What did you do in the reloading room recently?

[peterk123]

Do you use a chronograph? I bought a ~$100 Competition Electronics ProChrono, and it's definitely been money well spent, as I like to experiment. Although I am prone to chasing low standard deviation numbers to the point of slight ridiculousness.

I had bad ES and SD numbers using 130 grain Berry's plated in 38 Special. Their speeds were all over the place, almost no matter what powder and charge I tried. Definitely not buying them again. About the only way I got them to settle down and run with low SD numbers was with 38+P charges of Power Pistol, or set way back to 1.33" so I could crimp over the start of the ogive with +P loads of Red Dot. Not a fan.

I picked up a chrono just before the cold weather hit. I have not had an opportunity to use it yet. But I am looking forward to have it help me develop my 308 loads. Going to use it for my pistol and 45-70 rounds as well. It will be interesting if my pistol loads are consistent at all because other than 357mag, all of my loads (38sp and 9mm) are very light. Pete

 

[whacko]

Picked up a Lee perfect powder measure for $25. I've been using Lee Dipper scoops which are fast and accurate but no flexibility on charge weights. I went to setting it up today with low expectations for a plastic $25 powder thrower. Damn.....it works the balls. Ran a hopper through it per the directions to get it broken in. The meter on the side was easy to dial in to start throwing 3.5 grain charges. Only took a few tweaks of the micrometer to get a 3.5 of bullseye on the scale. Threw 10 charges......9 of em were 3.5 and one threw a 3.6. not too shabby!!!

Set to making 100 rounds. Got 100 expanded and into the trays for charges. For a first run with this measure I checked every 5th charge......out of the 20 I checked I had 14 at 3.5 and 6 at 3.6. perfect for my needs and only $25!!!

Now I know it ain't gonna last year's and years like a rcbs.......I figured $25 was worth it to see if this type of measure would work for my needs. So far so good!

 

[PL-52]

I pick them up on sale or when I find one in the classifieds I now have 4 set up 4 die heads so I never really have to change anything except the die head when I change calibers, be patient and watch the ads here and a few other places you'll find them

 

[daekken]

Do you use a chronograph? I bought a ~$100 Competition Electronics ProChrono, and it's definitely been money well spent, as I like to experiment. Although I am prone to chasing low standard deviation numbers to the point of slight ridiculousness.

I had bad ES and SD numbers using 130 grain Berry's plated in 38 Special. Their speeds were all over the place, almost no matter what powder and charge I tried. Definitely not buying them again. About the only way I got them to settle down and run with low SD numbers was with 38+P charges of Power Pistol, or set way back to 1.33" so I could crimp over the start of the ogive with +P loads of Red Dot. Not a fan.

No chronie; for pistol I use the highly scientific "eye test."

I might actually try some 9mm in a match this year, maybe. 223 almost certainly.

 

[p..]

No chronie; for pistol I use the highly scientific "eye test."

I'm kind of a nerd, so I like having the data as feedback to close the loop. I keep a spreadsheet to track the loads, how they performed, my comments, etc.

I thought I'd, you know, figure out a decent load for each caliber and just run with it and then not need to use the chronograph any more. The only thing I did that with was .40 (which I don't like to experiment with too much since I run them through Glocks), and my 12 gauge target loads (because I don't want to have to figure out my leads all over again!). Everything else I'm just constantly toying with things.

It has been helpful to let me know when something is going a lot faster than it should be though. That's nice to know, so I know to dial it down before I blow my face off.

Screen shot from some 38 loads:

 

[peterk123]

I'm kind of a nerd, so I like having the data as feedback to close the loop. I keep a spreadsheet to track the loads, how they performed, my comments, etc.

I thought I'd, you know, figure out a decent load for each caliber and just run with it and then not need to use the chronograph any more. The only thing I did that with was .40 (which I don't like to experiment with too much since I run them through Glocks), and my 12 gauge target loads (because I don't want to have to figure out my leads all over again!). Everything else I'm just constantly toying with things.

It has been helpful to let me know when something is going a lot faster than it should be though. That's nice to know, so I know to dial it down before I blow my face off.

