What did you do at your reloading bench today?

[wpage]

Bought one of those lamps with the built in magnifier.

The old eyes are not as keen as they once were.

 

[lazarus]

I've been thinking about adding another bench to my reloading area to set it up for single-stage loading. Right now I have my single stage press mounted to a piece of wood that I clamp to my main general purpose workbench, but I'd like to set up another area for the things that I do frequently enough that having additional space would be a good thing. I like the idea of getting a workbench kit because it solves the problem of having to think about having to buy it, and all of the pieces are pre-cut. I can build my own workbench, but sometimes for me it's better to take a bit of an easier path.

I like that bench the drawers are a nice touch, and it looks like it's pretty solid.


Are you looking to move away from Unique and Bullseye altogether? I've used a fair bit of Bullseye - it just seems to get the job done, and it does it pretty well, especially for 45 Auto - I'm pretty sure the original 45 auto cartridge was designed using Bullseye as the propellant. Then again, neither Bullseye nor Unique (especially Unique) are exactly the cleanest powders.

For my own reloading endeavors, I put together two loads for 41 Magnum. one of the loads I made using AA #9, and this is one where I should have cross referenced manuals. I wanted a stout load, but not a max load. I consulted my Hornady manual because the bullet I'm loading is the Hornady 210 gr XTP HP. Then I checked my other manuals.

Hornady lists 19.2 gr as max for 41 Mag with AA9, so I backed off to 18.0 gr - well under max, and a nice even number.

Lee lists 18.0 gr as max, and Lyman lists 17.7 gr.

I don't understand how two manuals can have a 2.5 gr variance on max load. I'm pretty sure these are fine, but they are probably going to be pretty danged hot. Fortunantely the pistol I'm using is a Ruger Blackhawk - it's a strong platform for that round, so I'll shoot those, and then I'll load down from there.

The other load I chose was 9.5 gr of Herco. I've had this old canister of Herco from the mid 90s for a while. I bought it new around 2008, but clearly it had been sitting on the shelf for a while - this one is still the Hercules foil covered cardboard canister. This one should be a solid load without being too heavy.

Same bullet, same COAL?

On the TG, I have almost no experience. I got a pound from a buddy when I got my 44 a few weeks ago and just started loading with it. I like it so far. I actually loaded some coated lead 240s a few days ago and I accidentally used the brass I had JUST shot at the range the week before, because I failed to read the bag it was in that said "DIRTY 44" and the brass was so clean I thought it was the tumbled and polished range brass I had bought to reload.

I only figured it out because the expander die was a lot stickier than usual. Worlds cleaner than BE and even than CFE pistol which are the other two (non-magnum) pistol powders I have experience with.

I haven't noticed burned brass.

 

[erwos]

Are you looking to move away from Unique and Bullseye altogether? I've used a fair bit of Bullseye - it just seems to get the job done, and it does it pretty well, especially for 45 Auto - I'm pretty sure the original 45 auto cartridge was designed using Bullseye as the propellant. Then again, neither Bullseye nor Unique (especially Unique) are exactly the cleanest powders.

Yes. It's not that I really hate Unique or Bullseye, I just don't want to deal with multiple kinds of powder when I don't have to. I load 9 Major with 3N38, so it's not like I'm strictly a TG guy anyways.

And, yeah, the plan is to load 357 Mag light. I'm not looking for much power here. 3.3 should easily clear the barrel, though.

 

[Rockzilla]

I've been thinking about adding another bench to my reloading area to set it up for single-stage loading. Right now I have my single stage press mounted to a piece of wood that I clamp to my main general purpose workbench, but I'd like to set up another area for the things that I do frequently enough that having additional space would be a good thing. I like the idea of getting a workbench kit because it solves the problem of having to think about having to buy it, and all of the pieces are pre-cut. I can build my own workbench, but sometimes for me it's better to take a bit of an easier path.

I like that bench the drawers are a nice touch, and it looks like it's pretty solid.


Are you looking to move away from Unique and Bullseye altogether? I've used a fair bit of Bullseye - it just seems to get the job done, and it does it pretty well, especially for 45 Auto - I'm pretty sure the original 45 auto cartridge was designed using Bullseye as the propellant. Then again, neither Bullseye nor Unique (especially Unique) are exactly the cleanest powders.

