So, What You Doing On The Bench Today?

[gandog56]

I'm sure either happyguy or myself would be interested in the Grendel brass ;)

What I THOUGHT were 6.5 Grandels were actually 6.8mm SPC. And somehow 1 6.5 Creedmoor snuck into my pile of .308 win's. And half of the pile of ,308 I did snarf up for free ended up being some foreign brand that was Berdan primed. Got lucky and did NOT break my decaopping pin on one of them. Got a way more huge pile of either 5.56/.2223 and 300 AAC than I ended up shooting myself. So I think I will convert all the LC brass 5.56 to more .300 AAC.

[gandog56]

Going out this morning and get all the brass I did last night all separated and drying, aad will load all the 5.56/.223 into the wet roatary tumbler today. That will still leave me a 10mm/.40 cal pile, and a .44 special, .45 ACP pile to do.

[gandog56]

Got in 3 boxes of Hornady .308" 110 grain SP's. Looks like a .300 AAC reloading session will happen pretty darned soon.

[Mbaker78]

I sat down Thursday night and loaded the last 273 bullets i had for 300aac, then turn around and get a few more in a trade a couple days later :p

[Happyguy]

Cappie. let me know if you want to trade the 6.8 SPC. David

[62chevy]

Trimmed a bunch of 308 Win to 2.006/7. tomorrow I will trim even more and Thursday they may get deburred.

[gandog56]

Sized and have 7.62X54R, ,308, 9mm Luger, and .300 AAC in final polish. Sized a whole pile of .223, waiting for the prior load to finish so I can get THEM in final polish.

[Mbaker78]

I'm still learning what can and can't be tumbled together... It seems NOTHING can be tumbled with 50cal (Beowulf, 500s&w, 50ae) except other 50cal... At least I found that out with the dry tumbler instead of the wet tumbler...

[gandog56]

Yeah, well I found out the hard way you don't tumble 9mm, .380,.38 special, .357 Mag, or .44 or .45 stuff with 10mm and .40 cal stuff.

Anyways, done with the .223, saving all the 5.56 for conversion to .300 AAC. Got my load of 10mm and .40 cal in the rotary right now.

[Happyguy]

I always tumble 22-25, 243-7mm, 30-338, 38/9, 10/40/41, 44-458, 50 by itself and 585 by itself.

[gandog56]

I got tired of this manual has my favorite recipe for this caliber, that manul has the recipe for that caliber, I totally forgot which manual has the recipe for this caliber.

So I made this "recipe box" and copied every recipe for every caliber, bullet weight, and powder combination I have. Instead of digging through the 5 reloading manuals I have, now it's indexed in this little box. Also have blank cards and tabs for any NEW one I come up with.238

[gandog56]

Madew a swap with somebody on Facebook and got in 50 30.06 cases and 50 7.62X39 cases. Sent him 300 9mm Luger cases in return.

Heh heh, FINALLY got rid of some of my way too many 9mm cases.

[WarEagleEd]

I finally mounted my MEC 600 Jr. to a piece of plywood. I can now clamp it to my bench and reload shot shells, as soon as I get some hulls and load data for a 16 gauge.

Ed

[gandog56]

Only shotgun reloader I ever had was a 12 gauge Lee Load-All. Parts got busted when I moved to Alabama and my two knee replacements kind of killed the skeet shooting that really justified reloading them. But I used to go through 5-6 boxes a week minimum.

As to presently I just pulled the 30.06, 7.62X39, 44 special, and 45 Colt cases out of the wet rotary, they're drying now. Tomorrow going to size and trim the rifle cases.

[gandog56]

Final trimmed and chamfered some 30.06 and 7.62X39. Going through my powders, I saw on only had a little bit of H414 left. So I was thinking what could I load to use it up? Saw a bag of Greek HXP date stamped 77. Remember how somebody on the board was using those to convert 30.06 to 7.7 Jap. Figured why not? Converted and loaded them up with some 150gr FMJBT's I have a ton of. Still have some of that danged H414 powder left. Probably make some 7.62X54R if I can find a recipe for it with that powder.

[gandog56]

Used up the rest of my H414 on a few 7.62X54R and some .303 Brit. Gosh I have a lot of that 150 grain FMJBT projectiles. Threw the tiiny, tiny little bit of powder I had left over out for some lawn fertilizer in the back yard.

[Mbaker78]

I dump the stuff that's too little to load into anything (assuming I'm not going to get more of that powder) in with the junk powder from pulled rounds. Once I fill a can I might throw it on the fire, but most likely I'll use it on the flower gardens...

[gandog56]

Didn't do any reloading yesterday. But I was refilling mags with my reloads. Filled 3 10 round Lee Enfield mags with .303 Brit, around 15 10mm mags, some AR mags with both .223 and .300 AAC Blackout, some .40 cal mags.

[Happyguy]

Found H414 showed some great promise with Hornady 168 Amax in the 308.

[Mbaker78]

Didn't do any reloading yesterday. But I was refilling mags with my reloads. Filled 3 10 round Lee Enfield mags with .303 Brit, around 15 10mm mags, some AR mags with both .223 and .300 AAC Blackout, some .40 cal mags.
How do you keep your 300aac and 5.56 magazines separate? Bad things happen when you try to shove a 30cal bullet down a .224" hole.

[gandog56]

How do you keep your 300aac and 5.56 magazines separate? Bad things happen when you try to shove a 30cal bullet down a .224" hole.

Different mag bags.

[lilshaunsdad]

How do you keep your 300aac and 5.56 magazines separate? Bad things happen when you try to shove a 30cal bullet down a .224" hole.

I use different colored pmags.

[Happyguy]

For the 300 Blackout I use Hex Mags with pink followers and floor plate keepers. For 223/5.56 I use metal magazines, 6.5 Grendel have gray followers and 6.8 have another colored follower.

[gandog56]

IJust got in a Lee Quick Trim, gonna get serious about converting 5.56 to .300 AAC. Now have the cutter, the jig, and the trimmer.

[Mbaker78]

I only have one magazine for the Grendel. But it doesn't get loaded until it's at the range. Only the 300 and 5.56 keep loaded magazines. Connected pmag 40s for the 5.56 and a lancer L30 for the 300.

[blackhawk357]

I cleaned, trimmed, sized, and primed 100 30-06 for the up coming season. Lots of good deer sign making for a promising season.

[gandog56]

I loaded 100 .300 AAC cases with some 110 grain JSP bullets, and 20 more with some 150 grain FMJ bullets.

[Happyguy]

spent the last 3 1/2 hours cutting 1,500 223 down to 300 Blackout size and sizing and trimming 400 of those. I will get the others done tomorrow.

[Mbaker78]

When they're already cut and cleaned, I can size and trim about 100/hr.

I'm trying to build up a stock for my 5.56 upper, so I don't have enough brass to cut down right now, but I do have a comfortable amount of blackout loaded up... At least until my tax stamp comes in...

[gandog56]

What do you trim them with? I was using the Lee lock stud cutter, but now have the Lee Quick Trim set up.

[Happyguy]

Dillon 1500 trim/size at the same time.

[Mbaker78]

I have a Lyman bench mounted trimmer, lathe type, with power adapter. I keep the power adapter set for blackout and use the crank for smaller batches of everything else.

Maybe one of these days I'll actually get my bench cleaned off enough that I can take a picture of it... But for the time being, it's trashed...

[gandog56]

Did up another 100 .300 AAC Blackout with 110 grain Hornady SP's. Found an online deal for some overrun Hornady. Got 250 .38 158 grain HP's for $39.95. Then saw they had a military discount. Submitted a scan of my DD214 and got another 10% off. Figured 250 Hornady .38 HP's for $35.95 was a good deal.

http://www.shootersproshop.com/

[gandog56]

Finally got off my butt and started converting some 5.56 cases to .300 AAC today. Now the only empties I have left are all commercial .223.

[62chevy]

I have a Lyman bench mounted trimmer, lathe type, with power adapter. I keep the power adapter set for blackout and use the crank for smaller batches of everything else.

Maybe one of these days I'll actually get my bench cleaned off enough that I can take a picture of it... But for the time being, it's trashed...

Don't feel bad my bench stays in a permanent state of trashed. Some day when I'm done doing stuff on it it will get cleaned off and stay clean, about the time I hit the old folks home.:eek:

[Mbaker78]

I clean mine up from time to time, but as soon as I do something that's not reloading related it gets destroyed again...

[gandog56]

Don't feel bad my bench stays in a permanent state of trashed. Some day when I'm done doing stuff on it it will get cleaned off and stay clean, about the time I hit the old folks home.:eek:

Funny you should say that, I had just cleaned my bench up for the first time in a LONG time about last Friday.

[62chevy]

Funny you should say that, I had just cleaned my bench up for the first time in a LONG time about last Friday.

Hahaha I knew I wasn't the only one.

[gandog56]

Hahaha I knew I wasn't the only one.

When I first set it up. And pretty much as it looks right now.

241

Well, when I first started to set it up?

[Mbaker78]

Lol, even the "dirty" version is much cleaner than my clean version...

