What did you do in the reloading room today?

Was suppose to go fishing but it has been raining for 2 days. So I decided to play around at the reloading bench. Got practice getting a case out that was stuck in a die (pulled a round apart because the primer was seated backwards and since it was sized I did not lube it.......stupid decision), then had some (40) 204 Ruger cases from rounds shot last week that I reloaded. It was still raining so I resized some 308 and 6.5 CM brass that also needed to be trimmed. Ended up reloading 40 of them with Shooter's World Long Rifle powder under a Hornady Match 140gr bullet.
 
Not terribly surprised by that one. I just finished a ladder to shoot tomorrow. Will use it as a baseline and ask Santa for the rest of the equipment to neck turn .223. Good thing Santa gets paid Friday.!!!!!
(Posted this over on the "Did you go shooting" thread. Then I figured it would be better here.)

Ok, had a chance to look at the numbers.

Loads were 22.7, 22.9, 23.1, and 23.3gn. Previously, 23.1 was my accuracy load. Hornady 75 BTHP Match.

Non-turned necks
22.7gn, 2661 fps, SD=13.9, ES=26.24.
22.9gn, 2689 fps, SD=16.0, ES=38.2.
23.1gn, 2712 fps, SD=8.4, ES=21.22.
23.3gn, 2754 fps, SD=15.1, ES=35.3.

Neck turned:
22.7gn, 2678 fps, SD=6.5, ES=18.4.
22.9gn, 2700 fps, SD=7.8, ES=19.8.
23.1gn, 2733 fps, SD=9.5, ES=23.4.
23.3gn, 2749 fps, SD=7.1, ES=18.3.

Interesting to note the consistency across the charge range with the neck-turned loads. The only one that was not better was the 23.1gn load, and the difference there was not statistically significant. I can only assume that the more consistent velocities were due to more consistent neck tension.

All of the groups were 1.0" - 1.4", with the groups showing some horizontal spread that I would associate with the 10-15mph crosswind that was present, so I can't really say that any one group was any better than the others. The 23.3gn loads both showed the least amount of vertical spread, though, at about 0.5".
 
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made my first .458 Socom dummy round for future endeavors in AR thumpiness.

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Not yet, but seeing as we have 6” of snow on the ground, I will probably spend a lot of time in the reloading shack today. I have a new bushing sizing die to play with.
 
I sized a few hundred pieces of 5.56 brass, lots harder than usual working with one hand. Did I mention that I spent last weeken in the ER? Took a machete to the left thumb, I can’t recommend that you try it.
 
Trying to get rid of bullets that I have less than 50 of them. To night did 46 44 Special 190 GRN SWC uver 7,6 gns of Unique. Est velocity of 750 '/Sec. These are for a Charter Arms Backpacker with a 2.5" ported barrel. In the near future I will try to eliminate boxes of bullets with less than 25 in there. Time for them to go down range unless I have 500 backing them up, Trying really hard to stabilize the powder and bullets in the cabinet.
 
I clean it up and finally organized everything.

Loaded about 25 9mm to make sure the press wasn’t messed with.

Loaded a test round that was a converted 308 to 358 win.

Loaded a 220gr Speer hotcore up with said converted piece of brass with a large mag primer and 46gr of 4064.

Gonna see if I can get it to cycle and lock back
 
Well this was a few weeks ago. But I had hemmed and hawed for a couple years about the Inline Fabrication reverse rotation case ejector for the Lee Classic Turrent. During the “Black Friday weekend” I finally caved and ordered it..

Hadn’t been in the reloading mood in months but was all excited to play with this new toy.... Or so I thought. I’m going to blame the one too many beverage/late night timing of my order. But I fat fingered it and got the wrong item.

What showed up was the Lee Breechlock Classic Cast ejector system. I am sad... I call them up and explain the mistake I made. Begin the return process, then it dawns on me I have the single stage I ordered parts for accidentally... mention out loud to the fella I’m on the phone with a inline fab I have one but idk what I’d need it for.

This guy proceeds to mention exactly what I use mine for. Which is resizing rifle brass. Boom mind blown. It never occurred to me to have an “auto eject” on my single stage. It halves my time lol. Instead of remove sized brass, insert new, repeat. It’s insert new, cycle, repeat:oops::rolleyes:

So I kept that kit plus ordered what I meant to. That jerk at inline fab had me sizing every piece of brass I own lol. Now that the kit I meant to order is in. I gotta switch around the dies and play with that too:cool:
 
Finally received 2k 147gr 9mm bullets from RMR, ordered right before the snow storm.

Ordered a LNL AP and a few goodies for it. Can’t wait! Already have the inline fab mount for it. The plan is to load .300BLK and .223 on it while using my SDB for 9 & 45, and .308 on my LCT.
 
