What did you do in the reloading room recently?

gerrycaruso said:
Thanks mac. I tried Trailboss and though the velocity was what I was after, accuracy wasn't great. I have that article on cast bullets in the .25/20. It's a pleasant little round and I'll keep at it.
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I dont have a lot of experience with smaller cast , 32SW is the smallest
Im going to guess a balance between lighter bullets and powder charges.
Plus finding a powder that fills the case the most near your velocity?
Un related but I get some pretty good results shooting as heavy bullet as I can as slow as powder charges data shows have given very good accuracy out to 100 yards
 
Mudflap621 said:
I’ve got the top and shelves cut out. Gonna put one more coat of poly on them tonight. Thinking I’m gonna paint the frame either green or black to break it up. Pretty soon you all will be able to resume your reloading. 🙄View attachment 460160
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That’s a beautiful reloading bench!! Nice job man! I’m jealous...
 
Thank you! I’m very pleased how it’s coming out and trying not to rush. Between kids and work it’s hard not to just say eff it and slam together lol. My plan is to paint the walls white and do the bottom half in corrugated metal or pallet slats I got hanging around. ADD58F6B-D1D9-4A71-800D-CB8A7356C69A.jpeg

ok enough pictures of wood someone show me some freedom seeds!
 
Mudflap621 said:
Thank you! I’m very pleased how it’s coming out and trying not to rush. Between kids and work it’s hard not to just say eff it and slam together lol. My plan is to paint the walls white and do the bottom half in corrugated metal or pallet slats I got hanging around.View attachment 460176

ok enough pictures of wood someone show me some freedom seeds!
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Are you going to band that cut edge ?
i made a oak counter top similar to your bench. I covered the cut edge in oak strips
Im no finish wood worker!
Then I found stick on edge banding after
 
Mac means are you going to cover the plywood edge with wood strips. You can get stick on that you heat with an iron of glue and nail wood strips. It's a work bench. I wouldn't bother. I cast and loaded some 439186 for the .43 Spanish. Some with 5744 and some with black powder. At .439 they seem undersized but that's the largest diameter that will chamber and it's what many use. Maybe the black powder will bump it up a bit. We'll see tomorrow.
 
gerrycaruso said:
Mac means are you going to cover the plywood edge with wood strips. You can get stick on that you heat with an iron of glue and nail wood strips. It's a work bench. I wouldn't bother. I cast and loaded some 439186 for the .43 Spanish. Some with 5744 and some with black powder. At .439 they seem undersized but that's the largest diameter that will chamber and it's what many use. Maybe the black powder will bump it up a bit. We'll see tomorrow.
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Would look good , seeing he polly coated and all. Being a work bench I might put a oak strip that sits just proud ofcthe surface to keep things from rolling off
 
mac1911 said:
Would look good , seeing he polly coated and all. Being a work bench I might put a oak strip that sits just proud ofcthe surface to keep things from rolling off
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Ah that sounds nice but no plans to do that. It’s gonna get all beat up anyways, if I make it too nice I won’t wanna use it😂. I’m hoping the poly will creat a bit of barrier to minimize staining but we’ll see. I had it laying around and figured it wouldn’t hurt.

I got a clean batch of 6.5 brass that I’m going to help a buddy start working up a load for. I picked up some SMK 107 and H4350 hopefully we can find something acceptable for him and start stacking components.
 
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I put a factory crimp on all of my out of spec Scorpio.
Dies came today and figured I’d start with something simple. Get my feet wet, if you will. Considering my loading bench is the couch and a Lee breech lock hand press, we’ll call it a win. Maybe tomorrow I’ll de-prime some of the brass I’ve been saving. Baby steps.

This was the absolute worst time to get in to this all, but it’s just where I was in my progression with the hobby. Thanks to all who helped me source the ingredients,
I can now roll my own.
 
Mudflap621 said:
Thank you! I’m very pleased how it’s coming out and trying not to rush. Between kids and work it’s hard not to just say eff it and slam together lol. My plan is to paint the walls white and do the bottom half in corrugated metal or pallet slats I got hanging around.View attachment 460176

ok enough pictures of wood someone show me some freedom seeds!
Click to expand...
Looks good. The first bench I built had to be about 12 feet long, nowhere as sharp as looking as yours. But, it became a dumping ground for everything. Wife walk through, dump something on top. Daughters get back from the range, dump something on top of it. Never stopped. They would irritate the crap out of me. Now that I am thinking about it, maybe they are doing it just to drive me to the grave quicker?
Anyways, ended up building another bench for reloading, 5 feet long this time. I think, maybe a little shorter. This one stays cleaner.
 
Off to GIbrass in Owensboro, KY in an hour to pick up a few jugs of BR-5 pistol powder. Gas cost round trip is $32.00, which is cheaper that the hazmat fee and shipping, plus I get to visit with Jeff whom I haven't seen in several years for a while. A "ROAD TRIP" well worth taking.

EDIT: Back home. Got four 6lb jugs of BR-5, all same lot number. The stuff is selling out quickly or maybe even sold out at this point. Jeff showed me two six inch thick stacks of invoices to be filled AND he's got a 1000lb order to fill for a commercial reloader in Alabama yet.
He said he's had people stop in after driving from Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Kansas City, MO, several from KY and he said one guy drove 14 1/2 hours one way from Melbourne, FL to pick up just TWO JUGS!!! Crazy!!