[62chevy]

That is a nice looking bench with a shelf. Mine is 2x4s and 3/8 plywood but it works. Had to reinforce it with more 2x4s when installing my press.

[WarEagleEd]

I sorted a small amount of brass from my recent trip to the range. It wasn't much so it didn't take long.

[gandog56]

I need to go to the range. Figure my Lee Enfields and Jap Arisaka haven't been out to play, and I know a couple people who want some .303 Brit cases bad. I have a LOT of Greek HXP loaded ammo I bought and can spare a few.

[blackhawk357]

I need to go to the range. Figure my Lee Enfields and Jap Arisaka haven't been out to play, and I know a couple people who want some .303 Brit cases bad. I have a LOT of Greek HXP loaded ammo I bought and can spare a few.

I recently purchased an Arisaka for 175.00 but, it looks like a pipe screwed into the action. I am not sure it is much more than a wall hanger. If I had ammo I might give it the old tire test.

[gandog56]

I was going to say give me about 3 bucks for shipping and I'll send you a few 7.7 cases (converted from 30.06) and a few .311" 150 grain FMJ bullets if you actually want to fire them and see, but you probably don't have dies to make them?

[Mbaker78]

Had a coworker hand me a bag of close to 200 pcs of 5.56, so now I get to clean those up too ;)

[gandog56]

What can I do? I have two rifles that fire 5.56/.223 (A Saiga AK action and an AR) and an upper that fires .300 AAC. Never can decide what to do with the free empties I find all over the place on my range, just reload them or convert them. Lately I just save all the cases that say .223 for my two, and all the 5.56 gets converted to .300 AAC because there is no caliber on the headstamps.

[Mbaker78]

I just got a mossberg 930 12ga, so I foresee shotgun shells piling up now :)

[Happyguy]

I had a Saiga 12 and went with the 930 and there is no comparison. You are going to want to start loading slugs at least I had to.

[gandog56]

I have a classic Mossberg 500 pump.

I used to shoot doubles in skeet with it. Only guy I know that did that regularly.

[blackhawk357]

I was going to say give me about 3 bucks for shipping and I'll send you a few 7.7 cases (converted from 30.06) and a few .311" 150 grain FMJ bullets if you actually want to fire them and see, but you probably don't have dies to make them?
I would appreciate that I will send you a PM.

[Shooterontheline]

Back some 45 years ago I was loading a ton of shot shells for skeet shooting. I thing everyone purchase a MEC reloader in those days. Well the old MEC sat in the barn for a very long time not getting any attention. Move ahead several years..... the machine was in poor shape, rusty and discolored. A complete sand blasting and reconditioning was in order. Well now the old MEC is getting a workout once again and has loaded well over 1k rounds in various sizes and shape. The old machine just keeps on working.

[gandog56]

Finishing up a little package for blackhawk357. I converted 5 30.06 cases to 7.7 Jap and will be sending him those and 5 150 grain .311" FMJBT projectiles so he can see if a rifle he just purchased is worth getting some dies for.

[Mbaker78]

Picked up a clay thrower and ran some shells through the 930. I have never shot clays before, it was actually really fun. And that 930 is a fantastic shooter, easy on the shoulder too.

[Happyguy]

Loaded 500 32 ACP in case we are invaded tonight.

[gandog56]

Loaded 500 32 ACP in case we are invaded tonight.

Invaded by mice?

Aww dude, just messin' with ya!:p

[Happyguy]

I know but I use the 25 ACP on the mice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gandog56]

I think my first centerfire pistol was a $50 NIB Raven in .25 ACP. I could hit the broad side of a barn with it, but that was about it.

[62chevy]

I think my first centerfire pistol was a $50 NIB Raven in .25 ACP. I could hit the broad side of a barn with it, but that was about it.

Some guy on Armslist wants 500 bucks for 3 Ravens. No thanks, lol.

[Point-Man]

I`m in the process of prepping 200 LC 7.62x51 brass for 100 SMK 168gr bthp and 100 hornady 165gr SST.
Haven`t been able to shoot or pick up brass since Aug 1st. They closed the range for the months of Aug. and Sept. for renovations. Then last week we had a pipeline rupture and spilled 265,000 gal of gas. Going to take a while to clean that up.
Colonial Pipeline , Shelby County Alabama.

[Mbaker78]

I read about that online. Are gas prices inflating like they had feared?

[Point-Man]

I read about that online. Are gas prices inflating like they had feared?Before the spill 87 oct was 1.96 . Now some stations have it @ 2.00 to 2.29. The pipeline runs through the back of my property. I don`t know if it`s the #1 or the #2 line. They say the price increase is temporary.

[gandog56]

Before the spill 87 oct was 1.96 . Now some stations have it @ 2.00 to 2.29. The pipeline runs through the back of my property. I don`t know if it`s the #1 or the #2 line. They say the price increase is temporary.
I filled up my mom's car for $1.87/gal yesterday in Mobile.

[Point-Man]

I filled up my mom's car for $1.87/gal yesterday in Mobile.That`s what it cost here before Labor day. Been going up ever since.

[blackhawk357]

My son and I took our new to us Arisaka Type 99 to the range today. Special thanks to Gandog56 for sending me some brass and projectiles in order to make this happen. It shot surprisingly well for us. My son yelled Bonsai not sure if that helped or not. I had no pressure or head space issues. I will have to find some dies or at least a neck sizer for this one. I am trying to post a picture of the target. I shot at 50 yards not expecting much, but it shot really well for the old gun. The load of powder was 44.2 grains of IMR 4895. Target on right was my son shooting off the bench and the left target was me off hand. Had a great time with the pistols and shotgun as well.

[gandog56]

Glad to help you decide it was a worthwhile gun.

[gandog56]

Grrrr, car is in the body shop for a week! Rental car I signed something stating I wouldn't drive it out of state. My range is just across the Mississippi line!

Woe is me. :(

[Happyguy]

Well I traded for some 22 TCM brass, I believe it was Pointman, so I thought I had better buy a gun to go with the brass and did so. Last night I took a 22 short expended cartridge, ran it through the derimming die, added 28.6 grains of lead and formed a 37 grain bullet just made for the 22 TCM. Now to hunt down a bunch of fired 22 Short brass.

[gandog56]

Now to hunt down a bunch of fired 22 Short brass.

That in itself sounds hard. Not real common ammo.

[Happyguy]

I know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[62chevy]

Now to hunt down a bunch of fired 22 Short brass.

Wonder if you could trim down some 22 LR cases. I know they are a bit thin but might be doable.

[Happyguy]

I thought about that and I may give it a try.

[blackhawk357]

I casted 200 44 cal and 100 32 cal for the next range trip. Now where did I put the lube?

[Mbaker78]

I have a partially full Baggie of rim fire brass that you're welcome to if you want it. It's mostly LR, but there's some 22mag in there.

[gandog56]

I frigging haven't fone anything. I got in a small accident my car is in the shop. I got my fourth case of aspiration pneumonia in two years and I can hardly breathe.

I'm having a real bad hair week.

[Happyguy]

Cappie, it will get better.

[Happyguy]

Mat, I have plenty of 22 LR and magnum but thank you.

[Point-Man]

Loading up a batch (500) of 9mm Luger for the first time. Using a single stage press is really time consuming but I`m not complaining.A special Thank You ( HAPPYGUY ) for making a trade with cowboybart and having him send me the 9mm dies. Thank you both.Happyguy IOU. Thank you, Jerry

[Point-Man]

I frigging haven't fone anything. I got in a small accident my car is in the shop. I got my fourth case of aspiration pneumonia in two years and I can hardly breathe.

I'm having a real bad hair week.Hope you are feeling better today.

[Happyguy]

I have always thought of this as a family of reloaders, even when we were the old ABT, and as such we need to look out for each other and Point-Man you have looked out for me before, you don't owe me anything.

[gandog56]

Got 50 .44 mag and 40 .454 Casull cases at a yard sale for a buck. Deprimed, cleaned and sized them.

[gandog56]

Hope you are feeling better today.

Long story there. Ended up in the VA hospital at Biloxi. They drained a whole bunch of fluid from my left pleural cavity. Then I sat there for 6 days waiting for them to analyze it. On the sixth day they came and said they still were analyzing it, but everything they would have kept me in the hospital for was negative. SO they let me go home even though they still did not know what really caused it in the first place yet. About the only thing they did rule out was congestive heart failure. So I go back in two weeks and see what is what. Was just glad to get out of the hospital. Food really sucked and no WI-FI there.

[Happyguy]

Hospital and jail food, about the same. Glad you are out, David.

[62chevy]

Out is a good thing. Lets pray it stays that way.

[gandog56]

Not doing much reloading today. Got some .44 balls for the new cap and ball revolver. Got some caps. A powder measure. Some FFFG powder. A nipple wrench (Dang, that sounds nasty!) A cap insertion tool. Some felt wads. Some black powder bore cleaner.

