What did you do in the reloading room today?

Got to work loading up some of the .45 blue pills that I bought last month. 700 down... 3100 to go!

On an aside, I did notice that I'm getting to nice vertical scratches along my .45 brass. Time to clean out and polish the sizing die
 
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Sorted my brass from a quick afternoon trip to the range yesterday. Nice part was the tacticool folks shooting steel a few bays over, obviously not reloaders as they left a huge pile, probably close to 500 pieces, of once fired factory brass in a single head stamp. Like I really need even more 9mm brass, but I just cant resist the once fired single head stamp stuff. :D
 
The new Lee 356-120-TC double cavity mold was delivered Saturday, so I had to try it out. Just cast about 50 or so to see how they do. Using range lead I got from a seller on CB they dropped at right around 124 grains and .357-.3575 diameter (measured the best I could with my calipers - I don't have a micrometer.) Tumble lubed them in LLA and they're drying now. Then I'm going to load a couple and see if they'll chamber in my 9mm's without sizing them.

Well, I played around with a couple of these this evening, and couldn't get them to plunk in either of my 9mm pistols. So I sized them to .357 (After checking again, the unsized ones were running closer to .358.) That made them work in the LC9S, but I can't quite get them to plunk right in the Taurus G2C. They almost go, but I have to gently push them in the last little bit, about the width of the base below the extractor groove in the case. It take very little pressure, but they don't just fall into and out of the barrel. I can get them to go better by tightening the crimp, but it seems like I'm really putting way too much crimp on them, and they still don't really "plunk" into the barrel all the way. I just tried shortening up the OAL (and backed off the crimp). I was at about 1.08" and I seated one all the way to where the taper starts and it's at 1.05". That barely works in the Lyman cartridge gauge I have, but I'd already put the guns back together and put them in the safe for the night.
 
Mine size at .356 and drop in all my autos. Do have Lyman sizers in .354 and .355 for the 450 and a Lee TL sizer of .358.

CD
 
Mine size at .356 and drop in all my autos. Do have Lyman sizers in .354 and .355 for the 450 and a Lee TL sizer of .358.

CD
I don't have a .356 sizer but may have to get one. I only have Lee .357 and .358 sizing dies I found used. Hopefully the shorter OAL will take care of it. If not, I'll pick up a .356 die.
 
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As a follow up to yesterdays post about coming across all that once fired single head stamp brass, found I had some free time last night so decided to wet tumble it as one batch. I never decap first but went ahead and did these, as expected they look like new other than the occasional ding from being extracted. No pins, armor all car wash n wax, and a dash of citric acid. My estimate of almost 500 pieces was pretty close, turns out there was exactly 446, guess I spend too much time around brass. :D

UGe0OMW.jpg
 
Those are some pretty clean interiors, for using no media. Nice find at the range!
I've given up on the pins, too, and use the same formula - Armor All Wash & Wax and citric acid (Lemishine). I started out with the pins, but after trying it without them I couldn't see much difference. It may help with bottleneck cases, but I haven't wet tumbled any to know.

And yeah, nice find at the range!
 
Sounds like you missed picking up 4 pieces, if they were shooting full boxes. :D

The crazy thing is I left probably another 150+ cases on the ground. I only went on that range to dump a couple mags of some random reloads just to be done with them and that's when I saw that sea of gold. Was getting dark and my back was tired of bending over, or I would of grabbed a few more. :D:D
 
Have that faint buzz from the basement that's been running all day since 6am, been tumbling brass. Got a shipment from Wes Sage in yesterday, after I wrangled the 472 pound duck taped box down to the basement I started sorting by caliber and tumbling. That was of course after dulling a new knife just to get through his packaging.
 
Well, the Lee 356-120-TC's sized to .357 were still a little snug in the chamber of the G2C at COAL of 1.05", so I tried it at 1.04" and it just barely makes it. They drop into the barrel all the way - they're flush with the end of the shroud, and usually fall out freely but sometimes it takes a little shake to get them to fall out. (I made up four dummies) I think I'll screw the seater in just a hair more and load a couple dozen and see how they work in the guns.
 
