What did you do at your reloading bench today?

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  • John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,736
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Yesterday, .45 Schofield. Someone on another board sold me new brass to use with a SAA. Loaded at 4.2 gr Bullseye and a 250 g lead FN coated bullet. This resulted from a robust discussion whether a lighter BE load in a big .45 case could explode...lighter was 5.5 gr BE.

    There has been speculation for years that small amounts of fast powder will detonate in larger cases in a certain circumstance. That circumstance was that the powder didn't immediately light off and the primer blew the powder forward in the case before it lit off.

    Since I was a boy, we used small amounts of Bullseye in just about anything we shot. It was developed by someone in the family so the kids could shoot 30-30's, 1903's etc. without any recoil.

    It appears they were right as some years later, Ed Harris and some other folks at Fairfax Rod and Gun and the Los Angeles Silhouette Club were doing the same thing. :lol:

    I never experienced a blow up with a small amount of Bullseye in a large case. Now, a double charge of Bullseye, well, that is a horse of a different color. :rolleyes:
     

    Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
    John. Alliant calls 7 gr BE as the max load for a 250 ger lead FN and suggests starting at 6.3. I was loading 6.0 and then loaded some at 5.5 gr. There was an article in a recent (2019?) Gun Digest suggesting BE loads of 5.0. I followed the lyman manual on the scofield at 4.2 gr BE with a 250 gr lead FN bullet. These days there is no choice in powder because most stores are sold out. I was happy i had 1# of BE and 1000 big pistol primers, albeit magnum.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,736
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I use 5.6 BE with a 200gn Lee RNFP bullet and get nice groups at 20 yards without beating my hands up. When I was loading the 255gn Lee RNFP, I was using 6.0 BE for nice consistent groups. These were out of a 5.5 Inch SAA. For my Remington 1858 conversion, I need to use 6.3 BE and the 200 RNFP bullet.

    My standard load for the SAA is 5.5 gns of WST behind a 200 gn bullet. Bullseye shoots a little tighter, but recoils more. The difference is about a half inch but, since I am shooting at a 4 inch target, I don't really care. :lol:
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    Cleaned up 30 pounds of range scrap and made 200 rounds of .45 Colt.

    1000 grain bullets? That's gotta kick :)

    Any lead left over or is there waste you gotta toss?

    I have recently been looking at the piles of lead in front and behind where we shoot steel at the range and wondered, hmmm, maybe I should bring a bucket with me and scoop that up?
     

    davsco

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 21, 2010
    8,607
    Loudoun, VA
    after shooting test loads and selecting what i want, i've made batches of 1000+ each for pcc (9mm), open minor/falling steel (9mm), open major (38 super), 2 & 3 gun handgun (9mm) and uspsa lmited major (.40). today i re-zeroed the guns for each of the 9mm loads.

    well, except for two that have vortex razor red dots. i have a couple of guns with them with zero issues, but i was chasing zero on these and finally gave up and am sending the optics back to vortex. i'd change windage and not touch elevation and yet elevation would change, and vice versa. not sure what's going on but it's a pita.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,736
    Socialist State of Maryland
    1000 grain bullets? That's gotta kick :)

    Any lead left over or is there waste you gotta toss?

    I have recently been looking at the piles of lead in front and behind where we shoot steel at the range and wondered, hmmm, maybe I should bring a bucket with me and scoop that up?

    The only thing that gets tossed is the dross after fluxing. This consists of soil, paint, oxidation and the flux.

    That is the same kind of stuff I am using but I have to work harder as I am getting it from a clay berm. As I recall, you checked a few bars that I gave you and it came out to around 12 BHN which works for everything under 2000 FPS. It feeds and shoots fine in my 300 Blackout and that is about the hottest I shoot these days. (1900 FPS)

    That reminds me, I would like you to check a couple of batches for me. I will send a pm.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    Cranked out a test run of 25 300 AAC subs. Used the Eggleston Munitions 200gr bullets... we'll see if they stabilize and/or cycle the gun.
     

    shocker998md

    Ultimate Member
    May 29, 2009
    1,357
    Snow Hill MD
    Set up a rockchucker in the garahe where I do all my brass cleaning. Put a Lee universal deprimer and am going to town on a ton of 7.62x51. Every time I walk by it I bamg out 10. My 4 year old son will come out and do a few at a time. And then once thats all deprimmed I'll get to wet tumbling and sun drying with the nice weather we have been having.

    Hope to do some super nerd 270 tinkering and dialing in soon. Stay posted for that thread.
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    Reloaded 45 acp with 5.5 grains of titegroup using 185 gn plated hbrn. Shoots decent enough to start cranking them out.

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,680
    Installed another inline fabrication rail over my reloading bench so now I can load up all of the Lee’s Classic turrets I got with all my dies and leave them set. Just swap turrets when I go to load a different caliber.

    Downside is needs a bit of massaging. Online fabricated the turret holders a bit tight so once they are coated the turrets don’t fit. Had that on the first turret holder I got a few weeks ago. Same with all three of the new ones I got. A few minutes per holder with a small flat file cleans up the holes sufficient that the turrets fit in. Someone should tell them they need to fabricate the holes about .01-.02” larger.
     

