A new "what are you doing in the loading room today" thread

[lightman]

I find these kind of threads to be fun so lets get one started again. I'm changing dies in my Star sizer and waiting on the heater to get the lube softened up. I have a couple gallon jugs each or H&G 503's and H&G 68's to size.

I'm also looking out of the window at the barren soybean field behind the house and the cold dreary weather and thinking about all of the years that I worked out in it.

[SafetyJoe]

I just finished drying 5 gallons of 38/357 mag brass that I wet tumbled clean last night. I'm using a homemade brass dryer I invented that uses stacked plastic tubs and two 100 watt equivalent halogen light bulbs. The top tub that the brass is inside has hundreds of holes I melted in the bottom with a soldering iron. The holes allow the heat from the light bulbs to permeate up and through the brass. The middle tub has a large hole in the center for the heat from the light bulbs to pass through while still shielding the bulbs from any dripping water and the bottom tub allows the room for the light bulbs. The bottom tub and top tub lid also have vent holes to allow the heat and moisture to circulate up and out. All 3 tubs are not the same height. The bottom tub is the deepest to allow extra room for the light bulbs. I was able to dry all 5 gallons of brass in only a few hours. Tumbling clean all 5 gallons of brass took 3 hours to tumble in 3 separate tumblers. Each batch tumbled for 1.5 hours and I ran 6 of those batches. Total hands on time spent loading the tumblers and later rinsing the 5 gallons of brass and dumping them in my homemade dryer was under 1.5 hours. So with this setup I'm able to clean 5 gallons of brass with about 1hr 15 min of actual hands on work and 3 hours total of wet tumbling.

https://i.imgur.com/c8sX123.jpg

[lightman]

Back to sizing bullets today. When I get tired or bored I'll start back to reorganizing my ammo storage. Years ago I just dumped loaded rounds directly into ammo cans. Now I put them in ZipLoc bags first, with labels containing dates, loads, counts/amounts, ect. I'm also spraying the lid gaskets with Silicon spray while I have them empty.

[lightman]

Still spending a few hours a day sizing bullets. After that I spend a little time on my ammo storage.

[lightman]

Still sizing bullets and still sorting ammo.

[Mbaker78]

Scored a bare loadmaster today for an extremely good price. Just need to come up with shellplates and a space turret, then I can swap 40 and 45acp from the pro1000 and keep it for just 223/300aac.

[lightman]

Got multiple things going on this week. Deer season closed Sunday so I'm back home. Got the Ranger washed up and the truck unpacked. Got a drum of range brass on the tumbler. Still sizing bullets. Still moving loaded ammo to ammo cans. Got a half of a bucket of wheel weights to sort. I smelt wheel weights in batches of 350-400# and it looks like I almost have enough to smelt pretty soon.

[lightman]

It looks like I won't be doing very much for the rest of the year. Have lots of company coming over for Christmas and we're trying to get the house in order, and keep it in order. Then gun deer season opens again for a few days after Christmas. I took today to tidy up in the loading room a little and sorted a little range brass. Added a few cases to my trade page.

[Pacomdiver]

im cleaning up the back wall of my garage and gonna build myself a new reloading bench. its gonna be bigger than the one i built for my wife for her to make her rock jewelry if anyone saw the pictures before the spam removal took them down


who got the 40 cal TC TL mold and was gonna try it? did you have any luck with it? im still thinking of getting the regular version without the tumble lube rings

safetyjoe,
man you are gonna have corpal tunnel in both hands loading the revolvers with that much 357

Mbaker,
you actually got the lee 1000 to load reliabaly? i bought one new that was "supposedly" factory setup for 223 according to the label on the box abt 10 years ago, it just felt like a toy with the plastic powder measure and lightswitch pull chain, loaded about 10 rounds of 223 and had no consistancy in charge weights, it didnt index into stations correctly and just worked like crap. so i took it to the next gunshow and got rid of it, got a dillon and never looked back

[Mbaker78]

It was I that got the 40 TL TC mold, have it tried it yet, still trying to get a decent space to cast.

As for the pro1000, it runs pretty well(if a bit finicky) when you learn what it likes. But I don’t really load conventionally on it. I size rifle cases on a single stage so that I can trim, tumble, and hand prime. So I just charge, seat, and crimp on the pro1000. I also switched to an auto drum as opposed to the auto disk, it’s much more consistent with a positive spring return, the chain is just to prevent double charges.

From what I’ve read about the loadmaster, the priming system is the weak link, so I’m going to bypass that altogether and hand prime pistol cases too. I’ll remove the decap stem from the sizing die and put either a powder cop or bullet feeding die in station 3. I’ll keep the pro1000 around for now for 300aac and 223rem, maybe I’ll eventualy move them to the loadmaster too, it would certainly clean up the bench.

[Pacomdiver]

i also preprepped my cases, so i just put a RTL case in and loaded it, worst part of it was , i had about half of a dillon 550 invested in it with the toolheads and extras i bought but live and learn.

im getting a dillon 650 for christmas so that will be the first press on my new reloading bench when its done. it will be a big "L" with the rough length will be a 16ft long straight section and a 8ft "L" section on the end and it will be 30in wide with 3 12 inch wide shelves above the main work area the full length so i will have plenty of storage space


i have a 6ft long and 3ft wide table that i move near the door of my garage that i set up my casting stuff on, turn the fan on and let it blow out the doors, but i kinda shot myself in the foot, since i built the bench for my wife next to the doors, it doesnt leave enough space to get thru anymore

[Pacomdiver]

bench is done, it looks awesome, am wiring it for power today and will start moving my stuff off 3 benches to this one, so all my stuff is in one area with seperate sections dedicated for reloading with 3 presses on it, case prep or general work in the center and a section on right for cast bullets and PC coating. i did some quick calculations, it has 52.5 sq ft of work space and 67 sq ft of shelf storage

[Mbaker78]

Got my loadmaster running last night, cranked out 180 rounds of 40s&w in pretty short order. Now I’m out of brass, might try loading a bit of aluminum, just to try and see.

[Pacomdiver]

Mbaker,
too bad this wasnt about 2 months ago, i traded a local guy 4500 40 cases, could've sent you some

[Pacomdiver]

anybody still having problems with pictures not loading from their computer to here? ive tried a couple times and it loads, then says it had "failed"

[lightman]

With the Holidays past I'm back to sorting ammo again. I'm doing this while the tumbler is running. I'll dry and sort that brass and start all over again.

[Mbaker78]

Mbaker,
too bad this wasnt about 2 months ago, i traded a local guy 4500 40 cases, could've sent you some

I’ve generated a few hundred empties over the last few days, so I’m good, just need to sit down at the bench again.

[Pacomdiver]

mbaker, i have the same problem, i go to the range with ammo and come back with a bucket of empty brass, LOL. i have loaded the 9 and 45 CCI aluminum cases to see the feasability, they work fine for cast bullets, dont know if id make factory charges with jacketed in them, but figured i could down load them for subs . years ago, i did a torture test of the boxer primed wolf 45 cases, i loaded and shot them, got to 7 reloads and gave up. i still had the original 25 test subjects. i didnt lose any in the test, so they are a good cantidate

with the 550, i used to do runs of at least 1k at a shot for the common stuff 9,45,223,308,and B/0. i hope to up that with my new 650, i just loaded up 50 9mm test rounds in less than 5 minutes with the lee 120g tc bullet with 2 different charges of unique, 4 and 4.5g to see if my various 9 mils like it

i use a concrete mixer to wet tumble brass, i do about 3k 9mm or 2k 223 at a shot since i dont wanna overload it. if i put too much in, the dawn foams too much and comes over the lip, so i use a small rubbermaid tote to catch any "burps". i have reduced what i use to a teaspoon and a partial teaspoon of lemishine per run

[b2lee]

What a wonderful day in the reloading room. Got everything all nice and tidy for a change. Loaded up 250 300blk using 150 plated flat nose/base and 250 with the lee 230gr boolit powder coated. Going to shoot both suppressed. I've shot the 230gr ones earlier this year and I asked the hog if it was a good boolit...but the guy just wouldn't talk. Interested in seeing how the 150gr plated do, but again...I don't think the hogs will be very helpful...atleast not verbally.

[Mbaker78]

mbaker, i have the same problem, i go to the range with ammo and come back with a bucket of empty brass, LOL. i have loaded the 9 and 45 CCI aluminum cases to see the feasability, they work fine for cast bullets, dont know if id make factory charges with jacketed in them, but figured i could down load them for subs . years ago, i did a torture test of the boxer primed wolf 45 cases, i loaded and shot them, got to 7 reloads and gave up. i still had the original 25 test subjects. i didnt lose any in the test, so they are a good cantidate

with the 550, i used to do runs of at least 1k at a shot for the common stuff 9,45,223,308,and B/0. i hope to up that with my new 650, i just loaded up 50 9mm test rounds in less than 5 minutes with the lee 120g tc bullet with 2 different charges of unique, 4 and 4.5g to see if my various 9 mils like it

i use a concrete mixer to wet tumble brass, i do about 3k 9mm or 2k 223 at a shot since i dont wanna overload it. if i put too much in, the dawn foams too much and comes over the lip, so i use a small rubbermaid tote to catch any "burps". i have reduced what i use to a teaspoon and a partial teaspoon of lemishine per run

You run much larger batches than I do... I’m lucky to be able to buy 500 bullets for a given caliber at a time, but that should improve once I get a space in the garage set up to cast. I’ll tumble somewhere around 1000 40 or 45 cases, 750 or so 223, and maybe 800 300aac at a time. But I only use a frankford arsenal wet tumbler.

[Mbaker78]

What a wonderful day in the reloading room. Got everything all nice and tidy for a change. Loaded up 250 300blk using 150 plated flat nose/base and 250 with the lee 230gr boolit powder coated. Going to shoot both suppressed. I've shot the 230gr ones earlier this year and I asked the hog if it was a good boolit...but the guy just wouldn't talk. Interested in seeing how the 150gr plated do, but again...I don't think the hogs will be very helpful...atleast not verbally.


Are you loading the 150s subsonic? What’s your preferred load, if you don’t mind sharing.

[b2lee]

Are you loading the 150s subsonic? What’s your preferred load, if you don’t mind sharing.

I'm running Lil'gun in a pistol length adjustable gas system. I ran the load down as far as I could go without keyholeing at 100 yards. I get a slight keyhole at 200 yards.

Normally I run the 150's at 1850ft/s with Lil'gun but I wanted to play with a light weight subsonic that would cycle...but this gun will cycle a sneeze it seems.

I'll probably shoot the light weights on some coyotes and see what the data says on some meat targets

[lightman]

Wasn't planning on doing anything but I came home with a tub of range brass. So, I'm sorting and resizing brass!

[Mtman314]

Picked up brass Sunday. Sorted it that night. Got to bed at 1 am. Monday evening I made it back in and started tumbling a gallon bag of 223. Pulled that and tumbled 3/4 a gallon bag of 45 acp. Resized the 223. Put 223 back in and sized the 45 acp. Got to bed at 1. Was asked if I had a gf down there. Answered could all be. Got up this morning a fired up the tumbler. Will size and tumble as I go. Until my buddy calls. Gotta make the tools to scrape and tan two deer hides today.

[b2lee]

So I got some 308 brass in from a trade yesterday. I deprimed, I swaged the primer pocket...I full length sized....I trimmed...I chamfered...I deburred...then I stuck them in the wet tumble and got them shiny as can be...I put them in the food dehydrator and got them all nice and dry....I primed them....I reached for the Varget...DOH!!!! I'm out.

