98Z5V

So, please expound upon your actual combat experience...

Not annealing at this time - I will be in the future, that's for sure. Positively. I'm using the Lake City 5.56 NATO brass because they anneal it so deep - when I cut that stuff down, it's still showing signs of it's 5.56 annealing all the way under the new 300BLK shoulder. That's one of the reasons it's all I'll use right now, since I'm not doing my own annealing. Pic and link to the die set I'm using - RCBS Part # 22407: https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=6792

On my Blackout stuff, I was sorting by manufacturer, and it was a good thing. When I first started with it, I used some once-fired .223/5.56 Prvi Partizan 69-grain match cases (PPU). I love that stuff in a couple of my 5.56 precision rifles. I used a bunch of it in my initial 300BLK case-making, just because it always reloaded well for me for 5.56 heavy-loadings, and I like the brass. It doesn't like being turned into 300BLK very well, though... On the 3rd 300BLK loading, the bases of it has seen enough. They all went through the sizer die harder than the other stuff I was working on, were very hard to get out of the shell holder, and came out almost looking like small versions of belted cases. They wouldn't even go into the shell holder on the hand-priming tool after that. They went into the trash. So, by sorting by manufacturer, it was super-easy to find the rest of them that were now BLK cases, and throw them away. I'll never use them again for new 300BLK manufacture, but I sure as hell will keep loading them into heavy-pill 5.56 loads. For BLK, I'll only use Lake City 5.56 NATO, now. Moral of this story - not all brass, from all manufacturers, is of the same quality for your purposes. Sorting by manufacturer will help you later down the road.

Roman, it's gonna be hard to find AK ammo that you can reload - just depriming Berdan-primed stuff is a PITA, brother. If you want to load your own stuff for your next rifle, then you're a hell of alot better off going 300BLK, by FAR... The steps I take on this stuff is as follows. It's also subject to change if I can find any other steps that will make other steps easier... Steps for my 300BLK manufacture: 1. AR-15s get the $hit shot out of them at the range. All brass policed up. 2. All AR-15 brass (.223 Rem and 5.56 NATO) goes into the tumbler once it gets home. 3. Sort out Lake City 5.56 NATO brass - that's the only stuff I'll turn into Blackout ammo anymore. 4. Run the Lake City 5.56 brass through the mini chop saw. I was cutting it right at the neck, but that leaves ALOT of trimming. I've been cutting it a little further back now, so I have less final-trimming to do. I'll get pics next time I chop a batch up. 5. Chamfer those now-straight-walled cases heavily, with VLD chamfer bits - this is important later, and for the next step. 6. Run them through the tumbler for about 15 minutes, to clear out all the brass shavings from chopping them - don't let that stuff tear up your 300BLK dies. 7. Pull from tumbler, shake 'em out, and lube 'em up on the pad (or whatever you use). You can hit straight-walled 5.56 cases with some pretty heavy lube, and it won't hurt the brass. Typically, if you use too much lube, you're gonna dent in the shoulders of brass that you're just resizing. That's one sign of "too much lube." You can run this stuff heavy and it won't hurt new-made BLK cases - you're forming a brand new shoulder, where there wasn't one before. I've yet to have a problem on a heavy-lubed pad, and any shoulder issues when making new BLK brass. 8. Run 'em through the sizer/deprimer. 9. Leave the lube on there - don't sweat it. There's still alot of steps to go here... 10. Change dies in the press - Run them through the Swager now - get rid of those crazy Lake City primer crimps. Be aggressive with them in this step, because the new Lake CIty primer crimping is a 4-Corner affair. Lake CIty wants to make sure you never blow out a primer in their brass, and they're damn good at the primer crimping process. 11. These things are going in for final-trimming now. Put them in your trimmer - lube still on them - and cut them back to 1.363" OAL. I've been cutting them shorter now so I have less to trim. If you chop them right at the shoulder, they'll be somewhere between 1.900" and 2.000" long when you start trimming - THAT'S ALOT TO HAND-TRIM!!! I chop under the shoulder now - still experimenting - and my initial length, to start trimming, has beenin the 1.800"-something range. That's not bad. 12. You may need to hit them with the VLD chamfer tool (inner and outer) while you're trimming them down. Measure often - if you have alot to go, chamfer those fuckers. It makes it easier to trim them down. 13. Once at final trim-to size, chamfer those bastards again, inner and outer, with the VLD chamfer tool. This must be done in order to make it easier to get a good, light crimp on them later. 14. Once they're all trimmed to 1.363", they go into a small tupperware of hot soapy water. Run them all around in there, make sure you wash them good. They've got lube on them, brass shavings, gunk. The hot soapy water makes that stuff go away fast. 15. Toss in a squirt of Real Lemon, right into the soapy water, for the last 10 minutes. Makes 'em pretty. 16. Out of the water, into a small collander - hot water bath, right under the faucet, to clear all that soap and lemon juice out. 17. Onto the paper towels, out into the AZ sun, to dry out. Takes less than 10 minutes here, in the middle of the day, in the summer... 18. Into the tumbler again. Polish 'em up. 19. Clear them out from the tumbler, take them back inside ('cause it's summer in AZ...). 20. Prime those bastards up. I'm running CCI 400 small rifle primers in mine. 21. Measure/drop powder. I'm running 150 grain Hornady FMJ BT projectiles, so I'm running 16.1 grains of H110 powder under them. It's very, very damn close to a compressed load in this small case. 22. Seat your bullets. 23. Toss on a light taper-crimp, if your dies don't already do this for you. I've been using the RCBS AR-Series 300BLK Small Base Die Set. The seater die has a crimp function built right into it - all in the same motion. Once you hit that final depth on the seating, it crimps it, too. No separate action the their AR-Series Dies. All in one. Saved one step that way... <lmao> There you go. That's the process I take to turn Lake City 5.56 NATO brass into 300BLK ammo. Might seem excessive, but those steps are there for a reason. I sure as hell hope I didn't leave a step out - I don't think I did... <laughs> Fire off any questions, guys. If a step I'm doing doesn't make sense, hit me up on it. I'll either explain why I do it, or change what I'm doing... <thumbsup>

