Reloading and shooting tips & Articles
PREPPING BRASS AND LOADING FOR THE
30-338 LAPUA
RICHARD FRANKLIN/RICHARDS CUSTOM RIFLES
Tools you will need to reduce the case necks of the 338 Lapua to 30 caliber.
(1) Hornady 30 caliber neck sizer. This die has a large cavity so that many different size cases can be necked down from 338 to 30 caliber.
(2) Wilson case holder for the 338 Lapua case which is used in the Wilson trim to length tool in the background.
(3) Wilson chamfer tool to chamfer or ease the mouth of the case after trimming to length.
(4) Imperial sizing die wax to lube case necks.
(5) K&M 30 caliber one thousandths oversize expander.
(6) # 14 RCBS shell holder to fit the 338 Lapua brass.
(7) Redding 30-338 Lapua resize and seating dies (new this year)
The 30-338 Lapua is presently a Wildcat cartridge. Redding just recently started making dies for it. What we now need is for Wilson to make their top of the line bushing neck die and straight line seater for the 30-338 Lapua. The Wilson dies will give much better accuracy due to less bullet run-out and more precision in controlling neck tension with the inter-changeable neck bushings which are available from Redding and Wilson in many sizes for all calibers.
Resizing necks to 30 caliber with a Hornady neck sizer (reducer)
You want to remove the firing pin from the rifle bolt and test cases for headspace fit when reducing case necks in size. Screw the die into your press and with a piece of brass in the shell holder run the ram up to the top, screw the die down till it stops against the case. Then lower the case a bit and turn the die down about 2 turns and run the case neck up into the die. Be sure to lube the outside of the case neck with the Imperial sizing wax which will lube the necks. This lubricant is the best available. It will clean up easily with a wipe of a paper towel and is not messy.
Continue to screw the die down in small increments till you see the neck is being sized down near the base of the neck near the case shoulder. With the firing pin removed from your bolt (for more feel) try to chamber the case. If it is tight you want to screw the die down a bit and run the case into it again. Continue to do this till the case is an easy fit in your chamber. The reason we do this is so that we know the neck is not sized down to much towards the case shoulder. We want it to be a PERFECT fit. Lock the ring and run all your cases thru the die.
K&M 30 cal. One thousandths oversize mandrel and holder.
Expanding the case neck
We now find after sizing down the necks that they are too small to be run into the Redding sizing and de-prime die (inside expander button won’t fit) so we fix this easily with the above pictured tool. This tool screws into your press. How far you screw it into the press does not matter, usually I will screw it down as far as I can so I can see the case neck going into it as I raise the ram. You will want to screw the little bolt out as it is a stop to prevent the necks being rammed up into the bottom of the mandrel holder and doing something bad to the case neck. You will want to apply sizing wax to the inside of all case necks to make this operation easier. Run all your cases up onto this mandrel to expand the necks to the proper size, otherwise you will not be able to get them into the Redding sizing die as the button that goes inside of the case neck will not fit in there. If you try it you will wreck the case necks.
# 14 RCBS shell holder and Redding resize and seating dies.
Sizing case necks to hold a bullet
Screw the resize die into your press until you can see that it is resizing about 2/3s of the neck. Adjust the pin in the die so that it will knock out a spent primer. Now run all your cases thru this die. The necks will now allow a bullet to be seated without undue neck tension.
Wilson trim to length tool with Wilson case holder to fit a 338 Lapua case.
Trimming cases to proper length
The Wilson tool is the best I have ever run across. It will trim case necks perfectly square to the centerline of the case which is of great importance in obtaining good accuracy. Trim all cases to 2.710” in length. You will then be able to fire them multiple times before they will need trimming again.
I made a 338 Lapua case holder from a Wilson 300 Rem. Ultra-Mag case holder as at that time they did not make a 338 Lapua case holder. I merely ran a 30-338 Lapua re-size reamer into the Ultra-Mag case holder. I also made a knob from stainless steel for the tool as the one that came on it was made of aluminum and was too small and made you hand black as the Ace of Spades. My Wilson tool is old. It came with the clamp and base. This tool requires a different case holder for every case you work with.
Wilson de-burring tool
De-burring case mouths.
You will want to slightly ease the sharp edge left on the case mouth from the trim to length tool. The outside of the case neck is of no importance as to how much you trim from the edge but the inside of the case neck is of great importance to accuracy. Go very easy on the inside of the case neck and just barely remove the sharp edge. Now you want to clean all the Imperial sizing wax from your cases. If I have only a few I will use a Q-tip with brake parts cleaning fluid on the inside of the case neck and the same fluid on a rag for the outside of the case. If I have a hundred or more cases I will spray a can of the brake parts fluid into a gallon coffee can and just dump in the cases and swish around for a while and them take them out, letting them dry completely before loading them.