[Mbaker78]

Was going to make a very bad joke, then I remembered this isn't Facebook ;)

[gandog56]

Had to go to the VA in Biloxi for my quarterly oncology checkup, and she told me more about my lung problems. The fluid the drew so far does NOT seem to be full of cancerous cells and they are tend to tentatively call it inflammation products, which may go back to my getting a fourth pneumonia in the last two years. So they are STILL testing and kind of leaving me hanging, but they have pretty much ruled out the two biggest causes of the fluid build up, congestive heart failure and lung cancer. Still I have too many doctor visits and tests and stuff to get any time to get to the range and try my new toy out yet. Can't wait to try to peer through that thick blue white cloud to see if I hit the target!

[62chevy]

Sounds like good news then gandog56.

[gandog56]

Made 20 .303 Brit low recoil rounds. Took some of my first Greek HXP brass empties, and stuffed them with 13 grains of Red Dot and some 150 grain cast gas checked black powder coated bullets. I made some of these before in 7.62X54R and they were quite pleasant to shoot.

[Mashuga]

gandog, good to hear they're ruling out some bad stuff and hope you stay on the mend. In reference your black powder pistol, following is a little story. If it's not appropriate I apologize and hope the mods take it down. Be careful with those BP guns!

Why I don't shoot black powder.... (shamelessly stolen from several other forums multiple times over the years)

I'd been looking at a pretty, brass-framed BP revolver in the case at Shattuck's Hardware for a couple of months, and boy! Was I ever proud the day I went in and plunked down the money for it! Eleven dollars in one dollar bills... and eighteen dollars in quarter and dimes. Old Man Shattuck was a great old guy, whose eyesight, thankfully, had gotten really bad over the years... he didn't recognize me as he sold me the .36 caliber pistol... he even threw in a box of pure lead balls with the pistol and percussion caps when I bought the pound of black powder.

I told Mr. Shattuck that I was anxious to shoot it and was heading straight for the dump, and asked him to show me how to load the gun. "It's pretty simple," I recall his telling me. "You measure your powder into the cylinder chamber, put a bullet over it, ram it down in with the hinged thing under the barrel, put your cap over a nipple, and you're set to shoot." I thanked him for his help and headed for the door.

"One last thing!" he called to me as I was running out the door, "Don't forget to put grease over your balls! Crisco works fine!" I didn't understand the need for the last part, but I stopped at Tony's Grocery and bought a little blue can of Crisco grease. And now... to the dump! Where bottles and cans, rats and crows were just waiting for this ol' cowboy to do 'em in!

I replayed Mr. Shattuck's instructions in my head as I laid out all my gear on the smothed-out, brown paper bag at my feet. The first thing I realized was that I didn't have anything to measure the powder with... UNTIL I remembered my knife! I carried one of those folding stag handled camper's knives- you know, the ones with a fork on one side and a spoon on the other? The spoon was perfect for what I needed! Very carefully (thank heaven there wasn't any wind blowing) I poured a spoonful of powder from the can into the spoon, then tipped the spoon up and tapped the powder into the cylinder. Sure, I spilled a bunch over because the spoon held so much more, but what the heck! Powder was cheap, back then... and I had plenty to spare...

Being a methodical kind of kid, I filled all six chambers with the powder, managing to spill as much around my feet, I suppose, as I was getting into the cylinder. I can laugh now, but when I bent over to get the bullets all the powder fell out of the cylinders onto my boots... so I had to fill them all over again! I managed to get all the chambers filled with powder and then stuck a bullet into the first cylinder... I had to really tap it in with my knife to get it started... then shoved it in as far as it would go with the rammer thing. I lost a little powder in the process, but eventually I had all six chambers loaded and ready to go. Then I put percussion caps over the things sticking out the ends of the cylinders... Oops! I forgot a couple of things!

Now, I'll admit my ignorance about a lot of things... but why I was supposed to smear Crisco on my balls is still a mystery to me. But I figured Old Man Shattuck knew what he was about, so I looked around to make sure I was alone, then dropped my pants to my knees, opened the can of Crisco and began to smear it over Lefty and Righty. Standing there in the hot summer sun, slowly massaging soft, silky grease into my scrotum... gee WHIZ! I guess the old man knew what he was talking about after all ! Welcome to the joys of shooting!

I had to force myself out of my reverie...

One last thing and then I'd be ready to shoot... I took my baseball cap off and stuffed it inside my shirt over my left nipple. Okay... I guessed I was ready (except, of course, that in my haste I'd forgotten to pull up my pants...)

Well sir, I crooked my left am out in front of my face, rested the trigger guard of the pistol in my right hand on it, drew a tight bead on an old Four Roses bottle, and squeezed the trigger. I remember a bright flash, a burning sensation on my arm and face, then something hit me square in the forehead and the lights went out.

It must have been quite sometime later when I awoke. I was laid out across the back seat of Sheriff Miller's car (I knew this from the plexi-glass partition and a previous ride when I'd been sixteen), the rider's side door was open and my feet and lower legs were hanging out. As I raised my head to look for the source of the voices I heard I felt like someone had hit me in the head with a sledgehammer. I could see two men in the dim, evening light, just outside the door and within my range of vision. At least, I thought they were two men... I could hear two speaking but they were sorta spinning around and they looked like six. From the voices I knew they were Sheriff Miller and my Dad... "... busy on another call so the volunteer fire department was the first out here," I heard the Sheriff explaining to my dad. "Mabel Krutchner called it in... said she saw smoke comin' from the dump and had heard an awful explosion over this way."

"Near as I can tell from what the firemen say, when they got here they found your boy lying over there. At first they thought he was dead. The dump was on fire all around him, his left arm and face were all black, his boots were scorched pretty badly, he had a HUGE knot on his forehead where somebody'd cold-cocked him... And... well, we think the boy's been... well, taken advantage of."

"What do you mean 'Taken advantage of?'" I heard my dad ask.

"Well, Al, it's like this," the Sheriff said. "The first men to get to your boy said he was unconscious; they found part of a gun by his body; his pants were down around his ankles, his crotch was smeared with KY Jelly and he was sportin' a big boner..."

Then I heard Mr. Shattuck's voice. "I always knew there was something wrong with that boy...This will probably keep him out of the army..."

And THAT'S why I don't shoot black powder...

[gandog56]

Actually I had a BP revolver years ago. But it was a cheapo Pietta. It shot OK but I really did not understand that you REALLY have to clean it EVERY time you shoot it. It started getting nasty, cylinder didn't want to rotate right any more, and I just did not have the patience to load it every single time instead of just dropping cartridges into it. Now I am older, understand you really need to disassemble the thing, and clean it really, really thorough. I'm more patient so loading it up isn't as big a thing now. The first thing I did with the gun when I got it was really clean all the grease they used to ship it in. Cleaned and reoiled it. Put in six caps and cleared the nipples out by firing them. Was almost like I was six years old and firing my Roy Rodgers cap pistol. Now I am trying to clean a day to go to the range and see how it works. Too many doctor appointments between me and my 80 year old Mom. (I take her to all her appointments, like I'm driving Miss Daisy) And next week I am going up to Atlanta for a couple days to help work on my nephew's car and going to see the Packers game with my little brother. There's never enough time to get everything done!

[gandog56]

Dang, got ALL the stuff to shoot my new cap and ball revolver, but have no time. I had to take my mom to the doctor today. Have doctor appointment Thursday. Friday I am supposed to drive my little brother up to Atlanta so he can work on his kid's car. Then we are going to the Georgiadome Sunday to see the Packers playing the Falcons. When I get back my mom wants me at her house to hand the candy out to the trick or treaters. When can I go shooting?

BTW though, my Alabama carry license is good in Georgia!

[LEP]

Temporarily away from the bench for another hobby.
244

[Mbaker78]

Went out and fire formed some Grendel. 94 pieces total fired, 3 necks split... Maybe I should anneal them next time...

[Happyguy]

LEP. were the traffic controllers on strike?????????????????

[gandog56]

Got bored tonight so I went out to the shed and whipped out 100 rounds of .454 Casull. Used some Nosler 250 grain JHP bullets. Supposed to give me about 1755 fps muzzle velocity.

[packnrat]

deer season is over (for me anyhow) was a bust. great country to be in fantastic views from atop a 8K foot mt top.
245245

oops doubled the same shot.
i know bad photos, taken with my Iphone and a telephoto lens.
now back to cleaning up my .40s&w brass, load it up and get to the 9mm, .45acp, 38 special, then back to (now three 5 gallon ) buckets of .223/5.56.
bought into a wet tumbler. the brass looks so good. so no more dull brass for me.

will be checking into all my "other" to see if any out there wants something. going slow so give me a couple months. but might need a lot of 45 colt, and couple for testing of 45-90.

[LEP]

Happyguy, my career had kept me from some other old school hobbies. Decided to unpack them and see what I had. Some date from the 1960s.

[gandog56]

What was that Ozzy Osbourne song.....Flying High Again?

[WarEagleEd]

After I got my grandad's old Sears (Coleman) two-mantle gas lantern working, I decided to size and lube some .45 bullets I cast last year from a Lee 452-230-TC mold.

