2 Questions in 1

[L T C]

Hi. I was firing my first batch of 223 the other day and I noticed something. The ammo... Remington brass, Sierra 63g soft points, CCI small rifle primers, Winchester 748 powder @ 25grs. COL 2.260" per Lyman manual. The ammo was very accurate out of a Savage bolt action and a Ruger Mini 14 @ 100 yds. I noticed though, when the rounds were ejected, the brass from the bolt action, especially the first few rounds, was actually cool to the touch (which I was really surprised to feel) but the rounds from the Mini were almost too hot to touch. No signs of excess pressures... I was just wondering if anyone would know why there was a difference in heat on the brass. The 2nd part of the question. With the dizzying amount of info for every aspect of reloading, the topic of C O L and freebore and headspace etc., and all the gadgets available, does anyone here check their C O L / Freebore by using one of their brass cartridges, with the neck sliced, very thin cut as if done with a dremel cut off wheel or similar tool (to let the bullet to slide into brass easily) to allow the bullet of choice to be just started into the brass and then chambered into the gun, removed carefully and measured to get the spec on where "that" bullet hits the rifling? I read that somewhere and to me, without buying all sorts of tools for that purpose, it seems like that would give the most accurate measurement of C O L and freebore for whichever firearm/ammo you are loading. I'm gonna try it but I wondered if anyone else here uses that set up?

[tl_3237]

Can't comment on the brass heating question but as to measuring the chamber - yes I used just such a technique for my Savage .223 and It works just fine.

What you have to be careful of is losing the length on extraction. When you close the bolt and the projo is forced into the rifling it is possible for it to have some movement when you open the bolt and begin to extract the 'round'. What I did - with the bolt closed insert a cleaning rod down the muzzle to projo contact. Then as I start to open the bolt I put ever so slight pressure down on the rod to help dislodge the projo if it is stuck on the lands. Also when you cut the neck to make the 'spring fingers' make sure that there are enough cuts to lessen neck tension. I slit mine every 90 degrees (4 slits).

I repeated the procedure at least 10 times and recorder all COL. Threw out any obvious fliers and found the remaining measurements very consistent.

Once I found the chamber OL I started loads from .020-.010 off the lands. My rifle prefered .015 jump.

[notenoughguns]

On the bolt action , the chamber absorbs most of the heat till you can open the bolt and extract the case . Works the same with a revolver and pistol .

[L T C]

Thanks for the posts! That helps.

[Flash]

On the bolt action , the chamber absorbs most of the heat till you can open the bolt and extract the case . Works the same with a revolver and pistol .

Yup, one great big heat-sink. Transfer is fast, surrounded by all that cool steel.

Flash