Thanks. How much do you throw in your recipe? I'm converting my way of thinking from the old corn-cob media to doing wet-tumbling.

I did a batch with just Dawn and water and was satisfied that it will work for my needs.

With a full load in my FART tumbler I use about a tablespoon, that's about 1500 cases. Once I made the switch I only wish I did it sooner. Can do way more cases a lot faster than vibratory cleaning. I've found 30 minutes is plenty of time to wet tumble, I can knock out a 5 gal. bucket of 9mm brass in 4 full drums on the FART. Turn them out to dry overnight under the ceiling fan in my reloading room.
 
Having loaded maybe 20,000 rounds over the years (mostly .45ACP), I don't see the reason for depriving before cleaning.


For those who do, why do you do it?
For wet tumbling, the obvious reason is for cleaning the primer pockets. The not-so-obvious reason is so the water will drain out easier, and dry quicker.
 
My motivation for reloading was saving money. My strategy for reloading was "spend as little time doing it as possible".

I am not sure this is true but I will tell you that you will shoot 2 to 3 more rounds when you head to the range.
 
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As long as the new primer went in, I've never cared if the pocket was pristine or not. BUT, I've only loaded straight-wall stuff for club shooting. I've gone more towards "bulk" and have never been going for precision.
I will admit that cleaning the primer pocket is not really a concern in most cases.

I have tumbled brass a few times without decapping first. I had a few primers that stuck and ended up breaking out the bottom of the primer but leaving the rest behind (known as "ringers"). The only time I've ever had that happen was when I wet tumbled without decapping, and it only happened a couple of times. I've made it a point to decap all brass when I bring it back from the range now.
 
As a follow up to yesterdays post about coming across all that once fired single head stamp brass, found I had some free time last night so decided to wet tumble it as one batch. I never decap first but went ahead and did these, as expected they look like new other than the occasional ding from being extracted. No pins, armor all car wash n wax, and a dash of citric acid. My estimate of almost 500 pieces was pretty close, turns out there was exactly 446, guess I spend too much time around brass. :D

UGe0OMW.jpg
Cleaned my gun from the trip to the range yesterday, and sorted/decapped all the brass. Then I made a wire basket that I can use in the re-purposed toaster oven, for drying brass.

View attachment 109725

View attachment 109726
If you start casting, you already have the oven for powder coating if you dont want to lube.
 
I have tumbled brass a few times without decapping first. I had a few primers that stuck and ended up breaking out the bottom of the primer but leaving the rest behind (known as "ringers"). The only time I've ever had that happen was when I wet tumbled without decapping, and it only happened a couple of times. I've made it a point to decap all brass when I bring it back from the range now.

I was a little concerned about "ringers" and possible powder contamination from residual moisture from wet tumbling without decaping first but so far Ive never had an issue in several thousands (conservatively 15k) of wet tumbled brass. I am fortunate enough to have a pretty big reloading room so I generally leave brass lying out several days with the ceiling fan running over them to make sure they are totally dry inside and out. Its a climate controlled room too, so the heat and AC probably help to control moisture too.
 
You don't give up, do you. I ain't going down the casting rabbit hole. :)
Movie Book of Eli. The guy is roasting a cat. He hears a mouse scampering around and says "It's cat" offering the mouse a morsel of the meat.


You get to shoot more...... (holding out a handful of loaded ammo in front of you.)

You'll go down that rabbit hole one day.




Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
 
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A friend brought me about 20 lbs of range pickup, mostly 45acp but also a lot of rifle and revolver calibers, including .308, 30-06, 30-30, 8mm, 7.62x54R and x39 (brass and boxer primed), 45 Colt, 44mag, 44spl, and a few 44 Russian. Got everything sorted and decapped. Oh, and some 50 AE as well - getting close to critical mass on those, soon it will be time for me to go out and buy the dies and bullets for it. And a gun, too! :D
 
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