Haydon carbide primer pocket tool.
Uniforming Primer pockets
This operation is important for good accuracy. This tool is available from Russ Haydon Shooter Supply. It comes with a plastic handle which is slow to use. I remove the tool from the handle and chuck it into my cordless drill. It has a shoulder which prevents it from cutting the pocket too deep and ensures all pockets are the same depth. I also use this tool to clean primer residue from fired cases and it will keep all pockets exactly the same depth.
RCBS priming tools and Rockchucker press
Pictured above is the best priming tool I have used. It gives good feel and is fast and easy to use. If you look around the picture you will see other things important to reloading.
RCBS Charge Master 1500
Measuring powder
I prefer to use the RCBS 1500 Chargemaster for all hunting loads. It is very accurate and the Elk, Deer and Groundhogs will not be able to determine the difference in 1/10th grain of powder. Be sure to keep a little box under the dump spout as if you forget to close it you will have powder all over the place.
Get your proper seating depth for the individual bullet you will use and load and shoot. Your Redding sizing die is already set to size about 2/3rds of the case neck. You want to full-length resize only when cases are too tight in your chamber. You will need to learn when a case needs the shoulder bumped as sometimes if hot loads are shot the case will grow in length. You can purchase a Redding BODY die for bumping shoulders. Depending on the headspace in your rifle you may need to cut a few thousandths from the bottom of this die. My Precision reloading DVD shows all you need to know about bumping case shoulders and the use of Wilson reloading dies and tools.
If you deter from these instructions you are going to have problems re-sizing case necks from .338 to .308
The Redding are the only dies I know of which are now available for the 30-338 Lapua. We will have to put up with them until Wilson or someone else makes good benchrest hand dies for it. Maybe you can find a smith to custom make you a set from the Newlon die blanks or the Wilson die blanks.
I do not waste barrel life by fire forming cases on paper or into the air or with corn starch and other crap. Every piece of brass wants to be perfectly formed the very first time you fire it. I work up full-power hunting load in my new cases and hunt with them. Usually accuracy is as good as if the case was once fired and fit’s the chamber perfectly and sometimes it is better accuracy than a fire formed case. Unless you have many years shooting offhand you cannot hold any less than two or three minutes of angle offhand anyway. A rifle that will shoot a one inch group at one hundred yards is usually capable of shooting a ten inch group at one thousand yards. ( if all things are equal)
300 WSM VARMINTER INFOIF THE CHAMBER NECK IN YOUR RIFLE IS .337” (STAMPED ON THE BARREL)
CASE NECKS MUST BE TURNED TO MEASURE NO MORE THAN .334” WITH A BULLET IN THE CASE.
TURN NECKS TO .013” PER SIDE
.013 PLUS .013 PLUS .308 EQUALS .334
LOAD;
START AT ABOUT 72 GRAINS OF VIT. 550 AND WORK UP CHECKING FOR PRESSURE
BULLET; 125 GRAIN NOSLER BALLISTIC TIP
SEAT BULLET TO BARELY ENGAGE THE LANDS
PRIMER; FEDERAL 215 MATCH
MOST CUSTOM ACTION RIFLES ARE SHOOTING 73 TO 75 GRAINS OF THE VIT-550
75 GRAINS WILL GIVE ABOUT 4000 + FPS. NOTE: SOME RIFLES WILL HANDLE 75 GRAINS AND SOME WILL NOT. BE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND PRESSURE SIGNS WHEN YOU SEE IT.
PRESSURE SIGNS;
HARD BOLT LIFT
HARD TO CHAMBER THE CASE THE SECOND TIME IT IS LOADED
CRATERED AND/OR FLATTED PRIMERS WITH VERY SHARP EDGES
SIGNS OF BRASS FLOWING BACK INTO THE EJECTOR PIN HOLE
SHINY AREAS ON CASE HEAD INDICATING THE CASE DOES NOT SPIN WITH THE BOLT WHEN BOLT HANDLE IS LIFTED
IF AFTER ONE OR TWO FIREINGS A PRIMER IS A VERY LOOSE FIT IN THE CASE OR THE CASE WILL NOT EVEN HOLD THE PRIMER
BUMPING CASE SHOULDERS;
WHEN THE CASE BECOMES HARD TO CLOSE THE BOLT ON IT WILL NEED TO HAVE THE SHOULDER BUMPED BACK ENOUGH SO THAT IT CHAMBERS EASILY.