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Well this was a few weeks ago. But I had hemmed and hawed for a couple years about the Inline Fabrication reverse rotation case ejector for the Lee Classic Turrent. During the “Black Friday weekend” I finally caved and ordered it..

Hadn’t been in the reloading mood in months but was all excited to play with this new toy.... Or so I thought. I’m going to blame the one too many beverage/late night timing of my order. But I fat fingered it and got the wrong item.

What showed up was the Lee Breechlock Classic Cast ejector system. I am sad... I call them up and explain the mistake I made. Begin the return process, then it dawns on me I have the single stage I ordered parts for accidentally... mention out loud to the fella I’m on the phone with a inline fab I have one but idk what I’d need it for.

This guy proceeds to mention exactly what I use mine for. Which is resizing rifle brass. Boom mind blown. It never occurred to me to have an “auto eject” on my single stage. It halves my time lol. Instead of remove sized brass, insert new, repeat. It’s insert new, cycle, repeat:oops::rolleyes:

So I kept that kit plus ordered what I meant to. That jerk at inline fab had me sizing every piece of brass I own lol. Now that the kit I meant to order is in. I gotta switch around the dies and play with that too:cool:

Oh wow, I am gonna get this in my life.

Prepping 223/556 brass is an absolute PITA.
 
Oh wow, I am gonna get this in my life.

Prepping 223/556 brass is an absolute PITA.

Exactly. This is my usual round lol. It’s literally cut the time in half. Has me thinking about switching my decapping station over to it (i decap and trim to size on a cheap, little Lee single stage away from all my other presses to keep the dirt, debris, shavings etc from gumming up everything). But this time saver may make it worth detail stripping the press more often lol.

Now I just gotta figure out how to make the inline fab kit work with my rcbs pocket swager on the single stage and I’ll be walking in high cotton:D
 
Sorted and cleaned the brass from my trip to the range today. Took my revolver apart to clean/lube since it has not been out of the safe for a few years. Does anyone recognize this? @JohnFreeman you don’t get to guess.

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Sorted and cleaned the brass from my trip to the range today. Took my revolver apart to clean/lube since it has not been out of the safe for a few years. Does anyone recognize this? @JohnFreeman you don’t get to guess.

View attachment 91962

You've seen parts of it I never saw.

That's an important firearm. It's the only pistol I've ever sold!
 
Made my maiden voyage into the world of reloading with some .223 on a single stage today thanks to a good friend and mentor. Going to be ready for Service Rifle come the new year :)

Congratulations. It will certainly expand your shooting experience as well as getting to know some members here who will help as you progress with your reloading.
 
Yeap, I recognize that 7 shooter.

CD
LOL. You've probably run into a few of those over there, haven't you. I had not shot this one in a while, and it took me a little bit to remember how to work the wonky extractor. And I forgot how bad the DA trigger pull was, felt like 15lbs.
 
LOL. You've probably run into a few of those over there, haven't you. I had not shot this one in a while, and it took me a little bit to remember how to work the wonky extractor. And I forgot how bad the DA trigger pull was, felt like 15lbs.
Actually haven't run into any of them. TT33 or Webley's on the other hand.

CD
 
OCW CONFIRMS SATTERLEE OR VICE VERSA

Ladder Test.png

Finished a ladder test for the .223 this weekend. Not bad results, definitely have a good load now. Only problem is muzzle velocity is a little disappointing, but that is not doubt due to the 16 inch barrel. Oh well, it will go away soon enough.

Anyway, below is the graph of the data. Applying both OCW and Satterlee methods, gives the same results. You can note the beginning of a flat spot in speed at 23.6 gn and the tighter extreme spread and Std. Dev. The group size was also much, much tighter for this charge weight, right at 1.0 MOA versus the next best at 1.5 MOA. Safe to say two things here.

1. I can't shoot worth squat
2. The OCW and Satterlee method gave the same result.

Next is to repeat Top Rudder's neck turning experiment. I was more than a little surprised, given the care I took in loading these rounds at the variation in muzzle velocity for some charge weights. Let's see how turning some necks tightens things up.
 
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I had determined that the bullet jump in my 20" Wylde AR was about 0.130" when loaded to mag length. :eek: So, I worked up some loads with the OAL at 2.330" (the longest that will fit in a modified mag) and also 2.370" (single loaded only, 0.020" off the lands). At the same time I created those test loads, I also loaded my normal precision load at 2.260" as a control group. I did not modify a mag yet since I first wanted to see how they worked, so I single loaded all of them by hand.