Cut the 5.56 brass off just below the shoulder, so it's a straight-walled case. After they're formed, trim to a final length of 1.363" and prime and load them. <thumbsup> I'll list up all the steps I take on this stuff. I've added a few steps as I've gone along, just to make the next step easier.

That's my next build - short BLK on Roger's lower, new AP upper and rail. Can't wait to start that one!

Doesn't seem like much (84 rounds), but it's quite the job to take these heavy little bastards from 5.56 brass all the way to loaded 300BLK. Lots of steps. The most time consuming part is trimming them to length once they've been formed and deprimed. I've been cutting them shorter in the mini chop saw just so I don't have as much trimming-to-length to do. I end up cleaning them 3 times through this process, not counting the tumble the brass gets when it gets off the range. Wasn't even 100 rounds, but it still took 2 days to complete. Greg, I have a better idea, brother - we build you a 300BLK rifle! :hethan: Here's where I'm at from the last couple weeks - everything on the right side of that upper tray is all loaded Blackout. That's 530 new cases made, with another 3 mags to load and stack in there. It eats up some time.

I'd keep working on them, instead of giving up on your money - they apparently got too big too fast, and didn't anticipate that. This is from their contact page: "At Northwest Custom Precision, our attentive staff is available Monday through Saturday to answer all of your questions and ensure you are 100% satisfied. Our address is : North West Custom Precision 790 30th St Bldg H Suite 3 Springfield, OR 97478 To contact us please email us at northwestprecision@outlook.com We are no longer able to take phone calls at this time. Answering the phone and returning messages has become a fulltime job and we can not afford to take time away from production in order to keep up with the demand of the phones. We already receive hundreds of emails daily, we will do our best to respond to your emails within 48hrs. Please be patient, we have become much busier than we ever anticipated. Customer satisfaction is still our top priority and we are working on adding staff to handle the work load that is coming in. Thanks again for your support Team NW Precision."

