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What did you do in the reloading room recently?
- Thread starter DW357
- Start date
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
This is NES. No read. Just shitpost.
Shot practice plates last night brought the 629. The 240 grain cswc with 9.6 grains titegroup is a stout load! I still need to run this load through a chrono and see what the actual velocity is but they hammer the steel plates and the recoil DEFINITELY let's you know your shooting a 44 mag. I was worried about this load as it's a fast powder and I've been told it's a terrible powder for 44 mag. The spent case primers don't look any different than factory 44mag. They are a little "stickier" to eject than factory or other loads I've made but I can eject them with a hard slap with my hand.
Have to use cast projos with this load but 9.6 titegroup and a 240 cast projo is a hell of an economic 44 mag recipe.
Have to use cast projos with this load but 9.6 titegroup and a 240 cast projo is a hell of an economic 44 mag recipe.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Be careful with tite group. It gets spikey with top end loads
Yup I've heard that and that's why I was worried using it and why I checked the spent cases for over pressure signs. I'm not at the top of the load data for that recipe and have no plans to increase that charge. Got the data from hodgedon website. Max is 10 and I worked it up from 7. I weigh my charges when making this load as well to make sure.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Do you have any other powders to work with? Something much slower could get the same results without sticky extraction.
I do. H110 but no large mag primers and half a can of 2400 left. The goal was en economical 44 mag for plate banging fun and I think I've achieved it. Even at the 9 dollar per hundred primer prices I'm at about $15.50 per 50 round box making these. I've decided when I use up the last of these I'm going to drop the powder charge from 9.6 to about 9 just to be on the safe side. Max charge is 10 according to hodgedon
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
That’s a very good idea. If you just looking to make some noise, the steel pretty much sounds the same wether its getting hit at 800 ft./s or 1000 ft./s.
2400 is a great choice but you’ll use twice the powder.
If you can get your hands on some unique or a similar burn rate powder, you’ll be very happy.
Another option is order some wadcutters, which barely use any powder and you can use just about any fast burning pistol powder. A little pinch will do.
Lastly, you can find some 44 special or 44 Russian brass
loaded a ladder of .223 75gr hornadies from 24.0 to 24.6gr varget, will see how it will go. want to load up all those bullets and be done with them.
last time i shot them at 24gr base load - it was neither great nor bad, so, just will confirm best node and will load them all up, 6 or 7 boxes.
last time i shot them at 24gr base load - it was neither great nor bad, so, just will confirm best node and will load them all up, 6 or 7 boxes.
100 rounds 460 smith 200 gr ftx Hornady, large rifle mag primer and 45.5 grains H110.... boom
decided to process my pile of .223 brass that i assumed i had a lot, and to my kinda surprise - looks like it is not a lot at all, may be a 2K top, as i went to size/prime first 500.
was a good test for my lubrication adapter - it went very smooth, no stuck brass at all - last design seems to be quite good now, as oil usage is minimal, nothing drips, it just works.
so, primers will slowly migrate into brass now, will need to buy more.
was a good test for my lubrication adapter - it went very smooth, no stuck brass at all - last design seems to be quite good now, as oil usage is minimal, nothing drips, it just works.
so, primers will slowly migrate into brass now, will need to buy more.
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Made 100 45acp then started a batch of 44 mag in the tumbler.
Switched over the Hornady AP from 223 to 9mm. Cranked out 300 124gr RMR FMJFP over 4,3gr of W231. Deprimed and sized another 500 9mm cases. Wet tumbled. While waiting for them to finish, primed 400 cases off press. ( Have given up trying prime on the LNL. Have tried every tip/trick could find - none fixed it for long.)
100 168 gr 06
250 55 gr 223
1000 200 gr 45
that was my weekend
250 55 gr 223
1000 200 gr 45
that was my weekend
Made 50 45acp 200 grain lswc with titegroup at 4.5 grains. Last batch was 5 grains tutegroup and they were a bit hot for plate shooting. Like a milder load for speed shooting so dropped it to 4.5 and will test today. Will put out the chrono to see what I'm getting.