For my own reloading endeavors, I put together two loads for 41 Magnum. one of the loads I made using AA #9, and this is one where I should have cross referenced manuals. I wanted a stout load, but not a max load. I consulted my Hornady manual because the bullet I'm loading is the Hornady 210 gr XTP HP. Then I checked my other manuals.

Hornady lists 19.2 gr as max for 41 Mag with AA9, so I backed off to 18.0 gr - well under max, and a nice even number.

Lee lists 18.0 gr as max, and Lyman lists 17.7 gr.

I don't understand how two manuals can have a 2.5 gr variance on max load. I'm pretty sure these are fine, but they are probably going to be pretty danged hot. Fortunantely the pistol I'm using is a Ruger Blackhawk - it's a strong platform for that round, so I'll shoot those, and then I'll load down from there.

The other load I chose was 9.5 gr of Herco. I've had this old canister of Herco from the mid 90s for a while. I bought it new around 2008, but clearly it had been sitting on the shelf for a while - this one is still the Hercules foil covered cardboard canister. This one should be a solid load without being too heavy.

yes sir went that way long ago. 4 benches, One metallic cartridges, one shotgun, one case prep, one building / cleaning
all on casters. Been down the road before with press bolted to 2 by then "clamped to kitchen table" didn't go over well

these came the other day...cheap...

 

[trickg]

It's interesting that you found those - they seem to be highly regarded, preferred to the updated model, and harder to come by these days. I still have my original one that came with my Challenger Anniversary Kit.

 

[icarusX]

Just for comparison. I use titegroup for 9, 40 and 45 ACP.
My 45 load
200 gr platef RN
4.3 gr titegroup
1.24 OAL

 

[icarusX]

Works great on both 1911's and the SBR

 

[Bountied]

It's interesting that you found those - they seem to be highly regarded, preferred to the updated model, and harder to come by these days. I still have my original one that came with my Challenger Anniversary Kit.

I got my auto prime from my grandfather. It works really well and speeds up the process quite a bit. So much easier than a hammer. JK

 

[erwos]

Loaded ~275 9mm for revolver... Fed cases and SPPs, and really leaned in on the handle on the priming part of the stroke (Dillon 650).

 

[steves1911]

Loaded 100 22-250 with 4166 & 55gr vmax. Trimmed 400 pieces of 7.62 nato brass

 

[Rockzilla]

It's interesting that you found those - they seem to be highly regarded, preferred to the updated model, and harder to come by these days. I still have my original one that came with my Challenger Anniversary Kit.

still to this day have the 2 original ones from the 70's, going strong. thousands and thousands
of cases, have other priming tools, always go back to the Autoprimes, just like the "feel" when
seating primers, There's a few more coming, complete with box and manual. Been finding them
rather cheap here lately. Still have the Ohaus Du-O-measure(s) Ward (Dramwox) now makes hoppers
for them, just had to send him one of mine. and of course the Lyman M5. I'm good to go.

-Rock

 

[MTplinker]

Brass prep- resized 7.5 x 55 Swiss from last week’s match. Now to trim them.

 

[Doco Overboard]

Some 303 today.

 

[guzma393]

Primed 400 cases of 300 blackout using the lee acp press.

 

[Sticky]

yes sir went that way long ago. 4 benches, One metallic cartridges, one shotgun, one case prep, one building / cleaning
all on casters. Been down the road before with press bolted to 2 by then "clamped to kitchen table" didn't go over well

View attachment 384515 View attachment 384516 View attachment 384517

these came the other day...cheap...

Damn.... (drooling!)

Been working on 223 lately, set the Dillon up to load 223 for the first time...

Took some progressive loaded ammo to the range to ensure it's as good as when I load it old school on the Rockchucker and yes, it fared well. This is 15rds at 100 on a windy day (15mph at 10:30) at AGC out of the Varminator.

Then on to processing a bunch of brass (223 and 308) that I got from a buddy. Went through half of the 223 brass so far (a big gallon bag worth), sized, tumbled, length checked and swaged where needed (about 25% of it). Love the progressive for some of the more mundane chores. Need to figure a better way to swage, I hate that part! LMAO

 

[Rockzilla]

Damn.... (drooling!)

Been working on 223 lately, set the Dillon up to load 223 for the first time...

