JGFLHunter

Very true. Deer around here are not that big and nowhere near 200 lbs lol. Usually the Hogs can outweigh the deer. I found some 85 nosler etips for a very decent price so I will try them whenever I can.

Centaur 1

I don't own a 6.8, but I hunt deer just 120 miles south of you. The one thing I learned about hunting in Florida is that you might get a 100 yard shot, but without a tracking dog he'll disappear forever if you let him run another 25 yards. You want a bullet that's designed specifically for the gun you're using and the quarry you're after. Between the swamp muck and palmetto thickets, you can search for days knowing that there's a dead deer within 100 yards of you, and never find him. Listen to these guys and forget premium bullets, use one that'll open quickly and turn his lungs to mush.

JGFLHunter

I gathered my reloading supplies. H322, 110 Sierra PH, Federal 205 (been reading reviews and they seem to produce less velocity, may return for Rem 7.5?) Anyway, my question is for the bullet itself. Can I just seat it like a normal bullet or does it need to have some sort of crimp?

Nomercy448

The Sierra 1810 doesn't have a cannelure, and actually has a rather long bearing surface, with a slight rounding to the flat base, so seating is actually really straight forward. Pick your length, and seat them home.

As for crimping, I tend to put a bit more crimp on AR rounds than I do for bolt gun rounds, and I tend to put more crimp on hunting rounds than bench rounds. So I run my AR rounds either with a fairly heavy taper crimp, or about half of the time I just tap them with a Lee FCD.

Regarding the 205 vs. the 7 1/2's, I really don't think you'll see much difference. The 205 is a standard primer, the 7 1/2 is generally considered a "semi-magnum" primer, which is why a lot of kids that don't know what they're talking about will say the 205 is slower. Do your load work up properly and you'll find that you can hit the same marks with either one. With the same load, the 205 might be negligibly slower than the 7 1/2's, but the 205 would be operating at a lower pressure, so it's not really apples to apples.

That said, SOME FOLKS BELIEVE that the 7 1/2's or CCI 41's should be used in AR's because they have thicker cups, making them safer for use with inertial firing pin semi-auto rifles. Frankly, I've shot a lot of CCI BR4's (very thin cup) in AR's over the years and have never been able to get even a FILTHY AR to slam fire. I think that's an old wive's tail. You WILL see firing pin 'kisses' on your primers, but that's just part of the game.

Also, since you're working up with Small Rifle Primers, be sure that you don't buy Remington 6.8 SPC brass, as it uses a Large Rifle Primer.

JGFLHunter

I am new to reloading somewhat as I have been reloading 257 Weatherby for a year now so I haven't had to crimp before. Why is a crimp needed for the cannelure bullets? Or even the benefit of crimping for AR platform?

Ridge Runner

I never crimp nothing except ammo for tube fed rifles, the crimp helps the case hold the bullet in place in semi auto's if the bullet hits the feed ramps at a bad angle during the cycle, or for heavy recoiling rifles it helps keep the bullet from changing the OAL under recoil while its in the mag box.
If your semi feeds correctly, and if you don't leave the same cartridges in the mag all the time in your safari rifle, a crimp is not imperative.
RR

Nomercy448

For bullets that have canelures, guys get pretty stuck on seating to the canelure, which fixes your coal to a rather arbitrary length.

Like Ridge mentioned, the reason I throw a bit of crimp on rounds meant for AR's is really about preventing setback on feeding. It's usually not an issue, but I know some weekends that one ROUND gets chambered and ejected repeatedly as I get in and out of the truck at different sets. Not knowing which round might suffer that torment, I add a bit of grip to all of them. Not a lot, meaning not so much I'd distort the bullet jacket, but enough that if I press the bullet against something hard, I can't set back the bullet without substantial force.