I drove around today and couldn't find anything to reload 308 with, much less Varget. Guess I'll put in an order on powder valley and wait all week :(

Guess today I'll just finish up the 40S&W I got in...already deprimed, washed and dried...throw them in the Hornady LNL and bust out a 1000 real quick...I don't think I'll run out of pistol powder in the next 10 years...but I can't keep Varget on hand to save my life.

[Pacomdiver]

B2lee,
where are you located? i see varget and a good assortment of powders at all my local shows. one of my local shops has it but more expensive than the shows

[b2lee]

I'm in Northern Kentucky

[lightman]

Have not done anything in a few days. Trying to keep this thread alive. I sorted 1-1/2 buckets of wheel weights last Tuesday and have not been able to stand up since then. Guess I sat hunched over on a plastic milk crate for too long. Danged ole wore out back! The good news is that if feels more like a sore muscle than a pinched nerve. More good news was that the lead to junk ratio seems to be holding up pretty well around here. I estimate 75-80% lead out of these buckets. And the steel weights seem to be taking over from the zinc which I see as a good thing.

[b2lee]

Well...in the middle of a Severe Weather Alert here in Northern Kentucky I decided I would continue reloading some 40S&W. I get everything together and before I pour powder in the hopper I notice I have ZERO small pistol primers....WTF? So I drive 15mins up the road to Field & Stream because at 7:30pm who else is open? They were sold out of only small pistol primer but they had large and rifle...but I have enough of those. They had a sale on some 12ga for clays and some 500bricks of 22lr so picked up a few of each.

Got to the parking lot and decided...what the heck...I'm already 1/3rd of the way there...so I drive 30miles north to the Cabela's on the North side of Cincinnati, OH. Snowing like a mofo...but I get there and not only did they have a ton of primers...but they had 4lbs of Varget as well....Sorry to anyone else looking for Varget this week...I bought them all....a few other goodies in the cart and headed home....only took 37mins vs the normal 35mins to get home....everyone was well behaved and driving a decent safe speed on I-75.

Now...time to go reload some 40S&W and tomorrow it will be 45ACP and maybe some 5.56.

[Mbaker78]

I’ve been to that very cabelas, I’m just another hour north of there, they probably had more in stock but they’re only allowed to put so many cans out front for whatever reason.

How much snow did you end up getting? We got roughly 6” just north of Dayton.

[b2lee]

We got maybe 4 inches...then the rain set in and washed away most....then it snowed another inch over night....very disappointing.

[Mbaker78]

Its about perfect here now, the roads are clear but the rest of the ground is nicely covered.

[lightman]

Weighing the wheels for a Pinewood Derby car! Guess what time of the year it is?

[Mbaker78]

I still have a couple of my pinewood derby cars from probably 30 years ago.

[lightman]

Me and the Boys have had a few winners over the years. My oldest Son is a Scout Leader now. And WOW, things have really changed. An aluminum track, electric release, a light tree like you see at the drag strip, remote control, electronic finish line. Its even connected to a lap top and displays times and speeds projected on the wall. I built the wood track that we used, had a manual trigger to release the cars and had 2 spotters at the finish line. Brings back good memories. Youtube has really caused the cars builds to become advanced too!

Ok, back to reloading.

[b2lee]

After receiving some brass in the mail from several of you fine gentlemen this week.

Today I processed 5.56, 300blk, 45ACP, 40S&W and 308.

1. De-primed and wet tumbled All
2. Primer pocket swaged the 5.56, 300blk and the 308.
3. Resized the 5.56, 300blk and the 308.
4. Trimmed,deburred, chamfered the 5.56 and 308....get the 300blk tomorrow...using a drill press and a Little Crow Gun Works WFT.
5. Primed and loaded the 308 including a taper crimp. 175gr smk with Varget
6. Ran all 308 through a case gauge.
7. Loaded another 500+ 40S&W in the Hornady LNL AP.
8. Seperate factory crimp die on the 40S&W on the RCBS IV.
9. Checked all 40S&W in a Shockbottle case gauge 100 at a time.
10. Took down 2 40S&W that didn't pass QC at the end.

Tomorrow....maybe I'll get a little more serious and get something done :)

[SafetyJoe]

What are you using to swage the brass with? Are you using a dillon super swage or the hornady LNL swager?


After receiving some brass in the mail from several of you fine gentlemen this week.

Today I processed 5.56, 300blk, 45ACP, 40S&W and 308.

1. De-primed and wet tumbled All
2. Primer pocket swaged the 5.56, 300blk and the 308.
3. Resized the 5.56, 300blk and the 308.
4. Trimmed,deburred, chamfered the 5.56 and 308....get the 300blk tomorrow...using a drill press and a Little Crow Gun Works WFT.
5. Primed and loaded the 308 including a taper crimp. 175gr smk with Varget
6. Ran all 308 through a case gauge.
7. Loaded another 500+ 40S&W in the Hornady LNL AP.
8. Seperate factory crimp die on the 40S&W on the RCBS IV.
9. Checked all 40S&W in a Shockbottle case gauge 100 at a time.
10. Took down 2 40S&W that didn't pass QC at the end.

Tomorrow....maybe I'll get a little more serious and get something done :)

[b2lee]

Joe,

I'm using the Dillon Super Swage...I really...I mean really love it mounted to my work bench using the Inline Fabrication flush mount system. I probably own most of the primer pocket swage-ing systems/devices...but the Dillon Super Swage is my favorite by far.

[SafetyJoe]

Yeah, I use the Dillon Super Swage too and I also have the inline fabrication mount for it, but I don't use the flush mount. I'm tempted to try the adapter for the hornady LNL press because it looks like it might work pretty good too.

320


Joe,

I'm using the Dillon Super Swage...I really...I mean really love it mounted to my work bench using the Inline Fabrication flush mount system. I probably own most of the primer pocket swage-ing systems/devices...but the Dillon Super Swage is my favorite by far.

[b2lee]

Joe, maybe I'll put that on my list of things to buy and play with. However, besides saving money to build a 300 Norma Mag...and probably a Vortex Razor HD Gen II on top....I'm literally salivating over the AMP Mark II Annealer with the AMPMate auto feed system. Maybe I should ask for a raise at work..because 2019 is already shaping up to be an expensive year for my shooting hobbies.

Maybe in the near future I can come on this thread and say...'yea...annealed 1000 5.56 and 1000 .308 while eating a sandwich'.

Lee

[WarEagleEd]

I was out of the country for a while and am now back home. I'm unboxing some things that I bought online while I was away. This morning (because I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep) I unboxed the RCBS APS hand primer and APS strip loader that I purchased off of ebay a couple of months ago. There were no instructions included in either item (though they both have their original boxes), but these can be downloaded from the RCBS website.

[Mbaker78]

I tried the super swage and didn’t like it. I don’t separate by headstamp, so I would overswage some and underswage others. Since switching to a Lyman reamer and cordless drill I haven’t had any issues and it’s probably just as fast.

[Mbaker78]

I was out of the country for a while and am now back home. I'm unboxing some things that I bought online while I was away. This morning (because I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep) I unboxed the RCBS APS hand primer and APS strip loader that I purchased off of ebay a couple of months ago. There were no instructions included in either item (though they both have their original boxes), but these can be downloaded from the RCBS website.

I think you’ll like the strips, so much easier to guarantee they’re not upside down or sideways.

[lightman]

Just started sorting through 2 boxes of range brass that a buddy dropped off. Each box is about the size of a medium flat rate box and a lot of it looks to be rifle brass. So, I have something to do next week when it turns cold again!

[WarEagleEd]

Unboxed a new Redding T7 turret press that I bought from Brownells back in the first part of December. They had it on sale for $249.99 and free shipping on orders over $49. The press is quite hefty. It came with a VihtaVuori, Western, and basic Hodgdon reloading guide. Whenever I get the chance I'll set it up on my bench and try it out.

[lightman]

Just finished sorting 2 medium flat rate size boxes of brass. Deprimed and tumbled a load for a trade.

[Pacomdiver]

i bought the dillon 600 swager about 6 years ago, i used it for about 100 cases just for testing a new load, then tried to prime them, some primers fell out after seating. thats when i reread the instructions that you have to seperate brass by stamp, so back in the box it went and sent to the shelf of denial. got the rcbs press swager and havent looked back. i just found it last week transfering stuff from my old multiple benches to my new monster bench

[lightman]

I thought I was the only one that didn't care for the Dillon tool. A buddy was borrowing a tool from me for a while and he also preferred my RCBS tool over the Dillon. Most of the time I use a 45º counter sink and a cordless drill.

[b2lee]

Well...the weather man says a high of 6F today here in N. KY.....and I think we hit that already...with a low of -1F...wind chills around -40F or so....if I'm not mistaken...that is about perfect weather to pour some lead. Probably crank out some 300BO, 45ACP, 40S&W, 9mm projectiles and powder coat them...and maybe drop some 224 cores....see if I can get through 100lbs of lead today before I get bored/tired.

Oh..and I won't be directly outdoors doing this...and definitely not in the wind...I'm sure the propane heater and blower and lead pot will keep me warm enough.

[WarEagleEd]

I fooled around with the APS hand primer to see how it functions. I discovered that the strips only go in one way, if the tool is going to function properly. I also discovered that the small primer plug was not included nor the little tool necessary to remove one plug and install the other. I called RCBS and they are sending me the missing parts for free even though I told them that I had purchased the priming tool used. I have finally had an opportunity to experience that legendary RCBS customer service and I was not displeased.

[Mbaker78]

I have finally had an opportunity to experience that legendary RCBS customer service and I was not displeased.

I had a pack of strips that wouldn’t properly hold primers, maybe 4 of 8 strips were bad, they sent me a whole new pack of 8 strips.

As far as the strips being directional, mine has a sticker that shows the feed direction (“female” end first).

Over the last couple weeks I loaded up the last of my .40 cal xtreme bullets, deprimed/reamed and tumbled all of my 223/5.56, and deprimed the rest of my 300aac.

Tweaked the loadmaster and got it running pretty smoothly. It’s not a bad machine, but some of the additional features are a bit wonky, like the case feeder and priming system (I hand prime off press, so that’s not an issue).overall it’s not too bad for the $100 I spent on it.

[lightman]

Planning on resizing a batch of 9mm brass, about 800 or so. Probably run a few batches of rifle brass through the tumbler before the Super Bowl game.

[Pacomdiver]

im gonna size at least 1k of the lee 120 tc that i have cast up so far, more if i dont get tired and maybe powder coat them

[Pacomdiver]

i sized a whole #10 can full of the 120 tc bullets to 356, and powder coated about 1100 of them, still have about 550 left to coat

[b2lee]

Today, I arrived at a place I haven't been at in over 10 years. I finished loading about 300 5.56, 12 9mm, 10 45ACP, and 1 8mm Mauser.....and now I have ZERO brass available for reloading. I mailed out my last available trade today and don't even have anything to trade at the moment...however...I guess I'll take down some 270Win, 338WM, and 44spl to have some brass and bullets to trade.

[lightman]

I just acquired 2 20mm ammo cans of odd 9mm brass that I'll start depriming and tumbling. I expect that there will be 380's and 9X18's mixed in as well. This should keep me off the streets for a while!

[lightman]

Its 22º here this morning so I'll probably build a fire for Mama and the Cat and retire to the loading room to size and lube the 45-70 bullets that I cast Wednesday. I started depriming 2 20mm ammo cans of 9mm yesterday and may start tumbling those after while.