[Happyguy]

Waiting for 450 Bushmaster dies. Hurry up Mr. Postman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WarEagleEd]

Tried to finish sizing and lubing the bullets I started on yesterday but ran out of lube with three bullets left. :(

[Mbaker78]

Converted about 250 more blackout, sized and trimmed ~150 308 and a dozen or so 300win mag. Now they're all rolling in the tumbler.

Also loaded up an OAL test batch for the Grendel using 123gr nosler custom competition bullets and ramshot TAC. 28.0gr seemed to group best, just fine tuning length now...

[WarEagleEd]

Ordered some Carnauba Red bullet lube (from LS Stuff (http://www.lsstuff.com/)) and finished sizing and lubing those last 3 .452 TC boolits.

[gandog56]

Don't have time to go to the bench today. Going out to VOTE!

So should you all!

[Mbaker78]

246

I went and voted today too, had to put the sticker on the hungriest of my firearms.

[packnrat]

just stopped for the day, did 2K rounds of .40s&w.
have another 4 K to go then need more bullets to fill all my empty cases. must be another 8-9K or them.


.

[62chevy]

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. =)

[packnrat]

fun part is after doing the .40 i have a good 8K of 9mm to do, then on to the .45, and back to .38 / 357.
must have four or five 5 gallon buckets of 5.56 waiting there turn.
and lets not forget all the "special" ammo i need to get to.

lots to keep me busy through the winter months.

[Mbaker78]

I just bought a large flat rate full of 223/5.56 for $48 shipped, hopefully I did good...

[gandog56]

246

I went and voted today too, had to put the sticker on the hungriest of my firearms.
Yep, I voted and helped put away Shrillary. Ding dong, the witch is dead!

[packnrat]

but now here folly followers are rioting in the streets cause they do not want to be called "birthers".

there unknown person, (no proof he is even alive?). they degrader and insulted anybody questing him, so they in turn for losing are rioting and casing harm to folk just trying to make a living and getting along in life.

i guess it is a way to make up for there party being a loosing party.

instead of making it better... just destroy what others have built.


.

[Mbaker78]

Got my big (word for donkey) box of 223/5.56 brass. 31 pounds, by my calculations it should be just north of 2100pcs... For $50 (PayPal fees). Not too shabby, if I do say myself...

[62chevy]

Got my big (word for donkey) box of 223/5.56 brass. 31 pounds, by my calculations it should be just north of 2100pcs... For $50 (PayPal fees). Not too shabby, if I do say myself...

That is just north of .02 cents a case an awesome deal. :o

[Mbaker78]

That is just north of .02 cents a case an awesome deal. :o

And probably over half of it will be turned into blackout brass... I'm going to have some blisters on the fingers from cutting all of those ;)

[gandog56]

Got in a box of Nosler .38 158 grain JHP projectiles. Thinking with Trump's election there will be no binge panic buying of guns, ammo, and supplies causing a big drought this year.

[gandog56]

And probably over half of it will be turned into blackout brass... I'm going to have some blisters on the fingers from cutting all of those ;)


I hear you on that. Even with my Harbor Freight cutter it was a chore when I only did 100 of them.

[Mbaker78]

After sorting that box, just over 500 will stay 223, the rest are going to become blackout.

[gandog56]

I think my new rule will be if it is a 5.56 case...Blackout. If it's a .223 case, it stays .223.

[Mbaker78]

I think my new rule will be if it is a 5.56 case...Blackout. If it's a .223 case, it stays .223.

Crimped primer, blackout. Uncrimped primer, 223.

[SafetyJoe]

I don't know about that. I haven't done a lot of testing with 300 blk yet, but in the 1000 or so rds I have created I noticed slightly better accuracy with 223 brass as opposed to 556 brass. Maybe it's just inconsistencies with the home made cast lead bullets I use so I'll have to do some more testing to be sure. I do separate my bullets by weight so it's not because I'm loading bullets with different weights. They are all within 0.1 grains of each other.

[gandog56]

That's close, but I have some .223 that was crimped and I am going to keep them .223.

[Mbaker78]

I have plenty of crimped 223, mainly federal, but I shoot a lot more blackout. So I load a lot more blackout ;)

[packnrat]

finished up the last of my .40s&w. must have a good 8-9K empty cases left over,

but now clean up time, reset and do up my 9mm.

has anyone found a valued use for the plastic trays the primers were sold in?


i just have this problem with one use plastic.


.

[Mbaker78]

has anyone found a valued use for the plastic trays the primers were sold in?


i just have this problem with one use plastic.

i turn plastic things into pellets for a living, if I wanted to I could take all of my trays in to work and grind them up, but I just toss them in the recycle bin.

A couple days ago I ran a couple hundred 45acp SPP cases through a bulge buster, now I'm having muscle spasms in my neck/right shoulder... Coincidence? I think not... Maybe I should start doing that with my left arm to even things out...

I just got a ch4d primer pocket swage die set, so when my shoulder heals up I plan on trying it with the ~1600 5.56 brass I have to convert to 300aac.

I also have a different jig on the way for cutting, it looks like it'll help with the blisters associated with cutting large amounts of brass in one sitting...

[Happyguy]

Load 450 Bushmaster brass, shoot, clean load 450 Bushmaster brass, shoot, repeat.

[SafetyJoe]

Today I deprimed all the brass I'm going to trade after I wet tumble them. My local shooting range closed for the winter last weekend so I'm trying to get everything I've accumulated over the past year sorted and cleaned so I can trade them off for some 7.62x39 and 44 magnum.

[gandog56]

Ordered me some more Blue Dot powder for my 10mm and some plastic ammo cases for my .300 Blackout.

[Mbaker78]

Sized, trimmed, and tumbled just over 800 pieces of blackout from the brass I cut. Found out that wolf, geco, and PPU are no good for converting to blackout... So they're added to the list of stuff that stays 223...

[SafetyJoe]

Sized, trimmed, and tumbled just over 800 pieces of blackout from the brass I cut. Found out that wolf, geco, and PPU are no good for converting to blackout... So they're added to the list of stuff that stays 223...

That's good to know. What others do you have on that list that wont work for 300 blk? I think it was geco 9mm brass that wouldn't hold a crimp with my lead bullets for some reason.

[Happyguy]

Go to the 300 Blackout forum and there is a list of head stamps to use and not use.

[Mbaker78]

Go to the 300 Blackout forum and there is a list of head stamps to use and not use.

This.

So far I have only come across geco, wolf, PPU, and sellier & bellot.

[gandog56]

Go to the 300 Blackout forum and there is a list of head stamps to use and not use.
Is that forum HERE, or somewhere else because I couldn't find any such thing in General Chit Chat.

[SafetyJoe]

Is that forum HERE, or somewhere else because I couldn't find any such thing in General Chit Chat.

http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=88599

[gandog56]

http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=88599
Wow I would say that's strange, a site dedicated to only one caliber, but I belong to another one for 10mm, myself.

[Mbaker78]

Pretty sure there's one for 6.5 Grendel as well.

[62chevy]

Is there one for the 308 Winchester?

[3jimbo3]

On the bench today..... I completely unloaded the bench took a sawzall, cut it up, moved it out, and rebuilt the entire bench. I added 3 feet in length for a total of 22 feet. I shortened the height by 5 inches so it matches up to my casting table for an L shaped reloading/casting bench. Now for tomorrow, 223 and 22-250 and probably a lot of admiring the new setup.

[Mbaker78]

Nothing... Haven't even had time to look at my bench for a week... Worked 84 hours over the last 7 days... I'm exhausted...

Hoping my new priming tool shows up today or USPS gon' have some 'splaining to do... RCBS handheld APS strip tool and strip loader. I'm getting tired of upside down and sideways primers from my Lee tool...

[SafetyJoe]

Nothing... Haven't even had time to look at my bench for a week... Worked 84 hours over the last 7 days... I'm exhausted...

Hoping my new priming tool shows up today or USPS gon' have some 'splaining to do... RCBS handheld APS strip tool and strip loader. I'm getting tired of upside down and sideways primers from my Lee tool...

I've been using the new lee bench primer and it seems to work very good.

http://leeprecision.com/images/P/90700-01.jpg

[gandog56]

Was kind of going through what powder I have stocked. I kind of overstocked in case Hillary had been elected. But it should be interesting to see if reloading stuff prices start to come down a bit now that an active gun grabber will no longer be in control like Obozo was. I wonder how many others were stocking up in case the sea hag won?

[SafetyJoe]

Was kind of going through what powder I have stocked. I kind of overstocked in case Hillary had been elected. But it should be interesting to see if reloading stuff prices start to come down a bit now that an active gun grabber will no longer be in control like Obozo was. I wonder how many others were stocking up in case the sea hag won?

I was stocking up for the past 2 or 3 years on a lot of stuff, but it's all stuff I use so I'm not going to get rid of anything. If I do it might be just a few things. When it comes to brass I might just start being more picky about head stamps and get rid of the ones I wont use. It would be nice to see the reloading supplies drop in cost because I can always use more primers. Imagine $10 or $15 bricks of primers.

