What did you do in the reloading room recently?

The first time I told him I do a lot of work in older buildings. Another time I just mentioned it to the girl who draws blood a week or two before my annual physical and she was like sure no problem and took an extra vial of blood and that was that.
 
andrew1220 said:
I would just lie and tell them between scraping/sanding old lead paint (without a respirator) and drinking the local tapwater, you want to know what your baseline lead levels are?
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I used to tumble in the basement (used latex gloves) but the wife grew tired of the noise. I now leave it in the garage and honestly I think it's a better way to go. Less lead, less noise in the house. I had my lead tested a couple months ago (before the tumbler had been moved), and I was around 2.5. I also use lead wipes after every range session.
 
daekken said:
Did you have your doctor do the test? I've been curious for a long time, but not really sure how to bring it up. I'd rather do it myself.

I heard of someone saying something like "I helped a relative move some old stuff in a basement" but that excuse only works once, and I'd rather not get into a 2A discussion at the doctor's office. I only shoot outside and I make sure to wash my hands, but between shooting 1-2 times a week and reloading, I'm worried about lead levels.
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Stop licking your fingers when your relaoding your mags at the range.
Do you get a annual physical?
You can go to your dr and just get all .....im all into health now and see this shit about acceptable lead in water and food and want to know your lead levels and how to test water for lead.

I dont think lead test is all that expensive , poke around i want to say I seen it somewhere for $50? What I dont know is if they charge for the draw of blood?
 
I only wet tumble now. That would be in my basement. Unless it's winter, I don't open the thing indoors, though. I've heard that it isn't so much elemental lead exposure that's the issue, rather the residual lead styphnate from ordinary non-corrosive primers.
 
Prepping 7.62 NATO cases round the clock.
Another 25 Aguila done.
Just primed 50 of the GGG Lithuanian surplus cases.

Finding the GGG cases much easier to work with. Easier to size, less trimming needed, easier to prime. Looks like there's a light crimp; I haven't needed to decrimp any, all were easy except one where slight force was needed.

The Aguila on the other hand, even decrimping I'm having difficulty.
 
daekken said:
Prepping 7.62 NATO cases round the clock.
Another 25 Aguila done.
Just primed 50 of the GGG Lithuanian surplus cases.

Finding the GGG cases much easier to work with. Easier to size, less trimming needed, easier to prime. Looks like there's a light crimp; I haven't needed to decrimp any, all were easy except one where slight force was needed.

The Aguila on the other hand, even decrimping I'm having difficulty.
Click to expand...
today was my last day of the manual trimmer for me. Will be getting a power trimmer of some sort very soon. Prepping some Remington R*P brass for next weeks match. Im shooting 2 M1a's with the same ammo. Little personal head to head rifle test.
Remington Case Resized to 1.630" per hornady comparator gauge--aprox .003"- .005" set shoulder set from 1x fired
Trimed to 2.005"
Average case weight after size and trim 169.8 grains
Average H2O capacit 56.2 grains
COL 2.775" Nosler 168 grain Custom Comp
40.0 grains H4895
should be a touch over 2500fps , aprox 43,600 psi chamber pressure and about 11,000 psi at the gas port.

I normally just drop my powder charges but will be weighing out these on my lyman gen6 its slow but want to try and take the ammo out of my bad shooting.
 
Sorted a couple gallons of brass.
Tumbled all the dirt 45 Colt and ACP together.

Hoping tot hit the shop and cast up a bunch of fodder tomorrow.

