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What did you do in the reloading room recently?
- Thread starter DW357
- Start date
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Man I’m jealous. That machine as awesome. I would drop the build money but I think it’s above my skill set and my attention span
Nice work man.
It did take 2.5 months of printing and parts and a couple false starts with Amazon since the camera I originally ordered turned out to be discontinued or something. The designer has a great Discord and he is always assisting people.
Here's a screenshot of what you see (the blurred image is a setting). The picture the camera takes is really good. From my limited testing so far, it's about 95% accurate and I'll tweak things as I move forward. The goal is to not have to sort any brass by hand ever again.
Demoman
NES Member
That is awesome way better than picking throw. Are you making one for everyone for Christmas i won't tell
With all the leftover parts I may build another, just not for Christmas…I built the BF556 feeder and this over the last couple months. The BF556 was a lot easier but is a good entry into these types of builds.
I’ll work through training the model for 9mm to optimize the results over the next few weeks.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Yeah I’ll stick to checking headstamps as I put them in station number 1
Maybe someday I’ll dedicate the time.
Great work though
Demoman
NES Member
I go for the grab bag style out the can on the plate if I'm working something I'll match head stamp. But not loading anything for precision. But go for side of barn and work it from there
I ran some more testing today on the case sorter machine and finally ran through 1000 pieces over about 45 minutes in the slowest mode possible so I could watch for any mechanical malfunctions. There was only one on the drop of the brass into the chute which I fixed. My goal is to get to 2000-2500 per hour, or approximately one 5 gallon bucket in 3-4 hours. I'd need a faster case sorter to do more than that.
It does pretty well (based on my training) of determining:
S&B
New Republic
Federal (all variations (dotFCdot, FdotC, and FC)
Winchester
All of the above have fairly unique fonts and font size so it is no surprise they can be easily distinguished.
The one it has trouble with is Blazer, Aquila and Speer. The font and size is very similar on these so I'm going to sort them all into the same bucket and then have another model resort them using many more images of each one. By having trouble, I mean it is about 90% accurate in sorting right now, which I'd like to get to 98% if possible.
There are also a bunch of headstamps with much smaller amounts, like PMC, PPU, R-P, GFL and Sig that get dropped into another bin and will get resorted afterwards using the same idea as above.
Definitely more to come as I work through getting all the models set up and testing.
It does pretty well (based on my training) of determining:
S&B
New Republic
Federal (all variations (dotFCdot, FdotC, and FC)
Winchester
All of the above have fairly unique fonts and font size so it is no surprise they can be easily distinguished.
The one it has trouble with is Blazer, Aquila and Speer. The font and size is very similar on these so I'm going to sort them all into the same bucket and then have another model resort them using many more images of each one. By having trouble, I mean it is about 90% accurate in sorting right now, which I'd like to get to 98% if possible.
There are also a bunch of headstamps with much smaller amounts, like PMC, PPU, R-P, GFL and Sig that get dropped into another bin and will get resorted afterwards using the same idea as above.
Definitely more to come as I work through getting all the models set up and testing.
Malibru
NES Member
Finished off a run of .233 tonite. Filled a can, ended up with 556 rounds thought that was fitting. 55 gr fmj with 24.0 grains of AA 2460. Old 8lb jug I wanted to finish off. Just some range fodder and still good enough for zombies.
Demoman
NES Member
Mixed up 10 to 1 alcohol and lanolin case lube. Worked great much easier. Sized bunch of 223 and started triming got my tips the other day. Going to start loading all the empty 223 and 5.56
finished loading 100 rounds of 460 Smith with 200 gr ftx seeds
Yeah, lanolin times…
With my lubrication adapter I can work on any brass immediately, no mess and nothing gets stuck anymore, ever.
Not too shabby. Just got to the end of the box from AR and this was the only thing I saw that wasn't usable, an empty jacket.
Just for kicks, put it on the scale to see if I could load it as a hollow base, but no, 18.5 grains.
Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to load 9mm practice/match ammo right now with prices around 25 cents a round on Blazer brass 115 FMJ, but I already have the components so am using them up. These were 5.6g CFE-P, CCI 500, R-P brass, loaded to 1.130" OAL. Last few batches were the same but 5.5g and 1.145" OAL and everything works fine but I seem to get a lot of soot on the outside of the cases.
