What did you do at your reloading bench today?

[Speed3]

On this exact same load the last batch I made on October I had read that dipping the case neck in graphite powder can improve the consistency of the neck tension. So i tried this with 20 rounds. I was unable to chrono while shooting at PNTC but I saw a noticeable drop in impact deviating from my previous calculations. I re-ran the ballistics until I got the calculator to spit out the drop I was witnessing. It seemed to indicate a reduction in MV by about 55fps. I was surprised that a reduction in neck tension could have resulted in that much of a change, if that was indeed the cause.

It certainly makes sense that it would be slower with graphite, 55fps seems more than I would have guessed honestly but could be spot on.

I seat my bullets with a hydro press that reads in psi. I can tell you that the difference between graphite and normal is about 40 psi(estimating 2 thou of neck tension). Never chronod it though

 

[ToolAA]

Well i’ve been sneaking in an hour before bed this week to get a batch ready for Saturday. 51 rounds loaded and another 152 cases totally prepped including neck turning. After I got the feel of it, it only took me about 20min to do the last 50.

Don’t ask me how ended up with 3 extra Lapua Small Rifle Primer Cases???

 

[Squaregrouper]

100rds of 123gr match 6.5 Grendel, 50rds of 140gr match 6.5CM and 50rds of 147gr match 6.5CM.
Peacemaker, I'm ready for you.

 

[85MikeTPI]

Refilled all my 338 Lapua brass (I only have 60 pcs so far) with 250gr/285gr/300gr SMKs for more testing next time at camp. I just put in an order for some Ramshot Magnum powder to see how it compares to the Reloader33 I'm testing now.

 

[Harrys]

Loaded 45/70 and .500 S&W rounds installed a dehumidifier in safe along with bolting it down to basement floor.

Helped a bud get a round stuck in his 45/70 marlin barrel. Luckily, he did not chamber the next round and fire it. He was he loaded some rounds a few weeks back and apparently did not charge the case with powder. I have several brass rods just for this occasion and this is the first time I had to use one. The bullet was just about 1 inch in from the breach it popped right out with one hammer tap.

He is now worried he may have not filled other cases as he said he was distracted with the kids. I told him to load one with same powder charge and weigh it. Then weigh the other cases they all should be within a few grains of each other. He was loading 325FTX with 52 grains of H4198. Well, when he got home, he found 2 additional cases with no powder.

I gave him a few pointers on how to prevent both double loading and missing a case with powder. The main thing is pay attention to detail, or your kids may not have a father.

 

[85MikeTPI]

Broke out the mixer on this warm day and washed a 5gal bucket of 5.56 brass and laid it out to sun dry. I have one more 5gal bucket left to wash, then it’s all (25gal) waiting on headstamping

I also stored away my 300lb of lead ignots in the shed. Consensus is to shoot in the summer and cast/coat in the winter, so I’ll let them sit for 6mos and hopefully not forget about them

 

[brianns]

Case trimming and case prep .308 cases.

 

[Harrys]

Finished some test rounds of .500 S&W mags for the rifle. I have not used CFE-BLK in loading before. Loaded up 350 grain Berrys with 47 grains, 49 grains, 50 grains and 54 grains. and left about 1/2 inch space in the case at 47 grains and 3/8 at 54 grains. Load minimum 46 grains load maximum 54 grains

A big differance from longshot and titegtoup which I typically use which does not nearly fill the cases.

#9 is pretty much the same as CFE-BLK in filling the cases. I loaded up some #9 with 38 grains, 39 grains, and 41.8 grains in previous testing it was pretty clean burning. Max load for #9 was 41.8 grains and I did like the #9 both in the rifle and pistol.

 

[trickg]

I've been doing brass prep. What a time consuming job this can be.

I'm not looking for over-the-top accuracy, but I am prepping brass as a means to prepare for a prairie dog shoot I've got coming up in July - just a single day in a dog town south of my hometown in Nebraska.

With that in mind, I'm decapping, swaging primer pockets, sizing, trimming and sorting - again, I'm not going the extra mile like some folks are because this ammo only needs to be generally accurate - it doesn't need to be silly accurate.

The rifle I'm using is going to take care of the rest of it, but this is the loading I used that produced this 5-shot group at 50 yards.

223 Remington
25.0 gr Benchmark
50 gr Hornady VMax
Remington Benchrest Primer (not because that's my choice, but because that's all I have)
COAL 2.240 - that's Hornady's recommendation from their manual

This is only 50 yards so it's normal for a group to be pretty tight at that distance. I'm going to try to get it out this weekend to see how much those groups open up when I shoot longer distances, but the rifle itself is solid.

 

[Melnic]

Trickg, nice shooting and load there.

I loaded up 50 12gauge shells on my Lee Load All II to replace the 2 boxes I shot at the trap field earlier this week in the morning before work.

 

[MTplinker]

First try at annealing. I annealed 34 pieces of PPU 7.5 x 55 Swiss with propane torch, the lazy Susan and pan of water. I don’t think I wrecked any, but I’m a complete noob at annealing.

 

[MTplinker]

Better look at the annealed 7.5x 55 Swiss in the daylight. Colors look ok, I guess.