[Mbaker78]

I have a dedicated turret for depriming for the loadmaster for pistol calibers, so I can just dump a bunch in the case collator and give it a shake to fill the tubes and start cranking away. Then they go into the tumbler before being hand primed for a final trip through the loadmaster.

I did 500 or so 40s&w and 250 or so 45acp in pretty short order once I got the bugs worked out of the press.

As for what I’ve done lately, nothing, been working and trying to stay warm and dry. Hopefully soon I can get some electric set up in the garage to try casting some bullets for 40.

[b2lee]

Pulling bullets on some Winchester SUperX Win270...with the 150gr soft tips....man...these things hold 56.8 grains of what I suspect is their WinMag proprietary powder....that is a lot of powder in that case.

[Pacomdiver]

im dedicating one of the work benches that i had my reloading stuff at to casting, i have the lead pot and other stuff including the molds on the shelf. i put a dryer vent thru the wall and got a 6in duct fan to suck the fumes from the lead pot outside

[lightman]

That sounds like a nice set up. My job for today is probably going to be keeping a fire going for Mama and Missy, my 14 year old rescue Cat. I may work on depriming that other 20mm ammo can of 9mm's. It took me 3 or so days to work through that other one.

[Pacomdiver]

really wish i could post the pics of the bench, but every time i try, it uploads to 100% then says "upload has failed"

[lightman]

Samo samo, depriming brass, tumbling brass and sorting brass. I'm down to about a 20mm ammo can of 9mm's. I think those little suckers breed!

[lightman]

Back to depriming and tumbling brass. I should finish with those 9mm's today. I'm finding some odd stuff mixed in with them, 32 autos, 9 X 18's, 38 S&W and a few 40's. Just like a box of chocolate!

[WarEagleEd]

I received the missing parts and instructions for my RCBS APS hand priming tool in the mail yesterday, so I fooled around with it a little today. I took out the large primer seater using the little removal tool and then replaced it. Other than getting some of the strips I ready to try out this hand primer.

I also looked over some range brass that I have in preparation for trading them.

[tsubaki]

really wish i could post the pics of the bench, but every time i try, it uploads to 100% then says "upload has failed"
The pixel count is the likely problem.
Back away from the subject and then zoom in on it.
The picture will be a little grainy but you won't have to resize to get a lesser pixel count.

[lightman]

Tumbled and sorted 4 batches of 9mm cases yesterday and will start again today after breakfast. 4 batches made a dent in a 20mm ammo can but I still have a few days to go! I'm still finding the stray 380 or 9 X 18 mixed in.

[b2lee]

From recent trades...today was .308 day. Lubed, sized, and then trimmed about 400 pieces of brass...then primed 200 of them and I've loaded 100 with some 175SMK's and 44.8gr of Varget seated to a depth my gun loves. I should have all of them done before going to bed. Tomorrow will be 45ACP day. I have about 500 pieces of 45ACP brass to process and load tomorrow.

It is taking me a little longer today with the 308...due to the fact I'm mic'ing every step, every piece...weighing each charge....weighing each brass...weighing each bullet...This weekend I intend to have a nice sit down data session at the shooting bench. Hopefully come warm weather...I'll be ready to at least not embarrass myself at 1000+ yards.

[WarEagleEd]

I didn't do this in the reloading room, but I made it to the range today and shot a friend's new Glock G42. I put 100 rounds through it. It's accurate, but I did have 1 failure to feed and 3 failures to extract. I don't know how much of this is due to it being new or perhaps I was limp-wristing some shots, as it has been a while since I have shot one of these small .380s. We also shot a SIG P239. I put 56 rounds through it myself. Four of those 56 were my reloads (I didn't want to shoot anymore because I didn't have my chronograph on hand to check velocities). I had good luck recovering my brass, too, finding all but 4 pieces.

[lightman]

There is rain and T'storms forecast all day here so I'll probably tend the fire and mess with those 9mm's again. Tumble, dry, sort, over and over. When I finish these 9mm's I have 38's and 357's to do and then I think my brass stash will be in order!

[b2lee]

I was going to load some 45acp today...but finally opened the email from aimsurplus and saw they had amend2 M2 5.56 30rd mags on sale for $6.95...show room sale only....so...showered...now I gotta get in the car for the 45mile journey north to buy 20 of them....plus some fat50 cans to store my recent loads in...and hell...while I'm out..I'll swing by Cabelas and pick up some more Varget...so primers....and see what else I can throw money at.

Oh...and in the parking lot...I'll get me a burger from johnny rockets....they taste like what steak and shake used to taste like back in the day....

So...not much in the loading room....because I'll be in the car most of the day.

[lightman]

Back to tumbling 9mm's today. I did 4 loads yesterday, about 4800, and hope to do that many today. Man there are a lot of different headstamps in 9mm!

[Mbaker78]

If I knew you’d be that close, we could’ve met up for that trade :p

Got in another batch of parts from Lee, so I’ll likely swap out the last couple worn items on the loadmaster that need replaced. Then this weekend I plan on making a serious attempt at getting a casting bench set up in the garage.

[WarEagleEd]

I did a dry run with the RCBS APS strip loader to see just how it works.

So what's this primer tape they speak of in the instructions?

[Mbaker78]

I did a dry run with the RCBS APS strip loader to see just how it works.

So what's this primer tape they speak of in the instructions?

It’s the large white stickers that come with new packs of strips. You can fit 4 strips on one sticker, if you so choose.

It’s debatable whether they actually do any good. I just use them to keep track of the loaded strips.

[lightman]

Not in the loading room but I'll sort a bucket of wheel weights that showed up in my driveway yesterday. I'll probably take a couple dozen donuts by the tire shop early this morning for the guys. I'm probably past the point where I need them but free lead, delivered, ain't to be sneezed at!

[Mbaker78]

Well, I’m trying to build up a collection of lead for when I finally start casting. If you want to share the wealth ;)

[b2lee]

Mbaker78 I can always hook you up with some lead muffins for a trade in brass....I need to head up to Cabelas soon anyway.

[lightman]

Starting off a lazy Sunday but I've already put a batch of brass in the tumbler. Really hoping to finish the 9mm today. Been working on them a couple of weeks and I'm about ready to move on to something else!

[lightman]

Absolutely nothing for a few days. :( We are starting a kitchen remodel tomorrow and I've been busy emptying cabinets and toting boxes down to the spare bedrooms. I've always felt fortunate that I have a dedicated loading room in the house but its close enough to the kitchen that its going to catch some of the overflow for a few weeks. :(

I'm hoping to come in under budget enough to build some cabinets in my room. I have a nice sturdy bench but I'm lacking in the storage area.

[lightman]

Nothing lately. My loading room caught some of the overflow from the kitchen remodel and I don't have enough room to move around in there.

I have a buddy coming over this morning to cast. We cast in my shop and I leave the melting pot and hot plate on the work bench.

[WarEagleEd]

I mounted my Redding T-7 press to a board for subsequent clamping to my reloading bench. That is all I have done lately.

[b2lee]

I was soooo bored that I took 5k rounds of 40 S&W and ran them back through a 100 round shockbottle to both gauge them and to double check my count listed on a sheet in my ammo boxes.

I put vinyl caliber stickers on my ammo cans...that took all of 5mins.
I cleaned off the work bench...as in Murphy's Oil and a rag...now that is being bored.

[WarEagleEd]

I was processing some .45 ACP brass for reloading before I left for my deployment. When I got back I couldn't remember if I had sized them or not and I left no notes. I looked them over today and found one dented case mouth, so I don't think they have been sized. I plan on doing that this weekend, but I'll see how that goes.

[Mbaker78]

I’m off the next 7 days, so hopefully I’ll get some loading and unloading done, now that the weather is somewhat decent.

I can finally start in on the box of 223/5.56 brass (roughly 1200 pcs) that needs sized and trimmed, it’ll be a good chance to put the frankford arsenal trim and prep center though it’s paces.

Going to mount my new scope on the 308 tomorrow, and take my son out to test and sight in his AR that he built himself. Should be a decent week off work.

[b2lee]

I'll actually be at the range today. I need to shoot and record data on a lot of stuff I've reloaded this month. 300blk 150 plated subsonic, 300blk 165gr subsonic, 308 168gr bthp, 9mm 124gr jhp, 9mm 124gr powder coated, 40S&W 180gr jhp, 40S&W 180gr powder coated, 40S&W 185 gr swaged jhp from 9mm brass, 45acp 230gr JHP, 8mm mauser hunting load, and finally a lot of testing on my 22lr to .224 bullets that I swaged. Need to make sure I can run at the speeds I want and not have jacket seperation.

[b2lee]

5+ hours of shooting today...over 800 rounds...wow..I am super happy...now I have something to reload :)

[Mbaker78]

I took my son out to test and sight in his AR. It doesn’t cycle, so I have to troubleshoot the gas system and see what’s going on :/

Maybe later tonight I’ll mount my scope so I can get it to the range Saturday.

[WarEagleEd]

I cleaned some LC .30-06 brass. I planned on going to the range today, but I didn't make it.

[Mbaker78]

I’m planning a range trip today, I want to see how the new scope does on the 308.

[lightman]

Unfortunately nothing. Still have the overflow stuff from the kitchen remodel stashed in my room. Having withdrawal symptoms! I have picked up some brass and I'm trying to get a buddy or two together to smelt some scrap lead. If it will just quit raining!

[Mbaker78]

Didn’t make it to the range due to a serious lack of sleep. But I did end up sizing somewhere around 1000 pieces of 223, sorted them to see what needs trimmed, now they’re ready to go into the tumbler (or be trimmed first).

I decided to try sizing on the pro1000, it does seem to speed things up pretty well.

[Mbaker78]

Got all of the brass trimmed and tumbled, it looks like my prep time is right around 20 seconds a case from fired dirty to ready to prime and load.

Finally made it to the range to unload some ammo, turns out my last batch of 40s&w wasn’t seated deep enough (about 10-15 thousandths too long) and jam every shot. Hopefully I can just bump them down with the seating die.

My once good subsonic load for 300aac now doesn’t cycle since the barrel change, it’s ejecting the spent case but not picking up the next one. But at least they seem to be stabilizing, so I’ll try them with the can and see if that helps them cycle.

My 308 shot beautifully with the new scope. And the 223 shot extremely well, getting a few 2” groups at 100 yards with just a red dot.

Now I have a bunch of brass to sort...

[b2lee]

Today I'm swaging 40S&W 185 xtp jhp's using some 9mm brass that have about 10 reloads on them. I got about 100 done and my goal is 500 due to the fact I'm completely out of 40S&W bullets. I also have some 380's that I may still use the 125gr lead bullet and produce some hp's that have a lead tip exposed and be a few grains lighter than 185.

I've been doing these particular boolits for about 10 years now and they hit like a mule on pcp. I'm using an old CH swage die...but also using a BTSniper cup base, BTSniper XTP die, a Lee Die converted to a seater die...and a Lee Die converted to dome over the XTP cut to soften the edges. I may...or may not use the cannaeure tool to make them look cool. I use a Hornady taper crimp die after loading to smooth out the mouth flaring for guaranteeing proper function in my semi auto.

It is a lot of work...but fun and rewarding...those that do this type of stuff understand.

[b2lee]

I ended up doing a shallow XTP cut and a nice roll over on the base...made 500+ today...I like the nickle plated ones the best...here are two of them

326

[lightman]

Nothing much lately! Hopefully the contractors will finish up our kitchen remodel today and I can get rid of the overflow that found its way into my room. I did sort through a large styrofoam cup of brass and another large cup of wheel weights that a friend brought over. Most of the brass ended up in the scrap bucket but most of the weights were lead. Networking works!

