When to tumble brass

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Oh I SOOOOOOOOOO wish that I could understand what you guys were saying!!!!:?

As far as you (TRICK) question I would've said that if you found it absolutely necessary I guess you could get away with a routine such as tumbling before and after depriming but even inexperienced ole me wouldn't even think of tumbling a loaded round. That's just stupid from a stupid and uneducated way of thinking. My first thought after reading the question is "okay, pointy magnum hunting rounds, packed into a tumbler, bumpin up and down, side to side into and against other fully loaded rounds, right next to the 10lbs of gun powder. Yeah that's realllllllllly smart. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!

As far as long range shooting. Let's put it this way and I'm not exagerating a bit, when other kids wanted to be doctors and lawyers and such, I wanted to be a Marine Scout/Sniper. Seriously, since the age of ~12, all I've wanted to do is take that single, long range, life changing/taking shot that would be talked about for years. Charles Hathcock was my legendary hero for a LOOOOOOOOONG time. But then I found out anyone who takes medicine every day isn't allowed in the military and to be honest, I never really recovered from that. I was born to be a soldier of some kind and I can't because some stupid (I say that but fully support it) regulation that doesn't allow me to even be in the military.

Anyway, I can guarantee I know something about you both. I know that either of you have smoked a cigarette in the past 5-10 years. Let me tell you a little story. I'm captain of my JROTC's rifle team, someone dares me to try to put a pellet through a drinking straw. 30 seconds later, I had done something that most of the shooters present didn't even think was possible. That was probably the proudest I've ever felt. But then I started smoking the next summer so that I could get breaks at worklike everyone else. Being lazy ended my shooting career. Maybe it's the equipment, maybe it's the tobacco, either way, I was competetive material before and now I'm lucky if I can keep it in the black.

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I'm sincerely sorry for your circumstances regarding the military,and FYI, I have been smoking for 42 years. I've also been trying to quit for about 35 of those. And as far as your military experience, I tried to join up during the Vietnam war and was denied due to the fact that I had to take phnobarbitol every day of my since I was 3 years old. Sounds almost too coincidental, but its the truth. I do however have 2 boys in the military one jst returned from Afghanistan and the other is supposed to ship out to Iraq in Novenber. I also have a boy in federal law enforcement.

And regarding my question about tumbling it was aimed at trying to see what another loader was doing or not doing for his own safety, not to try and make anyone appear stupid. I certainly could have used a different approach and should have thought it out a little better, but I'm human and make mistakes. I never would have exposed my true intentions if I had not been put on the spot by another blogger, andmight have further helped the individual as orginally intended.

I don't compete in the lond range or bench rest shooting and never have, or made such attestation, I would like to and feel like I would probably be pretty good or at the very least enjoy doing it. I shoot 20 yds. all the time and consistently put 5 in the same hole, but I don't really that's a qualifying method of evaluating ones ability to compete in bench rest shooting. I've taken some one shot kills on game animals that were pretty impresive. I killed an antelope at almost 60 yds. with one shot through the heart & lungs as intended, and another was a coyote at 920 yds.. On the coyote I couldn't tell where I hit him because he literally exploded from the hyda shock of the 7mm mag. 120 grain BT. Cool looking too.

Do you engage in any varmit hunting? If not you should try it its awesome to shoot a coyote at extreme distances. You don't need anything fancy or expensive. Just a decent long range rifle of minimal quality, a .270, .243. 7mm mag., .280 30-06 with some varmit bulets, hell just about anything really if you know where the rifle hits at extended distances. And at those distances the animal usually doesn't have a clue where the shot came from giving you the opportuntiy to get several shots off before he takes off running on you.

gamestalker

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As for the military, all I've ever wanted to do is serve my country. I understand the reasoning behind the requirement (if you need a pill every day and you only brought 10 pillsfor a 7 day mission of which you're on day 15, things could get serious) I just don't like it none. I'm glad your boys are doing their best to help protect this country and it's policies. Give them a big salute from me, that's the very least I can do for any member of the military.

I live in Va. not to far from the Appilation (sp?) mountains. Most of my family lives in the mountains and I just happen to live on the edge of them. Go to a topo map sight and input "Shenandoah National Park" that should show you the average terrain around here. There's a lot of straight roads around here but you going up or downa hill every 5 seconds basically. What I'm trying to say is that the terrain simply doesn't allow for long range shooting. About the closest thing to varmit hunting I can get is to set up on a farm that's owned by my friend's dad. You could MAYBE get a 175-200 yard shot but I doubt it. Plus, the dad doesn't allow anyone but family and employess to hunt or even shoot there.

Even the shooting ranges are limited. The best and longest ranged place that I know of is 300 yards I think. Around here, long range shooting simply doesn't happen that much.

