Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Doing an Ammo Check and topoff

Sitting around here the other day waiting for Spring to show up, (June, perhaps), and I decided to top off some partially filled boxes of ammo. Some boxes had two or three rounds gone and others had about the same number left. Yesterday I checked all my primers, powder and bullets to make sure I had all the makin's.

Today I grabbed a few manuals just to check for max loads and COAL's and got to work. I didn't get far as I kept checking the data on the boxes to the newest load data I have and didn't get much confirmation on the loads I have on hand. Some of them go back fifteen years or more and I always used IMR and some Hodgdon powders. Many of my .257 WBY loads are over today's Max load data and others aren't even mentioned for the powders I used. Same deal for the 7mm RM. It took a couple hours for me to decide to load to the levels I had previously but I did notice where some of the new loads have different OAL.

I filled three boxes of .257 and used the new OAL for a box of 115 gr. Nosler BT's. I had to pull two old ones to get to the new, longer OAL. I loaded a dozen 100 grainers to the actual length of the factory loads, which is shorter than the Hodgdon recommended OAL, using Hornady spire points. I topped off two boxes of 7MM but figured the OAL on those was "close enough" so I just matched the loads.

I was using I-4350, and I-4831 today and think I'll do some more work with I-7828 and maybe RL-22. tomorrow.

From now on, I'm going to try to write down a reference to WHERE I got my load data, when I make up the stickers for the boxes.

There is no way I would top off boxes. I treat each box of ammo that I load as its own lot. The brass all has the same history and is not mixed with any other.

That sounds pretty good to me but I don't have the discipline to follow your method. I usually segregate brass that is once fired but, after that, they all go into their same buckets. I do suppose that I get a little anal when checking brass for neck and case cracks and especially head separation indications. I also separate some brass, in the same caliber, by which rifle they were used in and even that is a pain to me.

I've tried to do better but I just can't stick with it.

Congratulations to you.

I have never had the nerve to add newly loaded rounds to an older box. I put the newly loaded stuff in a separate box, and fire a test group. All my hunting stuff has a target stuck inside the box from the last grouping. I have to admit that the new stuff & the old stuff usually perform identically.
My general practice is to load & store hunting loads in 50 round boxes. Most of my rifles have a "go to" recipe, so there is usually more than 1 box, sometimes several, of the same vintage, available.
Having said that, I do a lot of loading, shooting & testing every year, looking at new components and/or combinations, in search of perfection. That keeps things interesting.