What did you do in the reloading room recently?

Finished up my second batch of brass in the wet tumbler the other day. Had been running ultrasonic. The pins with the wet tumbler are a challenge. Working on a system that doesn't take forever. May try to do some without the pins and see what the results are. On the bright side; I found a way to dry the brass fairly quickly. - In the past with the ultrasonic I used to lay them out on towels and then I even built a 2' x 3' tray with a screened bottom. Problem with that is it takes a full day or so for them to dry so I have to lay them out in the reloading room/workshop. And the brass would have water spots on them. - After looking online I found that I can put the rinsed brass back in the tumbler along with a few micro fiber towels. Tumble for an hour and good to go.
 
Realtor MA said:
Finished up my second batch of brass in the wet tumbler the other day. Had been running ultrasonic. The pins with the wet tumbler are a challenge. Working on a system that doesn't take forever. May try to do some without the pins and see what the results are. On the bright side; I found a way to dry the brass fairly quickly. - In the past with the ultrasonic I used to lay them out on towels and then I even built a 2' x 3' tray with a screened bottom. Problem with that is it takes a full day or so for them to dry so I have to lay them out in the reloading room/workshop. And the brass would have water spots on them. - After looking online I found that I can put the rinsed brass back in the tumbler along with a few micro fiber towels. Tumble for an hour and good to go.
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Just my experience:

With pins, you need a media separator (I have the RCBS one) to spin out the pins and to get rid of a lot of the water. I then dump them out on a towel and rub the towel over them to get the surface water off. This eliminates the water spots. But, they do take a while to dry (unless your house is 40% humidity or you put them out in the sun in the summer).

223 is the worst to air dry I find. Before I spun them dry in the media separator (when cleaning them without pins) they would take up to 5 days to dry out to be able to deprime them. Now it only takes 2.
 
Realtor MA said:
After looking online I found that I can put the rinsed brass back in the tumbler along with a few micro fiber towels. Tumble for an hour and good to go.
Click to expand...
Not that the spots concern me in the first place, but all things being equal, better without spots that with. Never thought of tumbling with microfiber cloths. I have a Hornady case dryer that I bought when I started wet tumbling, but tumbling a bit with cloths before using it should speed things up and prevent the spots. I deprime before wet tumbling, and I guess whether you do or not, the last thing to dry is where the primers go.

For removing the pins I have a Frankford Arsenal "wet/dry" media separator to spin them. I spin them with the reservoir filled with water to get the pins out more easily and then rinse them afterwards, but I guess there are lots of minor variations.

Tumbling without pins works just fine. The outside of the cases will look the same as with pins. There will still be powder residue inside the cases and inside the primer pockets (assuming one deprimes before wet tumbling). Some of the testing people have done on accuracy with clean brass versus dirty suggest that it might be better to tumble without pins to leave that carbon residue inside the cases. Maybe that lessens the effects of positional sensitivity a little. Usually, though, I want the cases clean because it might be a few years before I reload a case and a few years after that until I shoot a reload. I don't want the powder in the case mixed with the residue, which is probably a little bit hydrophilic. This is probably just paranoia or OCD. If I'm going to shoot them tomorrow even with my OCD, I've been known to reload dirty cases.
 
Tallahassee said:
Who is @Warm_Garand ? He needs to take a trip to North Reading.
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That's be me.

I'll probably get by Glenn's Reloading middle of next week. Thinking about a Rt. 93 run to stock up on powder--Glenn's, Al's Gun and Reel, Shooter's Outpost.

ETA: I had mentioned seeing an 8lb of TAC at Cabelas recently. Price wasn't outrageous (factoring for Hazmat) but I dithered, and it was gone next time I checked.
 
Over the last week, prepped/reloaded 300 rounds of 7.62 X 39. Used 20.7 gn of CFE Blk under 123gn Berry plated bullet. These are range fodder- maybe shoot some steel at 100yds. Shooting out of a Saiga Sportster so have low expectations.
Some of the cases were range pickups. A couple were small rifle primers - had not expected that.
 
The original cutter on my RCBS trimmer dulled out on me so I picked up a carbide replacement. What a difference! Most places were out of them, so I checked out the RCBS site and got this one shipped for $48, which is cheaper than a lot of places, especially with shipping and tax thrown in. 200 cases trimmed tonight and a few more hundred to go tomorrow!

IMG_5776.jpg
 
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The threads on the decapping rod in my 308 die were stripped so I got a new one at Cabela's. I had to show an LTC. I just got an email from a vendor who said because I'm in Ma, I have to fill out a RIGHT TO PURCHASE form and send it with copies of my LTC and driver's license. This state really sucks.
 
I have a s and w model 52 inbound. It'd the semi auto target pistol for 38 special wadcutters only. Going to start making up some batches of loads to get testing when it gets to my ffl in about a week. I know.....2.7 bullseye and a 148 hbwc is the go to load for these but anyone know if it's best to seat completely flush or leave the projo just proud of flush? Crimp a little or just remove the flair? Anyone model 52 owners have any load advice? It's a no dash model made in 1962 if that matters.
 
gerrycaruso said:
The threads on the decapping rod in my 308 die were stripped so I got a new one at Cabela's. I had to show an LTC. I just got an email from a vendor who said because I'm in Ma, I have to fill out a RIGHT TO PURCHASE form and send it with copies of my LTC and driver's license. This state really sucks.
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LTC for a die.....might be a new low here in Massholia.
 
gerrycaruso said:
Not even a whole die. Just a piece. This state blows.
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It seems to be more a trend lately by states - if we can't restrict the firearms as much as we want, let's make everything associated more expensive and difficult to get.

In 2019 CT considered a 50% increase in the tax on ammo; and in 2020 considered a 35% increase. I don't buy ammo in CT, and don't live there any more - so I've lost track of what they actually did.


California -
  • The new California tax is an additional 11% excise on the purchase of guns and ammunition sold in the state beginning July 1, 2024.
  • This tax is on top of existing federal taxes. (Depending on the gun type, the federal tax is either 10% or 11%.)
  • There are some exceptions to the California gun and ammunition excise tax, e.g., for police agencies.
 
I feel for you Gerry. I get it, hate to pay the freight for such a small part, I guess I simply get angry when we all have to bow to the ridiculousness in this state. Consistently one of the lowest firearms death rates in the nation, year after year. The politicians will shout, "see, all these common sense gun laws work!". Showing your LTC to buy that decapping rod SAVED LIVES! Just ask one of our elected officials, it's "common sense". :rolleyes:
 
whacko said:
I have a s and w model 52 inbound. It'd the semi auto target pistol for 38 special wadcutters only. Going to start making up some batches of loads to get testing when it gets to my ffl in about a week. I know.....2.7 bullseye and a 148 hbwc is the go to load for these but anyone know if it's best to seat completely flush or leave the projo just proud of flush? Crimp a little or just remove the flair? Anyone model 52 owners have any load advice? It's a no dash model made in 1962 if that matters.
Click to expand...
Flush and just remove the flare...congrats on the 52. They are sweet and make a nice round hole!
 

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