What did you do in the reloading room recently?

Maddawg1952 said:
Why not just put the shell in a wheel gun and fire off the primer ? Or did I miss something It's not like your trying to save the primer anyway .
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Many years ago after cleaning the breech plug on my muzzle loader I wanted to be sure the flash hole was clear for a hunt the next morning. I put a 209 primer in it and pointed it at the cement wall in my basement figuring when I fired it id see some gas from the primer come out the muzzle and I'd know for sure the flash hole was clear. I pulled the trigger and blam! A few tiny pieces of concrete flew all over the basement and my ears were ringing a little.......wife comes running down the stairs screaming "what happened"?!?! She turned the corner toward my reloading/gun cleaning area......I couldn't do anything but stand there a and blink and say "sorry sweetie.....wasn't expecting that". 😂

She wanted to crucify me.
 
andrew1220 said:
I didn't want to risk locking up the revolver (without pressure, the primer will blow/back out of the case against the recoil shield, and bind up the cylinder so it won't turn) so it's easier to just use a screwdriver and hammer [laugh]
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You sure about that?
The path of least resistance of a casing without a projectile is out the mouth of the casing - no?
 
For primers fully seated in a case that ends up being unusable (split case, etc). I'll fire off in a gun. It's not too loud but I wear ear pro anyway. If the primer is bent, destroyed I'll slowly deprime then hit it with a hammer to render inert. This is louder than shooting a blank but still not too bad. I've had one primer go off in my xl650, damn small primer 45 snuck it's way in. That scared the crap out of me.
 
I decided to load some of the 125 grain Zero JHPC's over Universal in 38 brass to shoot in my Rossi. Turns out I could crimp into the bottom of the cannelure at a COAL of 1.500". Loaded up a couple at 5.4 grains (which would be a regular +P load for 125 grain XTPs at a shorter COAL of 1.455) and in pairs in 0.2 grain increments up to 7.0 grains. I thought 7 grains at 1.500" COAL would take the pressure up over that of my 357 magnum loads, i.e. over 7.5 grains Universal, 1.605" COAL, but I was wrong.

I shot them today, and I was pleased. Velocity increased fairly linearly with the charge, from 1034 fps at the 5.4 grain level to 1353 at 7.0 grains, which came in under the 357 magnum velocity of 1416 fps. That surprised me a little. I thought I wouldn't even end up shooting the 7.0 grain loads. The primers were magnums in the 357 magnum cases, standard in the 38 cases, but still. Anyway, there's no real need to match velocity. Everything was copacetic. So I think I'll just use this in the Rossi for the time being.
 
My 200 grain lead .45 bullets showed up today so I loaded some light .45 Colt ammo for use in 3 of my .45 Colts that aren't very strong. A first generation Colt saa, a Schofield and an open top. I used BE-86 and the website said to use 8.3 grains. There was no start load so I reduced by about 15% and loaded 7 grains. I'll try them in the open top on Saturday morning. The 7 grain load was good but 7.5 grains was better and still light. I haven't had very good luck with Trailboss in other calibers but 8.5 grains and a 200 grain rnfp lead bullet worked great in the open top and was more accurate than BE-86. It hit exactly where I was aiming at 10 yards and I was able to hit the steel silhouette at 100 yards.
 
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peterk123 said:
Hmm... never really thought of that. Heck, i even use a my depriming die to push out unfired primers when needed. Wonder if anyone has had primers go off when reloading.
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I've read about mishaps, but I've never experienced one. I occasionally decap live primers with my resizing die, e.g. when I screw up the case mouth during flaring with the Hornady die because I was going too fast and didn't get the cartridge all the way into the holder. I pop it out slowly and carefully, though. This is partly to make sure it doesn't go off, partly not to deform it so that I can load the same primer into another case. I always wear eyepro when reloading but never earpro.
 
andrew1220 said:
I'm not entirely sure but it's something I've heard/read about over the years and didn't want to test it for myself [laugh]
Hammer and screwdriver it quick lol.
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It's happened to me. I had a 44 round with a plated bullet separate due to insufficient neck tension or inadequate crimp at the range (cannelures were very shallow with those plated bullets). Thought it would just be like shooting a cap gun (modulo the eyepro and earpro I was already wearing). The firing pin perforated the primer (Federal), and my gun was locked up until I got it home to jigger it open. First and last time for me. I'm not going to try it again to see if it was a fluke.

I have disposed of damaged primers outside with a hammer and granite slab.
 
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meh said:
It's happened to me. I had a 44 round with a plated bullet separate due to insufficient neck tension or inadequate crimp at the range (cannelures were very shallow with those plated bullets). Thought it would just be like shooting a cap gun (modulo the eyepro and earpro I was already wearing). The firing pin perforated the primer, and my gun was locked up until I got it home to jigger it open. First and last time for me. I'm not going to try it again to see if it was a fluke.

I have disposed of damaged primers outside with a hammer and granite slab.
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Yikes! Well glad I've avoided doing it myself. Thanks for chiming in with experience on the matter [laugh]
 
Sorted 3 batches of 38 357 brass from the tumbler. Then set down to resize and prime 400 38 spec cases and 100 45acp cases on the single stage.

Getting a bunch of 38 ready for some large batches once I settle on a 2400 powder charge

That took me through one Steve Rinella podcast lol
 
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Finally got the press base into my new reloading space and started setting up the press. The base is an old Hamilton electric drafting base that can raise, so no more bending over. The concrete blocks add additional ridigity so it won't be vibration when raised higher. So far I'm happy with how it's coming out.
 

