WampusCat

This will be the last season for a while that AZ fur is safe from me and my little 17. I can most definitely feel it.

Lookin good man. Bout time you stepped your game up!

Lots of indicators, some obvious others not. Most obvious for me is the primer pocket becomes loose and you can feel the primer slip in easily when seating a new one. In severe cases it won't even hold the new primer in. You can bend a paper clip or other skinny wire into a small pick with a 90 deg angle on the working end. Stick this pick inside the case and drag it up the inside of the case feeling for a distinct ridge. When the case head is getting ready separate it will form an indicator on the inside wall of the case that can be felt. Some times you can see stress marks that will develope into splits on the necks. With more people annealing cases these days this will become less of a factor.

There was a time when I wanted to call one in after bumping into a couple of them. That changed after I really discovered their whereabouts and habits while targeting/trapping other species. They live in the creosote flats and when you stumble across a dense population of them, they will plug your traps and call stands for days. I let so many of them go only to have another in the trap in the AM. I have trapped 6 in one trap consecutively over 6 nights. They are cool critters but a pest when targeting spotted bellies on the flats. This pic is indicative of the habitat I find them in the most. This was one of the biggest and most colorful ones I've ever caught.

I believe he was responding to my question regarding length before and after firing when measured from the shoulder datum to the base in which case it is important.

Sounds like a tolerance stacking issue. Your chamber is short enough and your die is just long enough that they can't overlap. If your die and press are camming over without a measurable change in shoulder to base length, you will not gain anything from screwing the die in farther. As mentioned Reddings comp shell holders can help or Redding body only dies will give you unlimited adjustability. Have you measured the shoulder before firing in this chamber and compared it to after firing? Factory rifle?

I may have picked a few

The barrel will usually tell you when its time to clean. You will see groups open up. Cleaning can be as simple as a wipe/brush with a powder solvent and go or a thorough deep clean with both powder and copper solvents. After a deep clean your barrel will need to foul and settle back in usually. The smooth internal surfaces of custom barrels from high end companies will not only be easier to clean out but they will settle down much quicker after a cleaning.

Thanks for bringing this back up. I'll play again.

I have the same problem when shooting positional service rifle in the prone. For this specific issue I roll slightly to the side using the cocked-leg prone position. This will get your chest off the ground which is likely where your heartbeat is registering movement. If you are a right handed shooter, your right leg will be cocked and the sole of your right foot should be touching or near your left leg. If this isn't comfortable for you I would suggest a solid rear support in the form of a bag. There are lots of lightweight options that can be carried in the field.

Nice deer! Props to Don for using his thumb instead of the old school watermarks.

Ahhh the old mobile ground blind routine. At the risk of encouraging your behavior... Congrats on your first bow kill. I think a lot of us are more happy that you didn't wound 5 deer on your way to that one. I commend your desire to be out there enjoying it, but as you grow as a hunter I hope a deeper respect for your quarry grows as well.

Check hodgdon's website. There will no doubt be a load for a 210 or a 208 in there with the powders you selected. This data will get you very close to a starting point but realize the bearing surface on the 212 is a bit longer and you will see pressure sooner. I would start slightly lower than the listed start points and listen to the gun as you watch for pressure signs. Keep us posted, I would like to hear your results with that bullet.

Hahaha, sounds like you need an Engineer with a CMD to swing by and find it for you. I'm all ears to see how those cutthroats fly for you at distance from a compound. I had amazing results with ramcats as far as POI shift (or lack of) from field points. I want to start shooting those skinnies but I can't bring myself to do the outsert thing. Your results may sway my thinking.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. The progress in a week is amazing and a stud buck to boot.

Is that with the broadheads on? Those cutthroats are awesome! I ordered some for my recurve.

I love my Tacoma but quickly realized the rear leaf packs weren't up to handling half of what I do regularly. heck it was squatting with my fiberglass cap on the bed. A while back I searched for a long time and finally settled on Old Man Emu 886 coils up front with Camburg UCA's to get the alignment specs I wanted. Like someone mentioned, I paid a few bucks more to have them assembled before shipping so i didn't have to fool with a spring compressor. Also snatched the sway-bar out of there. In the rear I went with the Dakar leaf packs and increased weight carrying ability for sure. The 886 coils are pretty stout as I have a built bumper up front with the intention of a winch. I do NOT recommend them if you have a stock bumper and no winch. It does everything I want as long as I remind myself I'm not driving my old 3/4 ton. Been happy whether slam full of coolers for ice and camping gear or loaded down with steel running the the desert on a trapline. 3yrs and its still running strong and rides just the way I want.

Another vote for the "Extreme" powders. I have some of the new RL26 on standby after hearing about the manufactures goal with their new stuff.

you can get some good stuff on the street in sonoyta sonora. lightweight, realtree patterns.Hahaha seen that camo coming back from Rocky Point. Lots of little shops with that camo and backpacks to match!Were the packs worth a crap? Prolly only good for one trip.

I do turn necks where required on a wildcat or two during the case forming process. For my normal loading regimen I will turn necks that have obvious differences in neck thickness. This happens during the initial case sorting routine. I ball mic the neck wall thickness as I weight sort. When I find the thickness of the vast majority I will adjust the cutter to barely kiss these necks. The thicker necks get ran through to even them up with the majority and the thinner ones are relegated to sighter duty. In most cases it is barely removing anything and just cleans up the inconsistencies. This process is not difficult and needs to be done only once. It is just another part of initial case prep for me. When combined with annealing and bushing dies, I have absolute control of neck tension. Just another variable (excuse) to eliminate and not wonder about later. Should add I only do this for long range stuff. .223 and similar I cant load fast enough.

I assumed he wasn't satisfied with his results. I agree he should keep it simple as he is clearly just beginning. For $25 he could have one of the mentioned powders that eliminates one of his obstacles already, and likely be used in another common chamber he may own.

Very cool. Those are good lookin goats!. I can't wait till my son is old enough to experience this.

Bumped into some shady looking bro wearing these. He seamed to recommend them but I'm skeptical after one fell off.

He did not suggest neck sizing down! He recommended trimming to length and it is not far fetched at all. The nature of the shape of the 243 shoulder will allow the brass to stretch or "flow" when fired. In fact it will do this more so than other cartridges with sharper shoulder angles. Lance was trying to save you more worker later by taking care of it now. You will still need to trim later. If you are trying to increase case capacity by allowing a longer neck you are fighting a losing battle. Are you set on Retumbo? While Retumbo may work, there are many other powders that are better suited to the case capacity of your 243. Lance eluded to this earlier as well. This is especially true if you are worried about crunching the kernels in your compressed load. H-4350, H4831, and RL-17 or even H-1000 might be suited better to your goals. How long is your barrel? I am a bit confused by this. If you seated your bullets to 2.765 how is your OAL 2.760? How did you measure the distance to the lands of your chamber to know you have a .15 jump?

I wonder if he even Mtn Ops ? saw a homeless guy wearing a "wilderness athlete" hat by superstition springs mall this week lol. probably going to be me some dayAt least his boys on Instagram will think he's straight slaying on the mountain.