Did I mention withdrawal symptoms?

[DukeInFlorida]

The 40's that I make on BT Snipers tool set are best at 165 grain bullet weight. In my mind, and according to lots of police development data, that's the ultimate 40 bullet weight. In order to get them to form the best, I have to cut my 9mm luger cases down in length to get the cores to fill out properly. I use a 105 grain (380 auto cast bullet as the core) I find that cutting them to the same length as the 380 auto (.680") does the forming perfectly. I did that rather than use 380 auto cases directly. The 105 gr core, plus the cut down 9mm case yields a sweet 165 grain swaged .40 bullet.

While the nickel plating is pretty, it's a little tougher on your lands and grooves. I use plain brass that is fully annealed, and then formed. Longer barrel life that way.

I use a pristine (never been used for lead) Lee dipper style casting pot for the annealing. Get it glowing for about 10 minutes, than drop into a bucket with water to cool down enough to handle. Then SS pin tumbled to get that scale and crap off the cases prior to doing my swaging.

I also make bazillions (that is a word, right?) of 45 acp bullets, made from .40 S&W cases as the donor jackets. My target weight for those is 230 grains. Same process, anneal, SS pin clean, and then swaging operations.

BTW, get yourself one of Chuckbuster's Cannelure tools (he's a vendor sponsor at castboolits). He calls it the UCT. It does sweet work of making a nice cannelure for crimping your swaged bullets into. I was involved in the original design of his cannelure tool, and can tell you it beats anything else out there on the market.
Link: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?206-Chuckbuster



Today I'm swaging 40S&W 185 xtp jhp's using some 9mm brass that have about 10 reloads on them. I got about 100 done and my goal is 500 due to the fact I'm completely out of 40S&W bullets. I also have some 380's that I may still use the 125gr lead bullet and produce some hp's that have a lead tip exposed and be a few grains lighter than 185.

I've been doing these particular boolits for about 10 years now and they hit like a mule on pcp. I'm using an old CH swage die...but also using a BTSniper cup base, BTSniper XTP die, a Lee Die converted to a seater die...and a Lee Die converted to dome over the XTP cut to soften the edges. I may...or may not use the cannaeure tool to make them look cool. I use a Hornady taper crimp die after loading to smooth out the mouth flaring for guaranteeing proper function in my semi auto.

It is a lot of work...but fun and rewarding...those that do this type of stuff understand.

[b2lee]

I have an old CH Cannelure Tool that I use. The Chuckbuster looks better.

I anneal the same way...with my second Lee pot. I was using a fireplace popcorn popper for the longest time.

On cutting down the 9mm brass...what kind of jig do you use to cut it down with? Something like the one we all use to cut 5.56 brass down to 300blk? I've been wanting to do that since the 185's take up so much of my case capacity and I have to really mindful of my charge weights.

Also, I need to get me a 40S&W to 45ACP die...been wanting one for years but other projects get in the way.

I have a set of Corbin dies for making 22lr into 5.56 projectiles. And yes...I made a Bazillion of those.

[Mbaker78]

Duke, a neat little caveat to those weights is that I have a load worked up using the exact same charge of HP-38 for both the 165gr 40 and the 230gr 45. Mind you, this is with xtreme HPs though, so it might be different. Just thought I’d point it out ;)

[b2lee]

Since it was raining all day....on my day off....I decided to pour some 230gr 45ACP semi wadcutters....new mold...took about 10 pours to get them looking good...but they turned out great....going to powder coat them and load them up tomorrow...only did about 300...my attention span went away and went on to do something else....SQUIRREL!!! ...and I'm gone...heh

[b2lee]

Got bored in the afternoon and fired the lead pot up again... this time some 240gr boolits to feed the 45ACP. Poured 366 before my hands got tired of holding a six cavity. Sized, 1 coat powder coat, and sized again....loaded up a handful...will get the rest tomorrow night.

327

[Mbaker78]

I think I have the 2 cavity version of that mold, but still haven’t cast anything yet. Do they feed and shoot well?

[b2lee]

I have a S&W M&P 45...and the 9mm...and the 40S&W...and the 22LR pistol...heh..the whole family...but anyway...on that 45 the feed ramp is a very nice smooth scoop and yes..they feed great due to that...I guess they shoot well...I suck at handgun...I can hit a person sized target at 20 yards...so it's all good...I'm more of a long long long range rifle guy.

[Mbaker78]

I have the full size M&P40 and the 45 shield. Both are fantastic pistols, but most of the 45acp will probably be fired from a Springfield 1911.

[lightman]

Our kitchen remodel is done and I hope to get back into the loading room after while. I was working my way through 2 20mm ammo cans of 9mm's when we started on the kitchen and didn't quite get through with them. I've got about 2 tumbler loads left to do. I've been wet tumbling them and sorting by head stamp and my whole floor is covered in coffee cans of 9mm's. I have found a bunch of 380's and a few 9 X 18's in the mix.

[lightman]

I'll spend the afternoon depriming, tumbling and sorting brass. I have one more batch of 9mm brass left to do from those 2 20mm ammo cans that I started on a while back. Then a few 40's and 45's.

[b2lee]

Sounds good lightman....I've been in the shop pouring cores for 224. Earlier today I annealed about 2k pieces of 22lr brass that I de-rimmed yesterday....was more of a wash/anneal/de-rim/wash procedure. This afternoon I'll swage the cores and maybe even get around to core seating them. Off tomorrow, so I'll finish up with about 2k bullets....just had a small bin of 22lr brass and wanted to get it processed.

I still need to pour about 1k 9mm 124gr'ers....and about 2k 240gr 45Auto. If I get real bored this week...I'll pour some 230gr .308's for some subsonic 300blk.

[lightman]

Woo Hoo!!! I finally finished up those two 20mm ammo cans of 9mm brass that I've been working on for so long! I deprimed, tumbled, sorted all of them and then resized the ones that I plan to keep. Sometimes I think the little buggers breed if not kept separated. I also culled the berdan primed ones, any cases with severe bulges or dents and any that did not polish up well. I found several 380's mixed in and a few 9 X 18's. Now, on to the next project!

[b2lee]

heh...if they did breed....I'd put a few of each caliber in a warm and soft ammo can in a dimly lit area and let them get to making babies. If I put a 45 and a 9mm in a can...will I get some baby 40's?

Today...I must drive up to Cabela's and look around...get out of the house...and maybe find some Varget, H1000, RL26, and maybe some primers. Then maybe tomorrow in the reloading room I can load up about 1k 5.56, a handful of 308 and 8mm....and start working on a 300PRC load.

[lightman]

Yesterday I deprimed, tumbled and sorted brass. I also went through my "odd" box looking for a selection of stuff to send to a new collector on another forum. Today and tomorrow I'll start loading some 223 ammo.

[Happyguy]

Sized, trimmed some 30 Carbine, 300 Blackout and 308, cleaned sorted and put them in zip lock bags, probably 2-3 thousand pieces of brass. Loaded up some 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. Finally throated the 45 AR and got it running great. Now I have about 3-4 thousand 223 to size, trim and clean.

[Mbaker78]

I really like the frankford arsenal trim and prep center for 223. It’s alright for 300aac, but you almost have to use pliers or something to hold the cases.

I haven’t really done much of anything, reloading or otherwise, the last few days. We had to have my favorite dog put to sleep Friday and it has hit me pretty hard. I’m starting to feel a bit better, so I might make it to the bench sometime soon.

[b2lee]

Sorry to hear that Mbaker78.

[Happyguy]

Mat, sorry to hear about your dog, they are so much a part of the family. I believe that they own us, not the other way around. David

[lightman]

Yes, sorry to hear about your dog. They earn a spot in our heart thats hard to fill.

[SafetyJoe]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I had to put down my 10 year old german shepherd last year after he developed a degenerative neurological disease called degenerative myelopathy. It causes the loss of movement of his back legs. I bought him an expensive wheelchair and he lasted another 8 months, but when he started to get bed sores on his hips I knew I had to put him to rest. It's really tough. I still think about him every day and I often have dreams about him.

https://i.imgur.com/ly5dBWv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mS8jWBi.jpg

When I'm gone, release me, let me go.
You mustn't tie yourself to me with tears.
You can only guess how much you gave me in happiness.
Grieve for me a while, if you grieve you must then let your grief be comforted by trust.
And then when you must come this way alone,
I'll greet you with a lick and bark, "Welcome Home."

[Mashuga]

I don't post often but I do check this site regularly. I can appreciate what you feel Mbaker and SafetyJoe. Last year we had to put our 17 year old Springer down. He was my buddy and we went on many tromps in the field after birds. I miss him still.

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog."

[Mbaker78]

Thanks everyone for the kind thoughts and words. Though I know we’re not supposed to have favorites, he was definitely my favorite of the pack. We think he was a Malamute and Great Pyrenees mix, but we aren’t sure, the rescue we got him from said he was a wooly coat husky but the fact that he was 125lbs makes that hard to believe. He was the largest, yet the most laid back of the group, and I miss him terribly.

328
Left to right: Armani, malamute/great pyrnees (passed); Makia, Akita/husky (11 years old); Barrett, unknown mix (5 years old, named after the football player, not the gun unfortunately); Lala, full blooded german shepherd (3 years old next month, named by a 4 year old in her previous family)

[lightman]

Well it started raining yesterday and stormed most of the night. Everything around here is good and wet! I'll spend most of the day in the loading room. I've got to go through my odd loaded cartridges and send a package off to a new collector on another site. I need to finish loading enough 223's for a Prairie Dog hunt. And I need to get out to the shop and finish digging through 3 buckets of mixed lead type. I promised a member on yet another board that I would look for a few letters that he needs for a personal project. Its kind of fun looking at all of the odd letters but its hard on the ole finger tips!

[b2lee]

Well it seems it will rain today in N. KY...so I'll load up some 223. Yesterday I cranked out a few thousand boolits I swage'd from 22lr. Some 60gr I made from a set of Corbin dies. I only have about 500 pieces of 5.56 Lake City brass remaining...I should finish that up today and maybe start pouring some more 45 Auto....or 9mm until I finish loading the few thousand pieces of brass I have in each caliber.

It's funny....a few months ago I was completely caught up...I had zero pieces of brass to reload...and then after a few trades and a few trips to the range...I'm over whelmed again.

[b2lee]

Pouring 124gr 9mm, 230gr .308 for 300blk subsonic, 45 Auto.....powdercoating everything.....sizing....and then load everything up.

My goal today is to not have a single piece of loadable brass remaining...

My goal tomorrow is to go to the range and make more reloadable brass :)

[lightman]

I haven't done much in a week or so. I've been working on getting some Sunflowers planted for the Dove Hunt that I host in September and we have been at the Ball Park a lot on weekends. The oldest Grandson in on a couple of different teams.

But I got to get busy this week. I'm leaving out Saturday on a Prairie Dog hunt and could stand having a few hundred more loaded rounds.

I did get the ground worked up, sprayed and planted Friday. Just in time to catch some rain! Yea!!!

[Mbaker78]

I finally sorted through the brass from my range trip a few weeks back. I am starting to think that it actually does mate I have almost another quart baggie full of 9mm, and I don’t even own anything in 9mm...

Maybe this is the sign to convert my M&P40 to 9mm and build a 9mm AR.

[b2lee]

I finally sorted through the brass from my range trip a few weeks back. I am starting to think that it actually does mate I have almost another quart baggie full of 9mm, and I don’t even own anything in 9mm...

Maybe this is the sign to convert my M&P40 to 9mm and build a 9mm AR.