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Andy in NH said:
You sure about that?
The path of least resistance of a casing without a projectile is out the mouth of the casing - no?
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The pressure of the primer forces against the primer pocket shoulder. The flash hole is a small part of that. So it’s easier for the primer to back out.
The pressure from the burning powder pushes the case back against the recoil shield reseating the primer.

When you shoot loads like glue or wax bullets without powder, the primers back out. So common practice is to drill the flash holes out to about 1/8” which remedies this.
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
The pressure of the primer forces against the primer pocket shoulder. The flash hole is a small part of that. So it’s easier for the primer to back out.
The pressure from the burning powder pushes the case back against the recoil shield reseating the primer.

When you shoot loads like glue or wax bullets without powder, the primers back out. So common practice is to drill the flash holes out to about 1/8” which remedies this.
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Thanks for the explanation.
 
Prepped several hundred .223 cases (ton more to do). It's been a while since I processed once fired .223, and I forgot what a joy it is to remove the primer crimps. Having a drill press and a Weldon bit does make quick work of it though. I'll prime and load these before prepping more cases.
 
peterk123 said:
Had a chance to take a few shots with the Marlin 45-70GBL and my 405 grain reloads with IMR3031. Yes!!!!!!! That is way too much fun. Have no idea if it is accurate yet, but honestly, it really did not matter. Standing and shooting that thing unsupported is something special :)
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I've fired a 45/70 one time. It was a Marlin lever action a guy was shooting at the club and he offered to let me shoot a few. I had always heard the recoil is stout .....but I was thinking like 308 bolt action kind it stout. Jeeezus I was shocked. Imo its almost comparable to 12 gauge slugs. Hell of a thumper.
 
peterk123 said:
Had a chance to take a few shots with the Marlin 45-70GBL and my 405 grain reloads with IMR3031. Yes!!!!!!! That is way too much fun. Have no idea if it is accurate yet, but honestly, it really did not matter. Standing and shooting that thing unsupported is something special :)
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Love it!
Try some max Marlin loads. The get really exciting at 2000 FPS
 
Love me some 45-70. So much to work with. My dad and I ran all sorts of experimental loads in it. We'd paper patch lead 45 ACP to get it up to .458. We did duplex loads (ultimately pointless but fun none the less)
For a while we tried seating the bullet into the chamber pressed into the rifling then set a cartridge with the powder held in with a cotton ball.
 
Fritz the Cat said:
Love me some 45-70. So much to work with. My dad and I ran all sorts of experimental loads in it. We'd paper patch lead 45 ACP to get it up to .458. We did duplex loads (ultimately pointless but fun none the less)
For a while we tried seating the bullet into the chamber pressed into the rifling then set a cartridge with the powder held in with a cotton ball.
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It’s so damn versatile. I’ve shot from single round balls to triple round balls to 575 grain round nose and everything in between.
I started to mess with some shotshell loads for fun but never got around to testing them.
 
I trianed in Uechi Ryu for several years, but I stopped training in 2012, I think it was. I figure if I start to miss getting hit in the shoulder, I'll get a 45/70 or 300 win mag or something like that and plink with it. (Video is not me, just a random one of a Sanchin "test").



Speaking of 45/70's that I've thought about buying but didn't think I personally could justify for my purpose, would somebody please buy Machine's Browning Miroku 1885 high-wall before I have to do it.
 
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whacko said:
Now that's interesting as hell. In the nosler manual it showed 3.5 bullseye as a mid range load and 4.1 as max for 158 jsp. This manual shows 3.4 as the minimum and can go up to 4.9! Damn maybe I did give up on bullseye too soon. According to this manual I was basically using the minimum load in the Henry.


Also according to this manual the 9 grains of 2400 I loaded is minimum and my Lyman stated that 9 grains is mid range. Now I'm worried the 9 grains of 2400 is going to give me the same problems.....well maybe it won't because 9 grains according to this manual will yield 850fps from a revolver. The velocity stated is well above what bullseye would have yielded. I can't wait to test the ones I made last night.

There is an * next to the 2400 chart......is that noting the "most accurate loads" like the Lyman manual does?

SMH
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I think the different load min/max is a work of testing methods/Material differences and liability . If you do not know the source of the testing its hard to say. Did they use a actual chamber pressure testing device or actually rig up a particular rifle/pistol to do chamber pressure tests?
 
mac1911 said:
WTF....ouch. So that pin looks hollow? almost looks like the pin was bottoming out on your case head and bent it ?
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The pin screws into the upper portion of the die, so that part is hollow.
There might have been a piece of debris (a small rock?) in the case that blocked the flash hole when I ran it through the decapping/resize die.
 
andrew1220 said:
I didn't want to risk locking up the revolver (without pressure, the primer will blow/back out of the case against the recoil shield, and bind up the cylinder so it won't turn) so it's easier to just use a screwdriver and hammer [laugh]
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the primer should not shift popping a primed empty case at least dont get that with the 38 and 32 ? shoot primer only wax bullets and you can have problems......I usually load up some confetti loads when I pop primers by means of the gun. Normally though I just deprime as usual.
Its actually a bit of surprise just how much pressure needs to hit the primer to set it of. Per design its not likely going to go off pushing it out vs seating they can pop. Even that is not a huge deal and just hurts your ears a bit
 

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