Made 50 44 mag 240 grain cast with 9 grains titegroup. This is dropped down from the last batch I made at 9.6 because I know TG is a fast spikey powder. Will chrono these today to see what I'm getting. My guess is 900fps but I'll see.
Made 50 44 mag 240 grain zero sjp with 19.5 grains 2400. These are for the ruger 44 carbine Will chrono these today as well.
Made 50 44 mag 240 grain cast with 9 grains titegroup. This is dropped down from the last batch I made at 9.6 because I know TG is a fast spikey powder. Will chrono these today to see what I'm getting. My guess is 900fps but I'll see.
Made 50 44 mag 240 grain zero sjp with 19.5 grains 2400. These are for the ruger 44 carbine Will chrono these today as well.
Some interesting results on my chrono today!
First the 44 mag cast 240 with 9 grains titegroup empty cases came out smooth no sticking.
Test gun 4 inch model 629
240 grain cswc 9 grains titegroup averaged 1126 fps much faster than I anticipated.
240 grain jsp with 19.5 grains 2400 averaged 1104 fps.
Interesting......I'm getting about the same velocity with the titegroup over 2400 with less than half the powder charge and it's nowhere near max charge. I know it's not the same projo cast vs jacketed. For curiosity sake I'll have to make up some cast 240 with 2400 and see what the velocity change is.....if any. I'll stick with 9 grains tg for this extremely economical load for ringing plates and whacking bowling pins.
The 2400 at 19.5 with a 240 jsp thru the ruger carbine I averages 1564 fps. That's a good deer load right there!
The 45acp using 4.5 grains tg and a 200 grain lswc I average 761 fps. Using 5 grains I was at 876 so that was a bit hot for plate bangers.
First the 44 mag cast 240 with 9 grains titegroup empty cases came out smooth no sticking.
Test gun 4 inch model 629
240 grain cswc 9 grains titegroup averaged 1126 fps much faster than I anticipated.
240 grain jsp with 19.5 grains 2400 averaged 1104 fps.
Interesting......I'm getting about the same velocity with the titegroup over 2400 with less than half the powder charge and it's nowhere near max charge. I know it's not the same projo cast vs jacketed. For curiosity sake I'll have to make up some cast 240 with 2400 and see what the velocity change is.....if any. I'll stick with 9 grains tg for this extremely economical load for ringing plates and whacking bowling pins.
The 2400 at 19.5 with a 240 jsp thru the ruger carbine I averages 1564 fps. That's a good deer load right there!
The 45acp using 4.5 grains tg and a 200 grain lswc I average 761 fps. Using 5 grains I was at 876 so that was a bit hot for plate bangers.
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100 75 gr 257 Roberts
200 300 gr hp 45-70
200 300 gr hp 45-70
A little surprising but not a lot considering that this is JSP versus CSWC. With the same bullets, I predict 2400 beats Titegroup for velocity in the 4 incher, but not by a lot. The marginal velocity increase given by slower powders in my revolvers is one reason I prefer moderate burn-rate pistol powders for my magnum handguns and relegate the slower powders to carbines. In the handguns, the slower powder creates a lot more flash, recoil, and (probably) forcing cone wear than it does velocity. I guess if I were hunting with a handgun, I might care more about the velocity, but your Titegroup load is probably pretty easy on the gun. Sure, there's magnum pressure in the chambers, but you're not blow-torching your forcing cone.
I guess my biggest "win' with this testing is finding a solid magnum load using titegroup.....(1100 fps isnt a barn burner for velocity but its no slouch) for cost saving purposes. Alot of my research has people shitting on titegroup for 44 mag because it's a fast powder usually reserved for non magnum target loads. It's supposedly not position sensitive either so the low volume in the big case isn't an issue. Even my deviation in velocity one round to the next was decent......35 fps deviation.
