New guy

[BLUE72CAMARO]

Hi guys, new guy here from the St. Louis area. I just bought my first .204, its a dpms LR204 I will have to throw some pictures up of it later. I am still getting used to the AR platform in general and is just different feeling to shoot compared to other rifles and shotguns. So far it seems to like 32 grain Hornady factory ammo alright but I really havent got to spend a whole lot of time shooting it with out trouble shooting things on it. I purchased the gun used and some pretty major issues with the trigger right off the get go because the previous owner had forgot to use loctite on the 4 adjusting screws of the jard single stage target trigger thats in it! For right now I will be shooting factory ammo but I am planning on learning how to hand load in the next 6 months to a year so I have been saving all my brass! I look forward to learning more about rifle reloading and asking a ton of stupid questions I am sure.

[BLUE72CAMARO]

Couple pictures of AR

[OldTurtle]

There are not "Stupid" questions when it comes to reloading, if you have some basic knowledge of the process...You will find that the .204 is a joy to shoot and can produce laser like trajectories...

You don't live that far from me (I'm in Lincoln Co, MO, just across the river) and in the Spring, when the weather breaks, if you want to practice some precision shooting, contact me and I'll take you to the St Louis Benchrest Club (http://www.shootingstl.com/home.htm) where I have a membership and we have 100, 200, 300 and 600 yard ranges, with about 90 covered shooting stations... While the 600 yard range is usually restricted for F-Class shooters, the 300 yard will give you some practice at reading wind and elevation adjustments on a scope..

If you decide to get into reloading, buy a couple of current reloading manuals and read them both a couple of times before plunging into buying equipment and putting together ammunition...Be very careful about using loads that you find on the internet, until you have gained some experience following the book procedures...You don't want to blow up your weapon or lose fingers, hands, or eyes...It takes all the fun out of it.. If you don't have anyone close to guide you through the initial phases, I'll be glad to help where I can as well...

[BLUE72CAMARO]

OldTurtle,

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on the rifle range visit! We dont have many rifle ranges at all on this side of the river since they dont let us use them for much over here. I have a couple people that I will be talking to before I dive into reloading for sure. Any recomendations on what manuals to pick up and read?

[OldTurtle]

Even thought I've been reloading handguns for years and have utilized Speer and Hornady's manuals, I picked up a Lee Second Edition Reloading Manual shortly after getting into the bottle neck case rifle ammo and found it really enlightening... Lots of "Why" information as well as the "How" stuff.... Just have to read past a lot of the Lee self promotion info...

Bill

[BLUE72CAMARO]

Yeah I have been a shotgun guy all of my life and started shooting competition trap when I was 12 and reloaded my own shells from then until I had to give shooting registered birds when I was 19 do to not having time and resources to shoot 3 nights a week and all weekend any more.

But I am fairly new to centerfire rifles and have a ton to learn before I start reloading for them. I really dont want to gernade any of my guns or myself.