What did you do in the reloading room recently?

[meh]

Wow, you're right. I got it down to 1.654" in Hornady short 44 magnum brass (trimmed to 1.260") that I had saved from shooting LEVERevolution rounds. Still too long for my Henry, though it was a close thing. Didn't think the Ruger 44 had a chance in hell with it. Yeah, so these bullets are for single shot use in the Henry and CVA and in my model 69. Good to know. At least I don't have to verify that they are safe in a tubular magazine. The real risk of injury in tubular magazines probably has more to do with the frustration that might ensue than a chain fire.

 

[TrashcanDan]

Amassed another 20 or lbs for the burn this spring

 

[whacko]

I can definitely see that from your point of view.

VV claims that their powders have both flash and copper fouling suppressants. Spare no expense. I'm not sure I've seen more flash with anything than 2400. I want to say it's flashier than H110. I do kinda like it as well, and it entertains the onlookers.

More flash than h110? Damn.

 

[1903Collector]

Ordered two 50 count boxes of Lehigh .458 300 grain solids. At $1.04 a bullet, I gotta be outta my mind. What have I gotten myself into!! This .458 Socom adventure is easily turning out to be the most costly firearm project ever for me.

 

[pastera]

Ordered two 50 count boxes of Lehigh .458 300 grain solids. At $1.04 a bullet, I gotta be outta my mind. What have I gotten myself into!! This .458 Socom adventure is easily turning out to be the most costly firearm project ever for me.

Now you just have to buy/build a CNC lathe to make your own

 

[1903Collector]

Hmmm....Mini-lathe????? Nope just walk away!!!!!

 

[pastera]

Hmmm....Mini-lathe????? Nope just walk away!!!!!

Come on - all of us need just one more rabbit hole to pump money into...

I'm looking at CNCing my micro Mill in the near future. Not certain about the mini-lathe just yet.

 

[1903Collector]

Come on - all of us need just one more rabbit hole to pump money into...

I am, it's called 50 Beowulf. I'm really digging the whole big bore AR scene.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I just fired up the lead pot. I'm casting 270 grain hollow base for the .455 Webley and 405 grain hollow base for the .45/70 trapdoor.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

I just fired up the lead pot. I'm casting 270 grain hollow base for the .455 Webley and 405 grain hollow base for the .45/70 trapdoor.

Pics or it didn’t happen.

 

[jek]

Loaded 400 rds of 9mm on my turret press. It’s times like this I start thinking progressive, but the ROI doesn’t cut it.

Switching over to 30-06.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Loaded 400 rds of 9mm on my turret press. It’s times like this I start thinking progressive, but the ROI doesn’t cut it.

Switching over to 30-06.

You need to load more.
Or find a deal on a progressive.

 

[peterk123]

You need to load more.
Or find a deal on a progressive.

I started with 9mm on a turret. It was torture because we were going through about a 1000 rounds per month. Bought a red progressive. Now I can do 400 or 500 rounds in an hour. Still have a hard time keeping up with the demand of this shooting family but its my fault. I keep buying new guns.

I still use the turret (Lee) but it is for priming rifle rounds, and depriming rifle rounds. I had it setup to exclusively to do 357 mag, but then I got a Henry Big Boy. All of a sudden we are going through hundreds of rounds of 357 per session. So it got set up on the progressive. Whoever said you do not save money reloading was not kidding. But then again, I would hate to have to purchase all of these from a retail outlet like Cabelas


Pete

 

[pastera]

You need to load more.
Or find a deal on a progressive.

Loaded 400 rds of 9mm on my turret press. It’s times like this I start thinking progressive, but the ROI doesn’t cut it.

Switching over to 30-06.

Pushed out 500+ rounds of 9mm in less than 2 hours last week on my loadmaster.
I could have done more but ran out of sized bullets (fixed that by casting up 20lbs later in the week)

You can pickup a Pro1000 for under $200 with all of the dies and powder drop - grab for something that you plan to reload and then pick up a turret and shell plate for 9mm.
So for about $225 you can have a progressive with a new caliber on your bench.