    Rockzilla

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2010
    4,516
    55.751244 / 37.618423
    started on some mixed 9 (again), cleaned and deprimed
    1 large flat rate box down about 20+ more to go
    and no I didn't buy them...I'll get bored and move
    on to something else..maybe 45, maybe 50 BMG
    maybe 30.06.. Did I Mention I hate brass prep...:):):)

    9mm brass_resized.jpg
     

    IronDuck

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 11, 2021
    488
    Frederick ish MD
    Nothing today BUT Sunday

    I had some time on Sunday, reassembled my bench, to my shame, its about the same as it was when I took it apart to "Build it Better" I had big plans, posted some here. No casters made it to high, no shelves behind it, to lazy to make them, no fine hardwood for the press attachments to lazy again...
    BUT... excuse, excuse, excuse, I decided to just get back to a functional if not pretty set up and begin reloading. I got it together, "cracked one of the support boards while doing it, I was supposed to replace" then installed and set up the LEE 4000, and loaded (13) .223 rounds before shutting down for the night.
    Not progressively reloaded, more of a two at a time reload process. I realized during the press setup that I had installed the sizing/cap removal die incorrectly, it worked but when I pulled the handle full down, I was bottoming out against a screw that holds the spring, that pulls the brass into the press. Reset the die a little deeper and all the other dies accordingly.

    This brings me to a total lifetime count of 32 reloaded rounds! :D:party29:
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,599
    Glen Burnie
    started on some mixed 9 (again), cleaned and deprimed
    1 large flat rate box down about 20+ more to go
    and no I didn't buy them...I'll get bored and move
    on to something else..maybe 45, maybe 50 BMG
    maybe 30.06.. Did I Mention I hate brass prep...:):):)

    View attachment 312686
    I don't hate brass prep because when I have tons of brass, it also means that I potentially have lots and lots of ammo...if I could ever actually find any primers. :mad54:
     

    Rockzilla

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2010
    4,516
    55.751244 / 37.618423
    I don't hate brass prep because when I have tons of brass, it also means that I potentially have lots and lots of ammo...if I could ever actually find any primers. :mad54:

    "Potentially" is that key word. Primers, May have to get a mortgage for those, but I ain't paying the scalper prices.
    I will admit, I put it off as long as possible. Switch up and change cartridges. It's amazing what you "collect" over
    the decades. found some LC68 30.06 Demil brass(pull down), basically new from when Frank owned Wideners,
    bags of bullets. Boxes of linotype and other goodies...see some long days / weeks of reloading in my future.:D:D:D
    Or may wait till after the move...
    -Rock
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,680
    "Potentially" is that key word. Primers, May have to get a mortgage for those, but I ain't paying the scalper prices.
    I will admit, I put it off as long as possible. Switch up and change cartridges. It's amazing what you "collect" over
    the decades. found some LC68 30.06 Demil brass(pull down), basically new from when Frank owned Wideners,
    bags of bullets. Boxes of linotype and other goodies...see some long days / weeks of reloading in my future.:D:D:D

    -Rock

    Yeah I am glad I had at least been collecting brass for a couple of years before I started reloading last January. I wish I'd scavenged the brass buckets a lot more rather than just keeping my brass and picking up the occasional interesting bit.

    Heck, I don't even mind paying for it occasionally. I am pretty well stocked on most things, but more 7.62x25, 9x18 Makarov and 7.65 Browning/32acp would be really swell. Especially the 7.65 Browning/32acp. I think I've got about 250-300 pieces of Tok, 200+ of Mak and maybe only 150 of 32acp. To Tok and Mak that is about half Starline and half my range brass. The 32acp is all range brass (95% mine, I have found a few cases the last few months from others).

    I can always shoot some commercial ammo to get reloading brass I guess. But Tok and Mak new brass I can still find here and there if I really needed more. Can't find 32acp brass anywhere. Especially not range brass.

    Downside to the market the way it is, seems a lot fewer guys shooting, so a lot less range brass showing up for sale.

    Oh well. I'll keep my eyes open. 500 pieces of range brass in 32acp would be awesome (well, or Mak or Tok) if inexpensive (like 10-15cpp depending on what it was). All the guns I have in those calibers tend to loose a few on every trip unless I very carefully setup a brass catcher on a tripod, blah, blah, blah. I'll do that when I am also hauling my chrono to test a load, but not worth the hassle otherwise usually.

    A few hundred more pieces (on the cheap, well a lot cheaper than new anyway) and I'd worry myself a lot less about losing 10% each time. That's a few thousand rounds before I've lost it all and I don't shoot any of those guns nearly that much! Or, well, I do, but it'll take me more than a decade to have shot, lost some, reloaded, rinse and repeat till it was all gone.

    But I'll try not to worry about it. Tok I don't have much commercial ammo, 3 boxes, but I've got about 300-350 rounds of surplus Yugo I can also shoot (and then clean my M57). 9Mak and 32acp I've got at least 500 rounds of commercial ammo each. Though the Mak is mostly steel case. But I've got at least 3-4 boxes of Geco.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,599
    Glen Burnie
    I was showing my daughter's boyfriend (they are both adults) some things in the reloading room tonight, and talking him through some things gun-related. Having been around guns literally all my life, sometimes I'm surprised at the lack of knowledge non-gun people have. He was blown away by my Lee APP and the ability to decap brass as quickly as it's capable. Then I showed him the ins and outs of military brass, how to swage a primer pocket and use a primer pocket go/no-go gauge. When discussing things like rifling - lands, grooves, twist rate...he had no idea. I was telling him about a cool video I saw from Erik Cortina that talked about why you shouldn't chase the lands/try to measure the lands, and why it's more important to know jam, touch, jump, and how to use those to find your accuracy nodes. I think it became a bit overwhelming for him.

    Are we just weird that we understand things like trajectory, ballistic coefficient, bullet drop compensation, bullet types, sizing, powder types, burn rates, crimp, crimp grooves, cannelures, grains, etc?
     

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