Just buy a 9mm barrel. With the M&P 40 you can simply drop in a new barrel and run the same magazines...everything works great except that last round may not feed....depends on the mag though. I run my 9mm 124gr truncated cone powder coated bullets in my M&P 40 with a simple barrel change....and they run great. Super cheap too.

I technically don't currently own a 9mm...but I've shot over 1k rounds of 9mm through the 40 this year...and I've loaded up maybe....5k rounds of 9mm in the last few weeks. I still have a few thousand 9mm brass that I may load...or use as jackets for my 40 S&W BTSniper swaged boolits.

My three day weekend has consisted of shooting a lot of 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, 300blk, 308Win, 5.56, and 8mm....I think I may have to go buy more primers next week....completely out of SPP...except for 100 magnums....completely out of LPP....and almost out of SRP....but I have a crap ton of LRP.

[WarEagleEd]

I added a picatinny rail mount to a friend's AR so he can mount a Caldwell brass catcher to it and easily recovery his brass. .223/5.56 brass is pretty easy to find at the range, but he wants to recover and use the brass fired from his gun. I think he's going to convert some to .300 Blackout. I got to use my MTM Gun Vise for the first time, too, while putting on the mount.

[DukeInFlorida]

Note regarding using 5.56 NATO brass for 300 blackout:

300 Blackout spec calls for neck thickness to be .015".

300 Blackout brass can be made by cutting down 5.56 NATO brass. ONLY 5.56 Nato brass is made with the sidewalls (in the area where the cut is) at .015" . Commercial 223 Remington is thinner in that area, running .011" to .013". So, commercial brass will nver meet the spec for 300 Blackout. Therefore, only ever use 5.56 NATO head stamped brass for making 300 Blackout.



I added a picatinny rail mount to a friend's AR so he can mount a Caldwell brass catcher to it and easily recovery his brass. .223/5.56 brass is pretty easy to find at the range, but he wants to recover and use the brass fired from his gun. I think he's going to convert some to .300 Blackout. I got to use my MTM Gun Vise for the first time, too, while putting on the mount.

[Mbaker78]

Every time I go to my local cabelas they’re completely out of CCI SR primers (400?)

[b2lee]

Every time I go to my local cabelas they’re completely out of CCI SR primers (400?)

heh...I hope you didn't go to my Cabelas...I just cleaned them out of CCI SRP, LRP, LPP, and SPP...

Anything that goes through the progressive press gets CCI...they machine the best...with the vibratory primer tube filler....the CCIs are flawless...the Federal Match....not so much.

[SafetyJoe]

Every time I go to my local cabelas they’re completely out of CCI SR primers (400?)

Since bass pro took over cabelas a lot of things have changed. I haven't seen any primers at my local cabelas in almost a year.
CCI has a 20% rebate going on. I bought a bunch of CCI primers at a local gun shop for $30 per brick and then sent off to get the 20% rebate. You can also get the 20% rebate from online orders too. It's a yearly rebate that federal does this time of year. Here's a link to that info https://promotions.vistaoutdoor.com/EN/US/Promo/20/120/EntryForm

[Mbaker78]

heh...I hope you didn't go to my Cabelas...I just cleaned them out of CCI SRP, LRP, LPP, and SPP...

Anything that goes through the progressive press gets CCI...they machine the best...with the vibratory primer tube filler....the CCIs are flawless...the Federal Match....not so much.

I’m guessing you go to west chester, I usually go to the one on Wilmington pike unless the wife drags me to ikea.

I hand prime everything anymore since I switched to an APS tool.

[Mbaker78]

Since bass pro took over cabelas a lot of things have changed. I haven't seen any primers at my local cabelas in almost a year.
CCI has a 20% rebate going on. I bought a bunch of CCI primers at a local gun shop for $30 per brick and then sent off to get the 20% rebate. You can also get the 20% rebate from online orders too. It's a yearly rebate that federal does this time of year. Here's a link to that info https://promotions.vistaoutdoor.com/EN/US/Promo/20/120/EntryForm

I’ll probably eventually break down and buy 5k online. Just have to get some money saved up first.

[b2lee]

I’m guessing you go to west chester, I usually go to the one on Wilmington pike unless the wife drags me to ikea.

I hand prime everything anymore since I switched to an APS tool.

Yep...I drive the 45mins or so up there to West Chester. I hand prime my accuracy stuff...for plinking and 300blk...it's going to either get the Hornady LNL AP or the Lee Bench Primer.... the 308 comp rifle gets the hornady hand prime....but the 300PRC is going to get a Sinclair hand primer dedicated to it....can't wait to get my barreled action back and start some load development. I have to get my skill set back up to the point where I can actually start testing primers and see a difference from one brand/lot to the next. Right now, my shooting skills have diminished to the point where I doubt seating depth experiments would do me much good ;)

[lightman]

Not much. Just got back from a Prairie Dog hunt and unloaded the truck. Sorted my empties out from some loaded rounds that got mixed up and deprimed them.

[lightman]

Just sorted through a large cup of range brass. Looks like a lot of it is headed for the scrap bucket and I deprimed the keepers. I about have enough scrap to sell. I also have enough wheel weights for a smelt and I'm waiting on a buddy to have a day off to help. I'll add the clips to the stuff headed to the scrap yard. I had over 600# of clips the last time I made a run.

[b2lee]

poured about 1k of the Lee 230gr truncated cones in 45acp....in the process of powder coating them now....need to get by the range and do some actual shooting...but the weather on my off days has been horrific....plus I work about 72 hours a week.

[DukeInFlorida]

I NEVER sell my scrap brass. I always trade with the scrap dealer, for LEAD! He's happy to get the lead off his property, and I always get a great exchange rate.



Just sorted through a large cup of range brass. Looks like a lot of it is headed for the scrap bucket and I deprimed the keepers. I about have enough scrap to sell. I also have enough wheel weights for a smelt and I'm waiting on a buddy to have a day off to help. I'll add the clips to the stuff headed to the scrap yard. I had over 600# of clips the last time I made a run.

[Mbaker78]

I always trade with the scrap dealer, for LEAD!

I plan on doing the same thing when I have enough to make it worth the trip. Right now I have 3 1lb coffee cans full of spent primers and a bunch of the neck cutoffs from making 300aac, along with a few pounds of miscellaneous damaged brass. I’ll probably take them once I finish off this next coffee can of primers.

[WarEagleEd]

I finally had the opportunity to use the RCBS APS Strip Loader and loaded 100 CCI #300 LP primers and 100 Federal #100 SP primers. I hope the LP primers will find their way into some .45 ACP loads and the SP primers into some .380 ACP loads. I'll be using Berry's Plated bullets in the .380 loads, which I have never used before.

[lightman]

I NEVER sell my scrap brass. I always trade with the scrap dealer, for LEAD! He's happy to get the lead off his property, and I always get a great exchange rate.

Thats would be nice but the yards around here won't sell or trade to the public. But my scrap money does get recycled. It usually goes to powder or primers. Occasionally new brass and sometimes a new gun!

[lightman]

Have not done much lately in the gun room. Been busy farming at the Duck Club. Had several long days on the tractor lately. I just helped a buddy move a John Deere 4960 with a 24ft disc 52 miles from his farm to the club. A lot of it on county roads and state highways. The farming thing will be done by the end of the month, one way or another!

[Mbaker78]

I got tired of fighting the case feeder on my loadmaster (I had it running smooth for about 20 minutes) so I decided to modify it so that it’s somewhat manual.

I put in a small stop to keep the case slider from coming completely off the end, used a rubber band for an automatic retractor (I’ll likely swap in a spring later). And now I just tap the case slider forward when the handle is fully upward and the next case is ready to go.

No permanent modifications to the press, so I can revert to the finicky case feeder whenever I want to.

I deprimed a few hundred cases after the modification and it went much quicker than it did beforehand.

[WarEagleEd]

I drove out to a public range that I have not been to in several years. I bought a year-long pass for it yesterday and wanted to make sure I remembered how to get there. Also, it was an opportunity to drive my son around (which usually puts him to sleep and this time was no exception) and give my wife some time by herself. I easily found my way and while I was there I noticed some .30 Carbine and .300 Blackout brass on the ground. I forgot my brass bucket but picked them up anyway. I didn't quite get through before the baby woke up and, I think since he didn't see me close by, started crying. I hot-footed it to the truck to check on him, thus ending my little excursion. Nevertheless, I ended up with 16 FC .300 Blackout and 10 Aguila .30 Carbine.

[lightman]

I still have not done much of anything lately. I was busy planting Sunflowers for a Dove hunt that I host every year. After that I've been helping a buddy work at a Duck club. That Duck Club does have a private range and I picked up some brass at it the other day. I may get around to washing and sorting it today.

[curt48mauser]

Had my neighbor over to get him some experience on how to do some .223 reloading. Got through about 100 rounds. We had visited 9mm reloading about a month ago.

[Mbaker78]

I hand primed 1000 pieces of 40s&w brass the other day. My hand is still sore from that...

[SafetyJoe]

I hand primed 1000 pieces of 40s&w brass the other day. My hand is still sore from that...

The new lee bench primer works good.

https://ultimatereloader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/LEE-Auto-Bench-Prime-Featured-Image-2000.jpg

[b2lee]

I have the same Lee Bench Primer....actually I have just about every hand primer you can name...but personally I think if you seat the primer with two fingers on the end of the lever...you can really feel the primer sliding in....I find I can use feel for the consistency AND I can also prime relatively fast. I use the progressive for pistol...but the Lee for most rifle.

[lightman]

I just started sorting, counting and bagging up that lot of 9mm brass that I deprimed and tumbled last spring. I bagged up 5500 cases with 500 to a bag this morning. Thats about 25% of them. Some will be added to my trades and some will be listed for sale elsewhere. It just ain't worth much right now and I'm loath to scrap it.

[Mbaker78]

I really like the APS strips, so I might look into the APS bench priming tool, but it doesn’t have the universal shellholder that the hand tool does.

[Tealone]

I really like the APS strips, so I might look into the APS bench priming tool, but it doesn’t have the universal shellholder that the hand tool does.

I agree, love it too

[lightman]

I started counting and bagging some of those pesky 9mm's that I deprimed, tumbled and sorted last winter. I estimate that I did about 20,000 of them! I wish they were worth something above scrap.

[Mbaker78]

I finally decided to try casting, made up about 50 each 40 175gr TC, 45 230gr TC, and 308 230gr.

Once I got the hang of it they went pretty quickly. I still have yet to get the stuff I need to powder coat though, so I’ll have to wait to try that out.

[lightman]

Nothing yet for today. Yesterday I resized about 700 9mm's and I drug out all of my bullet molds and updated my master list. I also oiled them before storing them away.

[Mbaker78]

I decided to try to tumble lube 50 each of the bullets I casted up, which turned out to be well over 300 of each over a few days. If the tumble lube goes well I might just stick with that as it’s pretty easy. I have a tentative load figured out for each, just have to actually test them out.

[DukeInFlorida]

I have been one of the honchos (mold group buys) for CastBoolits for a while now. When any of those custom mold deals finally ships, the honch gets a free mold, for having kept the books straight, and promoting the mold for the months that each one seems to take.

Today, I have two of the molds arriving, via DHL Express ship. One is a pointy .500 S&W Magnum mold, and the other is a hollow point 165 grain .40 mold with three different HP inserts, plus the ability to make a solid nose.

With this cancer thing happening, and the resultant chemo treatments, I haven't got the energy to do any casting, or even any reloading. SIGH. So, the brand new molds will just sit here, patiently waiting for the cancer to go away again. I've actually got a total of four new custom molds that have not been tried yet. Still in the box. Plus these two newest ones. I got a lot of catching up to do at some point.