Just for kicks, put it on the scale to see if I could load it as a hollow base, but no, 18.5 grains.
Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to load 9mm practice/match ammo right now with prices around 25 cents a round on Blazer brass 115 FMJ, but I already have the components so am using them up. These were 5.6g CFE-P, CCI 500, R-P brass, loaded to 1.130" OAL. Last few batches were the same but 5.5g and 1.145" OAL and everything works fine but I seem to get a lot of soot on the outside of the cases.
Demoman
NES Member
I don't know how they do this. Just got 1000 pulled 124g FMJs from them. $67.50 shipped. Just showed up, 17 pounds worth. I looked at what it would cost to ship it back to them using the same service. I know bulk businesses get good shipping rates, but it would've cost me $39 to send that package.
I think if I were going to do that one again, I'd go with blems vs pulled. The pulled have slight crimp marks from the casings and are measuring 0.3545"ish where the last batch of blems I got measured 0.3555"ish. But I'm sure it'll be fine for steel challenge distances.
9mm for steel challenge, ran them over the chrono and double checked how I was sighted in at 25 yards. Finished off the last of my 115g loads, and loaded up 20 of the 124g FMJ pulldowns from AR with a powder charge I had used previously with 124g XTPs.
115g FMJ, 5.6g CFE-P, CCI500, R-P brass, 1.130"
Avg 1168, high 1180, low 1148, ES 32, SD 14, power factor 134
124g FMJ, 5.5g Power Pistol, CCI500, Blazer brass, 1.150"
Avg 1021, high 1040, low 1013, ES 27, SD 11, power factor 126
Both of these put about a 3" group on paper at 25 yards, with the 4" barrel semi auto handgun braced on a rifle rest. I didn't notice a significant change in point of impact between the two.
My club runs steel challenge practice on Thursday afternoons so I got a few reps in. Haven't played in a while, pretty rusty. The 115g felt a little more snappy. The 124g felt almost like 22s in comparison. Much less muzzle flip making target to target transition a little easier. More difference than the small change in power factor would seem to indicate. But everything functioned fine with both loads. I've never been a fast handgunner and I go to these matches and practices more for the social aspect and to work on my skills than in expectation of finishing well, but this is a fun group who are helpful and talk a bunch of trash at the same time so it's a good time.
115g FMJ, 5.6g CFE-P, CCI500, R-P brass, 1.130"
Avg 1168, high 1180, low 1148, ES 32, SD 14, power factor 134
124g FMJ, 5.5g Power Pistol, CCI500, Blazer brass, 1.150"
Avg 1021, high 1040, low 1013, ES 27, SD 11, power factor 126
Both of these put about a 3" group on paper at 25 yards, with the 4" barrel semi auto handgun braced on a rifle rest. I didn't notice a significant change in point of impact between the two.
My club runs steel challenge practice on Thursday afternoons so I got a few reps in. Haven't played in a while, pretty rusty. The 115g felt a little more snappy. The 124g felt almost like 22s in comparison. Much less muzzle flip making target to target transition a little easier. More difference than the small change in power factor would seem to indicate. But everything functioned fine with both loads. I've never been a fast handgunner and I go to these matches and practices more for the social aspect and to work on my skills than in expectation of finishing well, but this is a fun group who are helpful and talk a bunch of trash at the same time so it's a good time.
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SJan
NES Member
There is no power factor requirement for steel challenge. Try some 90g bullets at about 1100 fps with a fast burning powder, that's the gamer stuff
Demoman
NES Member
Nice looking maybe I should get into shoot shells.
WST?…
Continuing on the sorting with the machine, I've greatly improved the training and am getting into the high 90%'s for accuracy. WIN is at 99% but FC is still in the 80% range so I've got more work on that front.
The throughput is now about 2600 cases per hour and the BF556 has no problem keeping up. That's 1/2 of a 6 gallon bucket in 2 hours.
Since the sorter only has 8 slots, the first pass has to create a couple "buckets" that then need to be fed back through to sort through. The first pass I select for:
S&B, WIN, FC and GFL - These ones are recognized pretty well so it excludes them from further review
The first bucket is for Blazer, Aguila, Ammo Inc and Speer. The font is the same for all of these so I just lump them together.