View attachment 385291

Took some progressive loaded ammo to the range to ensure it's as good as when I load it old school on the Rockchucker and yes, it fared well. This is 15rds at 100 on a windy day (15mph at 10:30) at AGC out of the Varminator.
View attachment 385292

Then on to processing a bunch of brass (223 and 308) that I got from a buddy. Went through half of the 223 brass so far (a big gallon bag worth), sized, tumbled, length checked and swaged where needed (about 25% of it). Love the progressive for some of the more mundane chores. Need to figure a better way to swage, I hate that part! LMAO
View attachment 385293

I Hate swaging, reaming crimped cases, picked up a LEE-APP as some have recommended for that purpose.
Guy I met is selling me a case feeder for it, yeah I know 3D print one, that's all in SC now, with 90% of the
reloading stuff. It will be probably a few weeks maybe months before it's all set up again at least the way
"I" want it.
Mil 5.56 have both "stabbed / staked & reg crimped LC brass, 7.62 LC / WRA. Hate sorting through the stuff
but at least it's one and done

To the benches again, Had a one "fits all approach" at first. with shotgun reloading, that shot, used the cookie
sheet hack, then case prep, building, all on one bench, nah. Yeah could of gone to a whole large room
with cabinets, under and over, linear footage is great, but in my case the "portable" part was the right move,
wonna build some 1911's, AK's, assemble some AR's, clean it's all on that bench, two power cord(s) / outlets heavy
enuff. Tools all there. Case prep all on another bench, sort, trim, remove crimp, clean, hand prime if need be, it's
all there can move the benches anywhere room to room if need be. Just a different "twist on things" Guess it all
boils down to needs / wants

-Rock

 

[Melnic]

I have not been reloading in months really. My loft is a total mess right now with work stuff and some boat stuff I"m fixing. I'm due for an area clean up which I'm hoping I'll do over Christmas break when there is no Youth sports for about 12 days and no trips planned.

After doing some evening CADD work for my job, I loaded up a box of 12 Gauge Target loads. I used some donated Black colored Win AA hulls and they closed up in the Lee Load all really nice. I got the Load all here in the classifieds for $50 back when cheap target loads were $20/100 at Walmart. Not really shooting over the summer I did not run though them at all so I'm just stocking up.

 

[trickg]

I've done a bit of reloading in the last couple of days.

The first thing I put together were some reloads using some Berry's 124 gr hollow base flat point 9mm bullets that I'd gotten as part of purchase of a 9mm pistol. They aren't a bullet I would choose to buy, but I had 250 of them, so I figured I'd just as well load them up. I loaded these using Universal as the powder.

Then I loaded some other 9mm - I'd set aside nickel-plated cases and I picked up some 124 gr Hornady XTPs, so I loaded up 100 of those using Power Pistol - not really the "ideal" propellant for that bullet and type of load. Supposedly AA #7 or CFE Pistol are better for full power 9mm, but I don't have either of those, so Power Pistol was my next best choice. Or Unique, but Power Pistol meters better.

 

[gwfrench]

Finished up 50 rounds of 357 brass, 148gr Speer HBWC, 3.0gr of TiteGroup for some plinking with my Dan Wesson 357.
Deprimed, tumbled, sized about 150 357/38spcl brass for future use.

 

[lazarus]

I loaded up 20 rounds of 6.5 Grendel yesterday. First time I used my powder trickler. I use a Lee Auto Drum on my Lee classic. It has been working fine. Great in fact for pistol powders. In most cases I see sub 10FPS SDs for anything browning action. Direct blowback are generally a lot more variable, but I blame that on the nature of the action (typically 20-30FPS).

Rifle I've been seeing fine performance, but I loaded up some .30-06 A2495 and that was a lot not so good. I got better accuracy in my 1903 and Garand than what I see with S&B and PPU M2 ball. So that was nice, but when I went to load up some rounds based on the accuracy node I saw trying to chase it around by .2gr steps, so I was doing a lot of weighing and I was seeing huge variability. The auto drum did NOT like the rod powder. I shouldn't be surprised by that. Working the press slower when dropping powder increased this drop accuracy, but I was still seeing +.2gr to -.7gr. More than I was comfortable with, and I think it was borne out in my test data too. I saw best SDs of 2720FPS average and about 27fps SD. But the ES was, to me, fairly high at around 50-60fps. In 5 round strings, I'd have 3 rounds +/-8fps of each other, 1 round like 30 or so FPS off, and then one round 50-60fps off. Groupings I'd have 3 rounds very close, 1 round a little off and then another one fairly far off (like 1.2-1.5" from the main group at 50yds).

