Posted: 12/7/2007 9:46:22 AM EDT
| I'm new to the reloading scene and was wondering if any seasoned reloaders have any advice for a newbie. My question is what grain bullet do you use if the SHTF. I bought the Hornady 7th edition reloading book and they have the typical 55 grain bullet and then they have the Service Rifle Data in which they use a 68 grn and 75 grn. I remember in Army we used 62 grn. The book doesn't even mention 62 grn bullet. So to recap, what bullet and powder is needed to whack zombies. Thanks in advance.--134thSIGNAL |
|
I am using the Hornady 55gn FMJ. They are inexpensive from Midway USA: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=165907&t=11082005 My load is 24 grains of Hodgdon's H335 and a Winchester Small Rifle primer. Cheap to shoot, accurate enough for zombie work, and pretty clean. --Joseph |
|
This is pretty open ended. The trend on this site is to use the heavier stuff like a 75gr hornady match hollow point or a 77gr sierra match hollow point. Mostly for the sake of penetration. I load a lot of 55gr nosler ballistic tips for varmint hunting and they work extremely well for their intended purpose and by no means would like to get hit by one. I am just getting into the 77gr sierra match bullets with the intend of becoming active in service rifle competition and F class tactical at 600yards. H335 (55gr load) and TAC (77gr load) are the two powders I work with. Varget is a highly recommended powder also for the match/competition type shooters. there is a lot of variety out there and it all depends on what you want to use it for. It is strictly target shooting and varmint shooting for me so I choose my components accordingly. Blasting zombies would probably end up using some 62gr penetrator ammo or my varmint ammo with the varmint rifle. |
| Thanks guys for the info. I have a couple more questions. I get the normal surplus magazines and I see they sometimes have tracer bullets pulled from military rounds, are these good to reload or stay away from them. The last is I bought a 6.8 SPC last summer and only ran 20 rounds through the rifle. The ammo was at first hard to find and when I went to Cabelas( I only live 12 miles from the store)and asked the guy if he knew where the ammo(6.8) was he told me that I didnt really have a 6.8 but a 6.5 Grendel. So I laughed and left. Anyway does anyone have experience with reloading 6.8SPC. I bought new brass from Midway and was wondering what Grain bullet I should use. I still haven't even bought the reloading press yet. I just started buying RCBS dies this last summer and was waiting until I had some experienced feedback. Thanks again fellas. -----134thSIGNAL(Tony) |
|
RCBS makes a nice kit that will get you on your feet for reloading as does Lee. I went the RCBS route while one of my buddies went the Lee route. Both kits will work extremely well. Sportsmans warehouse carries the RCBS stuff if you want to pick up locally or just order one of the kits from midway. Another local resource is gunstop over on the west side of the cities. The guys that work there will get you squared away in a hurry also when it comes to reloading. If you buy in bulk you can get some huge cost savings. We just did a bulk group powder order recently and that went extremely smooth and saved everyone involved some $$$. There should be one in the spring also from some of the other guys on the board. Basic steps to reloading: -tumble/clean brass -size/decap (apply case lube first before running into sizing die) -trim/deburr to spec (usually get a few firings before needed, less so if neck sizing only) -tumble again to high luster (cleans off case lube) -prime -charge (I weight verify every charge for target ammo and every 5th rnd for varmint ammo if metering well) -seat bullet |
|
rn22723 is the Minnesota Home Town forum guru on reloading, I'm sure he will jump in here at some point. I use H335 with a 55gr FMJBT, it also serves as a great all around plinking round. If your close to the Twin Cites check out the Gunstop for all your reloading needs. |
You should asks the folks at zombiehunters.org |
I got 6k of the .223 Tracers (20%) from Hi-Tech. $72 per 3K plus shipping is not a bad deal in my book. Then I got the Lee bullet sizer in .224 and I run them through that to return them to "spec", and away you go. It's one more step, but it goes fast and there is not a whole lot to do in these parts this time of year other than pull the handle. So tracers on top of 21gr of Data68, in range pickup brass, and you have a pretty damn cheap plinker. 
|
This is correct. Even in my private shooting areas, I'll only shoot them with good snow cover, such as now, and then with some degree of caution. So they're a seasonal commodity at best. Glad I stocked up on Data68 back in the day. Would be nice to see another cheap one come along. |