Case preparation includes lubing. Keep the pad clean, and lube lightly. Shoulder dents mean you've used too much.

Magnum chambers cut too generously don't produce signs of excessive headspace on the first firing, but the stretch caused by repeated firings and sizings can result in separations. Neck sizing is the cure, since it makes the cartridge headspace on the shoulder--regardless if it's a rimless or belted hull. The tighter case fit not only gives you longer case life but helps the cartridge center itself in the chamber for better accuracy.

Prime with a hand-priming tool. I've primed in the press, but the great leverage there doesn't give you the "feel" of the hand tool. Feel is important because you want the primer to bottom in the pocket firmly--without crushing the anvil legs. Don't handle primers with wet or oily fingers.

I use standard primers with most loads, magnum primers when powder charges climb above 70 grains. A magnum primer generates a hotter flame of longer duration for sure-fire ignition of big charges. It's a good choice even with more modest loads if you'll be hunting in very cold weather or if you're using powders that are particularly hard to ignite.

Weigh all powder charges. A good powder measure used with ball powder can throw very uniform charges, but you'll have more confidence in the load if you've weighed the fuel. If you're loading magnum cases with coarse-grained stick powder such as H4831, a scale avoids the powder-jamming problems that slow down powder measures and call accuracy into question. Both balance-beam and electronic scales can give you sufficient accuracy--down to .1 grain. Use a powder trickler to add the final grains with more control.

You'll try several powders and loads to get the one that shoots best. I like powders that fill the case to the shoulder. Slight compaction is fine during seating, but I prefer not to crush powder. Breaking the granules changes their burning properties. You can put a huge amount of pressure on both bullet and powder with that press handle.

Seating depth not only affects accuracy, it also bears on how well your handloads will function in the field.

As with cases, you're smart to buy as much powder as is practical from one lot. Burning characteristics can vary between lots; they also change with age.

Generally, I try to pick powders in the middle of the burn-rate range for the cartridge. And I like to load close to the maximum levels in handloading manuals. Those maximums, I've found, are generally conservative, with a margin of safety built in. Adjusting powder charges one or even two grains at a time makes sense for big rifle cases, but as you approach maximum, you may find smaller adjustments produce significant changes in pressure, velocity and accuracy.

Bullet choice depends on your application and is beyond the scope of this article. However, for hunting cartridges, I like bullets on the heavy side of medium, with pointed noses. Both flat-base and boattail bullets will give you plenty of reach. The boattail has a slight ballistic edge at extreme range but is more difficult to manufacture without flaw because there are more angles on the bullet base. Uniform bases are crucial to fine accuracy.

Reloading Sources Dillon Precision www.dillonprecision.com Hornady www.hornady.com Lee Precision www.leeprecision.com Lyman Products www.lymanproducts.com MTM Case Gard www.mtmcase-gard.com RCBS www.rcbs.com Redding Reloading www.redding-reloading.com Sinclair Int'l www.sinclairintl.com Stoney Point Products www.stoneypoint.com

Bullet Seating
Install the seating die so there's at least the thickness of a nickel between it and the shell holder at the top of the ram's stroke. For the first cartridge, adjust the seating stem so the bullet is seated firmly in the neck but more shallowly than you intend for the final product. Fine-tune seating depth with that cartridge, pushing the bullet into the case in short increments until it's right.

I generally want bullets seated with the ogive (the radius of the bullet between shank and point) .1 inch clear of the lands. You may get the best accuracy with the bullet seated to touch the lands, but direct contact with the lands allows no "run-up." That is, pressure from the powder gas must overcome neck tension and begin to engrave the bullet with the rifling at the same time.

This combination of forces may push pressures too high. Also, in a box of ammo seated to touch the rifling, you may have one bullet seated a shade too far out, or whose ogive puts it in firm contact with the rifling. Result: The cartridge may be hard to chamber or extract. That's no big problem on the range, but it's troublesome in the field.

A lot of clearance between ogive and rifling--produced either by a deeply seated bullet or a long throat--is generally not conducive to fine accuracy. However, because it gives you long bullet run-up, it eases pressure to the point that you can often load more aggressively and get a little more bullet speed.

How do you know how deeply to seat? First, the bullet tips must clear the magazine box. If the bullet you seated shallowly won't clear the box, screw the seating stem in until the cartridge is .1 inch longer than the inside of the box. Now, insert the cartridge in the chamber slowly, pushing the bolt gently until you can feel the bullet contact the lands. If there's no contact--and you can lock the bolt easily--remove the cartridge and seat the bullet .1 inch deeper to clear the magazine box.

Then start seating the rest of your bullets. You know they'll clear the lands by at least .1, and you know they'll fit the box. You don't know if there's .1, .2, .3 or .9 inch of throat in front of the ogive, but it doesn't matter because you can't seat the bullet farther out unless you get a longer box.

If the test bullet does contact the rifling before the bolt closes, you'll want to seat incrementally deeper by alternately moving the seating stem down a turn and chambering the round. When you can just close the bolt without resistance, turn the stem down .1 inch for a final seating, then use that setting for the rest of your ammo.

Commercially made bullet comparators enable you to measure from the bullet base or cartridge base to the ogive. Overall cartridge length (OAL) is often used as a standard measure for factory rounds and is adequate for handloaders who aren't interested in precision. But because bullet points can get banged up and may even differ slightly in shape when they're shipped, OAL isn't as useful a measure as is the length of a cartridge from base to ogive. The better tools feature bushings for various bullet diameters. They can also be used to check headspace.

Crimping has been criticized out of hand by shooters who have never tried it. It is one more operation and, thus, one more variable. For bottleneck centerfire cases that hold bullets securely, crimping may also be unnecessary. But it can actually improve accuracy as it boosts the pressure needed to pop the bullet free. The result can be a cleaner release and more uniform velocity. Factories routinely crimp cartridges, and some of this ammunition is one-hole accurate. Two points to remember: 1) Never crimp except into a crimping groove on the bullet; and 2) Crimp lightly to start!

Handloading is a simple procedure, but the more you put into it, the more you'll get back. You can equip yourself only with the essential equipment and kick back, or you can sink some money into specialized tools and adopt slightly more complicated loading methods that will make your ammo that much more accurate--more accurate, even, than factory loads.