Screen shot from some 38 loads:

View attachment 326056

Wow, and I thought I was OCD

 

[p..]

I'm a fleet boat mechanic, and training officer. So I like my records.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

I finally got the Super 1050 back running smoothly. The primer system was giving me some issues so I figured it was time to clean, lube and check everything. Turns out that the culprit was the little plastic primer tube orifice. Luckily it is one of those things that I have a couple of spares around at all times. With three Dillon presses on the loading bench, I should. Now she is back to cranking out the rounds.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Set up the NOS Mec 600 Jr. MK Vs today.
Looks like both were unused.
I’ll fiddle with them tomorrow and get the crimp set up. Now I just need some smaller powder bushings for the 20 gauge loader.

 

[DW357]

I'm kind of a nerd, so I like having the data as feedback to close the loop. I keep a spreadsheet to track the loads, how they performed, my comments, etc.

I thought I'd, you know, figure out a decent load for each caliber and just run with it and then not need to use the chronograph any more. The only thing I did that with was .40 (which I don't like to experiment with too much since I run them through Glocks), and my 12 gauge target loads (because I don't want to have to figure out my leads all over again!). Everything else I'm just constantly toying with things.

It has been helpful to let me know when something is going a lot faster than it should be though. That's nice to know, so I know to dial it down before I blow my face off.

Screen shot from some 38 loads:

View attachment 326056

I kid. To each their own. I’m too lazy lol.

 

[DW357]

I finally got the Super 1050 back running smoothly. The primer system was giving me some issues so I figured it was time to clean, lube and check everything. Turns out that the culprit was the little plastic primer tube orifice. Luckily it is one of those things that I have a couple of spares around at all times. With three Dillon presses on the loading bench, I should. Now she is back to cranking out the rounds.
View attachment 326115

Wowza. Does that feed a tommy gun??...

 

[DW357]

Picked up a Lee perfect powder measure for $25. I've been using Lee Dipper scoops which are fast and accurate but no flexibility on charge weights. I went to setting it up today with low expectations for a plastic $25 powder thrower. Damn.....it works the balls. Ran a hopper through it per the directions to get it broken in. The meter on the side was easy to dial in to start throwing 3.5 grain charges. Only took a few tweaks of the micrometer to get a 3.5 of bullseye on the scale. Threw 10 charges......9 of em were 3.5 and one threw a 3.6. not too shabby!!!

Set to making 100 rounds. Got 100 expanded and into the trays for charges. For a first run with this measure I checked every 5th charge......out of the 20 I checked I had 14 at 3.5 and 6 at 3.6. perfect for my needs and only $25!!!

Now I know it ain't gonna last year's and years like a rcbs.......I figured $25 was worth it to see if this type of measure would work for my needs. So far so good!

What are you using for powder? I love the lee PPM for coarse stick rifle powders. Works great. I tried it with fine ball powders like H110 for shits and giggles and it leaked badly.

 

[DW357]

Do you use a chronograph? I bought a ~$100 Competition Electronics ProChrono, and it's definitely been money well spent, as I like to experiment. Although I am prone to chasing low standard deviation numbers to the point of slight ridiculousness.

I had bad ES and SD numbers using 130 grain Berry's plated in 38 Special. Their speeds were all over the place, almost no matter what powder and charge I tried. Definitely not buying them again. About the only way I got them to settle down and run with low SD numbers was with 38+P charges of Power Pistol, or set way back to 1.33" so I could crimp over the start of the ogive with +P loads of Red Dot. Not a fan.

I got the same one and it’s still working (barely) after being hit by 357 mag and a 9mm if I recall
It’s held together with duct tape at the moment and the front label/decal for the buttons has fallen off.
One of these days I’ll send it back to CE as I hear they’ll fix/repair them.

 

[DW357]

Tried Green Dot in 38 special. I bought a pound to make up some 12 gauge target loads, and decided to experiment with it in 38. I've previously tried Unique, Power Pistol, Red Dot, and Winchester 231 in 38.