We can all hope that Trump isn't going to push for more gun control, but Washington DC tends to corrupt everyone at some level and to some extent so I would rather expect the worst so I wont be surprised or unprepared. Expecting real change in politics or thinking liberty is gained by pulling levers in voting booths never seems to happen in the history books. We will all just have to wait and see what happens. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

[Mbaker78]

I've been using the new lee bench primer and it seems to work very good.


Update on the APS strip tool and loader. I would have to say that once you get the hang of it, it works extremely well. A definite upgrade over the Lee auto prime XR I was using.

I mangled about 35 primers while priming just over 800 cases, the majority were due to a bad swage job (trying to figure out the CH4D set), maybe 10 were from either using retard strength or not having the case properly in the shellholder.

The strips pretty much eliminate upside down and sideways primers I was getting with my Lee tool. The strip loader works very well once you get the hang of it.

I don't care for bench mounted priming tools because I like to get out of the loading cave every now and then. If it's nice out (which it certainly isn't now) I'll sit out on the deck and prime a bunch, or I'll sit on the couch upstairs and do some.

[SafetyJoe]

Update on the APS strip tool and loader. I would have to say that once you get the hang of it, it works extremely well. A definite upgrade over the Lee auto prime XR I was using.

I mangled about 35 primers while priming just over 800 cases, the majority were due to a bad swage job (trying to figure out the CH4D set), maybe 10 were from either using retard strength or not having the case properly in the shellholder.

The strips pretty much eliminate upside down and sideways primers I was getting with my Lee tool. The strip loader works very well once you get the hang of it.

I don't care for bench mounted priming tools because I like to get out of the loading cave every now and then. If it's nice out (which it certainly isn't now) I'll sit out on the deck and prime a bunch, or I'll sit on the couch upstairs and do some.

Yeah, I'm the same way. That's why I mounted the lee bench primer to a piece of wood instead of a bench. That way I can take it anywhere I want. I always liked the idea of using those primer strips because they are safer than most other methods. Forster makes a priming tool that uses sideways primers too, but it looks like it's a slower process than using the strips. Maybe I'll have to try out the strips too.

[gandog56]

I don't know about that. In Mobile it is either too cold, or more likely, too hot and sticky. Throw in large amounts of big thunderstorms and I pretty much prefer my nice little space heatered and air conditioned shed.I only go outside to actually go shoot them and when I come home to clean the guns as I don't want my shed to smell like all the solvents I have.

[Mbaker78]

Here in Ohio there are about 2 good months where it's dry, sunny and not too hot or cold... I try to enjoy those as much as possible.

[gandog56]

Got bored yesterday, whipped out another 100 .300 AAC.

[gandog56]

Ordered some bullets from Shooter's Pro Shop online. They not only have good prices on bullet overruns and factory seconds, they give me a 10% military discount because I was in the Navy years ago.

[Happyguy]

Shooter's Pro Shop is a good place to order from.

[gandog56]

I like the factory overrun prices AND the military discount, that's for sure.

[Mbaker78]

Took the blackout and chronograph to the range the other day. Found a good subsonic load with 240gr powder coated bullets and IMR4227.

Finished converting roughly 1800 pcs of blackout, glad that's over. Now to start on the 800 or so 223 that weren't favorable for conversion. ;)

[gandog56]

1800? You must shoot a LOT of Blackout! I shoot some, but nothing like that.....

...................now 10mm on the other hand.................;)

[SafetyJoe]

Longshot powder might work good for subsonic 240 grain 300 blk. Somewhere around 6.5 grains.

[Mbaker78]

I got a great deal on brass, so I figured I would convert what I could out of the box and keep the rest as 223. I sold 500 of it off to my brother, which pretty much paid for the brass, so the remainder is basically free with the exception of my time. And now I won't have to worry about blackout brass for quite some time.

I don't know if long shot would work in an AR or not, so I don't really want to chance it. The load with IMR4227 was significantly quieter than the loads I tried with lil'gun with a lot less felt recoil. And at 9.6gr I should be able to get over 700 rounds from a pound of powder.

[gandog56]

I got a great deal on brass, so I figured I would convert what I could out of the box and keep the rest as 223. I sold 500 of it off to my brother, which pretty much paid for the brass, so the remainder is basically free with the exception of my time. And now I won't have to worry about blackout brass for quite some time.

I don't know if long shot would work in an AR or not, so I don't really want to chance it. The load with IMR4227 was significantly quieter than the loads I tried with lil'gun with a lot less felt recoil. And at 9.6gr I should be able to get over 700 rounds from a pound of powder.

You got a silencer on your rifle or just want a quieter round? No can on mine, my hearing is already shot (Not by guns, by heredity) so I am not really worried about subsonic.

[Mbaker78]

I have the paperwork in to build my own can. Still unsure of the material I'm going to use at this point, either titanium or steel. But I'm set on a length of 6" and outside diameter up to 1.5" (has to fit under my handguard).

It should be almost completely silent except for the action cycling... I'll find out in another 5-8 months, that's all up to the ATF :/

[Happyguy]

I keep 1,500 300 blackout loaded and 2,000 ready cases but hen I keep a lot of loaded ammo on hand for many different calibers.

[SafetyJoe]

Yeah, longshot wont cycle a semi auto and stay subsonic.

[Happyguy]

For subsonic loads try 1680, cycles the action and is quiet through a can. I have only used 208 and 220 grains in subsonic, looking for some 240 grain ones to try.

Mat how much Tac are you using behind the 6.5 Grendel 123 grain bullets in converted 7.62 cases?

[Mbaker78]

For subsonic loads try 1680, cycles the action and is quiet through a can. I have only used 208 and 220 grains in subsonic, looking for some 240 grain ones to try.

Mat how much Tac are you using behind the 6.5 Grendel 123 grain bullets in converted 7.62 cases?

I've only used TAC with 120gr for fireforming so far, and I've been having good luck with 25gr. 25.8 is the minimum listed charge, but I reduced further to compensate for the reduced case volume. For full power data I'm at 27.5gr under a 123gr nosler CC, but that's only with hornady brass at present.

I had some 4227 laying around, so I tried that and was happy with the results. I might get around to trying 1680 when I use up the remainder of 4227.

I got the 240s from a guy on Facebook, they're cast and powder coated. I can give you contact info and the page name in PM if interested, but I believe they are from majestic casting.

[Happyguy]

Lil Gun also works very good in 300 Blackout with a can and suppressed ammunition.

[Mbaker78]

I couldn't get a good load that would lock open with lilgun and cast 230s, they were all too fast (1100+ fps) That was unsuppressed though. I figure if it'll lock back without the can it'll definitely lock back with it. But I am looking for 100% reliability.

[gandog56]

Got in a load of 250 10mm nickel plated and 250 .223 nickel plated cases. I need to decap and run them all through the wet rotary tumbler. Also supposed to meet a guy today to possibly trade a Polish P64 pistol I do not like much for a Chilean 7mm Mauser rifle. If the deal goes through, I will have to order me some dies for reloading that 7mm, and find me some projectiles for it.

[gandog56]

Well crap, it was a Brazilian Mauser. It had tapped threads for a scope which I didn't care for, and a plastic stock instead of the original wood, but I made the trade anyway. He threw in 64 rounds of ammo and he said he thought that they were Boxer primed, so we will see. I'm going to hold off on trying to find some cases till I fire some of these and find out for sure. Still need some 7mm projectiles, though. Going to be interesting to compare the recoil of this and my 6.5mm Swede Mauser.

[Happyguy]

Nice trade.

[gandog56]

Just order some Lee dies for the 7X57.

[LEP]

I have three M1908 Brazilians. Let me know if you need any help.

[gandog56]

Well, unless you know where I can get a wood stock for this............... All the dies and some projectiles ordered. Have to make do with the 64 pieces of ammo he included till my order for 50 new cases comes in. Looks like my Franklin Arsenal tumbler gave up the ghost today. Since it is the second one I gave them enough chances. They seem to last about two years then quit. Ordered a Lyman tumbler today.

[WarEagleEd]

I managed to knock the primers out of some brass that I recovered during my last trip to the range.

[gandog56]

Primers? I don't mind decapping brass (except for Speer 357 SIG brass with their tiny little flashholes). It's swaging out them crimped primer cups I hate.

[gandog56]

My shooting buddy and I were shooting a Savage 99 in 300 Sav. yesterday that he reloaded for with Russian primers. We shot about 20 rounds. Three or four of them went off as they were suppose to. All the rest took 2 strikes and a couple of them didn't go off at all and none were light strikes. They looked like fired cases after one strike. I have read in many other post that folks are having good luck with Russian primers and I've also read that they are junk. My personal experience is that I will NOT be using unreliable Russian primers. The last thing I want is to hear just a click when I fire at a Whitetail.
JMHO
DaveL

Define which Russian primers. I have used Wolf and Tulammo primers with no problems.

[Mbaker78]

Primers? I don't mind decapping brass (except for Speer 357 SIG brass with their tiny little flashholes). It's swaging out them crimped primer cups I hate.