[WarEagleEd]

I fiddled with my Redding T-7 turret press, which I have yet to use. I ran through the primer seater plug replacement process. I also had to remove a little surface rust, which surprised me, since it has been sitting in the garage, which gets pretty hot in the Summer and cooks off any moisture in there, or so I thought.

[DukeInFlorida]

Talk about nostalgia.....

Had a fellow from a few towns south of me walk into one of the local reloading supply shops, and ask about if they knew anyone who could help him with some display brass. He is a wheelchair bound vet, and has great family pride in his entire family's involvement with the military. His grandfather was a paratrooper, and was dropped behind German lines in some small French village while D-Day was happening in Normandy.

He had arranged a trip with a tour group to Normandy, and while on the beach there, happened to see a vintage 50 BMG case in the sand. He picked it up, and the head stamp is '42! So, it was fired/dropped while the troops were attacking the Germans. He quickly found another, and brought them home. He's hoping to make a couple of display cases, featuring the cases, one for his uncle, and one for his own wall. He wants the cartridges intact, including re-placing the original primers. The cases are crimped in the 120 degree pattern, which will be tricky also.


He needed someone to resize the brass, and insert vintage bullets, to make dummy rounds. Word got back to me, and I'm delighted to assist. I have a Lee Classic Cast 50 BMG reloading set. He's gotten the brass to me, and it's pretty rough, as you might imagine, from 50+ years in the salty sands at Normandy. However, I think I caan make it work. The trick will be to get the brass resized without sticking in the die. He had tumbled them in walnut shell, and I see some evidence of some steel wool. However, the insides of the cases are bright fuzzy green. That will certainly play a role. So, I just put them in my SS pin tumbling system. That will make the insides bright and shiny brass. That will eliminate any sticking of the brass in the sizing die. I'll let that run for a few hours and check on it.

Gotta get an Inline Fabrication mounting plate. The last time I had this press out and working was 7+ years ago when I lived in Maine. I had mounted it with bolts to my old reloading bench. The new bench, here in Florida, has an IF base plate, so I can swap out my Dillon 550b, RCBS Rockchucker, and Lymn 450 Lubricizer. Don't wanna make any new holes in the bench top, so the adapter plate makes the most sense.

A 50 BMG rifle is on my wish list, as soon as I get this cancer behind me. So, maybe it's time to get my butt in gear, get healthy, so I can make use of this press for production ammo. I already have 300+ newer pcs of brass from a Gov't Auction a while back. I also have the Lee press for doing all the fabrication operations. Also, I have powder, primers, and some commercial jacketed bullets. I also have a Group Buy mold from cast Boolits which casts 830 grain Linotype 50 BMG boolits, and the gas check tools (FreeChex) to make the gas checks. Some Carnauba Red lube, and it's ready to go.

In the meantime, I have this project to work on for a proud vet. Happy to assist!

[lightman]

Wow! A really cool story. Hopefully you can get them resized without problems.

[b2lee]

Wednesday I finally got to shoot my new 300PRC build with factory Hornady 225gr ELD Match......Just setting up the new MDT ACC chassis and sighting in the scope....seeing how she feels. Shot just 25 rounds and went home very happy with what I saw.

Wednesday night I started processing brass. The Brass grew quite a bit and I had a lot of trimming to do. So I deprimed, wet tumbled, dried, neck sized and bumped the shoulder back a few thou...and then trimmed to the listed trim to length.

Primed with Federal Match Primers....then loaded up 20 rounds...starting at the low end of the manual, then went up about 1.5-2.0 grains....The first 4 weights I just did 1 round each...knowing I most likely wouldn't be interested in them...but worked through the small stuff to get to where I thought I needed to be. Then three 5 round batches up the weight chart....and finally one above the max load just in case.

I used Retumbo Powder and the new 230gr A-Tips. First load was 68.5 grains and shot like a whimp...hitting 4 inches below my first shot of a Retail 225gr ELD-M load....sounded wimpy...recoiled wimpy.
second, third and fourth loads.... were 70.0, 71.5, and 73.0 and shot through the same damn hole.
Next 5 rounds of 75.0 and it was sub 1/2MOA
I was getting all giggly about the prospects of the next two loads and on the first shot of the next 5 shot group....recoil broke the lower end scope I was using... DOH!!!!

I still shot the rest of the groups because I was measuring muzzle velocity. The next two groups I couldn't cover with a quarter....so broken scope hurt me on those 100yard groups...but the velocities looked good.

Low end showed 2701fp/s and high end was 3041fp/s.....not bad for a .308 diameter magnum with a BC north of .800.

Can't wait to get a new Razor GenII and try those other groups again. All brass appeared at first glance to show no signs of pressure...but tomorrow in the loading room I'll inspect each piece of brass under magnification and calipers and see if there was any pressure signs. I'll also measure force when depriming.

[b2lee]

Reloading room has me all giddy tonight...I think these things are sexy.

https://i.imgur.com/k3w99dh.jpg

[WarEagleEd]

My reloading set-up is in the garage. It is west facing and gets pretty hot in the Summer which discourages me from doing much reloading. Add in a one-year old and there isn't much time to sit in the garage doing anything. I have some brass that has needed to be deprimed for a while. I recently ordered the Harvey hand deprimer in the hope that I can use it indoors where it is cooler and I can keep an eye on my son. Surprisingly, it arrived today, so I tried it out while watching football. It worked well, though my short fingers make it a little harder to use. Also, if a flash hole has debris stuck in it or if the primer anvil has moved around it can be difficult to get the depriming rod to fully seat in the flash hole. This keeps the case from entering the slot in the handle and the tool won't close thus not removing the primer.

[WarEagleEd]

I knocked the primers out of some .270 Winchester range brass using the Harvey Deprimer.

[Mbaker78]

I finally picked up the rest of the stuff I should need for powder coating, so I’ll probably give that a try sometime today. Hopefully it doesn’t go too poorly.

I tried out a test set of subsonic loads for 300aac with 1680 the other day and was thoroughly unimpressed. I couldn’t get velocity over 950, it was noticeably louder than my loads with IMR4227, and it was pretty dirty. It felt like my shooting bench was covered with sand after 30 rounds, which I’m guessing was unburnt powder.

Though I will say that it cycled amazingly well, even at the lowest test charge. Maybe I’ll save it for my sons undergassed 6.8spc (18” barrel with rifle gas system) and see if it performs better there.

[WarEagleEd]

Knocking out more primers with the Harvey Deprimer.

[Mbaker78]

I made it to the range today to put some rounds through my pistol suppressor. It’s an all around improvement over unsuppressed, but not nearly silent. Brass seems to just pile up at my feet now as opposed to flying 10+ feet away.

I tried some powder coating over the last couple days. In the process I also learned that aluminum isn’t as non-stick as they would make you believe, so I ended up peeling bullets off of the foil after they cooled.
The lee 309-230 mold seems to want a second coat of harbor freight red, while the 401-175 seemed to take well to a single coat. Next session I’ll try the 452-230 TC and see how they coat.

I have a decent load worked up for the 40 and 45, I just need to find something good for the blackout now.

[Mashuga]

When powder coating I use the aluminum foil that is marked 'non-stick'. Only one side of the foil is non stick though. I have not had any issues with bullets sticking to it and have reused the same sheets many times.

[Mbaker78]

I just used parchment paper. Much less fuss, and I can still get a couple uses out of it.

[b2lee]

Just finished up loading 100 300PRC with some 230gr Hornady A-Tips. Using Retumbo powder I got a load going over 3000fps with minimal pressure signs. The accuracy on this node is stupid good...and the muzzle velocity deviations are getting lower and lower with better scales and better brass prep.

Yep...finally got my 2000 yard rifle built and shooting nice....I think I'm in love.

[b2lee]

I purchased some 45ACP mags that were used police trade ins. Two had a slight amount of spot rust and I cleaned that...oiled them....disassembled and cleaned the springs and followers. Going to the range to function test the mags with a can of 45 Auto I loaded last month using some 230gr powder coated boolits.

345

[Mbaker78]

My local shop had a 50cal ammo can full on M&P40 magazines for $12, so I bought a handful of them the other day. Eventually I’ll get around to building a 40s&w upper for my SBR and pick a stern defense mag block that accepts M&P magazines.

A couple days ago I loaded up test sets of 300aac subs (lee 309-230 that have been powder coated) with IMR4227 and lil’gun since I wasn’t impressed with 1680. I’m hoping the 4227 will be the one, because I have more of that than lil’gun.

[b2lee]

I loaded 3 rounds of 300BO with Lil' Gun and a Lee 309-230 powder coated red......and 1 round of 308 with Varget and a 168gr everglades match....just because I can't stand brass to be laying around. I have 5 pieces of 300PRC not loaded...but I can't find any Retumbo/RL-26/H1000 anywhere :(

Mbaker78, I have a BTSniper 40 cal die that makes 185gr boolits from old 9mm brass with an XTP hollow point. They hit HARD out of my hand gun....I've always wanted to see what they would do in a rifle. I've been thinking of a 10mm upper and see what they can do on some hogs.

[lightman]

Nothing much lately until just now. Sorted and deprimed some brass collected from the range. This is the weekend before deer season opens. Finally, something other than 9mm, 40 S&W and 223!

[Mbaker78]

I haven’t done anything loading related the last few days. Just got home from picking my son up from Parris Island after he graduated boot camp. We’ll probably go to the range at least once while he’s home, but I doubt I’ll be doing much loading until he goes back for MCT.

I did pick up an AR9 lower (Glock) from palmetto state armory while I was in the neighborhood though, just have to wait for it to be delivered to my FFL.

[WarEagleEd]

I applied some WD-40 as a corrosion preventative on the rams, handles, and other exposed metal parts of my reloading presses.

Ed

[DukeInFlorida]

In the course of shooting the Lawnsteel game, I average 60-90 shots a day (four games, each one 15-20 o so shots, depending n the target setup). Each game is 50 minutes or until the animal targets are all down, six shooters on th shooting line. Each shooter gets one shot at a time. So, at the end of the day, I get home and remove the empties from the 100 pc plastic ammo boxes. I had built quite an inventory of cartridges, several hundred for each gun I bring to the session.

38 Specials for my Contender
38 Specials for my S&W Model 27
44 magnums for my contender
44 magnums for my S&W 629
45 Long Colts for my Contender



I'm down to the last <200 of each, and it's time to start cleaning brass, and preparing for assembling enough for the next six months. While walnut shell media is fine for 99% of my reloading, I use SS pin tumbling for all my Lawnsteel brass. I tumble in water with some Dawn and citrus acid, followed by a careful rinse, and then drying in a food dehydrator. Finally, tumble in walnut shell media with NuFinish to give the shiny brass a great polymer coating that resists the humidity here in Florida.

The assembled cartridges stay shiny until used. Have been using Winchester brass exclusively, so that the pressure vessel reactions are the same every shot. Shooting at small steel targets with open sights at 165 feet+ requires the fussiest reloading that you can do.

There's a link for the rules of Lawnsteel in my sig line. If anyone is ever in the Daytona Beach area, we shoot every Tuesday morning. I'd be happy to lend you my seat on the line, a gun tuned for the game, and ammo tuned for the gun. Bring a roll of nickels, we play for nickels. If you think you are a good shot, try this!

Time to start cleaning/polishing brass.....

