a few minutes ago and weight sorted to 1 gn for now. Weight on Starline was all between 93 and 95 so pretty good to start. Whatta Hobby!

Opened a new 1K bag of Starline .223 brass. Initial prep includes de-burring and unitizing the flash holes, run a tapered carbide neck mandrel for a .003 tension, trim and mouth prep with a Giraud trimmer, weight sort and bag for 1 gn or closer segregation. Whatta Hobby!

Shot this 3 - 9 today in the 1/4" 10 dot 100 yd challenge. Rifle is a Savage 110 .223 with NF scope. Ammo is handloaded Berger 55 gn varminter over 20 gn of IMR-4198 in starline brass set of with 205m primers. Set a .003 neck tension and a 2.26 COAL. Whatta Hobby!

Trimming .223 this morning. Did 500 cases at 1 sec per case. This Giraud powered case trimmer also takes care of the mouth prep at the same time. Whatta Hobby!

Annealing a batch of .223 brass today using my Giraud annealer. Takes about 5 seconds per case to get er done the way I like it. Whatta Hobby!

Shot a 2-7 this morning. Getting in some practice before we open up the new challenge. Max spread is just under .4 for 10 rnds. Whatta Hobby!

Shot a 3-5 on our 100 yd 1/4" 10 dot challenge today. Max spread was a .4 with 8 rnds inside a .25. Load 73 gn Berger's in Starline brass over 23 gn of Varget set off with BR-4s. Rifles current configuration Savage 110 in .223 with Jard 3 oz trigger in an ORYX chassis with a Night Force Competition 15-55x52 scope. Whatta Hobby!

Shot a 3-5 on our 100 yd 1/4" 10 dot challenge today. Max spread was .4 with 8 shots withing a .25. 1 click more of elevation should have brought the score to a 4-8. Maybe next time. Rifle used is a Savage 110 in an ORYX with a Jard 3 0z trigger and a Criterian 26" 1-8 SS varmint profile barrel. Scope is a Night Force Competition 15-55x52. Load is 73 gn Bergers in Starline brass over 23 gn of Varget set off with BR-4s. Whatta Hobby!

Yep, and enjoying every dang minute of it. Whatta Hobby!

Just came in from the range. Shot this with my most recent .223 load. SD of 8.8 is good for me. Black center dot is 1/2". Range is 100 yds. Whatta Hobby!

Raw target data. 5 rnd groups are 1 moa below and slightly left of 1/4" poa. Whatta Hobby!

60 rounds of testing complete for the day. Barrel really likes a jump of .010 off the lands with 22 gn of IMR-8208 pushing a 73 gn Berger target bullet in a Starline case. Running right around 2650 fps and 10 shots in a 1/4 moa group at 100 yds. Whatta Hobby!

Middle of the night the light came on. I was adding to the jamb, and not the jump with the way I set this test batch up. the 1.99 was touching the lands so all the following should be less in minus .010 increments. Made the correction this morning so we are ready to go with. Set the micrometer die up with the 1.99 as the zero and moved the dial to the minus side by .010 for each progressive 10 rnd group. Should be a fun test. Made up fouling rounds that are a .050 jump. Whatta Hobby!

Just finished loading up 50 rnds for my test for this barrel. Started at a CBTO of 1.99 which is touching the lands and out to 2.03 which gives me a .040 spread in .010 increments. A node usually appears somewhere in that area and can be refined from there. Photo is my fresh test target set up the way I like it with 1/4" aimpoint. I shoot a 5 rnd group in each jump area with a barrel cool down between each then repeat on line 2. Whatta Hobby!

Working up load for new barrel. Criterion 26" SS varmint profile .223 on one of my Savage 110s. Loading today for most effective jump. Starting at touching the lands and working out in .010 increments with 10 rnds loaded for each to be shot in 5 rnd groups and then return for verification. Using Berger 73 gn target bullets over 22 gn of IMR-8208 in weighed Starline cases set off with BR-4 primers. Should give about a 2800 fps. Once the baseline is established I will be changing over to 205M primers to see the effect on SD. Whatta Hobby!

Loading up more 110 Sierra FBHPs today. Whatta Hobby!

Loading up a bunch of Sierra 110 gn BTHP for .308 short range. MEN Berdan brass freshly annealed, Tula primers 44.5 gn of Benchmark. Running in a Savage 110 with a fresh X-Caliber barrel. Bullet in photo is set on 3 rnd hole at 100 yds. Whatta Hobby!

Primed a few hundres MEN berdan .308 brass. Photo is boxer brass, but same handheld primer tool gets used for both. Whatta Hobby!

I only did it for about 10 years after I got out of the Marine Corps. Laying the 12" block as in the photo I was easily keeping 2 tenders working at speed. After that I settled down as a Security electrical contractor and idled on to retirement. I enjoyed every trade I had the opportunity to participate in. An hours work for an hour's pay makes one appreciate where we came from. Whatta Hobby!

Working on my wobble factor. Seems as I am breaking in this Uintah Upper, it's tightening up since I moved up to 23.5 gn of Varget pushing the 73 gn Bergers. Haven't been able to eliminate those 3 darn fliers that happen each time just outside the 1/4" group of 7 at 100 yds. Whatta Hobby!

Thanks, took 60 years of work and planning to be able to accomplish my wishes. I was told at an early age that you can not build a church on a ship house foundation. Retirement is built from the bottom up with hard work and dedication. Whatta Hobby!