Share Your Tip Of The Day

[cloakndagger]

One thing my grandpa related but I failed to grasp until I started reloading.

"Do one thing at a sitting and when you get ready to move on to something else, put everything away and take a walk, then come back and start with your new project, youll keep more fingers and eyebrows that way"
(paw was a farmer and community "stump blaster" ergo, he used "deeniemyte" to get stubborn stumps out of neighbors fields.. he also once said "theres a few things you only do once, and a few more you should ever do" as he showed me the scar he got from hitting a blasting cap with a hammer to seat it on the fuse)

Long story short, if youre loading and want to switch calibers, put everything away, go get a cuppa joe, then start over, it ensures youre not using 30-06 reloading data in a 30-30

[astroskg]

wow you all took my tricks from me before i could post them.

metal stamps to punch each ingot of alloy i make, chalk, sharpies, crayons all seem to fade after time, i stamp each batch with a a- b- c- d ect... aa -bb-cc-dd and record in my book the make up of each batch, lead, super hard, tin, i also pour 4-6 bullets from each batch from an old 50 cal maxi ball mold i have and place them with each set of ingots i have made so i can check hardness after a few days and record it in my book.
after checking hardness i add a "OK" to each ingot and place it into my bucket of alloyed material that way when i sit down to cast i look at each ingot and know what hardness it is and what caliber it is good for casting.

plugged casting pot bottom pour spout, a small butane plumbing torch a few seconds on the tip of the spout and it usually starts flowing fine,

Blue painters tape on the powder dispenser listing powder type and charge size. which i leave on the tool head assembly so i know the next time i do that caliber what Powder i was useing and what charge.

i deprime all my brass when i get back from the range on a single stage press and sort it and run it thru the tumbler till its clean but not necessarily bright and shiny and store it in plastic containers like cat litter containers.

check and under size each case on the single stage press and back to the tumbler.


two caps full of New Finish car polish added to new corn cob media and 10 minutes later brass comes out looking shiny and brand new.

only then will it be ready for reloading no crud, burnt powder , primer pieces, or dirt to scrape or scratch my dies or clog up the priming station on my press. all this clean brass is stored in the same cat litter plastic containers or plastic containers i bought from wally world with covers. each container is marker with a sticker, caliber, cleaned, u-sized, Ready. the reloading process goes so smooth because nothing is dirty and all components are ready for assembly no surprises of glocked cases, bent brass, dirt, rocks, mud, or small primered 45 brass in a large primer set up Yes it does take a little more time but part of reloading is enjoying what you do and the end product. the preparation done before hand makes for a fun productive reloading session. everything is done in steps but maybe some of you cast, size, lube,clean, prime and load your bullets all in one day, but i don't i do each step when i have the time will spend an afternoon casting, then resizing and lubing during the week if i ever get in a bind because the kid calls on thursday and says he will be home for the weekend with a friend and wants to go shooting everything is ready to go and i just grab the ready components and assemble the round on the progressive press within a day i have several thousand rounds ready for a day playing at the range.

have fun enjoy what you are doing

[Lizard333]

Lots of great info here. Some tips when using the SS media.

You can reduce the water recomended, 1 gallon, down to three quarts, and add 3 pounds of brass instead of the two, and still get great results.

Get the media seperator from Dillon. You can dump your brass and SS media in and it makes removing the pins a snap. Just don't spin it too fast or you will have pins EVERYWHERE. Found that out when the oldest, 6, wanted to "help".

Rinse the brass in HOT water after your done tumbling. Then shake the brass in a colinder, preferably not the misses, and place it on a dry towel, again, not the misses. Place the brass in 225 degree oven for about 10 minutes. This removes any and all water spots, and drys the brass off nicely, allowing you relaod them without the fear of water.

I use a Dillon 550 for reloading my pistol brass. I found that if I treat my 44 mag, 45 Colt, and 454 casull like rifle brass, I enjoy loading them much more. I aplly a small amount of case lube to the case and size and deprime. Then I tumble them to remove the case lube. Then I just start with a primer and move the case over to the powder die. Every time the handle is lowered a new primer is ready to install in the next case. No need to resize again.

[Jeffrey]

BEFORE testing for most accurate powder charges, hunting, using your scoped rifle or handgun check the scope mount for tightness.

[cabezaverde]

I drop my hot boolits into an old metal paint roller pan with a piece of towel in the bottom. Position it with the high side towards you and the boolits roll down hill into the deep part as you are casting.

[leadtater]

Never cast bullets while wearing sandles.