YOU WILL NEED A REDDING 300 WSM BODY DIE FOR BUMPING SHOULDERS.
ALWAYS REMOVE THE FIREING PIN WHEN SETTING UP THE BUMP DIE. WHEN THE SHOULDER IS BUMPED PERFECTLY IT WILL REQUIRE ABOUT A POUND OF PRESSURE TO CLOSE THE BOLT ON IT.
IF THE BOLT FALLS DOWN ON THE CASE WITHOUT ANY PRESSURE YOU HAVE BUMPED THE CASE TOO MUCH AND HAVE CREATED EXCESSIVE HEADSPACE. DO NOT FIRE THIS CASE UNLESS YOU HARD SEAT A BULLET INTO THE LANDS ENOUGH TO PREVENT THE CASE BEING PUSHED FORWARD BY THE FIRING PIN.
FOR BEST ACCURACY IT IS BEST TO HAVE A MIM. OF 100 PCS OF NORMA BRASS. TURN ALL NECKS, LOAD AND SHOOT ALL THE CASES UNTIL THEY BECOME HARD TO CHAMBER. THEY WILL NOW NEED THE SHOULDERS TO BE BUMPED. BUMP ALL CASES AT THE SAME TIME. CONTINUE TO SHOOT ALL CASES UNTIL THEY REQUIRE BUMPING AGAIN. IN OTHER WORDS DO NOT LOAD AND SHOOT A FEW CASES MORE THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS. FIRE THEM ALL AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF TIMES BEFORE BUMPING AND THEN BUMP ALL AT ONCE.
ANY CASES USED TO CHECK FOR PPRESSURE SIGNS THAT ARE SHOT WITH A VERY HOT LOAD SHOULD BE THROWN AWAY AND NOT MIXED WITH THE CASES USED AFTER A LOAD IS WORKED UP. THESE CASES WILL ALWAYS BE A STICKY CASE IN THE CHAMBER.
110 GRAIN HORNADY V-MAX CAN BE SHOT WITH UP TO ABOUT 76 GRAINS OF THE SAME POWDER AND ARE VERY ACCURATE TO ABOUT 500 YDS. VELOCITY WILL BE MORE THAN THE 125 B. TIP. THE 110 IS VERY EXPLOSIVE ON VARMINTS. TRY BOTH BULLETS ON GALLON WATER JUGS AT 100 YDS.
GOOD SHOOTING AND ENJOY YOUR NEW 300 VARMINTER. THE VERY BEST MATERIALS AVAILABLE WENT INTO THE MAKING OF YOUR RIFLE.
BUMP DIE & BUMPING CASE SHOULDERS
Depending on the headspace in your rifle the Redding body die when screwed down against the shellholder may not bump shoulders enough. This will require that you cut a few thousandths from the bottom so that it can be screwed down a bit further, enough to bump the shoulder to make for easy chambering. But, the die has to be set properly, if not excessive headspace can be created.
1st of all, the best way is to match that particular die to that particular chamber. Fire a case enough times that it really needs to be bumped, remove the fireing pin from the bolt (important), before removing any metal from the die bottom put the die in your press and screw it down to touch shellholder. Run the case into it. Then try to chamber the case (it may require more bumping for an easy bolt closing.) Chuck the die in a 3-jaw chuck in your lathe and turn off a wee bit, maybe 5 thou then put the die back into the die and run the case into it again. Be sure the ram is up and the die is tight against the shellholder. If it requires more off the bottom of the die then have another go at the bottom of it in the lathe again. Continue to cut small amounts off the bottom of the die til it bumps the shoulder perfectly. You can tell when the fit is perfect if the bolt handle requires a bit of effort to close the bolt. This is sizing the body die for that particular chamber.
If you will use the same die to bump cases for more than one rifle turn enough off the bottom so you will know the die will bump the shoulder even more than neccessary, but, the die has to be set up properly each time you use it or you could bump shoulders too much creating excessive headspace.......a no no for sure unless you hard seat a bullet out into the lands enough so that the firing pin will not push the case forward when fired.