So for the strings I loaded up to test, I did a lot of dumping and used a scoop to drop a grain or two to get the weights within a tenth of a grain. I have not tested those strings.

But for my rough data, of 20 rounds of .30-06, I think I saw 3 or 4 that were spot on the weight I was looking for. About 7-8 that were within .2gr either direction. And about 5-6 that were mostly pretty low by like .4-.7gr.

So I got a powder trickler and loaded 20 rounds for 6.5 Grendel using CFE 223 yesterday. I saw a +.2 to -.5gr range of weights. Considering the smaller load, this was the same or MORE variability. However, my target was 31.4gr, but I had the powder dropper set to 31.2gr figuring I'd trickle up to 31.4gr, leaving a larger charge still at or under my target weight.

Of the 20 rounds, 16 of them hit 31.2gr exact. 2 were 31.3gr, 1 was 31.4gr, and 1 was 30.9gr. And that 30.9gr might have been me as I can't of half assed the powder drop going fast. Slow down dude, slow down was what I thought as soon as I did it and before I measured it. For my previous 6.5 grendel testing, my groups are pretty good. I am seeing 1.5MOA or a bit better with 123gr Hornady BTHP bullets and just under MOA for 120gr federal fusion SPBT bullets. SDs are low 20fps range, but SDs are not all that huge (high 30 range?).

When I've been previously loading 6.5 Grendel, or any rifle rounds, I have not been very slow and deliberate in my working of the press for rifle rounds when I do the powder drop step. I think I need to start doing that for everything. Just take that extra 1 second (even for pistol) as I think when I work it fast, it allows/causes some of the powder to jump up and out of the drum as it is rotating, which is why I am seeing more variability low than high. Also rod powders are going to NEED a trickler to get it right.

Even for ball and flake powders, I think if I really want the absolute best consistency, I need to weigh each drop and trickle it. But I think for ball and flake if I want it exact, it is easier to just set it to the target weight, and check it. If I need to, scoop a tiny bit out and then trickle back to the correct weight. If ~75% or so of rounds are at (or less than a tenth of a grain off, within the margin that my scale can measure) my target weight with ball powder, that is faster than needing to trickle up to my target weight on like 90% of rounds.

Just loading blasting ammo, no point in taking the time or being that anal about it. And I see no reason to do that for pistol powder. Most of my guns have greater mechanical accuracy already than I am capable of with off-hand shooting. Technically it makes my group sizes smaller, but if the gun and ammo is capable of 2" 25yd groups, but I am only capable of 5" 25yd groups, what's the point of being anal about my pistol loads to get my 25yd groups off a bench to 1.5"? At best that would shrink my 25yd groups to 4.5". My handloads for pistol are already significantly more accurate and consistent than any basic ball ammo I've ever tried.

And heck, like my .223 62gr handloads, I am using Armscor bullets (at the moment till I work through the 2k I have) and not taking particular care with CFE223 I am seeing about 1.8MOA 10 shot groups out of my 20" AR and about 3MOA out of my 16" (my 16" is just not very accurate. 1.7MOA with Hornady Black 75gr HPBT, but PPU 75gr match is a solid 2.5MOA and most blasting ammo is 4-5MOA). If I slow down slightly, I can probably squeeze a tiny bit better accuracy. If I trickle powder to get exactly on the nose for weights, I doubt that'll help much using cheap bullets and already better than any old PMC bronze, federal XM whatever, or 55/62gr 223 FMJ I've ever run in to. Dedicated match ammo is better. Hornady Black runs .9MOA in my 20" as an example.

Even in my 6.5 Grendel, I see better accuracy with most factory ammo, but most factory ammo IS match ammo. My AR runs 1MOA with Hornady ELD-M factory ammo and .9MOA with Federal fusion. My Howa runs .7MOA with the ELD-Ms and .8MOA with the federal fusion. I actually have a few boxes of regular FMJ 6.5 Grendel, but I've never actually used it. The Hornady American gunner 123gr BTHP I have is about 1.5MOA out of my AR and 1MOA out of my Howa. So my current handloads aren't quite as good as the Hornady American gunner with the same bullet, but it is fairly close. I suspect loading more carefully could shrink things a bit, and trickling I am hoping will help a lot. Not sure I'll take this level of care with the 123gr FMJ bullets I picked up as most shooting I do 2MOA would even be fine. Better is better though.

Sorry, long post. Learning and figuring out what I want.