Does headspace have to be

[sthrnfryedyankee]

readjusted when you do your own reloading? I am considering getting into reloading but want to be as safe as possible.

[kraigwy]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Once you set up your die to size the case to proper headspace, it can be locked down with the locking ring, But I ALWAYS check anyway when I start a loading project.

[sthrnfryedyankee]

I wasnt sure if all brass (I will use 7mm rem mag brass for example) was the same size from manufacturer to manufacturer. Does bullet seating depth affect headspace? I am VERY new to these questions and i may not be aking them correctly.

[kraigwy]

Does bullet seating depth affect headspace?

No Sir; but it does effect accuracy and pressure.

The 7 RM head spaces on the belt, (as do most belted magnums). Rimless cases headspace on the shoulder. Rimmed cased headsapce on the Rim, except for rimmed cased in the TC which head space on the shoulder (like the 30-30, 30 Herrit etc which has a rim but headspaces on the shoulder in the TC). Straight wall cases like the 45ACP and 9 MM head space on the mouth.

[sthrnfryedyankee]

Ok, excellent thank you. I am going to ask around and see if anyone has any reloading manuals that anyone is lookin to part with. IS 1 reloading manual as good as another? I am still not sure if I want to get into reloading but I figure a few books would be a great place to start

[FrankenMauser]

The headspacing of your rifle / pistol does not need to be reset for reloaded ammo. But, as noted above, you must ensure while reloading, that your dies are not creating a bad headspace situation by pushing the shoulder back too far. (bottle-neck cartridges only - other types are not effected) It's not a hard thing to do; and there are many methods to use while checking. Any good reloading manual will talk about their prefered method.

[sthrnfryedyankee]

A good set of digital calipers would benefit me here correct?

[dardascastbullets]

Hi sthrnfryedyankee!

I believe that you are referring to the headspace of the rifle in relation to the headspace of the case. I may recommend to you that if you are planning on diving into the world of reloading that you include the appropriate RCBS Cartridge Headspace Gauge in your laundry list. This gauge will allow you to adjust your full length resizing die correctly to your firearm's chamber thus preventing premature case separation and possibly a dangerous setback situation. There are other case gauges available and I have used all of them. The RCBS was the easiest for me.

And I would also highly recommend that you purchase the Lyman Reloading Manual #49. It is an excellent reloading resource that will answer most if not all of your current questions and future questions as well.

Good luck in your shooting!

[sthrnfryedyankee]

awesome thank you. If I venture into this I was planning on at least 2 manuals. Now I dont know how the manuals are setup, I would imagine there are do's and dont's, basic reloading techniques and the safety when reloading. Do I concentrate more on the cartridges I will be specifically reloading for?

[mkl]

Now I dont know how the manuals are setup

The first third of a manual will explain each component of a cartridge (case, primer, powder, bullet) and the cautions that should be used when dealing with them. It will then explain the reloading process in detail. This is the part you should read at least twice.

The remainder of the manual will be very specific "recipes" for loading various rifle/handgun cartridges.

Should you decide to try reloading, you may very well find that like many of us, the reloading aspect of shooting is a great hobby and enjoyment itself.

Best of luck.

[dmazur]

I happened to have "gone around" on this quite recently. By that I mean research, buy gauges, find out cartridge gauge doesn't agree with Forster chamber headspace gauge, buy another cartridge gauge, and find it matches. Yay!

I believe that many reloaders set up their die for "minimum SAAMI" dimensions as shown by the cartridge headspace gauge. While this isn't wrong, as it pretty much guarantees that your reloaded rounds will chamber in any rifle, it may not be necessary to resize that small if you only have one rifle in that caliber and it has a headspace that is a little larger. We're only talking about a difference of 0.004" to perhaps 0.006" between GO and NOGO, which is the size of the "step" on the gauge. I have read that you can safely resize 0.002" smaller than your rifle's headspace and extend brass life. The only problem with doing this is you can create ammo that won't chamber in a different rifle that has a shorter chamber...

I read a "horror story" about someone who decided something wasn't right with their press and ground off the bottom of their resizing die, or the top of the shell holder, and managed to create ammo with truly excessive headspace. Like 0.060" instead of 0.002" to 0.003". Every other round caused case head separation in an M1 and locked up the rifle. Nobody got hurt, but that is pure luck.

I've found the beginning sections of the Speer reloading manual to be an excellent instructional guide. This manual covers reloading on both single-stage and progressive presses, and discusses the benefits and problems associated with a progressive. Also includes lots of photos of "don't to this" reloading results from misadjusted equipment.

As someone else posted, the typical reloading manual format is general instructions followed by "recipes" of load data specific to a particular cartridge. After reading the how-to thoroughly, turn to the pages that describe the loads for your cartridge ("caliber"). The other ones don't apply. (And some of us wonder why we bought a 400 page book when we only appear to have needed 6 pages... )

A good set of digital calipers would benefit me here correct?

Well, the reloading manual covers the use of calipers. A $30 set will generally be OK for checking seating depth for a particular bullet, but bullet variations can cause slight variations in overall length so there really isn't a need to have a $250 set from Starrett. As the headspace is measured to something called a "datum line" by SAAMI, which is usually the midpoint of the shoulder for rimless bottleneck cartridges, this is kind of impossible to measure with a set of calipers (without headspace adapters.) You generally use a gauge (simulated chamber) which is made to precise dimensions and drop the brass in and check the "steps" on the bottom of the gauge to see if the case head is between the steps. Adjust sizing die and test until you're good.

Here's a link to a headspace gauge made by L.E. Wilson -

Cartridge headspace gauge

I just learned something! I read the instructions for the gauge and it says you can use calipers to measure the distance from the head of once-fired brass (from your rifle) to the base of the gauge, then adjust the resizing die until the calipers show it is 0.002" shorter. You can ignore the standard SAAMI "steps" on the gauge unless you are trying to make ammo that will fit any of several rifles you might own in the same caliber.