[mdevlin53]

If you reload brass shotgun shells and want a quick measure for #4 shot then a 45-70 case will hold just about 1 oz. +- a pellet or 4

[tworr]

Cheap recycled storage containers for lead muffins.

If you buy the Lays Stax chips that are like pringles and you melt your lead
into muffins. Those blue stax plastic cans make good storage containers and cost $1. The chips taste good and when you have eaten them all, you can fit 8 muffins in one tube.

I recommend that you stack 8 lead muffins and then slide the can over them and flip. Trust me, it's faster and easier doing it that way.

[Jim_Fleming]

Good one!

Cheap recycled storage containers for lead muffins.

If you buy the Lays Stax chips that are like pringles and you melt your lead
into muffins. Those blue stax plastic cans make good storage containers and cost $1. The chips taste good and when you have eaten them all, you can fit 8 muffins in one tube.

I recommend that you stack 8 lead muffins and then slide the can over them and flip. Trust me, it's faster and easier doing it that way.

[Rocket Man]

Flux your lead pot with candle wax.

[Qc pistolero]

I hate cleaning sized/lubed rifle brass.To speed things up,I take an old sock,put 15-20 rounds into it,soak it wet with mineral spirit and simply swash them around for 30 seconds.I then dump them on a rag to dry them out.Get skweaky clean rounds when dry.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Steel shot won't melt in your pot, no matter how long you stare at it.

I decided to melt down an old medical device. It had nice soft lead on the sides and top. Inside was what looked like some fine shot. Has to be lead too right? Wrong.

[SciFiJim]

Steel shot won't melt in your pot, no matter how long you stare at it.

I decided to melt down an old medical device. It had nice soft lead on the sides and top. Inside was what looked like some fine shot. Has to be lead too right? Wrong.

Did you test that shot with a magnet? Some old lead shot may have an oxidized covering that it very tough to get to melt. The way to get it to melt is to crush the shot to break the oxidation shell.

[Catshooter]

That's a good idea Jim, I'll give that a try.


Cat

[45fisher]

If you use Imperial Sizing Die Wax, clean your hands before pickin-yu nose!

Larry

[SciFiJim]

If you use Imperial Sizing Die Wax, clean your hands before pickin-yu nose!

Larry

Why? Seems like it would make it easier to get your finger in up to the knuckle for the really deep one that always seems to elude the best efforts.

[Qc pistolero]

Wanna make a hot plate cheap?Take a heating element from an old stove that is going to the scrapyard(of course make sure that that particular one was still working).You will also need an electric cord from any electric appliance that was working on 110v.Join the cord to the heating element that was working on 220v.Voila!make sure that the element rests on some kind of non flamable base and just plug in any 110v domestic outlet.

I've melted beeswax,lithium grease,candle wax,ATF,or anything you put in making bullet lubricant and never reached flashpointwith the 2 that I have made that way.Besides,it is great for pre-heating casting moulds!

[xs11jack]

Cheapest and easy way to check for double powder charges is to have a couple of wood dowels on hand. Cut to handy lenght and mark the level of the first messured charge. Any time the amount of power is above or below the mark on the dowel something is wrong! Or put tape on the dowel and remove it with the mark on it when you need a different powder level. One quarter inch dowel will fit in most cases, use it over and over.
Jack

[rogn]

It seems that I rarely use the same load time after time. So, Im dipping powder and weighing the load on a digital scale. I double check the load on a balance scale and leave that weight on the scale as a referfence to what charge Ive loaded, since the digital doesnt remember. I also take a piece of paper about 1/2 size of a business card and list the powder type and bullet ID, Iusually wind up with the charge listed also. When I use a powder measure , I also use the paper label in the hopper to ID and list load. Writing the powder measure setting for this load is also handy. I can go back later if I wish to duplicate that load or modify it, by just looking up the paper chit. Sometimes Im organized and transfer the data to my notes or to the reference manual Im using.

[rogn]

Saw a note on "adjusting" the Little Dandy powder measure. I use plastic inserts, like the softer plastic tops on dairy product, or tupperware. You use the rotorthats a tad over capacity for the load you want, measure the diameter of the city and cut /punch a discc about 0.010 to 0.020" oversize, push the disc to the bottom of the cavity with something that fits well. The disc will lock into the cavity, much as a "freeze plug" in an engine block. Having diferent thicknesses or multi[ple discs allow adjusting to any load youd like. When done. a nice sharp ick will pull the disc/s out for reuse all. Various cartridge cases, sized or unsized and chamfered to a good edge will generally cut a good disc to suit.