Cheatsheet — Laminate-Ready

Everything on this page is developed properly somewhere in the preceding volumes, and the volume number is given so a claim can be checked rather than taken on trust. No powder charge appears here. Charges come from a current published manual, worked up from the starting load, and nothing on a laminated sheet should ever substitute for that.

24.1 The Non-Negotiables

Table 1 — The Non-Negotiables

Rule	Why	Vol
One powder on the bench at a time, in its original container	The wrong powder is a several-fold error, not a marginal one	3
Charge a whole block, then look at the whole block under good light	A grid makes one odd cell obvious; one-at-a-time removes the check	3
On a progressive, a powder-check die lives in the toolhead permanently	The machine prevents the visual check, so replace it mechanically	8
If the sequence is interrupted, stop and account for every case	Interruption then resumption is the classic double-charge precursor	3
Powder stores in a container that vents; primers in one that is rugged	Powder bursts its container; bulk primers mass-detonate	4
A pressure sign is a stop signal, never a green light	Its absence proves nothing	21
Any component change restarts the work-up	A brass change alone has sheared a bolt handle	21
Label every batch before it leaves the bench	It is the only thing that separates .300 BLK from 5.56	4, 16

24.2 The Bench

Table 2 — The Bench

Machine	Job	Price read 2026-09-17
Redding T-7 turret	.308 · .30-06 · .300 BLK · .450 BM	$391.99
Dillon XL750 progressive	5.56 · 9mm · .40 S&W · .45 ACP	$850 + $370 feeder
RCBS Rock Chucker single-stage	Case forming · bulge removal · stuck cases	$239.99 (Scheels)

About $1,852 before dies and conversions — and conversions are not a rounding error. The XL750’s fifth station is the deciding argument over a four-station machine: it holds the powder check permanently. Dillon’s lifetime warranty is hobby-tier only — the RL1100 is two years, the Super 1050 one. (Vol 8.)

24.3 Per Chambering

Table 3 — Per Chambering

Cartridge	Primer	The thing that catches people	Vol
.308 Win	Large rifle	7.62 NATO differs in headspace and case capacity — thicker NATO walls raise pressure. Never convert PSI to CUP	2, 9
.30-06 (Garand)	Large rifle	Port pressure, not chamber pressure, damages the op rod. Nothing of the slow-powder class appears in any M1-specific list. Clip fit caps cartridge length	8, 20
.300 BLK	Small rifle	Two separate load regimes. Chambers in a 5.56 rifle and fires in battery	16
.450 Bushmaster	Small RIFLE	No carbide die exists — lube every case, keep it off the progressive	9
5.56 / .223	Small rifle	Crimped military pockets need swaging. The famous pressure gap is a measurement artefact; leade is the real difference	10, 12
9mm	Small pistol	Taper crimp only; check finished rounds in a case gauge	20
.40 S&W	Small pistol	Same 35,000 psi as 9mm — larger head area, less support. A conventional die will not remove a Glock bulge	8, 20
.45 ACP	BOTH sizes exist	Sort for primer size first. Eye-sorting is ~80% effective; a small-primer case can stop a large decapping pin	2, 10

24.4 The Sequence

1. Collect and sort — reject Berdan, steel, aluminium, damaged. Separate by caliber and headstamp. (Vol 10)
2. Deprime (Vol 12)
3. Clean — enough to protect the dies and to let the case be inspected. Shine is cosmetic. (Vol 11)
4. Lube — unless carbide and straight-walled. .450 BM always. (Vol 12)
5. Size — full length for anything semi-automatic; bump measured for a bolt gun (Vol 9, Headspace dive)
6. Swage or ream crimped military pockets (Vol 12)
7. Trim if over maximum; chamfer and deburr (Vol 13)
8. Anneal if warranted — formed brass and long-lived precision brass (Vol 14)
9. Prime — seated fully, below flush (Vol 17)
10. Charge — then look at the block (Vols 18, 19, 3)
11. Seat to a recorded CBTO, not to overall length (Vol 20)
12. Crimp only if the application needs it (Vol 20)
13. Gauge finished rounds; label the batch (Vols 4, 12)
14. Test and record (Vols 21, 22, 23)

24.5 Reading Pressure

Table 4 — Reading Pressure

Carries weight	Unreliable
Stiff bolt lift	Flattened primers — among the least reliable indicators
Ejector-mark swipe on the case head	Cratered primers — confounded by firing-pin and bolt clearance
Difficult extraction	Case-head expansion — identical expansion has been measured from pressures differing 2:1
Pierced primer

Diagnosis of a fired case — the bright ring, the wire test, the reading order — belongs to the Headspace dive. (Vols 15, 21.)