Shot them yesterday at Frontline. I was grouping right around 1.0" with my control group. I've done better, but this seems to be about normal lately. Then I went to the test loads, and the the ones loaded to 2.330" were about half the group size, the best being 0.4" @ 100 yards. The longer ones were not quite as good but still better than my control group. I would prefer the shorter ones anyway. I was very happy with that. So, I will be looking around for some 10 round mags that I can modify by notching the front for the longer bullets.
 
I had determined that the bullet jump in my 20" Wylde AR was about 0.130" when loaded to mag length. :eek: So, I worked up some loads with the OAL at 2.330" (the longest that will fit in a modified mag) and also 2.370" (single loaded only, 0.020" off the lands). At the same time I created those test loads, I also loaded my normal precision load at 2.260" as a control group. I did not modify a mag yet since I first wanted to see how they worked, so I single loaded all of them by hand.

Shot them yesterday at Frontline. I was grouping right around 1.0" with my control group. I've done better, but this seems to be about normal lately. Then I went to the test loads, and the the ones loaded to 2.330" were about half the group size, the best being 0.4" @ 100 yards. The longer ones were not quite as good but still better than my control group. I would prefer the shorter ones anyway. I was very happy with that. So, I will be looking around for some 10 round mags that I can modify by notching the front for the longer bullets.

Wow, big move with seating depth. Obviously your Cartridge base to ogive (CBTO) increased the same as OAL assuming using the same bullets, but I am curious as to what your jump to lands is based on CBTO rather than OAL.
 
I helped my brother unpack his new reloading equipment. I've loaded many thousands of rounds. He wants to start with his .338 Lapua Magnum. He is awfully ambitious, like going straight from high school to engineering graduate school.

The Frankfort Arsenal universal decapping tool is awesome! That is next on my list.

He decided on the RCBS Summit. That looks nice. He's only waiting on the neck bushing to arrive.

Does anyone else here have experience with this cartridge? He wants to start with Retumbo and 285 ELD-M.
 
Wow, big move with seating depth. Obviously your Cartridge base to ogive (CBTO) increased the same as OAL assuming using the same bullets, but I am curious as to what your jump to lands is based on CBTO rather than OAL.
Not exactly sure what your question is.

I ran a check to see where the bullet touched the lands. It was with a OAL of 2.390". So, doing the math, the jump to the lands with a mag-length OAL of 2.260" is 0.130".
 
I cleaned some brass, semi-re-arranged my extremely small ammo stash and hand-made a modified-case for .224 Valkyrie for my Hornady overall length gauge:


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So I am preparing to do the same for 7.62x54R. Any tips, especially for centering the hole in the primer pocket would be appreciated. I am concerned the bit will grab the case and make it off center even on a drill press.



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So I am preparing to do the same for 7.62x54R. Any tips, especially for centering the hole in the primer pocket would be appreciated. I am concerned the bit will grab the case and make it off center even on a drill press.



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If you just don't want the bother, go to Hornady's website and search for modified case. You will find an address to send two pieces of fired brass to, along with $15 and they will drill and tap it for you and mail it back in around two weeks.

But yeah, I have a few tips. And for reference to drill out the brass, I did mine free-hand in a vise, in a "wooden brass-securing block", some 400 grit sandpaper, and with a cordless drill (I don't have a drill press). The 400 grit sandpaper will help hold the brass in the wooden block for drilling (see the first video).

De-prime the case first. I made as certain as I could to align the drill as square as I could but a drill press would have made it a whole lot easier. Start slow to make sure you are square to the brass and slowly increase the speed as you go. Slow down a bit once you get to the end of the drilling process. As far as tapping, I used any oil I could get my hands on quickly (which just happened to be Slick 2000) for cutting oil to pre-oil the tap and then ran the tap in by hand for the threads. Tapping is the easy part and takes much less time than the actual drilling out of the brass case...at least for me and by hand.

These are the parts you will need if you don't already have them:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A18HF1S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4PSBA8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is a good video for reference. This guy is a bit goofy but he gave me the idea for the wooden brass-securing block and 400 grit sand paper to hold the brass in place without crushing it in a vise. It works like a charm! He also shows tapping the brass on his drill press but he doesn't use any cutting oil at all which is really goofy and makes the job harder than it needs to be.




Now, if you have a lathe or mini-lathe, this would be the way to do it:



And here is one more video on a lathe:

 
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Got my Hornady LNL AP from the brown Santa today, spent the evening unmounting my LCT and setting up the LNL.

I already had the case feeder 3D printed as I tried adapting it to my SDB, unsuccessfully. Just need to buy the Lee tubes and I’ve got a case feeder for under $20.

Have to grab some mounting hardware from Lowes tomorrow for the inline mount. I’m excited to start cranking out some .300 BLK and later on plinking .223!
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