Alliant doesn't list Green Dot in current load data for that cartridge, and it's not shown (or at least I don't see it) for 38 Special in the Lyman 49th manual either. Went back to a 2003 Alliant manual for data. They show Green Dot data for 38 Special with a 158 LSWC at 3.5 grains and +P at 3.7 grains.

As I wasn't sure how well it metered or how quickly things went sideways with an over or under charge, I used my Dillon 550 for everything except charging, which I did using an RCBS Uniflow and trickler along with a 505 scale to measure each charge.

158 grain SNS LSWC seated to 1.480"
CCI 500
Federal 38 brass trimmed to 1.150"
3.6 grains Green Dot

S&W 442, 1 7/8" barrel, about 0.008" cylinder gap, chrono about 3 feet from muzzle, 28 degrees F, 10 shots:
Average 667fps High 702fps Low 640fps ES 62fps SD 19fps

Same as above, but 3.7 grains of Green dot, 5 shots:
Average 688fps High 709fps Low 673fps ES 36fps SD 17fps

It's a nice bulky powder, so pretty good case fill for these light charges in 38. Not bad. Some leading around the forcing cone and front of cylinder, leading not bad in the barrel. I'll probably stick with Win 231 for most target loads, but nice to know what else works when things get hard to find. When I burn up what I have on hand for powders, I'll probably pick up some Bullseye to try out.

If you can ever find some, try out Alliants new Sport Pistol powder. I’ve been using it with my light 357 and 44 mag loads using coated bullets. Clean burning and meters well etc.

 

[p..]

I kid. To each their own. I’m too lazy lol.

It looks like a lot of work, now. But every time I load something, I just make an entry with brass, powder charge, primer, bullet, length, and anything else notable. If I chrono them, I fill that in later and the spreadsheet takes the raw speeds and calculates average, high, low, SD, ES. In the comments, I write in whatever I think I may want to recall later like point of impact vs point of aim, recoil, muzzle flash, hard extraction, misfires, whatever. Takes a few minutes each time.

With shotgun, I also record wad, shot bushing and what weight shot it threw, powder bushing, what weight powder it threw, and comments about patterning, function if used in a semi, etc.

It works a lot better than my memory.

 

[whacko]

What are you using for powder? I love the lee PPM for coarse stick rifle powders. Works great. I tried it with fine ball powders like H110 for shits and giggles and it leaked badly.

Bullseye and it worked better than I expected with it that's for sure.

Sad to hear h110 leaks it's my favorite 357 powder.

I only use 3 powders bullseye 700x and h110.

700x makes a great 38 special load with cast bullets.

This was my first attempt using jacketed bullets for 38 special and I used bullseye. Doing some reading after I made them I hear some claims that fast powders and jacketed bullets is a bad combo through long barrels.....like a carbine lever action rifle......which is what I made them for. Something about jacketed has more friction than lead and a fast powder may burn too quick and not accelerate the bullet enough and it'll stick in the bore?!? I don't know....the shit you read on some other forums is like they pulled the info out of their ass. Not sure why a well published 38 Ioad would stick in a barrel of a rifle chambered for it...... I'll just be careful when I test these I guess.

Anyone ever hear that 3.5 grains bullseye under a 158 grain jacketed will stick in a rifle bore?

Should I be using a slower powder with jacketed bullets for 38 special?

This is the data I used. Bullseye at 3.5 grains under a 158 jacketed bullet is about middle of the road in these tests from nosler so I think I'm good.

 

[peterk123]

25 rounds of 45-70 loaded with 45.5 grains of 3031 and 20 rounds of 24 grains of 2400 are done. Tested a few of the 3031 loads. That one has a bit more oomph than the 2400.

Ordered a skinner peep for the gun though because my aging eyes just can't see through those iron sights.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

Wowza. Does that feed a tommy gun??...

Close, 9mm Stemple subgun. Uses Suomi magazines.

View: https://youtu.be/_CzGEQHHbEM

 

[Dradian]

Finished another 100 rounds of .223 last night. 55gr FMJ (wolf) with Varget.

 

[p..]

Anyone ever hear that 3.5 grains bullseye under a 158 grain jacketed will stick in a rifle bore?

Should I be using a slower powder with jacketed bullets for 38 special?