Just finished up the 150gr BLK rounds. 84 brand new ones to take out next week.

Something in the upper is moving - barrel nut definitely check. That barrel, or the optics, are moving on you. How your shooting technique? I can't imagine it's bad, because the .223 is putting down 2" groups at the same distance.

Got it - sorry ,man. That was my fault.

No butthurt in it at all Shibi. Takes time to help people out when they have questions. Just not wasting any more time on it. <thumbsup>

Yeah Greg!!! I love a good RockChucker!!! <lmao>

Cali Ed - just so you know - I could give you a metric $hit-ton of information. It is my decision to not give you ANY information, based on your "folly" of your 800m target. People chose to help you through your build, through your shooting questions, etc. You must have thought that was a joke, and you made fun of us. At this time - just so you know - the joke is now on you. There are many of us that will not help you anymore. Your questions will go un-answered, and the meaninful information you wish to seek is now gone. Those that know will not respond. I wish you luck, and I hope you do well in your shooting endeavors. Pretty fucking funny, yeah?! HAHA! <lmao>

You need to look back at the days that/when the Technical Data Package (TDP) was approved for the M16, or more recently, for the Colt M4/M4A1. At those times, in those days (it goes to the M16), C158 was a damn strong material, and that's what they deemed was necessary for the material for the bolt - at that time. Other materials have been made since then, of superior quality and strength, that surpass C158. It's up to you to determine if your bolt manufacturer is making bolts that meet or exceed that minimum standard of what's required from C158.

That's another 350 miles, right there - I'm just sayin'... If you're going to make that trip for that distance, hit Devil's Tower. Yep, no joke, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" Devil's Tower. That thing is a sight to behold, in person.

I can make it cheaper for you, Rob. Hornady 150 gr FMJ is my go-to load. <thumbsup>

FUK that! It's pretty obvious that you don't have kids. Just simply for that fact that I KNOW HOW I WAS... I'll kill a motherfucker over the poop I did. When my son starts trying to pull the $hit that I used to, I jerk a knot in his a$s so fast that he doesn't even realize he just got in trouble. That's not a double standard. That's life. I know better now. If you ever have kids, you might understand.

Well, it does have more meat than the DPMS, and that's definitely been posted up before, with pics. Filing it down to work in DPMS receiver is what needs to be done to have a stronger catch, it's as simple as that. Drive on, think what you want, and argue what you will - it's been proven numerous times, well before you started your build, and well ahead of your knowledge curve on this stuff.

She'll end up with the 300BLK EOTech on that one. She's been after that one for awhile now, so that's gotta be the one. I never, ever should have let her talk to the rep in Vegas. It was all over, right then...

All the more reason to move next door, and hang out with me, brother!

Deprimed and formed - swaging primer pockets next, trimming to length, and chamfering. New Blackouts make you feel good. :banana:

Damn, two of these things in the house, and no pics of them in this thread. Mine - still needs a few more things, but I shoot it as-is now... Dawn Marie's Ghost Gun Blackout...

Sorted a bag of mixed .223/5.56 brass last night. 84 brand new baby Blackout cases were just born a few minutes ago! <lmao> Sorted out the 2011 and 2012 Lake City 5.56 NATO and chopped 'em up! They're on their way... <thumbsup>

After watching SS do his barrel comparison between .308 16" and 20", I've watched for all the little details in the numbers. After seeing what he's been doing, I've revised what I do on accuracy-ammo for my 5.56 rifles. I've been sorting my Lake City brass by year, and then weighing each brass piece to see the differences in weight. I've combined some years of brass based on similar weight, and marked and sorted (loaded) ammo based on that. Haven't had them out yet for a good shoot and comparo, but I'll get to that once it cools down here. Everything makes a difference, and if you can keep as much as possible "the same," you'll definitely see the differences that it makes, downrange.