[b2lee]

Sounds like you had a great time Duke. I went to the range today to dial in the hunting scope on a 308...only shot 10 rounds. Then I did some load development rounds for the 300PRC...shot 10 rounds. Then I went home...so not much brass to prep.

Now...you made me think a little bit there with something you said. I too SS tumble my brass...after depriming....and put in two drops of Dawn and one of those old Lee powder dippers full of citric acid...and they get super shiny and then food dehydrate them dry....but after a while they will start to turn.....but you made me think that after I SS wet tumble...maybe run them through some walnut with NuFinish...and that pretty shine will last a lot longer.

I worked up a load on the 300PRC using VihtaVuori N565...I've never used VihtaVuori before....but my loads with it almost exactly matched my same loads with Retumbo...so I'm super happy.

[edp2k]

Instead of using dawn for SS pin tumbling, use any brand of car "wash&wax" liquid car wash soap.
It contains some wax, so that brass retains a thin wax coating even after a good rinse.
You can barely feel it on the dried brass, but it prevents any tarnishing for a long time (about a yr in my location)
and it makes sizing use a lot less effort.

I use armour all brand but others say they get the same results with other brands.

[Mbaker78]

I was hoping to make it to the range and test some loads before I go back to work, but it doesn’t look like that’ll be happening. I’m currently fighting off a cold, and the high tomorrow at the range is only going to be in the low 30s.

[LEP]

Got awful quite in here.

[b2lee]

I may get to shoot some Thursday when my new scope arrives...then I'll get to play in the reloading room. I only have one piece of brass that isn't loaded...and that's a 6.5 Creed...First time in my life I have a ton of powder, bullets, and primers.....and no spent brass to fill.

[DukeInFlorida]

I have tens of thousands of pcs of various brass that's sitting there, ready to reload. I just don't get as fanatical as some with regard to reloading it all.
The house painter usully needs his house painted, and the cobblers children usually have the worst shoes. This NRA cartridge reloading instructor is wayyyyyyyyyyy behind in building ammo. (insert sad face here)

[lightman]

Just finished sorting and depriming a tubb of brass that I picked up before deer season, and added some of it to my trades. Finally something besides 9mm, 40 S&W and 223, but there was some of that too!

[WarEagleEd]

I removed the primers from some .32 ACP and 7.62X39 brass. Most of the 7.62X39 brass was "PMC" and the primers were crimped in place, so I'll have to remove the crimp from those cases. The rest of the brass was Remington ("R-P") and did not have crimped primers, so it was no problem removing the primers out of those. I used the Harvey hand deprimer with all of this brass.

[Mbaker78]

I’m off for the next 7 days, and the wife is working the holidays, so I’m hoping to get some of this lead turned into bullets so I’ll have something to load when it gets too cold to spend any time outside.

[lightman]

Sitting in the loading room and looking out at the barren cold fields. Listening to some music on Utube and sorting some brass.

[Mbaker78]

Made up some bullets last night, got some powder coating done today. Just over 1000 bullets PC’d and ready to size and load, 645 of the lee 401-175 and 380 of the lee 452-230TC.

I’m going to order some Eastwood jet black for the lee 309-230s that I have made up already.

I also learned that silicone baking trays grow when they get hot, which somewhat threw me off.

[b2lee]

About to start depriming and then cleaning process on 150 pieces of 300PRC. Cleaned out 3 Cabellas/Bass Pro on the way home of Retumbo, Reloader 33, H1000, and Reloader 26....20lbs total.

[WarEagleEd]

I tumbled the 7.62X39 and .32 ACP brass that I deprimed the other day. I just need to find the time to load all this brass that I'm prepping.

[b2lee]

@WarEagleEd I did prep some 300PRC brass while watching Auburn smack around Alabama.... from a GA Bulldog Fan.....I really enjoyed seeing that.

[SafetyJoe]

Does anyone know who started using the USA head stamp with a star on either side? I just started seeing them the past several months. It's not Starline or Armscor. It's someone else. I'm guessing it's winchester, but I'm not sure. Anyone know ?

https://i.imgur.com/mpuliJW.jpg

[Mbaker78]

Maybe from the hornady American whitetail line?

[SafetyJoe]

Maybe from the hornady American whitetail line?

That's another good guess. I'm tempted to go to cabelas and start opening boxes to find out.
I was thinking it might be winchester because of their " USA Ready " ammo. The box says USA in big letters and it has 3 stars on the box. It'll be interesting to see who's guesses are correct. Start making your bets. LOL

https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/dw/image/v2/BDCK_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-ctd-master-catalog/default/dw9ef734f5/large/107553.jpg?sw=800&sh=800

[DukeInFlorida]

The problem with the Winchester theory is that all of the hadstamp images that I see do NOT have the *USA* head stamp.

[SafetyJoe]

Yeah, I tried doing the google image search for that ammo and couldn't find anything showing the head stamp either. I might just have to go open a box at cabelas and take a look. I was just hoping someone here might already know the answer.


The problem with the Winchester theory is that all of the hadstamp images that I see do NOT have the *USA* head stamp.

[b2lee]

Reloading some 300PRC after some load testing at the range today. I'll have to anneal this time. 6 firings on some Hornady brass. Bullet: 225gr ELD-M Powder Vihtavuori N565. Barrel: 1-9tw Bartlein 28".

350

[Mbaker78]

Man, that’s about what my 308 is getting with 168SMKs through the 26” barrel..

[b2lee]

I do have a load for a 230gr Hornady A-Tip that runs over 3000fps...but it is out of an accuracy node....it is very hard on the brass....and the speeds are all over the place....hence...out of the accuracy node.

And...that 2931fps is the 'Winter Load'....the summer load of the same powder and weight is about 45fps faster. N565 seems to adhere to the 1fps per degree of F rule.

[SafetyJoe]

Can anyone tell me why I have some 7mm mauser and 300 win mag with abnormal shoulders? Are they some wildcat brass conversion? They don't look like ackley improved shoulder angles, but maybe I'm wrong.

First picture is the 7mm mauser. Second picture is the 300 win mag.

https://i.imgur.com/i4P2Dw7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vP4qKEW.jpg

[Mbaker78]

Nothing other than someone trying to shoot the wrong caliber ammo through a rifle.

I personally like when people shoot 308 in a 30-06.

[SafetyJoe]

I've seen that before, but I think it's something different now because I have 28 pcs of that 7mm mauser that look like that and the oal of the casing looks like it was trimmed, but I didn't actually measure them with calipers yet.


Nothing other than someone trying to shoot the wrong caliber ammo through a rifle.

I personally like when people shoot 308 in a 30-06.

[b2lee]

I worked up some loads for a 250gr Hornady A-Tips. RL-33 was slow and disappointing. Retumbo showed promise. Vihtavoruori N565 shocked me. Seated to marry boat tail to neck/shoulder junction. 250gr A-Tips seated at this point are too long to work in AI CIP mags that are 3.850. Started at 76.0 grains, next was 77.0 grains...78.0 grains....79 grains and 80grains at the end. I did not think I could shoot the 79 grains...much less the 80 grain load....but I showed no pressure at 79 grains...IN MY GUN....and 80 grains showed slight ejector swipe.

My gun:

351

Chambered in: 300PRC
Action: Defiance Deviant Tactical LA Magnum Bolt Face
Barrel: Bartlein 28" 30cal 1-9TW
Brake: APA Lil'B
Trigger: TriggerTech Diamond Single Stage with flat shoe
Chassis: MDT ACC
Scope: Vortex PST Gen2 3-15x44 (Until the ZCO 5-25 gets here)
Rings: Vortex Pro (until the Spuhr for the ZCO gets here)

I've been pushing an accuracy load of 225 ELD-M's at around 2931 with an SD of 4.0 that showed to be stupid accurate (10 out of 10) at 1000 yards this past Sunday. Stupid accurate at 1760yds (1mile) 3 out of 5....and the misses were my wind calls...vertical was dead on.

Here is the data on the above test loads for Vitavoruori N565....it may show to be awesome at 1 mile...or it could show that the 250gr A-Tips may be not worth the extra cost over the 225 ELD-M's. The 230's have proven to be very good to a mile as well...and a few weeks ago hit 2500yds.

But... 250gr A-Tip and N565:

352

At the end of the day...I had fun...and that is all that counts :)

[lightman]

Have not done much of anything lately. As much as I love hunting season I will be glad when it closes. When I was working I never thought you could get tired of hunting!

I have a tub of range brass that needs depriming, sorted and tumbled that I'm just itching to get after. I have between 400 and 500 pounds of wheel weights that needs to be melted and cast into ingots. A buddy that helps me also has a pile of scrap lead about that big laying in my shop floor. And I have a new mold that I'm doing to try out.

The first year that I was retired I got bored during the winter after hunting season closed. So now I save projects like this for those slow winter months.

[lightman]

My oldest Son is helping a Buddy move and offered me a couple tubs of old ammo. Most of it had been wet and was corroded. I've been pulling it down. The bullets will go into my scrap lead pile, the brass into the retired electricians beer fund and the powder will go into the jar of mixed powder that I save to take to deer camp. It makes a neat light show when I toss in into the yard fire at night!

So far I have found a few that cleaned up good enough to add to my collection.

[Mbaker78]

I powder coated the last of the 309-230 bullets I had casted. So now it’s time to cast some more.

I preordered a lee APP press, which will supposedly ship the end of this month. I submitted yet another form 1 for a .338 cal suppressor. My son is wanting to build a 338 federal AR10, otherwise it would’ve just been .30 cal.

[b2lee]

Went shooting the 30-30 today...brought home a 40lb bucket of range brass...I've already separated by size...next by caliber...should give me something to do during the Winter.

[Mbaker78]

I finally broke down and got a bench mounted APS priming tool, so I mounted that to the bench today. I primed a handful of cases just to try it out, I think it’ll save some hand strain when doing larger lots of 223, 300aac, and 40s&w.

[lightman]

A few weeks ago I started gearing up to load for a new to me cartridge, the 41 Magnum. I purchased 1000 new Starline 41 Magnum cases, a Lee case trimmer and enough MTM boxes to hold the loaded rounds.

A few days ago I started measuring random cases and decided not to trim them. Then I deburred the inside and outside case mouths and started priming them. I just finished the last 700. Now I'm waiting on a bullet mold to arrive!

[DukeInFlorida]

I have never needed to trim revolver cases. They head space on the thickness of the rim, having nothing to do with length of the brass. A good roll crimp and you'll be all set. And, deburring insides and outsides is also a waste of time, since they will require bell mouthing them anyways.

It's your brass, however, and you can do with them as you will. My non-trimmed and non-chamfered cases win a lot of competitions. Just my dos centavos worth.

[SafetyJoe]

Yeah, I never trim, deburr or chamfer my revolver brass either. The only thing I occasionally do is deburr the flash holes if I'm testing for accuracy in one of my 357 or 44 mag rifles. I also sort them by head stamp and that makes the lengths pretty close by itself.

[Mbaker78]

Made up a few hundred bullets with the lee 312-160 mold, just need to powder coat them and decide if I want to gas check them or not since they’ll probably be loaded subsonic.

Primed a few hundred blackout cases with the APS bench primer. Once you get it mounted securely it runs very well, only 2 crunched primers out of 400, and those were a crimp issue.

[WarEagleEd]

I began to clean up my little reloading bench, but I didn't get too far as I started too late in the day to accomplish much. I found a couple of hundred pieces of brass of various calibers that I need to deprime.

[SafetyJoe]

I finally figured out this is the new Herter's head stamp.