 

[meh]

Henry Big Boy 44 Carbine	16.5" Barrel	37 deg F
Bullet	Powder	Charge	1	2	3	4	5	n	max	min	es	average	stdev
Hornady 240gr JTC-SIL	N110	20.5	1634	1635	1651	1604	1638	5	1651	1604	47	1632	17.3
Hornady 240gr JTC-SIL	N110	20.5	1629	1631	1657	1591	n/a	4	1657	1591	66	1627	27.2
Hornady 240gr JTC-SIL	N110	21.0	1635	1676	1673	1668	1666	5	1676	1635	41	1664	16.5
Hornady 240gr JTC-SIL	N110	21.0	1679	1687	1693	1666	1679	5	1693	1666	27	1681	10.2
Hornady 240gr JTC-SIL	H110	22.5	1510	1543	1526	1529	1543	5	1543	1510	33	1530	13.7
Hornady 240gr JTC-SIL	H110	23.0	1639	1640	1632	1632	undet	4	1640	1632	8	1636	4.3
ZBC 240gr JSP	H110	22.5	1561	1490	1528	1529	1464	5	1561	1464	97	1514	37.8
Sierra 210gr JHC	H110	26.0	1816	1838	1828	1855	1822	5	1855	1816	39	1832	15.3
Sierra 210gr JHC	2400	22.0	1833	1798	1813	1803	1787	5	1833	1787	46	1807	17.4
Sierra 210gr JHC	2400	22.5	1831	undet	1839	1825	1839	4	1839	1825	14	1834	6.8
Sierra 210gr JHC	2400	23.0	1868	1870	1884	1896	1890	5	1896	1868	28	1882	12.3
Sierra 180gr JHC	2400	24.0	1928	1994	1973	1953	1952	5	1994	1928	66	1960	24.8
Sierra 180gr JHC	2400	24.5	1992	1970	2071	2032	2062	5	2071	1970	101	2025	43.7
Sierra 180gr JHC	2400	25.0	2060	2066	2037	2039	2026	5	2066	2026	40	2046	16.8

Decided to go ahead and shoot my test rounds today. Had a bad day in terms of marksmanship, either that, or the rifle was letting me down (it hasn't been quite the same since Henry re-barreled it), so I'm not factoring any of that in here. But the chrono results are still interesting, at least.

I thought the 21gr N110 loads with the 240gr bullets were good, but so were the 23gr H110 loads. The dup in that string was detected as such (the ones labeled as "undet" were clearly undetected by the chrono), but my guess is that it was a bit of a lucky string rather than something that would repeat.

The ZBC 240gr H110 loads with 22.5gr H110 were apparently a little light. I've been shooting 240 grainers over 22.5gr H110 for awhile, but these were more than 5% slower on average than I measured in October, and the standard deviation was doubled. The large increase in the average velocity going from 22.5 to 23 grains makes me suspect that, while the 22.5 grain load might burn nicely enough in warmer weather, it is possibly a little sluggish in the cold, requiring a bit higher pressure to make it burn more efficiently.

Again, with the 2400 loads, there is one string with an undetected shot that seems almost too good. At any rate, in most cases 2400 performed rather well.

 

[p..]

Wow. Those must knock the daylights out of steel.

How do you measure powder? Some of those standard deviations are better than I get trickling up charges to the tenth.

 

[meh]

How do you measure powder? Some of those standard deviations are better than I get trickling up charges to the tenth.

I used the RCBS Chargemaster on the Sierra 180 and 210gr loads, so those were auto-trickled. It's just the easiest thing when making only 5 or so of each charge level. I think all the other loads were dropped from the Hornady powder measure. With a fine ball powder like H110 or fine stick powder like 2400, the powder drop is going to outperform (for consistency) anything that trickles to a selected weight, or so I think. With flake and not-so-fine stick powders the trickling method can win, depending on the particular powder.

BTW, the results of that study weren't as definitive as I hoped, but my feeling right now is that I will probably not restock H110/W296 once I've depleted my stock on hand. After that, I could standardize on N110 or 2400, either one. If I choose N110, I'll definitely consider 2400 the fall-back. Lots more data out there on 2400, anyway, though some of it is suspect because it is widely thought that 2400 of yore was a bit slower-burning.

 

[jek]

You need to load more.
Or find a deal on a progressive.

I only load 9 calibers so far, with 9mm being the highest volume, so I guess I am a slacker. I like the quick changeovers with the turret, but always am looking for a good deal on a progressive. I guess I need to shoot more of the other calibers .

 

[DW357]

I only load 9 calibers so far, with 9mm being the highest volume, so I guess I am a slacker. I like the quick changeovers with the turret, but always am looking for a good deal on a progressive. I guess I need to shoot more of the other calibers .