The case will then expand out the shoulder area instead of stretching the web area which if done repeatedly will eventually cause the head to separateWhen using the die with maybe 30 thou turned off the bottom you will screw the die down a bit, bump the case shoulder and then try it in the chamber, continue screwing the die down and trying the case til the case goes into the chamber easily and there is some resistance on closing the bolt. If the case is bumped too much the bolt will just fall down and will move forward and backward a wee bit with the bolt closed. I like to have the bolt to close with about 10 or 12 ounces downward pressure on the bolt handle. The fireing pin has to be out of the bolt or otherwise you will get false readings from the cocking of the firing pin and the pressure from the spring.
The die is very hard on the surface for a few thou but softer after you get thru the hard shell. It is very hard on carbide cutting tools but the job can be done easily. It takes a considerable amount of trial and error before you get the die the right length. I find it much easier to just set up the overcut die in my press each time I use it.
Cleaning smokeless powder muzzleloaders
It is best to clamp the rifle by the barrel in a soft-jawed vise if available. do not remove the breech plug until after cleaning the barrel. Always use the ramrod/powder funnel to clean from the muzzle to prevent wear on the crown. The powder funnel which was shipped with your rifle is also a ramrod guide in that it prevents the cleaning rod from touching the lands and crown of the barrel.
Tools and solvents needed
Range rod
1 1/8" patches by Pro-shot
J B paste
Butches Bore shine or comparable solvent
Sweets 7.62 copper remover
Montana bore conditioner (light oil)
Always run your patches right up to the breech plug and bump it with each patch you run into the barrel
Always use two patches on the jag if you can push them thru the barrel. The tighter the fit the better they clean
Run two patches thru the barrel with Bore Shine on it to loosen things up a bit. Then use the JB paste and short-stroke the bore with three or four patches. Then get in there and scrub the heck out of the bore with several patches soaked with the Sweets. You will not usually get much copper out as these muzzleloaders do not copper foul much. Clean out the Sweets with the Bore Shine and then run several dry patches in and out til the bore is dry of all the above. Then run a patch into the bore with the Bore Conditioner on it. Then go in ONCE with a clean patch to remove any excess oil. Now you can remove the breech plug and wipe any solvent off the front of it. Use a little grease and put the breech plug back in. Do not overtighten the plug, just firm will do.
I never clean from the breech with the plug out. I just hate to get junk into the threads and if I do it is nearly impossible to remove. I always want the plug to come out easily and go back in easily and to bottom out at the same place each time I put it in as this is important to maintaining constant headspace for the primer holder.
After re-installing the breech plug I will fire two primers to ensure the plug is free from any solvent. I then load and shoot no more than 20 shots before I will clean again. Any powder residue blowing by the primer out onto the bolt and trigger can be cleaned off with the Bore shine.
We do not use any type of wad or sabot in these rifles. I always leave the fired primer in place til after the rifle is charged with powder and bullet then I will put in a new primer. I just dump in the proper amount of IMR 4198 and then seat the bullet on top of the powder. I always try to seat the bullet on the powder with the same amount of pressure.
If the rifle is set aside for a week or two between shots it will be a little harder to get the bullet down the bore due to moisture loosening up the fouling in the bore. After firing this 1st shot the bullets will then go down the bore with minimal pressure. For this reason I always leave the rifle loaded minus primer til I want to shoot it again.
All the smokeless powder muzzleloaders out of this shop will shoot at least a minute of angle to 500 yards if the shooter is up to the task.
Smokeless powder muzzle loaders
Nipple & primer holder care
Breech plugs used in our rifles are the KNIGHT # 900023
Nipples are the KNIGHT # 900012
The above part numbers are Knights numbers and are the only breech plug and nipples to be used in our rifles.
This information is to inform owners of our muzzleloader how to recognize when a nipple or primer holder quits on you. If after a nipple gets the first little burn mark across it it should be discarded and a new one installed in the breech plug. Also the primer holder should be discarded as well as it will have an indentation where the fire & pressure burned out one side. If you install a new nipple and use this primer holder again it will cause the next nipple to burn across the edge that has the indentation.
I try to examine every primer holder after it is fired. If it shows a black burn mark going out from the flash hole to one side of the case I will toss it. Also at the same time the nipple should be examined as well because usually it is toast too. The two things go hand in hand.
The burn marks on these nipples is easy to identify. Most of the time if you cannot see the mark you can feel it by scratching across it with your fingernail. I believe the human fingernail can detect about 1 or 2 thousandths when the eye cannot detect it.
If you learn when to toss a nipple and or a primer holder it will go a long ways toward your shooting pleasure and enjoyment.
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Threading stop indicator
This is a very useful gadget you can put together in a few minutes and will be a great help in threading barrel tenons. You can cut threads right up to the shoulder without to much agravation or worry of running into the shoulder.