Lapua 6.5 Grendel brass has small flash holes too. Check out the CH4D primer pocket swager set too. It makes pretty quick work of crimped primer pockets once you get the hang of it. I managed to get one used for about $35 shipped, and I actually prefer it to the Dillon super swage I had previously.

[Happyguy]

Is the CH4D like the RCBS crimp remover?

[SafetyJoe]

I've tried the press mounted swager from RCBS on my rock chucker, but I didn't like using it. It was too difficult and the brass often fell off the press after swaging. I've also tried the RCBS reamer mounted to my hornady case prep center and that works okay because it has an over travel stop to prevent you from cutting too deep, but it's not something you want to use for a lot of brass. I considered getting the RCBS bench mounted swager, but after looking at some reviews decided to spend a little more and just get the Dillon super swage 600 and it works great. I adjusted it for LC 556 crimps and that setting works perfect for other HS that have slightly less or more of a crimp. I've seen a few videos on youtube where they have it set up to be automatic, but I haven't tried doing that yet.
Here's the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRXIByVsKSM

[Mbaker78]

The CH4D functions a lot like the lee ram prime. The swage shaft goes where your shell holder goes and there is an upper shell holder holder (I guess that's what you would call it)

The holder is adjustable so that the mechanical stop on the press keeps you from swaging too deeply or, in some cases, ripping the rim off the case. With a little practice you can actually crank out more than with the super swage.

I had a super swage, sold it and got the CH4D set and don't regret it at all.

[Happyguy]

I have been usig the Super Swage for some time now and I haven't run into any issues other than I get tired of swaging.

[gandog56]

Ai yi yi, the big brown truck and the post office was good to me today. In one day I got:
Lee collet dies for 7X57
Lee case length gauge for 7X57
A Steyr M95 in 5X59R (Not one of the way more common 8X56R conversions)
100 Nosler 200 grain 8mm SP factory second projectiles
150 Nosler 125 grain ballistic tip boat tail factory second projectiles

I also sent a package of to lightman for a swap.

[Mbaker78]

Unloaded some Grendel the other day. Last night I sized and trimmed about 750 pcs of 223, just got them out of the tumbler. Loaded 680 rounds of blackout and 190 rounds of 223 over the last 4 days... been a productive week for me on the bench. But it's back to work for me tomorrow, so it's back to the slower pace now.

[DaveL]

gandog,
They were Tula primers.

[gandog56]

gandog,
They were Tula primers.
Yeah, I use them all the time in their small rifle primers. Never had one fail to go boom, so I do not know why you were having problems. I am thinking that was the only size/type Tula I have used. Unless there are two named Tula. I used the black boxed Tulammo.

[gandog56]

Gosh, I must be getting ready for spring. Got a box of 100 .308" 110 grain HP's (Again, factory seconds, I seem to be finding these seconds all over) A roll of adhesive reloading labels. A Lyman twin tumbler vibrator that I put right to work cleaning the case lube off of 250 nickel plated .223/5.56 cases.

[Happyguy]

Christmas just hasn't stopped for you Cappie.

[gandog56]

I have been usig the Super Swage for some time now and I haven't run into any issues other than I get tired of swaging.

I hear that! Just got out of my reloading shed after swaging out 250 cases of nickel plated .223/5.56.

And loading up the new Lyman tumbler with 250 nickel plated 10mm cases for a final polish.

[LEP]

Brazilian 1908 stock:http://www.ssporters.com/category-s/156.htm?searching=Y&sort=13&cat=156&show=30&page=8

[lightman]

Started prepping 100 257 Roberts cases that I bought from a Castboolits member. I'll resize them, trim, deburr, uniform the primer pocket and deburr the flash hole. Yeah, I know all of the arguments about sizing new brass and I know that the die will probably not touch the shoulder, but it does round out any dings in the case mouth. I also know the arguments about messing with the primer pockets and flash hole. I still do it!

[Happyguy]

Nothing wrong with being happy.

[gandog56]

Got in a shipment of 50 new PPU 7X57 cases, and 100 Nosler ballistic tipped 7mm 160 grain spitzer projectiles. Finally got around to cleaning up my bench area and put everything back in its proper places. It was starting to look like a rat's nest. Probably go in today and sort the 250 all cleaned up and sized .223/5.56 cases into manufacturers. I never even knew Lake City made nickel plated cases, but I have some.

[lightman]

Nothing yet, but planing on a cleaning day.

[Happyguy]

22TCM and 450 Bushmaster.

[gandog56]

Still need to sort all that .223/5.56 by headstamp.

[lightman]

I just received care packages form a couple of Castboolit members with cases for my collection. I'll clean them up and research the ones that I'm not familiar with. Its been a fun hobby! This is the way that I display them. There is some order to the arrangement but I'm working on other ideas! Gangdog56 has a few cases on there!


http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy164/PTheodo/IMG_0784.jpg (http://s788.photobucket.com/user/PTheodo/media/IMG_0784.jpg.html)

I got the idea from a member on the 1911 Forum that has since quit posting. I started this when I retired.

[gandog56]

Pulled my second load of .303 Brit and .300 AAC out of the rotary, stuffed in the third. 10mm and .40 cal this time.

[SafetyJoe]

I deprimed 15 lbs of 357 brass today so I can wet tumble them and I sized 11 lbs of 300 blk brass that I converted from LC 556 brass. I added an RCBS 3 way cutter to my hornady case prep center so now I can trim, deburr and chamfer the 300 blk brass in one step.
256

[gandog56]

.357 Mag, or 357 SIG?

[SafetyJoe]

.357 Mag, or 357 SIG?

It's 357 magnum. I have two 5 gal buckets full of it because that's what I used to trade brass for. Now I'm focused on getting as much 7.62x39 brass for my bolt action CZ 527 carbine as I can get making trades. I currently do have 45 pieces of 357 sig brass available for trade. I also have lots of other calibers for trade. I'm in the process of cleaning other calibers that I'll add to my list soon. The ones I haven't added yet are mostly several thousand 380 acp, 9mm, 38 special, 40 S&W, 45 acp, 223 and 308 win. I did recently add a few thousand nickel plated 38 and 357 magnum brass to my trading list. Here's a link to my list if you're interested. http://ammobrasstrader.com/forum/showthread.php?8398-My-Trades&p=13306#post13306

[gandog56]

Been a busy day on the bench today without actually reloading anything. Took my dried off 8mm, .308, 7X57, and .303 Brit off the drying table. Unloaded the 10mm and .40 Cal from the wet rotary and put that on my drying table. Sized the 8mm, .308, 7X57, and .303 Brit. Cleaned the case lube off and final polished them in my Vibratory tumbler. Then I trimmed them all to length. Sized a few hundred .300 AAC blackout and have them in the vibratory now. Going tonight and pick up my new Ruger Redhawk. Thinking seriously about selling my Ruger Superblackhawk.

[Happyguy]

Cleaned 22 TCM,450 Bushmaster, 45 Colt, 45 ACP, 300 Blackout, 308, 32 ACP, 7.62x39. 50 Beowulf and 50 AE. Threw them in the corn cob and had them dried in 15 minutes and a polish on them also. Loaded some more 450 Bushmaster, 308 match loads and prepped some 6.5 Grendel brass.

[gandog56]

Another busy day without actually reloading anything. Trimmed to length a couple hundred .300 AAC cases and final polished them. Cleaned 9mm, .357 Magnum, .38 special, and .380 auto cases. Ran through my GRx Die and final polished 10mm and .40 cal cases. Sorted up everything I have been working on for two days by headstamp and bagged them up. Cleaned up the floor in my reloading shed. Ran some brake cleaner through my .303 Brit and 8mm dies and lubed them.

[Mbaker78]

Going to put the ~185 7.62x39 cases I converted to Grendel in the tumbler and let it run while I sleep. Then I just have to find a good fireforming load with TAC and 85gr bullets.

Also finally got my boxes (regional A and B) and padded envelopes from USPS, now I can make better trades ;)

[WarEagleEd]

I managed to load 37 .300 Blackout rounds; 125 gr. Hornady SSTs over 14.8 - 14.9 grains of Hodgdon's Lil Gun in Hornady cases.

Ed

[gandog56]

Got back from a range trip too late to do anything on the bench tonight. But tomorrow, will have some 7mm Mauser, .44 mag, .44 special, .38 special, and .357 mag cases to clean. Concluding a brass deal and have to pack up and mail some .40 cal projectiles I am swapping for assorted brass. Got a couple new shelves with drawers I will be storing brass ready for reloading in. Got to clean the guns I shot. Got to load up some empty mags for the next range trip. Ordered a new Red Dot for my Marvin The Martian .22 LR pistol.

[lightman]

Not on the bench but I've been cleaning up in and around the shop for a couple of weeks. I spent the other afternoon sorting wheelweights that I forgot that I had and trying to clean off my work bench so I have room to cast. Then I uncovered a few more buckets of weights!

Trying to get these cleaned up and melted down into ingots before it gets hot! I'll cast some when its hot but I don't like to smelt when its really hot!

