What did you do in the reloading room recently?

[Klal]

Thanks everyone. I tried some of the 223 in my AR and they did fine without a crimp. Plenty of neck tension to hold the 55gr bullets in place.

Traded a box of primers for 1,500 55gr soft points today. Going to try these for midrange coyote.

Also, I've been bitten by the .300 BLK bug and I decided that I could use an AR pistol before creepy uncle Joe starts talking again. Went to a few shops and couldn't find a lower. Time to turn some primers into one...

 

[DW357]

My supply of zero brand jsp is under 500 now and the supplier I use is out and has been forever.

My 2k 158 gr JSPs showed up today unannounced. No tracking number was sent to me but my CC was charged on Thursday.
Get your order in! I backordered them in January.
$206 for 2k shipped is insanely good. I don’t know how they’ve been able to keep the same prices for so long. I’ve been buying since 2013-14 and they haven’t gone up in price.

I’m good for a bit now. I think I have like 3700ish JSPs/JHPs

 

[Klal]

My 2k 158 gr JSPs showed up today unannounced. No tracking number was sent to me but my CC was charged on Thursday.
Get your order in! I backordered them in January.
$206 for 2k shipped is insanely good. I don’t know how they’ve been able to keep the same prices for so long. I’ve been buying since 2013-14 and they haven’t gone up in price.

I’m good for a bit now. I think I have like 3700ish JSPs/JHPs
View attachment 473789

Damn. Hope you tip your FedEx guy.

 

[whacko]

My 2k 158 gr JSPs showed up today unannounced. No tracking number was sent to me but my CC was charged on Thursday.
Get your order in! I backordered them in January.
$206 for 2k shipped is insanely good. I don’t know how they’ve been able to keep the same prices for so long. I’ve been buying since 2013-14 and they haven’t gone up in price.

I’m good for a bit now. I think I have like 3700ish JSPs/JHPs
View attachment 473789

So the place we have been buying zero brand allows backorders?

 

[DW357]

Damn. Hope you tip your FedEx guy.

Lol I should. If I’m home I usually meet him at the gate so he doesn’t have to lug it all the way into my porch. But I was at a USPSA match today when it came.

 

[DW357]

So the place we have been buying zero brand allows backorders?

Yessir. Give Kristy or Alison a call and they’ll get the back order placed for you.
I ordered these on 1/18 so exactly 3 months. I don’t know if it’s an even longer wait now but I would at least get the order in and start the clock.
They don’t charge your card until it ships so it’s not like you have to eat the cost upfront

 

[mac1911]

Seriously I prefer the Lee factory crimp die.

Really depends on what tour doing.
I like the Hornady seating crimp die on my 30-06 cast loads. It just seems to put a nice even crimp all around. Vs the lee that leaves those tiny slots from the crimp die and needing to put 25lbs or so on the handle. I do use lee crimp dies for some stuff

 

[mac1911]

Compensator - not worthy of a suppressor here in the communist republic.
Wanted a brake that I could be more polite tto other shooters when the range is crowded.
Was pretty cheap but they didn't deburr the ports so I'm going to spend an hour with riffling files and cold blue.

Theres really no nice brakes ir comps to the others. If noise and flying brass bother you/someone/us/me its time to go home

 

[mac1911]

Damn. Hope you tip your FedEx guy.

Come on one box at 45lbs ......
Old lady at the USPS would stack the 50lb boxes of lead on a dolly and drag them to my truck and not break a sweat.
I asked her once why she always did it
With a heavy smokers voice she says
“Cause they are f***ing pussies” as she gave that little nod in the other guys direction.
I laughed my ass off , reminded me of my grandmother.
And yes I tipped her in cartons of cigarettes. Every other shipment.
I tried tipping the fedex guy once when I was stacking up as much 30-06 from the cmp as I could afford. I slapped him $20 and he said no, give it to your kids.
I once tossed a $20 through his window as he drove away and the sob mailed it back to me. Fun days , thats when you had “your” driver. I get different drivers every shipment now. Well I dont get alot of shipments these days.

I did get a small order of 308 from cmp Friday night but by the time the door brll stopped ringing he was already in the truck! Fast bastard

 

[Tallahassee]

Cast, coated and sized about 500 or so 9mm 130 grain RNFP.

If I remember correctly, you use hy-tek? How many coats are needed?

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

If I remember correctly, you use hy-tek? How many coats are needed?

Yessir.
I like 3 thin coats vs 2. Seems to get better coverage but that’s really all aesthetics.