Some lathes do not have a threading stop built into them so you will find this thing very useful if your lathe is an older lathe
I used about a 4 inch C-clamo and a large dial indicator which I bolted to the clamp. To use it just clamp it to your bedway in the proper place. The carriage wants to just bump into the indicator rod. I set things up so that when the bit is at the place I want to pull out that the indicator needle has made one complete revolution. I just kick out the half-nut lever when the needle comes to zero. With some practice you will be able to stop each pass within a couple of thousandths. I use mine on every barrel I thread.
Good brass for the 6 MM/244 improved
If you want to use the Norma 7x57 Mauser brass in your 6 MM IMP this is how you do it.
(1) Run all the brass into a Redding 6.5x284 full length resize die. This will bring the 7 MM neck to 6.5.
(2) Next, run the brass into a Redding 6 MM/244 improved full length resize die. This will bring the necks to 6 MM (.243)
(3) Get yourself a K&M one thousandths oversize mandrel and run this into all the case necks. This will expand the necks slightly to enable much easier neck turning with your K&M neck turner. The carbide mandrel with the little donut cutter on the end is better than the high speed steel mandrel as the carbide will not gall the inside of the case necks as will the high speed steel mandrel.
(4) Most of the 6mm IMPs I build I chamber with a .274” neck. Turn all your case necks to measure no more than .271” with a bullet seated in the neck.
(5) Before loading the cases run them all into a Wilson neck die with a .268” or .269” bushing. This will size the neck down properly to hold the 6 MM bullets.
(6) I always load as much of the Vit. N-160 powder as I can get into the case. You will find that this will be about 50 grains. After sighting in the rifle I use these loads to hunt with as they usually are very accurate and it is a waste of barrel life to shoot these rounds on paper.
(7) After all the cases have been fire formed you will then be able to get in about 52 grains of the Vit. N-160 powder. This ought to get you around 3850 FPS with the 75 grain V-max.
(8) I break in a new barrel by firing 5 shots and clean the bore completely clean. I do this four times for a total of twenty rounds and four cleanings. I then go hunting, fireing as many as 30 rounds before cleaning again. A lot of shooters do more damage cleaning a barrel than they do shooting it.
(9) Before doing any of the above prep work, be sure to trim all cases to the same length. This is a standard routine that all hand loaders will do whether the brass is for a tight neck or just standard brass for any caliber they are reloading.
(10) I never use any kind of tool to smooth or break the inside edge of the case mouth after trimming to length. I polish it with 0000 steel wool with the case being turned at high speed in a cordless drill or in a lathe. Look at it this way. The muzzle crown is of utmost importance. Would you go in there and mess with the edge of the crown in any way? No, of course not. The inside of the case neck is of equal importance to accuracy.
(11) With a .274” chamber neck you can shoot factory 6MM cartridges WITHOUT turning the necks. The cases will come out perfectly fire formed to the 6 MM/244 Improved. The reason we turn the 7x57 brass is that in reducing the neck diameter the neck thickness grows.
The 6MM IMP is a great long range cartridge with the 75 V-max. I have killed many groundhogs, foxes and Coyotes at ranges of over 750 yards with it. Headshots on Deer out to 500 yds will drop them in their tracks. Richard Franklin
6X47 Lapua
6 x 6.5 x 47 lapua
Purchase a full length die for this cartridge from Grafs.com
Run all cases thru this die to size the necks from 6.5 mm to 6 mm.
Trim all cases in a Wilson case length trimmer to the shortest case you can find in your batch of brass
Optional:
Run all cases up on a K&L .001” oversize neck expander so necks will fit turning mandrel on a K&L turner
turn all necks just barely enough to clean up the necks.
Run all cases into a Wilson neck die with a .266” bushing.
Load and shoot
Bullets regardless of weight want to be seated into the lands just hard enough that they don’t pull the bullet if you want to eject a loaded round.
Varying the seating depth from the above to as much as .20” off the lands will give you a perfect seating depth for best accuracy. You gotta load’um up and go shoot them to find out which seating is best for your rifle. Every rifle likes something different
Tools needed
Forster full length resizing die for the 6 x 6.5 x 47 Lapua
Wilson 6 x 6.5 x 47 lapua neck die and seater
.266” Wilson bushing
K&L neck-turning tool
K&L .001” oversize neck expander and holder
Wilson case length trimmer with a case holder to fit the 6 x 6.5 x 47 Lapua case
Buy the K&L neck turner with the CARBIDE mandrel, the Hi-speed steel ones will gall inside of case necks.