The second bucket is RP, PPU, PMC and SIG. Not sure if I'll keep this group
The third bucket is "everything else." New Republic is in herealong with others like CBC, A USA, Norma, STV, T&M, etc
The third bucket gets a second run to catch anything I want (like SB, WIN, FC, GFL, Blazer, RP etc) and then separates New Republic (for @38ExtraSpecial ) into its own container and then separates the random brass from the crimped brass. I trained all the crimped headstamps and it does a good job sorting those out.
The second bucket then gets another run to separate out the single headstamps.
The first bucket is currently problematic since I get a lot of Blazer in the Speer container. I will work to create a brand new model with 100 samples of each to see if I can get better accuracy. Here's a pic of the screen for the containerization for the second run of the third bucket. You'll notice names like dotFCdot, FC, FdotC since there are variations in the stamp for FC. The differences are causing my low accuracy since there are a couple more. There's a FC with dots on either end of the "9mm Luger" that does poorly and a F(space)C and a F(bigger space)C that is getting confused with R(space)P.
The throughput is now about 2600 cases per hour and the BF556 has no problem keeping up. That's 1/2 of a 6 gallon bucket in 2 hours.
Since the sorter only has 8 slots, the first pass has to create a couple "buckets" that then need to be fed back through to sort through. The first pass I select for:
S&B, WIN, FC and GFL - These ones are recognized pretty well so it excludes them from further review
The first bucket is for Blazer, Aguila, Ammo Inc and Speer. The font is the same for all of these so I just lump them together.
The second bucket is RP, PPU, PMC and SIG. Not sure if I'll keep this group
The third bucket is "everything else." New Republic is in herealong with others like CBC, A USA, Norma, STV, T&M, etc
The third bucket gets a second run to catch anything I want (like SB, WIN, FC, GFL, Blazer, RP etc) and then separates New Republic (for @38ExtraSpecial ) into its own container and then separates the random brass from the crimped brass. I trained all the crimped headstamps and it does a good job sorting those out.
The second bucket then gets another run to separate out the single headstamps.
The first bucket is currently problematic since I get a lot of Blazer in the Speer container. I will work to create a brand new model with 100 samples of each to see if I can get better accuracy. Here's a pic of the screen for the containerization for the second run of the third bucket. You'll notice names like dotFCdot, FC, FdotC since there are variations in the stamp for FC. The differences are causing my low accuracy since there are a couple more. There's a FC with dots on either end of the "9mm Luger" that does poorly and a F(space)C and a F(bigger space)C that is getting confused with R(space)P.
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BarnBuilder
NES Member
What is your load data ?
You are completely outnerding the rest of us. Is there any brass you need us to keep an eye out for to send you to use for training the machine?
Being as it’s the Winter solstice, I figured it is past time to begin prepping all the brass that I didn’t keep up with as I shot it. I deprimed and cleaned 300-400 pcs from my last trip to the 1000 yards range that I made the week before deer season (308, 6.5 and .223). I resized 100 6.5 that are in the tumbler now.
Approx 250 .223 need sizing, as do 100 .308
Quick assessment I also have 400 .223 waiting for trimming. Another 150 of 6.5 also need trimming.
With luck I’ll start the new year with it all done
Approx 250 .223 need sizing, as do 100 .308
Quick assessment I also have 400 .223 waiting for trimming. Another 150 of 6.5 also need trimming.
With luck I’ll start the new year with it all done
I've been brass ratting pretty hard for the last couple months so nothing that I need. I appreciate the offer!
I was reflecting on the build the other day and I think the brass ratting was the hardest part. I was picking it up off the ground like a meth head
I did find some interesting headstamps like "GRIND HARD" and "Double Tap." I even found that New Republic has two headstamps, "New Rep." and "Republic" In the screenshot above you can see that RP has this small font RP with a small dot that's much rarer than the others. Blazer even has a small font headstamp.
I've bagged all these different headstamps for training in the future if I change the lighting or other settings. It will help in experimentation.
15.2 grains extra lite, cheddite primer & cb4100-12 wads in Remington gun club hulls.
pastera
NES Member
Those look so much better than the handful I've made
Thanks. I love loading the gun club hulls. They have a long reload life and with the newer cheddite primers (pink & blue box not the old yellow box) I don’t have to worry about stretching the primer pocket.
