Thread: First attempt at reloading. Thoughts please.

Originally Posted by 11mms

Ah, kemo sabe.
I'm sure all of the above are wiser shoulders and older heads, but I will give you my few cents worth.

You are trying to discern the dark arts of internal ballistics.
Unfortately these are generally discerned by measurable external ballistics.
As above your "good groups" or "near nodes" are somewhere between 40 and 42.5. No animal in NZ is going to notice the difference.

If you want to chase fraction of minutes of angle... you should weld the rest of the barrel back on and do what all the benchrest guys do.

I migh also suggest, if you can find it, 2206H might give better performance.
If all else fails, upgrade to a .45 (11mms)


-edit: I usually start and finish "20 thou" off the lands. Regardless of cartridge or manufacturer. (milsurp excepted)
Tikka are very well made rifles,
and the poor Finn that made the 7 inches of barrel you've so wantonly discarded is probably going to cry himself to sleep tonight.

Lol😁 thanks for your thoughts and good humour. I realise I'm overcomplicating things to a degree but I'm happy to tinker now that I have got a hunting load. It's all part of the fun as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure that I will get over it at some point and focus on efficiency once I get past the enthusiastic amateur stage.
That...and my wife is starting to notice all the parcels of bits and bobs turning up on the door step. She is getting increasingly dubious of my protestations that reloading is going to save money....in fact the cost has doubled as she has just shouted her self a smart watch since I'm buying myself a never ending pile of kit. (And a new truck)

If it makes the Finnish barrel maker any better I'm keeping all of the kimber barrel...

Originally Posted by Blackfern

Lol�� thanks for your thoughts and good humour. I realise I'm overcomplicating things to a degree but I'm happy to tinker now that I have got a hunting load. It's all part of the fun as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure that I will get over it at some point and focus on efficiency once I get past the enthusiastic amateur stage.
That...and my wife is starting to notice all the parcels of bits and bobs turning up on the door step. She is getting increasingly dubious of my protestations that reloading is going to save money....in fact the cost has doubled as she has just shouted her self a smart watch since I'm buying myself a never ending pile of kit. (And a new truck)

If it makes the Finnish barrel maker any better I'm keeping all of the kimber barrel...

Greetings @Blackfern,
I seated my first primer around 1970 am still waiting for handloading to save me money. It has, however, kept me mentally active even 8 years into retirement and may help stave of dementia for a bit longer. Last year, then aged 73, I shot my first F Class shoot. This has filled a gap in my need for handloading and opened up a whole new vista. I like to say that handloading keeps me out of the saloons but I stopped drinking in the mid 1980's when I was quite ill with arthritis and could never be bothered starting again. Perhaps handloading can take the credit for that. Keep your eyes peeled when you are on the Jack Dillon Range. If you see an old chap there from HB it will likely be me.
Regards Grandpamac.