 

[guzma393]

New at annealing too; I anneal my 7.5 swiss every firing; I own both a k31/k11 and I gotta full length size them to k11 specs to chamber for both. I anneal by hand. Logic is that if it's too hot to the touch along the case head, then it's definitely red hot along the case neck and shoulder (did it in dim lighting at first to get an idea of the 'glow', then witnessed the color change along the neck and the shoulder in normal lighting).

 

[guzma393]

Reloaded ~100 or so 45 ACP, 30% of which were SRP primed, and 70% were smpp primed with 4.7 grains of titegroup and a lee 452/230 TC PC coated cast. Tested it out this afternoon and they all fired fined in a colt commander 1911. Loaded up ~200 more using SRP.

 

[MTplinker]

New at annealing too; I anneal my 7.5 swiss every firing; I own both a k31/k11 and I gotta full length size them to k11 specs to chamber for both. I anneal by hand. Logic is that if it's too hot to the touch along the case head, then it's definitely red hot along the case neck and shoulder (did it in dim lighting at first to get an idea of the 'glow', then witnessed the color change along the neck and the shoulder in normal lighting).

After a lot of reading about 7.5x 55 differences in dies and the possibilities of not going into battery with that straight pull bolt, I opted to always full-length resize this brass. I’m only reloading for 1 rifle, but not chambering properly isn’t something I ever want to worry about.

I’m only bumping the shoulder back a couple mils, and I’m only looking to extend the brass life through annealing. This brass has 3 reloads plus one loading at factory, so by my math it’s been loaded 4 times; I figured it was time.

 

[85MikeTPI]

I cleaned the last 5gal bucket of 223 yesterday and sundried it. I believe I have 4 buckets now to headstamp for 300bo conv (NATO) or 223 loading (FC)

I moved over to the Lee APP and I decapped the ~3gal of NATO 5.56 I've accumulated, then about 1gal into the swaging of them. Eventually I'll run them through the KC Customs blackout trimmer vacuum chute and then back to the APP for blackout forming.

I sized, reamed and corn cob tumbled the recent 338lm brass haul, and have them boxed awaiting load testing. I grabbed some 285gr Hornady ELD-M and Reloader33 to look for a node.

 

[4g64loser]

Yesterday night: Trimmed 100pcs of 6.5 sleazemoor (no i don't own one, I'm doing the brass prep for a coworker). Set up the turning pilot and cutter to turn more 6br necks to .012 wall thickness for myself. Hopefully tonight or Wednesday.....

 

[lazarus]

Plunked a .30 cal ammo can filled to the brim with empty cases to sort on my reloading bench after visiting the range.

In my defense, about a quarter of it I personally emptied after a long and incredibly rewarding day at the range. Most of the rest was off the ground or in the trash can, not the brass bucket. So idiots keep throwing brass in the trash cans. Only thing that came out of the brass bucket was some .30-30 my buddy reloads and shoots. Some very nice Norma 7.62x39, only a dozen or so case, but it is very rare I find anything other than steel or corrosive surplus cases for 7.62x39. Mostly my 9mm, .45acp, 7.62x25, .30-06 and a bunch of range pickup .223, 9mm and 45acp.

Every single thing went almost without a hitch. Only range issues were my chrono was catching the sun at the end of my 7.62x25 testing, so I don't have reliable data on my last two loads of 100gr, but it looked good (I am not trusting the 2087fps readings, when the others were 1280fps. At least it is better than some of the 9000+fps readings I've gotten on other trips when the sun hits the chrono/bullets just right). That any my fully worked over Browning Buckmark continues to not like Aguilla 22lr (it refuses to pick it up from the magazine, or crunches it against the feed ramp. It runs CCI flawlessly as well as most other brands), but the replaced main spring meant that all 50 of Aguilla and 50 of Blazer went bang, rather than 5% light strikes. My new Obsidian 45acp can is just silly fun on my .45acp and 9mm glocks. My brand new Glock 21L Lone Wolf Long slide build ran perfectly. Extremely slow with my very light handloads (about 650fps 230gr), but it cycled every round, and it cycled with confidence running Herters 230gr. Ran great with my G17 and 34. And the new/old BCA barrel (the last product I ever bought from them or plan to)) for my G17 that is threaded also ran flawlessly (I had to polish the ramp BIG time as there were bad chatter marks in it, at least the chamber was smooth and barrel good).

And best, my 1903A3 sporterized build/rebuild with a soldered on A3 front sight (barrel was cut 2", so no front dovetail/notch to properly mount the sight) was spot on, less than 3MOA off on my first round at 50yds!

So time to sort the brass tonight and this week start working up more reloads after I burned through most of my 45 and 9mm handloads (and I need to spice up the 45 230gr loads just a couple tenths of a grain to make sure it cycles my 21L a bit better).

 

[gwfrench]

Made a set of 8 dummy rounds in 30-06 to demonstrate M1 Garand loading to someone who recently received a Garand. Had some fired blanks used in VFW Honor Guard, so cleaned, ran them through the sizer die twice, checked length, loaded them with Hornady #3037 150gr bullets. Used a Lee factory crimp die to make sure the bullets won't move in the casing. Total cost $1.28, for the bullets.

 

[4g64loser]

Trimmed 100pcs 300winmag. Ran a load of 308 through the tumbler.