I got a Hornady progressive that I’ve been using since 2013. No issues yet and it’s a little cheaper than the Dillon.
If you shoot pistol calibers often you really need a progressive IMO. I would go nuts otherwise. YMMV.

 

[daekken]

I got a Hornady progressive that I’ve been using since 2013. No issues yet and it’s a little cheaper than the Dillon.
If you shoot pistol calibers often you really need a progressive IMO. I would go nuts otherwise. YMMV.

I did a whole 100 round of 38spl on the single stage the other day...

 

[jek]

I did a whole 100 round of 38spl on the single stage the other day...

I bet they took a few minutes to do.

 

[whacko]

I bet they took a few minutes to do.

I can make 100 rounds of 38 357 or 45acp on about 45 minutes to an hour on a ss Lee.

 

[TrashcanDan]

Loaded 400 rds of 9mm on my turret press. It’s times like this I start thinking progressive, but the ROI doesn’t cut it.

Switching over to 30-06.

Unfortunately, its a necessary evil. The more you shoot, the faster you'll want to reload it. The more you reload, the more you'll want a faster more efficient way to do it. Its a never ending cycle. I can now fully appreciate those that have the automated set ups. Even with a 550 and doing all the brass prep beforehand, I still have to set aside 5 or so hours to get done what I need to.
Throw in bullet casting and its almost a full time job.

I did a whole 100 round of 38spl on the single stage the other day...

Been there, I feel your pain

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

I only load 9 calibers so far, with 9mm being the highest volume, so I guess I am a slacker. I like the quick changeovers with the turret, but always am looking for a good deal on a progressive. I guess I need to shoot more of the other calibers .

Grab yourself a Dillon 550 and don’t look back. You won’t regret the investment.

 

[headednorth]

I only load 9 calibers so far, with 9mm being the highest volume, so I guess I am a slacker. I like the quick changeovers with the turret, but always am looking for a good deal on a progressive. I guess I need to shoot more of the other calibers .

Grab yourself a Dillon 550 and don’t look back. You won’t regret the investment.

Loading 9mm on a single stage was what put me over the edge and into a 650. Im cheap as hell but I bit the bullet, got the set up I wanted with the accessories I wanted, cried once and now I cant imagine going back. There are calibers I still load on a single stage and in a lot of ways its relaxing to methodically go through the process but for bulk stuff like 9mm and 223 where I just want to bang out as much as possible, nfw could I load on a single any more.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Loading 9mm on a single stage was what put me over the edge and into a 650. Im cheap as hell but I bit the bullet, got the set up I wanted with the accessories I wanted, cried once and now I cant imagine going back. There are calibers I still load on a single stage and in a lot of ways its relaxing to methodically go through the process but for bulk stuff like 9mm and 223 where I just want to bang out as much as possible, nfw could I load on a single any more.

My cousin just did basically the same thing with a 550. He said the only thing he regretted was not doing it sooner. He’s a pretty low volume reloader too.
I still run single stage for stuff like 44 special and I actually like it.
I hate going into the reloading room and I’m out of bullets and brass because I cranked out too many on the 550. Going slow gives me something to do all the time.

Don’t get me wrong I’m never going to do 9 or 38 single stage. I shoot too much of that.

 

[daekken]

I might put some of my tax return towards a progressive. It would really be for 223/9mm with a possibility of 38spl. I'm still mainly an "oddball military caliber" reloader. Nevertheless, I still shoot plenty of 9mm and 223 through. I've been saying "I could get a progressive" for 2-3 years now.

 

[TrashcanDan]

I might put some of my tax return towards a progressive. It would really be for 223/9mm with a possibility of 38spl. I'm still mainly an "oddball military caliber" reloader. Nevertheless, I still shoot plenty of 9mm and 223 through. I've been saying "I could get a progressive" for 2-3 years now.

Been bouncing that around for a few years too.
750 looks like a good option.
Problem is, every time I set money aside for one, the firearms dealer I frequent has something in the case that jumps out at me, or an add in the "wts" pops up.
I have to stop going to both of those.

 

[meh]

My 9mm comes to me the same way as my rimfire ammo. For reloading purposes, I'm still living under the basement stairs at the Dursley's, so I have to consider space, and I would definitely have to get a progressive press to consider reloading very much 9mm.

 

[jek]

Problem is, every time I set money aside for one, the firearms dealer I frequent has something in the case that jumps out at me, or an add in the "wts" pops up.

That's been part of why I haven't switched yet either. It's getting to the point where I will likely have to buy another safe before a progressive press.