24.6 What the Instruments Can Resolve

Table 5 — What the Instruments Can Resolve

Quantity	Reality
Agreement between two good chronographs	7–10 fps
Velocity change from 0.1 gr of powder	single digits of fps
Therefore a “velocity node” narrower than ~10 fps	inside the instrument’s own noise
Natural variation of a 5-shot group	±50 %
Shots that extreme spread actually uses	two, whatever the sample size
Rounds to separate two loads with confidence	50+
Sustained press output against rated	60–70 %
Only independently measured press rate located	540 rds/hr (one machine)

(Vols 19, 21, 22, 6.)

24.7 Storage

Table 6 — Storage

Component	Container	Never
Smokeless powder	Insulating, weak walls and seams that vent	A gun safe, a welded box, a sealed can, a capped pipe
Primers	Rugged, for thermal delay; factory packaging	Decanted loose into a jar, tin or drawer
Loaded ammunition	Ordinary sturdy containers, ammo cans fine	—
Brass	Dry, with desiccant	Damp storage; ammonia-bearing cleaners

Powder does not detonate. Confined, it burns faster as pressure rises and bursts the container. Small-arms smokeless propellant is federally exempt — the binding limits are the local fire code, and the fire official is the person who knows them. (Vol 4.)

24.8 Folklore, Sorted

Table 7 — Folklore, Sorted

Commonly said	What holds up
”Powder detonates when confined”	It deflagrates and bursts its container. The danger is the same; the word is wrong
”Shiny brass is better brass”	Shine is cosmetic. Grit removal, readability and primer seating are the real requirements
”Stainless pins embrittle brass”	Not supported. Dezincification is real but is a chemistry error, not a pin problem
”Anneal to 800 degrees”	Recrystallization is temperature times time. A temperature without a dwell is not a specification
”Flattened primers mean pressure”	Among the least reliable indicators available
”Case-head expansion measures pressure”	It does not. Identical expansion from 2:1 different pressures
”A 3-shot group shows what a load does”	It shows almost nothing
”A crimp holds the bullet”	Neck tension holds the bullet. Over-crimping makes velocity less consistent
”Small-base dies are needed for semi-autos”	They are for tight chambers. Gauge the round instead of assuming
”Bullet weight sets the twist needed”	Bullet length does. A heavier bullet of equal length is more stable
”Ammonia cleaners are fine on brass”	Ammonia stress-corrosion cracking of brass is well established
”QuickLOAD can tell you a load is safe”	It called a load safe that sheared a bolt handle, while predicting its velocity nearly correctly

24.9 What Is Deliberately Not On This Page

Any powder charge. Use a current published manual and work up.

A .300 Blackout trim-to length. Two research passes disagreed not only on the value but on what kind of dimension it is — a minimum or a trim-to — and both flagged their own figure as unverified. Take it from the forming die’s instructions and confirm in a case gauge. (Vol 16.)

Powder and primer quantity thresholds. The figures available traced to a committee draft rather than published code, and the state-level position could not be verified. Read the adopted code or ask the fire official. (Vol 4.)

Annealer hardness figures as established fact. The manufacturer’s site refused every automated request, so those numbers reached this dive through search indexes and are flagged unconfirmed throughout. (Vol 14.)

24.10 Two Numbers Nobody Has Published

Worth measuring, because the answers do not appear to exist:

The yield and scrap rate of forming .300 Blackout cases from 5.56 brass. The whole economic argument turns on it. A counter and a scrap box over one production run would settle it. (Vol 16.)

Velocity from a barrel shorter than the standard’s test barrel. Every published figure is a test-barrel number. (Vols 22, 23.)