My Lyman 49 manual has a separate section for 9mm and 357 in rifles, but nothing for 38 special in rifles. They do show slower powders in the 9mm and 357 rifle loads, and I don't see Bullseye listed for any of those. In 9mm they liked Power Pistol, and in 357 they liked H110, 2400, and N110.

In 38 special from a 4" barrel, the lightest jacketed bullet I see listed with Bullseye is 140 grain JHP with a range from 3.5 grains at 533fps to 4.3 grains at 714fps. They show that powder more with cast bullets for that cartridge.

 

[peterk123]

My Lyman 49 manual has a separate section for 9mm and 357 in rifles, but nothing for 38 special in rifles. They do show slower powders in the 9mm and 357 rifle loads, and I don't see Bullseye listed for any of those. In 9mm they liked Power Pistol, and in 357 they liked H110, 2400, and N110.

In 38 special from a 4" barrel, the lightest jacketed bullet I see listed with Bullseye is 140 grain JHP with a range from 3.5 grains at 533fps to 4.3 grains at 714fps. They show that powder more with cast bullets for that cartridge.

I push a 158 grain lead bullet out of my Henry Big Boy with 3.8 grains of HP38, so it would not surprise me that 3.5 gr of bullseye would work. It is fun to shoot at 100 yards at steel. You hear a bang, then a half second later the plink, assuming you hit the steel.

 

[whacko]

My Lyman 49 manual has a separate section for 9mm and 357 in rifles, but nothing for 38 special in rifles. They do show slower powders in the 9mm and 357 rifle loads, and I don't see Bullseye listed for any of those. In 9mm they liked Power Pistol, and in 357 they liked H110, 2400, and N110.

In 38 special from a 4" barrel, the lightest jacketed bullet I see listed with Bullseye is 140 grain JHP with a range from 3.5 grains at 533fps to 4.3 grains at 714fps. They show that powder more with cast bullets for that cartridge.

Yeah not seeing much data on jacketed 158 grains for 38 special loads either. That's what got me thinking it may be a bad idea.

I did find the nosler data above which shows a range for bullseye and 158 grain jacketed. I'll test em out and see what I get out of the rifle. I only made 100 so it's not a huge deal...they will go through my 357 snub just fine if the rifle doesn't like them.

Do you think it's possible that a published 38 special load with a jacketed 158 could "run out of steam" and stick if fired in a 16.5 inch rifle or am I just over thinking it and just trust a oublished load to work safely in a rifle?

 

[whacko]

I push a 158 grain lead bullet out of my Henry Big Boy with 3.8 grains of HP38, so it would not surprise me that 3.5 gr of bullseye would work. It is fun to shoot at 100 yards at steel. You hear a bang, then a half second later the plink, assuming you hit the steel.

Right but it's a lead projo. I'm trying to determine if a jacketed bullet (much more friction) in a 38 special load using fast powders like bullseye would be an issue with the bullet running out of steam and sticking on the bore. I've read a few sites that claim it's possible.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Bullseye and it worked better than I expected with it that's for sure.

Sad to hear h110 leaks it's my favorite 357 powder.

I only use 3 powders bullseye 700x and h110.

700x makes a great 38 special load with cast bullets.

This was my first attempt using jacketed bullets for 38 special and I used bullseye. Doing some reading after I made them I hear some claims that fast powders and jacketed bullets is a bad combo through long barrels.....like a carbine lever action rifle......which is what I made them for. Something about jacketed has more friction than lead and a fast powder may burn too quick and not accelerate the bullet enough and it'll stick in the bore?!? I don't know....the shit you read on some other forums is like they pulled the info out of their ass. Not sure why a well published 38 Ioad would stick in a barrel of a rifle chambered for it...... I'll just be careful when I test these I guess.

Anyone ever hear that 3.5 grains bullseye under a 158 grain jacketed will stick in a rifle bore?

Should I be using a slower powder with jacketed bullets for 38 special?

This is the data I used. Bullseye at 3.5 grains under a 158 jacketed bullet is about middle of the road in these tests from nosler so I think I'm good.