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You know what, it isn't important, like you said, about how the loads look. I tumble before resizing so I can inspect my brass for deep rooted issues, cracks, scratches, and just common wear and tear. Its probably also a good idea if using something other than a carbide die to prevent scratching the die. Back when I started reloading I used to get pretty picky about how it looked. But as the years go by so does the cosmetic approach to much of what we do.

gamestalker

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I am lucky in Oregon. Lots of clear cuts. This is one of the better ones. Longest range is 1550 yards. From left to right 450. 550, 750, 1278, 1120, 1550 and 1350 yrds.

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That is absolutely beautiful. Arizona is much the same in that respect with thousands of square miles of untouched pristine land. A lot of folks think of Arizona as a lot of desert, but the truth is we have over a million acres in just the Coconino National Forest alone of public land. State wide is approximately 67% public land. Long range is literally unlimited, as far as the eye can see. We also have more world record elk, and antelope taken in our state than any other. Deer hunting is not as much for the record book unless hunting in the Grand Canyon area know as the Arizona Strip on the Utah border or hunting the elusive desert mule deer which are very large deer often in the 200 inch or better class.

gamestalker

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http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj159/MM1beam/?action=view&current=hellofashot.flv

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Newbie question. What is tumbling brass? It sounds like shooting.

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It the same process as what you would do to rocks to polish them, but for brass or empty cartridges that have been shot. But the real reason for doing this to brass is to make it easier to identify deep scratches, cracks, or other damage that could cause problems when reloading. Also important when resizing the brass to prevent scratches from debris in or on the brass.

gamestalker

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Okay I'm looking for a dual purpose rifle. I want a rifle that can punch paper and kill deer with equal ease. I don't want a competition gun, I just want something that will impress the heck out of a 50 year old redneck in every sense of the word buddy of mine. I feel that the recoil of a .308 from a Savage 11FXP3 is about as much as I can handle and that's with a limbsaver recoil pad.

grampayeehaa- You said earlier that a rifle such as this 111FXP3 (obviously with a different scope)would be a good start for a competition gun. Knowing that I don't want a competition gun but instead just a really friggin accurate hunting rifle, would you still suggest the same rifle and caliber? Feel free to answer the following questions as well.

gamestalker- What's your take on this? What caliber (.243 .270.308 .300WM, .308 only available with savage)would you recommend and which rifle (savage 11or remington 710)you would suggest/prefer if you didn't have either, was somewhat recoil sensitive and was under severe budget restrictions but wanted the best accuracy possible for the lowest price?

Thanks guys!

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I'm sorry, I thought I was more specific than that. the Rem. 710 is only available in the standard caliber cartridge as follows: .243, .270, 7 mm Rem. mag., .308, 30-06, 300 Win. mag. and I think 338 Win mag..

The sav. 110s and the 111s come in just about every old and new popular cartridge as follows: everything as above and also the ultra mags &WSM. actually there are some other new ones and they also come in those. In other words if its a new or old popular cartridge it is available in the Savage 110s & 111s, and probably the 116s too.

Now so far as recoil is concerned, the .308 has about the same degree of recoil as the .270, 30-06 depending on the bullet choice. Not too bad, but you'll know your shooting a high powered rifle.

The other ones, 7 mm Rem. mag, 300 Win mag. produce an extreme degree of recoil as do the other ultra mags and WSM of same and largercaliber.

The .243 is a very nice paper puncher and excellent hunting rifle and is a very light recoiling weapon. It also has an extremely high velocity, in excess of 4000 fps if hand loaded, but easily over 3500 fps with factoryand will reach out and touch someone or an animal as it is intended for.

Price range. The standard calibers which is all that isavailable, .243, .270, 30-06, .308, 7 mm Rem. mag., 300 Win. mag. in the Remington ,model 710 cost about $300 used, and around $450 to $500 new.

The usedSavage 110s and the 111s in most of the above cartridges can be found used for around the same as the model 710, $250 to probably $30 or so. new i think the Savage is about $400 and up depending on stock wood or synthetic, barrel type tapered or straight, and standard cartridge, or the more expensive ultra mag, WSM.

Other than that its a matter of choice. I know the local gun shop here in Yuma, Az. will ship to your gun shop and these guys have a lot of 710s used for $299 with 3x9 scopeson them. I saw a .308, .270, 30-06, 7mm Rem. mag. and a 300 Win. mag. in our local shop. All of them were in excellent condition too. they also had some Savages, 110s, 111s, and I think a 116 in 338 win. mag.. I don't remember what price range they were in though but I would be happy to check on that for you tomorrow if your interested in considering that option? Just let me know.

gamestalker

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Yeah that would be great. I think I've narrowed down my choices to either a .243, .270, or .308. I would like to have a detachable magazine, I would like some sort of an adjustable trigger, and I would prefer a used weapon (I'm sure you know what to look for and such) just to save money. So if you could look into the Savage and Remington rifles available in those calibers. It'd be much appreciated. Thanks