 

[Tallahassee]

Yessir.
I like 3 thin coats vs 2. Seems to get better coverage but that’s really all aesthetics.

Would you say it's quicker than powder coat? Easier/cleaner?

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Would you say it's quicker than powder coat? Easier/cleaner?

Much easier and cleaner. I never did the shake and bake PC but I used electrostatic gun to apply it.
The shake and bake is easier but I just don’t trust the product. PC can be made from tons to different materials. It can have all kinds of weird chemicals and additives for different applications.

Not to mention it doesn’t cure. You can heat it back up and melt it and it can melt it with solvents. That doesn’t give me confidence when I’m putting it down a hot bore.

Hi-Tek was designed to coat bullets. It applies very easily and evenly. It doesn’t have thick inconsistent coverage. Once it’s cured there’s not melting it with heat or solvents.

It’s well worth looking into. Way less mess. No nasty PC dust floating around shortening your life. You mix it with acetone so there’s that smell to deal with but that’s the only downside.

Where are you located? I could toss you a small bottle to mess around with to try coating some.

 

[allen-1]

Ah okay, a little googling shows linear compensators.

The first time I shot next to someone with a short barrel AR that had a normal side port compensator, I was astonished at the concussion. It was like getting smacked in the side of the head. I had double earpro so it wasn't ringing my ears, but it was definitely shaking my vision.

I've got a linear comp on my "office gun" for just that reason.

 

[Tallahassee]

Much easier and cleaner. I never did the shake and bake PC but I used electrostatic gun to apply it.
The shake and bake is easier but I just don’t trust the product. PC can be made from tons to different materials. It can have all kinds of weird chemicals and additives for different applications.

Not to mention it doesn’t cure. You can heat it back up and melt it and it can melt it with solvents. That doesn’t give me confidence when I’m putting it down a hot bore.

Hi-Tek was designed to coat bullets. It applies very easily and evenly. It doesn’t have thick inconsistent coverage. Once it’s cured there’s not melting it with heat or solvents.

It’s well worth looking into. Way less mess. No nasty PC dust floating around shortening your life. You mix it with acetone so there’s that smell to deal with but that’s the only downside.

Where are you located? I could toss you a small bottle to mess around with to try coating some.

Sounds interesting. I need to order some more PC, maybe I will order some of this to try out instead. I have had good luck with powder coat, but I find I make a mess with it. As far as where I am located, I'm in Sterling, but I work in Wareham currently. I must have irritated my superintendent.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Sounds interesting. I need to order some more PC, maybe I will order some of this to try out instead. I have had good luck with powder coat, but I find I make a mess with it. As far as where I am located, I'm in Sterling, but I work in Wareham currently. I must have irritated my superintendent.

You will love HT coating.
I like right near wareham so if there’s a day you want to meet up let me know and I’ll toss you a bottle to try out.

 

[jek]

Good couple of days at the turret press. Made 400rds. of .223 (55 gn. proj. over IMR 4895, 200 rds. of .45 acp ( 230 gn. proj. over CFE Pistol) and 300 rds. of 9 mm (115 gn. proj. over CFE Pistol).

 

[Tallahassee]

You will love HT coating.
I like right near wareham so if there’s a day you want to meet up let me know and I’ll toss you a bottle to try out.

I'm glad someone lives near Wareham, because I sure as hell don't!

 

[Uzi2]

Just received 1000 Berry's 147gr 9mm RN and 200 Hornady .45acp XTPs.

The .45 will be loaded before the weekend.....couple of rainy days coming up. The 9mm I'll usually do a hundred at a time in the early mornings having coffee.

 

[Klal]

Picked up another lower to jump on the .300 BLK pistol meme train.

Going to order some heavy bullets to make subsonics. Gotta get started on the tax stamp too for the can...

Picked up a sheet of pegboard this morning to help organize my reloading bench. Price increase on lumber is almost as bad as primers...

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

Realized that I had 1000 more CCI SP primers than I thought I did.

 

[kerryman71]

Haven't posted here in awhile. Hope everyone is doing well. Over the course of the last few days I reloaded 1,200 rounds of 9mm using RMR 124 grain FMJRN over 6.5 grains of HS6, using mixed brass and Fed 100 SPPs.

 

[whacko]

Made 50 rounds of 357 after dinner. Setting a goal of 50 rounds a night to build up the stockpile.