Also hoping to load some round ball loads in the 44 Special and dual balls or maybe Collar Buttons in the 45 Colt
 
I loaded some 147 grain 9 mm for use in a pin match. I've done well with .45 auto in both revolvers and pistols. I've also done well with .44 special and .44 magnum revolvers but .38 special will not reliably knock down the pins. If the 9mm isn't enough, I'll try a .357 magnum revolver. The 10 mm also works well.
 
gerrycaruso said:
I loaded some 147 grain 9 mm for use in a pin match. I've done well with .45 auto in both revolvers and pistols. I've also done well with .44 special and .44 magnum revolvers but .38 special will not reliably knock down the pins. If the 9mm isn't enough, I'll try a .357 magnum revolver. The 10 mm also works well.
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I’ve never shot pins but is it more of a game of speed or weight?
If 2 loads have the same energy but one has a heavier bullet moving slower does that work better?
If that’s the case have you tried some 200 grain bullets in the 38?
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
I’ve never shot pins but is it more of a game of speed or weight?
If 2 loads have the same energy but one has a heavier bullet moving slower does that work better?
If that’s the case have you tried some 200 grain bullets in the 38?
Click to expand...
big slow and a flat nose work well on pins.
You want as much energy transfered to the pin. Faster loads can go right through them.
i miss being able to shoot pins....
 
Not nearby for most of you, but Sprague R&G (Baltic, CT) holds pistol pin matches; open to the public.
Pistol Shooters – Sprague Rod and Gun Club
Most shoot two guns, revolver and semi-auto. It's $5 per firearm.
If you only want to shoot one gun, you can, but you'll do less shooting as they run each type separately, ie. revolvers shoot against revolvers, S-A against S-A.
Afterwards, they do a poker match where you shoot at printed cards. Highest hand wins some cash.
 
I tried a 7.62x25 but it went right through without knocking them down. The .38 was not reliable. 10mm .44 and .45 work well. I want to see if the 9mm with heavy bullets will be enough. If not, I'll try a .357 with 180 grain hollow points. These matches are at Shirley and are open to the public. The match is shot with a rimfire rifle and a center fire handgun.
 
Made a new powder through expander plug (Lee) for a Lee 356-120TC mold that I opened up to 358 and removed the lube groove on.

Found out what it takes to break a 3d printed bullet seating die - push a .357 sized WW bullet past the expanded portion - it only lasted a couple of thousand rounds before I broke it, not bad for $0.11 of plastic
 
gerrycaruso said:
I loaded some 147 grain 9 mm for use in a pin match. I've done well with .45 auto in both revolvers and pistols. I've also done well with .44 special and .44 magnum revolvers but .38 special will not reliably knock down the pins. If the 9mm isn't enough, I'll try a .357 magnum revolver. The 10 mm also works well.
Click to expand...
My club doesn't allow 38 special for pins. To much bounce back. 9mm is the minimum allowed.
 
Cast a bunch of Lyman 457132 and more RCBS 44-250K
Cast and coated some .433" round balls for the double ball 44 loads.
Paper patched a bunch of lee 457-405s. I'll most likely paper patch the 457132s also.
Lube sized a bunch of RCBS 44-250K that I cast earlier this week.
Should keep me going for a couple range sessions.
 
headednorth said:
Came across a couple of these while loading 9mm. Looks like a 22lr case found it's way into a 9mm case and was loaded and fired. I usually eyeball the powder as I'm setting the bullet and these looked extra full. Upon closer inspection I found there was a case within a case which i assumed to be some other caliber closer in diameter to 9mm. Pulled it apart and it was 22lr. Came across a second one a little while later.
ETA- or maybe the 22 case ended up in there and the expander ball crushed it during sizing to match the id of the 9mm case?
View attachment 299317 View attachment 299318 View attachment 299319
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Update for anyone who cares [laugh]...
Saw this in real time tonight. Happened to see a .22lr case fall down the tube from the 650 case feeder so I eyeballed station 1 until a 9mm case appeared with the .22 case inside. So Im thinking what happens is I sort with those plastic screen things and usually end up with the last screen full of 9mm (and some 380 :mad:)and a bunch of .22lr and dirt and debris in the 5 gallon bucket in the bottom. Apparently sometimes a .22 case lays inside a 9mm case and ends up making its way into the case feeder and eventually in a 9mm case in the shellholder plate where it gets expanded in the sizing process. I had originally assumed it was in a loaded case when it was fired and thats how it ended up being expanded to the i.d. of the 9mm case but thats not the case. Mystery solved I guess.
 