View attachment 326171

I use 3.5 BE with a 158 cast in rifles. I believe I actually gained about 150 FPS IIRC from the 16” barrel.
nothing stuck.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Right but it's a lead projo. I'm trying to determine if a jacketed bullet (much more friction) in a 38 special load using fast powders like bullseye would be an issue with the bullet running out of steam and sticking on the bore. I've read a few sites that claim it's possible.

I wouldn’t worry about it.
3.5 BE is a top end load for stained pressure 38 special.
it’s going to be just like shoot factory jacketed out of the rifle. Just make sure the bullet exits the barrel.
If for some weird reason it doesn’t then shoot the rest in a revolver.

 

[whacko]

I use 3.5 BE with a 158 cast in rifles. I believe I actually gained about 150 FPS IIRC from the 16” barrel.
nothing stuck.

Thanks.

I'm wondering if jacketed will be am issue. Like I said it's a published load for jacketed I used.....just wondering.

 

[northny]

My two single stage presses were lonely and over worked so I added a new to me Dillon 550B to the work bench. It’s set up for 9mm and 45acp, so I ordered some add ons for .223 and .308. Time to build that PCC now that I can feed it.

 

[whacko]

Had a chance to test out the 200 grain lswc 45acp zero brand bullets. With 4.7 grains bullseye I got a perfect cloverleaf all touching with 5 rounds at 25 feet dead center. Perfect wadcutters type cuts from the paper so no wobbling.....very stable.

Very good bullets at 10 cents each.

 

[p..]

Do you think it's possible that a published 38 special load with a jacketed 158 could "run out of steam" and stick if fired in a 16.5 inch rifle or am I just over thinking it and just trust a oublished load to work safely in a rifle?

I think it's possible that any untested combo might not do what it's "supposed" to. I stuck some Berrys 125 grain in a 1 7/8" barrel, and I wasn't even all the way down at minimum load.

But I also don't think testing the combo you put together is dangerous, unless you don't notice a squib, and then try to fire another one before clearing the barrel. I'd just make sure I was in a "testing" mindset when running those, and bring a dowel and a mallet with you to the range, to clear anything stuck in the barrel. FWIW, I use a 5/16" small block Chevy pushrod (and a small hammer) to knock stuck 38/357 bullets out of handguns.

This is one of the areas where I like to have the chrono. When I see the speeds really varying, with some of them very low, then I start to wonder what's up. This was some data from Berrys 125s in my 442 with 3.8 grains of W231:

634​	573​	357​	431​	530​
260​	590​	452​	296​	0​

When I finally stuck that last one, I just pulled apart all the rest I'd loaded and recovered the components to use in a different load combo. If I were actually smart, I'd have stopped shooting when I saw the first three for four shot numbers.

 

[meh]

I've read a few sites that claim it's possible.

I would think it possible only in extremely light loads, such as those intended for cowboy action shooting with soft lead bullets. You can work down loads just like we usually work up loads, and then you might get one stuck. I haven't tried that, but I'll bet cowboy action shooters do that sort of thing because they want minimum recoil when shooting soft lead at short range. Of course they don't use jacketed bullets. Maybe one of their very light loads that works with soft lead might get a jacketed bullet stuck, and that's where they are coming from.

What I have done is loaded and shot an awful lot of different Titegroup loads with jacketed bullets in various calibers, and since I have cowboy pairs, some of them have gone out the muzzle of carbines. The loads were all in the Hodgdon published range. Never thought or worried about an issue before, never had a problem, though I will say that I think it's hard to be precise enough when loading fast, energy-dense powders to get consistent elevation at long range. I can't (profitably) shoot 158 grain 38SP out of my Rossi at long range, anyway, because the rate of twist is so slow, but I guess I could out of the Henry. Seeing the vertical dispersion of factory 38's at 100 yards sort of dissuaded me from even trying, but as I return to the prospect today, it sounds like an interesting challenge to see if I can work up an accurate 38SP load for 100 yards, subsonic all the way. It's a long way to the rifling, of course, but maybe that won't matter much given that the lever gun isn't built for sub-MOA accuracy, anyway, and I need to think about the best powder choice for it.