Makes sense. If I'm understanding what Gordon's Reloading Tool is telling me, the powder is completely burned at about the same time as the base of the bullet exits the brass.
pastera
NES Member
Check the burn rate chart
2400 is much slower than tightgroup
In a 4" barrel a lot of that 2400 in on the ground in front of you.
loading 45.5 grs H110 with 200 gr Hornady FTX bullet.. 460 Smith, shot today at 100 yards one inch four shot group. New Leopold 2.5x8x33 scope on top of the 460 Smith is paying off
I've never had a problem on my LnL priming. The one frustrating thing was the guide rod would come off the bottom plate...so I just printed a new plastic piece at the top to stop it from moving so much. And if it breaks, I have 2 more that I printed. This one is on round 5000 right now
Wish had your experience. Also had the plastic bracket holding the guide rod break. Bought a printed one from someone here on NES. Once fixed, still could not get it to prime reliably. Was so frustrated gave up trying and switched to using an RCBS bench primer. Can prime 350-400 cases/hr off press. Know the cases are ready to be processed the way the LNL was designed to work for the rest of the steps.
Typically only load the higher volume calibers (.223, 9mm, .45 acp) on LNL, otherwise just use a single stage.
ran a batch - made 220 .308 loads, varget 45.7gr with 168SMK projectiles.
last time that load went well, so, made now close to 800 total of them, hopefully will soon close that 1k. got a bit lazy lately.
last time that load went well, so, made now close to 800 total of them, hopefully will soon close that 1k. got a bit lazy lately.
paulleve
NES Member
I picked up a Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler Lite recently for small batches of brass, and got to try it out today. I tossed in some very dirty HXP brass and a few small bags of miscellaneous recently fired casings and let it spin for a few hours. Very happy with the results. Note that this small one doesn't come with pins of a sifting cap, but these items are included in the full size tumbler and the caps are the same size.
Tumbling away! I set the tumblers in a boot tray just in case one of the caps isn't sealed tight.
Size comparison between the 7-liter and the Lite.
That dirty CMP .30-06 HXP brass is looking pretty good!
Tumbling away! I set the tumblers in a boot tray just in case one of the caps isn't sealed tight.
Size comparison between the 7-liter and the Lite.
That dirty CMP .30-06 HXP brass is looking pretty good!
I've had some free time over the past week with all the rain so basically spent it casting, coating, priming prepped brass and actually reloading 9mm.
That's the last of the 9mm brass in house. Should get to reloading the last 500 or so this week.
That's the last of the 9mm brass in house. Should get to reloading the last 500 or so this week.
I just tumbled some brass yesterday. I haven't been shooting much, partly because of work and partly because of what stress at work precipitated: I'm recovering from a pinched nerve in my neck (PT is definitely working but gradually). I'm well stocked in assembled rounds in every caliber, except maybe I only have enough 45 Colt loaded to cover the rest of this year. Even so, cleaned 38SP, 357M, 44M, and 45C brass is piling up. I've been thinking of maybe increasing my stock of flared and primed brass just to do something, maybe even get a thousand ready in each caliber. I load on a single stage, so it's quite a luxury to have the brass ready to charge, and I kind of want to get closer to load-as-needed to keep a few months on hand. I suppose I could also trim the magnum brass to uniform length--I've just never bothered, as I keep it sorted by headstamp which is fairly, but not quite, uniform.
I find putting some liquid soap on the gaskets stops them from leaking. Have to do this each time, works great. I use Armor-All car wash...
I typically just use the flat seating stems with my Hornady dies for the bullets I load, but I decided to make some custom-molded seating stems out of the ones meant for round-nose bullets and such for 44 magnum Hornady XTP bullets, 44 magnum Hornady JTC-SIL bullets (long discontinued--a truncated-cone soft-point, of which I have 500 to load), and the 300 grain TCFP bullets I load in 45C. Might help give more consistent seating depth with the XTPs and line up the TC bullets better than the flat stem. Dunno. These roll freely on the desktop, so I think they're centered well enough. The bullets were lightly greased. Hopefully they will release. Fingers crossed on that!