Finally picked up some AA5744 and loaded up some 173gn( 170 with my alloy) lyman flat nose cast bullets to try on the 1903a3.
I also finally figured out how to do a snap shot of a screen on the PC
XV8KKh1.jpg

Lyman Cast Handbook put this load at 1950fps so the data with Quick loads is pretty close at 2057fps. Maybe I can find time to break out the crony and test these.


zoYK1tN.jpg
 
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Have been having issues with leading in 9mm - had run out of my old stash of lead so I thought the new lead was the issue (range lead sweetened with 2% tin). I picked up some straight wheel weight - no fix.
Modded a mold to increase diameter to .358 and remove the lube groove for coating and cast up 10lbs of wheel weight last weekend. Was going to cast up 10lbs of my range lead alloy and coat everything yesterday.

Got the pot started and the toaster oven warmed up - Ready to go? Nope, when i grabbed my Hi Tek to start coating I noticed that there was something in the bottom of the bottle (getting low so I could actually see it).

The coating that I have been using had all of the polymer congealed at the bottom - the coloring mixed and made great looking bullets but with no lube protection at all.

My fault for mixing large batches - my habit of topping off the old mix with new batch probably makes it much worse by providing a seed of old polymer to attach to.

Ordered some Bronze but won't be able to do anything until I get back from travel - As a consolation, I loaded up 100 90g XTP.
 
pastera said:
Have been having issues with leading in 9mm - had run out of my old stash of lead so I thought the new lead was the issue (range lead sweetened with 2% tin). I picked up some straight wheel weight - no fix.
Modded a mold to increase diameter to .358 and remove the lube groove for coating and cast up 10lbs of wheel weight last weekend. Was going to cast up 10lbs of my range lead alloy and coat everything yesterday.

Got the pot started and the toaster oven warmed up - Ready to go? Nope, when i grabbed my Hi Tek to start coating I noticed that there was something in the bottom of the bottle (getting low so I could actually see it).

The coating that I have been using had all of the polymer congealed at the bottom - the coloring mixed and made great looking bullets but with no lube protection at all.

My fault for mixing large batches - my habit of topping off the old mix with new batch probably makes it much worse by providing a seed of old polymer to attach to.

Ordered some Bronze but won't be able to do anything until I get back from travel - As a consolation, I loaded up 100 90g XTP.
Click to expand...


Funny you should post this. I have some mix from last year. I went to coat some bullets yesterday and the color was all hardened to the bottom of the bottle. This is the first time I've ever seen this.
I've had stuff mixed up for long periods of time with no issue. Usually I mix up new stuff from time to time and add it to what I have some maybe not adding any for over a year did this batch in. So I grabbed some dark green/gold I had mixed up from around this time last year and coated without any issues. Weird.

If you're ever short on coating and need some to get you through let me know. I have plenty.
 
pastera said:
Have been having issues with leading in 9mm - had run out of my old stash of lead so I thought the new lead was the issue (range lead sweetened with 2% tin). I picked up some straight wheel weight - no fix.
Modded a mold to increase diameter to .358 and remove the lube groove for coating and cast up 10lbs of wheel weight last weekend. Was going to cast up 10lbs of my range lead alloy and coat everything yesterday.

Got the pot started and the toaster oven warmed up - Ready to go? Nope, when i grabbed my Hi Tek to start coating I noticed that there was something in the bottom of the bottle (getting low so I could actually see it).

The coating that I have been using had all of the polymer congealed at the bottom - the coloring mixed and made great looking bullets but with no lube protection at all.

My fault for mixing large batches - my habit of topping off the old mix with new batch probably makes it much worse by providing a seed of old polymer to attach to.

Ordered some Bronze but won't be able to do anything until I get back from travel - As a consolation, I loaded up 100 90g XTP.
Click to expand...
Your coating issue aside, leading is generally more bullet size vs alloy
Not to you push them past the need for a gas check.

I would say these coatings are like anything mixed. Sits to long and settles out . Any type of contamination and you have problems
 

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