Anyway, this should last me a good long while

Note: This is new surplus powder made in Serbia designed specifically for loading 9mm Nato ammo. He said it was tested at a lab and data was worked up and tested for a few other calibers. He will send you a data sheet if you send him an email with "BR-5 Data Sheet" in the title. His email is on his website, gibrass.com

BR-5

Pistol Powder


Caliber Bullet Charge Velocity

9x19 115gr FMJ 4.6 – 5.6 gr. 1010 – 1150 fps

9x19 124gr FMJ 4.7 – 5.4 gr. 960 – 1080 fps


38 Spl 125gr JHP 5.6 – 6.2 gr. 1009 – 1109 fps

38 Spl 158gr LSWC 5.0 – 5.6 gr. 941 - 1046 fps

38 Spl 158gr XTP 5.0 – 5.6 gr. 877 – 973 fps

38 Spl+P 125gr XTP 5.7 – 6.7 gr. 1029 – 1180 fps


40 S&W 155gr XTP 6.8 – 7.3 gr. 1088 – 1165 fps

40 S&W 170gr FMJ 6.1 – 6.6 gr. 1005 - 1080 fps

40 S&W 200gr XTP 4.7 – 5.5 gr. 805 - 920 fps


10mm Auto 200gr XTP 6.8 – 7.8 gr. 1020 - 1110 fps


44 Spl 200gr XPB 7.2 – 8.0 gr. 860 – 950 fps


45ACP 185gr XTP 8.9 – 9.9 gr. 1037 - 1152 fps

45ACP 200gr FMJ 7.6 – 8.4 gr. 935 – 1040 fps

45ACP 230gr FMJ 6.5 – 7.5 gr. 805 – 870 fps

45ACP 250gr FP 5.7 – 6.7 gr. 745 - 820 fps
 
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Tallahassee said:
Looks good. The first bench I built had to be about 12 feet long, nowhere as sharp as looking as yours. But, it became a dumping ground for everything. Wife walk through, dump something on top. Daughters get back from the range, dump something on top of it. Never stopped. They would irritate the crap out of me. Now that I am thinking about it, maybe they are doing it just to drive me to the grave quicker?
Anyways, ended up building another bench for reloading, 5 feet long this time. I think, maybe a little shorter. This one stays cleaner.
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It takes real discipline to keep horizontal surfaces tidy. Same with having a bunch of drawers, or plastic totes. They just fill up with stuff and then unless you're labeling things or you keep the volume low enough to actually remember what's where, it's as good as gone.

I exclude mechanic's toolboxes from this, but things can only be one layer deep. As soon as you're stacking stuff in layers per drawer, it's time to either get another box or get rid of stuff.

I like the oil based Minwax poly for surfaces that are going to actually get used and abused. Have had good luck with it making various equipment racks out of framing lumber, moreso than with any water based finish or latex paint. Have had good luck with oil primer and oil paint for exterior use.

Remember when you could buy gallons of oil based house paint in MA? The good old days. :p
 
The black powder loads shot a little better than the smokeless in the .43 Spanish rolling block but I have a long way to go. I'm beginning to appreciate all the bullshit and expense The Goose goes through.
 
Picked up my cast bullets today. After shoving some bullets way into a few cases while trying to figure out how to crimp with the seating die, I finally got it.

First three 250gr .45 Colt HT cast bullets over 7.1gr of W572. Going to try and get 50 done today of increasing charges. I like the red. Might get green next time.

In other news, I over nighted a bullet puller to get my primers back. Each one counts. Who knows, might even be able to save the brass.

20210311_130137.jpg
 
p.. said:
It takes real discipline to keep horizontal surfaces tidy. Same with having a bunch of drawers, or plastic totes. They just fill up with stuff and then unless you're labeling things or you keep the volume low enough to actually remember what's where, it's as good as gone.

I exclude mechanic's toolboxes from this, but things can only be one layer deep. As soon as you're stacking stuff in layers per drawer, it's time to either get another box or get rid of stuff.

I like the oil based Minwax poly for surfaces that are going to actually get used and abused. Have had good luck with it making various equipment racks out of framing lumber, moreso than with any water based finish or latex paint. Have had good luck with oil primer and oil paint for exterior use.

Remember when you could buy gallons of oil based house paint in MA? The good old days. :p
Click to expand...

Just as an aside, @one-eyed Jack at the Mill posted that he had a tenant move out, leaving gallons of paint that he'd like to get rid of...
 
Klal said:
First three 250gr .45 Colt HT cast bullets over 7.1gr of W572. Going to try and get 50 done today of increasing charges. I like the red. Might get green next time.
Click to expand...
You might find it more productive to adjust you seater die where the proper amount of crimp is applied and then add a shim under the lock nut when seating your bullets. The shim will keep the internal crimp from contacting the case mouth.
When all of your bullet seating is done, apply the crimp in a separate step by backing out your top punch and removing the shim.
IOW, seat and crimp in two steps. This will avoid crimping the bullet as you're still seating it.

And yes, undamaged cases with improperly seated bullets can be reclaimed. Pull the bullets, resize the case and continue the process ...

Shoot that fourth round in your .45 Nagant revolver (just kidding!).
 
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NavelOfficer said:
You might find it more productive to adjust you seater die where the proper amount of crimp is applied and then add a shim under the lock nut when seating your bullets. The shim will keep the internal crimp from contacting the case mouth.
When all of your bullet seating is done, apply the crimp in a separate step by backing out your top punch and removing the shim.
IOW, seat and crimp in two steps. This will avoid crimping the bullet as you're still seating it.

And yes, undamaged cases with improperly seated bullets can be reclaimed. Pull the bullets, resize the case and continue the process ...

Shoot that fourth round in your .45 Nagant revolver (just kidding!).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I actually ended up unscrewing the entire adjuster out of the seating/crimping die, removed the punch,, and just tightened down the lock nut. Figured that way I wouldn't have any possibility of seating the bullet deeper.

I figure I would just make crimping an extra step. Still just using the hand press for everything. Really didn't like the lack of feeling on the bench mounted press. For my small scale loading, it's plenty fast for me.
 

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