I'm liking unique powder.....have only made 357 mag with it so far but.....may test out some 45acp with unique eventually. What I'm liking about unique is mostly the value. Good....accurate.....true magnum loadings with only 8 to 9.4 grains per load. When I was using 2400 and h110 a can seemed to disappear even when making only 100 rounds with 16 to 22 grain charges. My math is telling me I can get about 800 rounds of 357 mag per can with Unique

 

[jpm]

Made 50 rounds of 357 after dinner. Setting a goal of 50 rounds a night to build up the stockpile.

I'm liking unique powder.....have only made 357 mag with it so far but.....may test out some 45acp with unique eventually. What I'm liking about unique is mostly the value. Good....accurate.....true magnum loadings with only 8 to 9.4 grains per load. When I was using 2400 and h110 a can seemed to disappear even when making only 100 rounds with 16 to 22 grain charges. My math is telling me I can get about 800 rounds of 357 mag per can with Unique

I was using unique for 45acp for a while and really liked it.

 

[TrashcanDan]

....may test out some 45acp with unique eventually.

It works in .45.
Just like everything else, results are all application based.
Tried it way back, heres what I found-

.45 acp is one of those odd cartridges that will work with anything. You could take an equal mix of sun-dried dog swirls from out in the yard, grind up some match heads with it ( Ohio blue tips work best) and launch a 230 gr head with enough oomph to cycle. Its one of my favoriteistist rounds to shoot in large quantities. Nothin says "wrong house" like 230 grains of hatred. I'll be buried with my .45.

Unique is one of those.....................unique........powders that have a broad application range. I think it goes from .25 acp all the way up to shotgun loads. I'm pretty sure theres some cast rifle loads out there too. Had really good luck with it in .44 spl and mag, but thats not this.

Heres what I ran into with .45 acp and unique.
It works fairly well with 230 gr heads. It works with 200's, but it was blah (for a lack of a better description)
It works with 250/ 255's but I had a bigger s.d./ f.p.s. spread and I was trying to hit a consistent p.f.
Played around with charge weights and o.a.l's and noticed it smoked a lot compared to other powders. What I pulled for parameters at the time was out of a Hornady manual, and I tried it in both jacketed 230's and cast 230's and 200's. Soot was another more noticeable by-product.
Probably not a huge deal or maybe more manageable if its slow/ slower fire type shooting.
Not ideal for rapid or speed shooting. Has a lot to do with barrel length and burn rate.
More noticable inside than outside. If you're going to try and run a 5/ 7/ 8/ 10 shot string, you'll notice you're shooting through a cloud. Not the best for an indoor plate or bowling pin match.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, just passing along a heads up of what I've run into with it.
I hope your results are better than mine.

 

[jpm]

Checked my notes and I was using 6.2gr of unique with 200gr Berry's bullets in 45acp and got good accuracy out of my 1911 with that.

 

[DW357]

I loaded some of these Sierra 170 gr 357 bullets I forgot I had. Unfortunately it seems the bullets are slightly undersized (my calipers say .3565”). Takes next to no effort to seat the bullets. They still move a little bit after a firm crimp when I press them against my bench.
Oh well. I only have 100 of them.

 

[Klal]

Just ordered a set of Hornady FL dies for .300 BLK. $38 new wasn't bad and already shipped.

Reloading for yey another caliber I don't even have a gun for yet.

I blame all of you.

 

[jpm]

I loaded some of these Sierra 170 gr 357 bullets I forgot I had. Unfortunately it seems the bullets are slightly undersized (my calipers say .3565”). Takes next to no effort to seat the bullets. They still move a little bit after a firm crimp when I press them against my bench.
Oh well. I only have 100 of them.
View attachment 474840

What is the load you're using with these Andrew? This is what I was using in my Marlin 357 carbine with 17+ gr of lil gun. Its a hot load for sure but was quite accurate.

I did not have the same issue with the sizing on them though, they loaded and crimped normally. Nice and tight. I bought the rest of the boxes Midway had when they discontinued these, I think I have 5 or 6 boxes so I hope they aren't undersized!

 

[DW357]

What is the load you're using with these Andrew? This is what I was using in my Marlin 357 carbine with 17+ gr of lil gun. Its a hot load for sure but was quite accurate.

I did not have the same issue with the sizing on them though, they loaded and crimped normally. Nice and tight. I bought the rest of the boxes Midway had when they discontinued these, I think I have 5 or 6 boxes so I hope they aren't undersized!

13.3 gr of 2400. The box looks like it’s from the 60s so maybe I got a bad batch?
Be interesting to see how they shoot. If they suck it’s only 100 Bullets