New to me Shiloh Sharps

[doug_bailey]

One more thing today - primer pockets.

I bought the Lyman hand tool - deburrs the case mouth inside and out. The new cases needed some attention. The tool also has a primer pocket reemer attachment. I tried it on one of the fired cases from today and it seems to remove a lot of material (brass, not burned looking crap from the pocket hole). I tried priming the cleaned out case and the primer went in very easily - almost no pressure needed. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don't want to reem out a bunch of cases and then find that the primers are falling out, or not sealing consistently or something like that.

[JonnyV]

You don’t want those pockets reamed out that much. You might have got an out of spec tool. It should be removing material from primarily the bottom of the pocket, not the sides. I’d not do any more cases with it.

[patchbox]

Yeah, you definitely don’t want to remove any material from the ID of the primer pocket. I don’t touch mine with a pocket reamer - very few times I’ve used it to remove a little crud in the bottom of the primer pocket face and even then it’s with the barest amount of pressure - just to scrape off the crud. I haven’t had to do that lately as I put my cases in an ultrasonic cleaner before tumbling with ceramic. The ultrasonic cleaner busts all that carbon loose so not an issue. Plus the ceramic tumbling media does a fairly good job by itself- the only thing I might make uniform in a primer pocket is the flash hole. Anything else, I’d leave it alone.

[doug_bailey]

I've been shooting my new 45-70 brass quite a bit. To clean it, I'm depriming, washing in the parts cleaner with dish soap, annealing (discoloration) to about 0.75" down from the top and then polishing in the vibrating walnut media pot for an hour.

My reload process is also the same as before, except that I decided to skip the resizing die - (used only once the first time loading this brass). Other than the first loading, this brass has never been through the resizer. The idea was to see what happens when it's allowed to conform to the chamber during firing and see if it becomes more consistent. Also, it removes a couple of steps and means that I don't need to lube the cases and then clean the case lube off again.

It shoots great, but in the last few reloads I noticed that I no longer need to use my press to push the bullets into the brass - I just push it in with my fingers. In fact, the only time I use the press for reloading is to compact the Swiss 1.5fg. I just push the bullet in by hand until it bottoms out on the wad. The depths are very consistent.

The only downside I can think of is the potential for a bullet to fall out under gravity - has not happened yet, the lube holds them in the case OK for the trip from my ammo case to the chamber.

Has anyone else tried skipping the resize? Is the "finger press" bullet tension normal? Do you guys think that after 5 firings the brass is done "growing", or is it likely that my chamber will allow it to expand even more? Other problems on the horizon?

[1578Tiger]

Paper patch bullet shooters use neck tension to hold their bullets in place. If it is a concern, try shaking out a bullet from a casing. As an alternative, perhaps a taper crimp would be a possible solution.

[desert deuce]

There is always the competition tested and time proven grease groove design.
It only matters if you desire to be competitive. If a hobbyist, then the diapers are just fine.

[semtav]

My reload process is also the same as before, except that I decided to skip the resizing die

Has anyone else tried skipping the resize?

More shooters than you think.

[bobw]

My reload process is also the same as before, except that I decided to skip the resizing die

Has anyone else tried skipping the resize?

More shooters than you think.

Spot on semtav, resizing is a greaser shooter thing. Flame on bobw

[doug_bailey]

I shot a silhouette competition at the weekend - Sac Valley. It was very fun - just getting out and hanging out with the other shooters is fun. But I sucked. 8/40. Shot rams at 500, pigs at 300, chickens at 200 offhand and turkeys at 385. Two rams, three pigs, one chicken and two turkeys. Was splattering rounds all around the targets according to my spotter (who was my kid - who also shot 8: 0 rams, 6 pigs, one turkey and one chicken). He was also shooting unusually wild - some high, some low. My consolation is that the guy who won the iron sight section only shot 13. Perhaps it was a difficult day.

This makes three total competitions - 16, 12 and 8 - so I'm getting worse. The only difference is heat. I kept hearing other spotters talking about mirage and I could see the mirage in the spotting scope when I was the spotter, but I don't know if the targets were moving enough to make the kind of difference that we were seeing. Wind was mild - mostly from the left, but sometimes from the right according to the movement of the heat haze in the scope (you can see it drift left and right).

Is there a standard way to handle heat haze and mirage? With the iron sights I really can't see the mirage downrange - but it's clear in the spotting scope. Should the spotter be talking about it with the shooter and what should the shooter do to compensate?

[Tomklinger]

The spotter controls all, the spotter sees the wind, mirage, etc and tells the shooter the corrections….
That’s the fun part!
Tom Klinger

[desert deuce]

Haa, the fun part is ignoring the spotter and hitting the target.

Then when the spotter asks, "did you put on that 3 left I gave you?" Just say, "well, what do you think, hit the turkey didn't I?"

Keeping spotter in suspense is the real fun part and you don't have to lie to do it.

Remember, those are your targets, you can hit them or not, your choice. AND, if you don't do too well on the lay downs you can make up points on the chickens. It is about having fun.

ADVICE: If you only go to two matches a year and never practice do not go to your third match expecting to break 30. Just go and have fun.

[Woody]

I've been keeping my spotter in suspense all year! He never knows where my next bullet is going.

Woody

[Tomklinger]

I thought the game was…when you miss, blame the spotter (quote from George Luli)..
Tom Klinger

[desert deuce]

Obviously, there are numerous variations producing similar results. If, after completing record fire, your spotter is not totally confused you have failed to exercise your role in the process of shooting.

A factor yet to be mentioned is the problem with the inherent accuracy of contemporary sighting equipment whether iron or optic where adjustment graduations are both accurate and predictable.

This is where sleight of hand and deception produce the desired result. Giving the impression of rotating the windage or elevation knob the suggested amount by slipping the knob between fingertips without moving it must be accomplished in stealth, especially if the spotter is observing your hand movements.

All in all, the fun part is left up to the shooter with the spotter frequently an unwilling accomplice to their own deception.

The idea being is it can be fun if you apply yourself and you accept the reality that score is irrelevant in comparison to the good times to be had.

Success is subject to the perceptions of those directly involved.

[doug_bailey]

I did some digging online and the advice seems to be:

1. The mirage seems to be intermittent and highly variable, but in still air it only goes one way - up - so wherever the lowest point is, that's the true aiming point.
2. Aim your rifle at where the lowest point seems to be on a consistent basis (probably works with a scoped rifle)
3. For iron sights, have the spotter call whether the "boil" from the mirage is strong or weak. Shoot at the target when the boil is weak.