[Mbaker78]

Trying to get my mossberg 930 to run with the aftermarket stock and magazine extension. Ordered an extra power hammer spring to alleviate the light primer strikes.

Had to contact choate to get the proper spring for the +5 extension, gave them measurements and they're sending one out to me free of charge. I love great customer service.

Mossberg wanted me to pay shipping and possibly for repairs, I'd say a $7 spring will be cheaper and faster, plus I get the experience of tearing into a trigger assembly. Just hope it gets here befor the weekend so I can get it going before Monday, I want to go break some clays... or try to, anyway.

[SafetyJoe]

I finished cleaning and sizing almost 10,000 pieces of 380 acp I added to my trading list. I'm considering adding around 1000 pieces cleaned and sized 308 WIN to my trading list soon too.

257

[WarEagleEd]

I loaded 20 more .300 Blackout rounds this evening. That's all the brass that I had ready to go. Now I need to prime some more brass so I can replenish my supply of ammo for that caliber.

Ed

[gandog56]

Big trade with DMpatter37, and got his package in today. So I decapped a whole pile of .300 AAC (And threw in a pile of .223 already had decapped). Decapped some .303 Brit he sent me, and some .308 Win I picked up for free from my last range trip. Decapped some .44 mag he sent, and some .45 ACP I had and threw them in a box. Decapped a big pile of .38 special and .357 cases from my last range trip, threw them in another box. Have the first load in the wet rotary, two more loads to go.

[gandog56]

I loaded 20 more .300 Blackout rounds this evening. That's all the brass that I had ready to go. Now I need to prime some more brass so I can replenish my supply of ammo for that caliber.

Ed

Aww come on Ed. 20 is just warming UP!;)

[Mbaker78]

I can unload 20 rounds of blackout in very short order ;)

[WarEagleEd]

Aww come on Ed. 20 is just warming UP!;)

It's all I had left that was primed and ready to go.

This evening I looked through my tiny stash of 30-06 brass and realized that I need to trade for some more, so I'll be posting over in the trading forum soon.

[blackhawk357]

I wanted to say hello and ask for your help with a project. I need ideas for brass storage in my gun room. Like most of you I have thousands of pieces of brass in many different calibers in various states of the reloading process. I am using a bedroom for my hobby. Brass not ready for immediate use gets cleaned, sorted, put zip lock bags in shoe boxes, and shelved in the closet. So that leaves 15 or so calibers that I need accessible. Those left out for use need multiple forms of storage that will hold 200 of each caliber. Purchasing cheap plastic bins for wall hanging is not what I have in mind. I build most of my shelving and work benches myself out of wood. Please let me know what you think is the best method of brass storage.

[gandog56]

I just bought two slide out cabinets at a yard sale that I stuffed full of brass. It isn't built like a steel toolbox, it has a metal frame, but plastic shelves. Each one has 8 drawers. It still wasn't enough but I have some all plastic ones too.

Other than that I ordered up some 165 grain powder coated .311" bullets today. I use them for low recoil reduced loads for 7.62X54R, ,303 Brit, and 7.7 Jap rifles. Also ordered some .454" lead balls for my black powder pistol.

[SafetyJoe]

I cleaned 20 lbs more of 38 and 357 mag brass and decided I need to make a larger strainer for rinsing off the soap. I have 3 wet tumblers. Two are frankfort arsenal and one is the lyman ss wet tumbler. When I clean brass I have 3 loads tumbling at once. I think I'm going to melt some holes in the bottom of a plastic 5 gal bucket using a soldering iron. Then I can dump the soapy brass into it while the bucket is inside another bucket to catch any pins that might fall through as I rinse the soap off. After rinsed I'm going to still tumble the brass in my hand crank media separator to remove the pins. I just got tired of having to rinse brass in smaller batches so by making the larger 5 gal strainer I should be able to rinse all 20 lbs of brass at once. I should even be able to rinse 40 lbs of brass at once if I decide to run all 3 tumblers twice.

[SafetyJoe]

Using the soldering iron to melt holes in my bucket to create a large strainer for my soapy brass worked great.
258

[packnrat]

I wanted to say hello and ask for your help with a project. I need ideas for brass storage in my gun room. Like most of you I have thousands of pieces of brass in many different calibers in various states of the reloading process. I am using a bedroom for my hobby. Brass not ready for immediate use gets cleaned, sorted, put zip lock bags in shoe boxes, and shelved in the closet. So that leaves 15 or so calibers that I need accessible. Those left out for use need multiple forms of storage that will hold 200 of each caliber. Purchasing cheap plastic bins for wall hanging is not what I have in mind. I build most of my shelving and work benches myself out of wood. Please let me know what you think is the best method of brass storage.

dirty brass sits outside this winter. getting all pre soaked in 5 gallon buckets. thinking maybe a plastic wall cabinet to store the buckets in?
cleaned brass (for what dies i own) get to be inside and worked on to get them ready for when i can reload,
about to start up on a small batch (about 5K) of 9mm. am limited by how much lead i have. but all of it is top line hornady XTP, 124 gr.
and another batch a good 10K of target hard ball.

must have a couple hundred pounds of mixed brass that still needs to be sorted out.

.

[SafetyJoe]

I use buckets and free USPS flat rate boxes and those USPS tyvek envelopes.


I wanted to say hello and ask for your help with a project. I need ideas for brass storage in my gun room. Like most of you I have thousands of pieces of brass in many different calibers in various states of the reloading process. I am using a bedroom for my hobby. Brass not ready for immediate use gets cleaned, sorted, put zip lock bags in shoe boxes, and shelved in the closet. So that leaves 15 or so calibers that I need accessible. Those left out for use need multiple forms of storage that will hold 200 of each caliber. Purchasing cheap plastic bins for wall hanging is not what I have in mind. I build most of my shelving and work benches myself out of wood. Please let me know what you think is the best method of brass storage.

[blackhawk357]

The brass storage debacle...... I settled on Rubbermaid wire racks that I installed in the closet. Now I am looking for clear containers that are short, wide and easy to label. That will hold the bulk of my stored brass. The clean up of my gun room brings to light that I need to get rid of a few things. I ask myself why am I storing thousands of pieces of brass. Not sure the answer???? My father passed away almost one ago and I am still deciding on what I can let go of from his gun room. A co worker that shoots bulls eye competition wants his old press?

[WarEagleEd]

I primed 47 Fiocchi .300 Blackout converts this evening. Once again, I ran out of brass that was ready for priming. I work too much to do large batches of anything.

Ed

[gandog56]

Work? That is a four letter word! They don't pay me enough to "work".:rolleyes:

[gandog56]

Got in a swap from another board in today. Got some more 8X57 and some 6X55. They in the wet rotary now.

[62chevy]

All right what happened to the moderator with leaving the porn up?

[Happyguy]

Well it states what are doing on the bench today!

[gandog56]

That ain't what I pictured when I hear "Bench press"!

Anyways have to size and final polish some 6.5X55. I really didn't need more, but somebody from another board threw it in a brass trade. Need to trim to length and chamfer about 150 8X57.

[DaveL]

Transformed 100 LC 5.56 to 300 blackout and loaded with Nosler 220gr. HPBTM bullets and 10.9 grs. of 1680, to sub sonic velocities.
A bench belt sander works to shorten the 5.56 cases but it sure is hard on the fingers. So I broke down and ordered a mini chop saw and a jig to trim with.
Also converted 20 30-06 cases to 7.5x54 French and loaded them with Sierra 150 gr. FMJBT and IMR3031.
Can't wait till it warms up enough to shoot here in Vermont!
DaveL

[SafetyJoe]

Transformed 100 LC 5.56 to 300 blackout and loaded with Nosler 220gr. HPBTM bullets and 10.9 grs. of 1680, to sub sonic velocities.
A bench belt sander works to shorten the 5.56 cases but it sure is hard on the fingers. So I broke down and ordered a mini chop saw and a jig to trim with.
Also converted 20 30-06 cases to 7.5x54 French and loaded them with Sierra 150 gr. FMJBT and IMR3031.
Can't wait till it warms up enough to shoot here in Vermont!
DaveL

I use the mini chop saw too. The jig I got on ebay doesn't have a support for the side that hangs off the right, but I noticed a regular glass beer bottle top acts as a perfect spacer to put under it. If you don't have anything under that overhang the jig will eventually start to tilt down and your cut wont be square. Another trick I do when determining how far out I want the jig I take a 300 blk case that's already been sized and trimmed and I put a thin strip of duct tape over the case mouth. Then I use that as a gauge with the blade lowered to determine what length I want the brass trimmed to. The duct tape just adds a tiny bit extra that only takes a few seconds to remove after you size the brass. If you don't use the duct tapped brass as a length gauge when setting up the chop saw you might leave too much to be trimmed after the brass is sized.

Here's a picture of a similar jig that actually does have a bottom support bolt, but because mine doesn't I just taped the beer top where the red arrow is pointed on this picture.
260

[Mbaker78]

I used to use the squirrel daddy style jig, but bought a better one off of a guy on Facebook! It works a lot better.