Does anyone know who started using the USA head stamp with a star on either side? I just started seeing them the past several months. It's not Starline or Armscor. It's someone else. I'm guessing it's winchester, but I'm not sure. Anyone know ?

https://i.imgur.com/mpuliJW.jpg

[b2lee]

Nice....I've been looking around....I bet it was driving you crazy not knowing.

[Mbaker78]

I chopped down a bit over 300 223 for 300aac, resized and trimmed another 300ish that I had fired. They’re all in the tumbler now so they’ll be ready to prime on my next set of days off.

I set up the new lee APP press to try out, it works very well for sizing pistol bullets, and works decently for longer slimmer rifle bullets, but it doesn’t like to feed them. It works well for depriming rifle brass, but for some reason it doesn’t like to feed pistol cases for depriming.

I’d say it was a decent investment overall.

[lightman]

Just finished sorting and depriming the past weekends range brass finds. I was able to add a few items too my trade list. Also sorted a double handful of wheel weights. These were road side rescues that my buddy picked up.

[Happyguy]

I was able to decap about 300 9mm, 300 223 for cleaning and size some 450 BM for cleaning also. I loaded up some 300 blackout with 115 grain frangible bullets. I will go to the range tomorrow and see how they do. Somebody at gun show had 750 of them for 35 dollars.

[b2lee]

I added a little love to my 230gr A-Tips and got the Ammo Novel ready for a shoot on Saturday

354

[Happyguy]

I took the 300 to range today and shot the 115 frangible bullets loaded over 17.5 grains of Lil Gun and they functioned perfectly except it wouldn't hold open on the last round. I loaded 17.7 and 18 grains and I will try those tomorrow. Looking for some BE-86 powder for the 10mm.

[lightman]

I just sorted a quart cup of brass that a friend dropped off. And a quart cup of lead, a mix of wheel weights, fish sinkers and decoy weights that the same friend found. I try to do them as I get them and not get so far behind.

[DukeInFlorida]

Picked up 285 pounds of LINOTYPE in Jacksonville, FL from a fellow who used to be in the printing biz. It was excess to my needs, so I called the students from my recent Cast Lead Bullets Workshop, and offered it ALL to them at a good price, considering that this stuff is becoming kind of like Unobtanium.

It was all gone by the time I got off from the 5th phone call.

I didn't save an ounce of it for myself. Glad I have two lifetimes of it in storage....

Packing it up to bring it home, and then repackaging it to fill the orders... I was exhausted by the end of it. I was wayyyyyyyyyyyy over the lifting limit my doctor advises.

[WarEagleEd]

I removed primers from some .30 Carbine, .300 Blackout, and 7.62 X 39. Also, my Lee depriming die started to get some rust on the decapping pin nut and the top of the die, so I've got those soaking in some Evapo-rust. I'll see how they look in the morning.

[Happyguy]

Put some 8mm Nambu together and took the new Nambu out and test fired it. The third time, first the magazine wouldn't stay in when fired, fixed that and I had bought some commercial ammunition and it didn't have enough power to fully cycle the action. Reloads worked like a charm and it was satisfying to have worked through all of the issues.

[Mbaker78]

I just got in my latest order of powder, primers, and bullets. Now I just need to clean off my loading bench as I’ve been doing other projects and it seems to become a catch all when that happens.

[Happyguy]

I know the feeling with the bench catch all.

[Mbaker78]

It was pretty bad this time. I replumbed all of my hot water lines, so I had pex tools, parts, and hangers laying everywhere.

Even after cleaning it, it’s not the best and would give some people panic attacks, but it was bad even by my standards this time.

[LEP]

Planned to pull down some 22-250 for trade and realized I don't have that collet size.

[lightman]

I know the feeling with the bench catch all.

It seems like my shop, garage and loading room all operate under the "flat surface rule". If its flat its suppost to have something stacked on it! Right?

I've been working on my brass stash for a while, a little every day. I actually started last Summer when it was too hot to do much else. And then took off for most of hunting season. Sorting, depriming and polishing. I'm also resizing the straight wall cases. The organization was pretty good, caliber wise, but I had polished brass mixed with unpolished and deprimed brass mixed with some with primers. And jugs and boxes of unsorted brass. I'm using mostly Folgers coffee cans and a Sharpie.

[Happyguy]

Yeah I use the Kirkland laundry pod containers to store brass that is ready to clean. I had to take some time off from life and now just getting back into doing the things I like and there is a **** pot of brass to clean. David

[lightman]

Yeah, I still had lots of stuff that I collected before I retired. I was hopelessly behind. It don't sound like much but I'm really glad to have this project under control!

[WarEagleEd]

I removed the primers from about 50 pieces of 7.62 X 39 brass. What was odd is that 6 of them had unfired primers in them. When I removed them the primer pockets were dirty, so the cases had been fired at least once before and a new primer seated into them. I’ve never reloaded a single round of 7.62 X 39 so I don’t think that I seated the primers in those cases (one, I don’t remember doing it; two, my primer pockets would have been cleaner than that). The cases are Fiocchi and I have used some Fiocchi ammo in this caliber. Unfortunately, my label that’s in the bag with the brass isn’t too helpful. All it says is “Fiocchi” and the number of pieces. So, I initially thought this was brass that I had fired, but I now think it’s brass that I received in a trade. What do y’all do with live primers like this, render them inert?

Also, I was removing the primers with the Harvey depriming tool (https://harveydeprimer.com/). I enjoy this tool as I can decap/deprime pretty much anywhere. I was processing the brass mentioned above while in the yard watching the kiddo play. One issue I do have with it is that the case’s flash hole can not be obstructed or the case won’t slide far enough down the depriming pin to fit into the body of the tool. Unless the obstruction is cleared, that case can not be deprimed by the Harvey tool. Usually I whack the case mouth against a suitable surface to dislodge the debris. But these 7.62 X 39 cases has some other issue, as a whack didn’t clear the flash hole. Nevertheless, I was able to deprime all but one of the cases. I had to use my newly cleaned Lee decapping die in the press to remove that primer.

[Mbaker78]

I have the frankford arsenal hand decapper. It works well for doing the occasional case, but I don’t use it for large amounts of depriming, that’s where the new lee APP shines.

[lightman]

I just emptied out a set of parts drawers and moved them into my store room. I plan to use these for my trade brass. I've spent most of the afternoon making labels for the drawers. In the past my trade material has been in coffee cans on the same shelves as the brass that I load. I'm thinking this organization will be helpful.

[lightman]

I removed the primers from about 50 pieces of 7.62 X 39 brass. What was odd is that 6 of them had unfired primers in them. When I removed them the primer pockets were dirty, so the cases had been fired at least once before and a new primer seated into them. I’ve never reloaded a single round of 7.62 X 39 so I don’t think that I seated the primers in those cases (one, I don’t remember doing it; two, my primer pockets would have been cleaner than that). The cases are Fiocchi and I have used some Fiocchi ammo in this caliber. Unfortunately, my label that’s in the bag with the brass isn’t too helpful. All it says is “Fiocchi” and the number of pieces. So, I initially thought this was brass that I had fired, but I now think it’s brass that I received in a trade. What do y’all do with live primers like this, render them inert?

As I have aged I have forced myself to make more and better notes when I feel the need to put a note on stuff. You think you can remember but......

As to live primers, I just drop them into the trash can. I never have enough at any one time to cause a hazard. They are nearly impossible to kill so I don't bother. I do save spent primers and I'm careful to not get live ones mixed in them.

[Happyguy]

As I have aged I have forced myself to make more and better notes when I feel the need to put a note on stuff. You think you can remember but......

As to live primers, I just drop them into the trash can. I never have enough at any one time to cause a hazard. They are nearly impossible to kill so I don't bother. I do save spent primers and I'm careful to not get live ones mixed in them.

A man I can understand, saving spent primers.

[Mbaker78]

I probably have 4 1lb powder cans full of spent primers. I’m planning on taking them and all of my scrap brass to the recycling place and basically trading it for lead/Linotype when I have enough to make it worth the trip.

[Happyguy]

I did some experimenting with repriming the spent primers with caps and it does work but not the best solution.

[lightman]

I save mine to sell as scrap. One would be surprised how heavy a gallon of them feels.

[SafetyJoe]

I scrap my spent primers too, but wont be doing that anytime soon because the stock market crash took down brass prices too. Once all these trillions of newly created "out of thin air" dollars the central bank is dropping from helicopters start circulating through the economy we'll start to see a lot of inflation that will cause prices of everything to rise, including brass.

[WarEagleEd]

I removed primers from the rest of my .38 special brass. I've been getting a fair amount done lately. I've tumbled a decent amount of brass, deprimed a bunch of brass, and even ordered more stainless steel pins for wet tumbling.

[WarEagleEd]

I tumbled some .380 Auto and .38 Special brass today.

[DukeInFlorida]

I have thousands of Win 38 special and Starline 44 magnum brass to SS Pin tumble. Issue is that my tumbler is at a buddy's house, 45 minutes from here, and his wife being a nurse says no one is coming to visit, for any reason. So, gonna have to wait. I SS tumble all my match shot brass. Media tumbling is OK for everything else.

[Happyguy]

Finished loading some 8mm Nambu and decapping a bunch of other brass.

[Mbaker78]

I used the last of my lead making up some more 30 and 40 cal bullets. Powder coated and sized them all, now I just need to actually load them up.

I’m off work until may, so I’ll have plenty of time.

[WarEagleEd]

I tumbled some .30-06 brass. I then started sorting all the brass I have tumbled over the last several days. This caused me to look over my brass stash and come to the realization that I don't need any more brass. I need to start reloading what I have (which I'm finding difficult to do with 2 kids under 2).

[WarEagleEd]

I sorted and put into containers .30-06 brass that I tumbled yesterday.

[lightman]

I deprimed the 300 Winchester brass that I received from Duckhunter39480 and started doing some research on some old 30-06 Military brass that he sent me. I ID'd all but one of them!

After while I'll sort through some brass that The Wife and I picked up yesterday while out riding around. As usual its mostly 223, 9mm and 40 S&W. We pick up the crushed and old corroded stuff too. I have enough scrap to sell, whenever this virus thing is over!

[Happyguy]

I loaded some 10mm, 9mm and I am working on some 22TCM. For those that remember the original ABT and George from Colorado, I had some 9mm cast bullets he sent me and I finally loaded them. Up until now I was shooting mainly 10 and 45 but I have a daughter-in-law that shoots 9 so it worked out just right.

[Mbaker78]

I loaded up 400 rounds of 40s&w with some of the bullets I cast/coated. I have way more bullets than I do brass to load, which isn’t really a bad thing. I just need to shoot some more to empty up more brass.

I’ve also been searching around the internet, trying to find some wheel weight alloy or similar for less than $1.50/lb, not having much luck so far.

[curt48mauser]

I had been reloading 223 on my Lee Pro 1000 and I started seeing high primers coming through the finished product. Initially I thought I had some crud built up under neath the shell plate and proceeded to start a tear down of my press to get everything cleaned up. Once I had the casting off that housed the shell plate, I discovered a very major "crack"at the ram post connector point on the floor of the casting plate. As luck would have it, I had previously purchased a 32-20 housing setup dirt cheap (apparently 25-20 also) and made a shell plate swap, installed it and started rolling again. Hey, if anyone wants a #6 shell plate for a Lee Pro 1000, let me know since I don't see either 32-20 or 25-20 in my immediate future. P.S. Not a bash on my Lee Press, I have a gallon jug of spent primers from running that press.

[Mbaker78]

If you email lee a picture of the cracked carrier they will probably send you a free replacement. Or you’ll have to pay shipping at most. It’s always good to have spares ;)