My sub load for my 10.5" blackout is 9.6gr IMR4227 under a 240gr cast powder coated bullet.

My standard super load is 16.8gr lil'gun under a 150gr bullet, either hornady FMJBT or nosler ballistic silvertip.

I got my new pistol today, decided I didn't feel like adding another caliber at this point, so I got a Detroit PD trade in M&P40. It came with night sights (dim, but still good for night time), and 3 15 round magazines.

[SafetyJoe]

Who makes the jig on facebook? Is it the one with the ball detent ?
The bullet I use the most is a 130 grain cast lead powder coated lyman 311410 and the 2 main powders I use are also imr 4227 and lil gun

[DukeInFlorida]

Sorry, I have been out of town, and missed the Taiwanese infiltrator with the porn siggie.
He, and his mischief has been deleted from our system.

[DaveL]

Thanks for the tips SJ.

[blackhawk357]

I have a this expensive rig that I pieced together late one night for cutting my resized 30-30 brass to 30 Herrett. Do you think I could sell them? 50.00 each? It gets the brass AOL within a couple of turns on the trimmer.

[SafetyJoe]

I have a this expensive rig that I pieced together late one night for cutting my resized 30-30 brass to 30 Herrett. Do you think I could sell them? 50.00 each? It gets the brass AOL within a couple of turns on the trimmer.

Oh, yeah you could sell those jigs for $500 I bet. The difference between converting brass for 300 blk is that I usually convert several thousand and want a system that's easy and fast. The jig I use was only $15 on ebay and aside from having to tape a beer bottle top to the bottom on one side it's been great. I actually converted enough brass to wear out a few of the blades on the chop saw.

[Happyguy]

At least $50.00, without the galvanized screws.

[Mbaker78]

Oh, yeah you could sell those jigs for $500 I bet. The difference between converting brass for 300 blk is that I usually convert several thousand and want a system that's easy and fast. The jig I use was only $15 on ebay and aside from having to tape a beer bottle top to the bottom on one side it's been great. I actually converted enough brass to wear out a few of the blades on the chop saw.

I have cut close to 10k now and I'm still on my first blade... how many are you cutting in a sitting to go through a blade?

[Happyguy]

Mat, is the new cutting jig you are using the one with bearing to hold in place, about $30-$35. I was looking at their 22 TCM jig and have been thinking about upgrading the 300 Blackout also.

[SafetyJoe]

I have cut close to 10k now and I'm still on my first blade... how many are you cutting in a sitting to go through a blade?

The spare blades I buy at harbor freight wear out faster than 10k rds. They will still cut when dull, but they are prone to binding and tearing the last edge of the brass while cutting through so I just swap out the blades so that wont happen and so I can cut faster. With a dull blade I have to cut 3 or 4 times slower otherwise the brass gets torn. I haven't counted the brass, but I guess it's around 5k and then I change the blade. Basically whenever it starts binding and tearing the brass I change the blade.

[Mbaker78]

Mat, is the new cutting jig you are using the one with bearing to hold in place, about $30-$35. I was looking at their 22 TCM jig and have been thinking about upgrading the 300 Blackout also.


Nope, it's just 3D printed plastic.

When I cut with the saw I'm not slow or gentle. I basically just tap down on the saw and it slices through in one quick motion... I've also cut off the little safety stopper.

I tried cutting slow and gentle like I was taught in shop class, but the impatient gorilla in me won out and I started zipping through them, it's fine because I cut them long so I can trim out the rough edges after I size.

[WarEagleEd]

I sized, primed, and expanded the case mouths on a small batch of 9mm (~80 cases). I set-up the seater die but ran out of time to do any more adjusting beyond initial set-up.

[62chevy]

Setup my Le cast turret for 308 cat sneeze loads but didn't get the OAL set yet. I'll start with 3.5 grains of TiteGroup and work up till I get good groups with the LeeTL314-90-SWC sized to .311.

[SafetyJoe]

I used that bullet to make 300 blk loads ranging from 900 fps up to 1900 fps using a similar powder, but never found anything to be accurate. If you want a light weight lead bullet for 30 cal that has decent accuracy try the 130 grain lyman 311410


Setup my Le cast turret for 308 cat sneeze loads but didn't get the OAL set yet. I'll start with 3.5 grains of TiteGroup and work up till I get good groups with the LeeTL314-90-SWC sized to .311.

[gandog56]

Went to the range yesterday, so I will begin processing all the brass I shot and cleaning the guns today.

[62chevy]

I used that bullet to make 300 blk loads ranging from 900 fps up to 1900 fps using a similar powder, but never found anything to be accurate. If you want a light weight lead bullet for 30 cal that has decent accuracy try the 130 grain lyman 311410

I have a 100 of these cast and powder coated and will see how they do at 25 yards. if it doesn't work out then I'll get a different mold but most of the good guys on Cast Boolits said this bullet should work just fine. time will tell.

[SafetyJoe]

I have a 100 of these cast and powder coated and will see how they do at 25 yards. if it doesn't work out then I'll get a different mold but most of the good guys on Cast Boolits said this bullet should work just fine. time will tell.

That's interesting to hear that others were able to get decent accuracy from that bullet. What is the OAL you are going to load them at?

[62chevy]

That's interesting to hear that others were able to get decent accuracy from that bullet. What is the OAL you are going to load them at?

I like to cover half the top bearing surface. Have it wrote down in the reloading room. Loaded them twice last year but my grandson keep plinking with them before I could test 'em.

[Hostile79]

I'm still working on 30-06 loads for my M1s. One keg of H4895 gone now I'm working on my two kegs of IMR 4064. I got a 1000 done and then I got a pretty good deal on more brass on another forum so I'm loading another 450. What am going to do with all of this ammo.

265

[WarEagleEd]

That's a lot of .30-06! I need to make up some M1 Garand rounds, too.

I did manage to load a few .300 Blackout rounds and I made a baffle for my powder measure out of a Dr. Pepper can. I hope to try it out tomorrow. I think a flat sheet of slightly thicker gauge aluminum might hold its shape better in the measure reservoir, but the soda can was easy to work with.

[gandog56]

I'm still working on 30-06 loads for my M1s. One keg of H4895 gone now I'm working on my two kegs of IMR 4064. I got a 1000 done and then I got a pretty good deal on more brass on another forum so I'm loading another 450. What am going to do with all of this ammo.

265

Dont ask me, I am still trying to shoot off the bucket of Greek HXP surplus rounds I bought a couple years ago.

[gandog56]

So today I figure what the heck, it is too hard to hold my hand cutting wheel while converting .223/5.56 brass to .300 AAC Blackout. So I hike on down to the local Harbor Freight and pick me up a 2 in. Mini Bench Top Cut-Off Saw. It was great, even my jig fit into the thing. So I am cutting away and everything is going fine, when all of a sudden, it starts spitting out ground up black plastic all over. Turn the thing off, nothing seems bad, the saw blade is rotating fine, turn it back on, and withing one second it starts spitting out the plastic again, even though I wasn't cutting anything at that point. I figure what the hell, glad I paid the 7 bucks for 1 year replacement, I'll take it back tomorrow. SO I pull out the hand cutter and finish up the cutting. Then I pull out my Ryobi drill to trim the length with my Lee lock stud cutter, the drill quits. Thought, well OK, battery probably dead. Put in a newly charged battery, nothing. Drill gone bye-bye. Go to my computer to price a new one, computer is frozen. Black screen, with a curser that moves, but no icons to click on. Restart the computer. Go to ebay, them Ryobis are NOT cheap are not cheap! (Was a Xmas present to me, I never bought one) At this point all I want to do is cower in my bed and touch nothing else today. I seem to have the King Dungas touch......everything I touch today turns to sh**. So I have a half a bucket of fully converted .300 AAC, and half a bucket of all cut but untrimmed brass.

[WarEagleEd]

I tried out my homemade powder measure baffle this afternoon while loading some more .300 Blackout. It did the job by relieving powder throw variations caused by the volume of powder in the hopper changing with every throw. The fit is not great, though, and I think I may make one out of slightly thicker aluminum in the future. But, for the time being, this one works as it should.

[Mbaker78]

Pull the side covers off the saw, chances are there's something stuck in there and it's tearing up the belt or the cover it's self, possibly a neck hopped in there.

[gandog56]

Got tired of always ordering more ground corn cob media because I toss it when it gets black. So yesterday I got in a 40 pound bag of the stuff I ordered online. It is ground up way finer than the usual stuff I buy, so I am sort of hoping it does not stick in the primer flash holes any more. First load is in to see if it still cleans as well, too.

[Mbaker78]

I've heard that white rice is good for tumbling, haven't tried it yet, but a 25-40lb bag is fairly cheap at Costco or sams club.

Loaded my last 250 bullets for 40s&w, 135gr nobler sporting JHPs over HS-6, chopped down another 250pcs of 5.56 for 300aac, just need to size and trim them now.

Haven't had time to do much other than that as I just added another puppy to my pack, this one makes #4. 8 month old GSD female. She spent last night at the vet after getting the bob barker treatment ;)