New bullet caster's note to self when sizing at kitchen table.

[Tallbald]

Do not place kitchen trash can under sizing press to catch stray shavings. I will against my better judgement dig through cold coffee grounds, greasy paper towels and crumpled cigarette packs to find a sized bullet that rolled off table and bounced off stuff just like a pinball way down into yuck pile. Don

[roberts1]

lol Not to mention, contaminating the place where one eats with lead.

[Harter66]

I don't know, I draw the quit line at soggy butts. I've chased boolits all over the floor and spent way more time digging in the primer/brass catchall bucket than the boolit was worth too.

[RED333]

Yall ever look for an unfired primer in the trash, only to find it wet from the mess in the trash can?
Well I have.

[dondiego]

Yes, and you can dry them and they work too!

[MaryB]

Waste lead shavings I could add to the pot? Never! I work on top of a cookie sheet to catch things. Got a deal on a 6 pack of 1/2 size sheet trays for $30 a while back and they get used for all kinds of stuff. 2 are sitting under plants right now, 1 under my sizing press...

[slughammer]

Lead shavings? You need to taper your sizing die at the mouth. That shouldn't be happening.

[olafhardt]

I just drop them on a rag sometimes on the floor of the rat infested shed I cast in. Since they are hard to pick up with gloves on, I gotta wait till they cool off and use my fingers. The really hard things are small rat dropping sized screws and pins. A trick I have is to use a magnet which ignores most of the rat droppings.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

I may be sending to much money, but I keep a clean garbage can under my loading area , to avoid the dumpster diving...been there done that...keeps the little lady happy, I don't use the kitchen for reloading

[22-250ohio]

Best to not use the wife area of the house for reloading. In my mind lead in the house is a no. Not to mention if I was to mess up the kitchen there would be a world of hurt headed my way

[44man]

Lead shavings? You need to taper your sizing die at the mouth. That shouldn't be happening.

Finally, someone sees the problem! Where are shavings coming from?
My kitchen table is an antique maple one my grandmother owned that I refinished. Wife makes me put a pot holder under hot dishes, I don't want to be bashed!

[6bg6ga]

Not good sense to do anything related to lead in the kitchen. Reloading and such should be done either in the garage or the basement.

[Lloyd Smale]

in all my years of casting i dont remember ever shaving lead off a bullet while sizing it.

[10mmShooter]

if the bullets or ram or die are out of alignment you can shave bullets that way. Ram and die and bullet to be sized need to be aligned to avoid this. Also a little extra chamfer on the die will help too

[Tatume]

lol Not to mention, contaminating the place where one eats with lead.

+1, I wouldn't do it in my house. That's what porches, garages, and workshops are for.

[bedbugbilly]

You can make it much easier on yourself if you would just use a lead magnet to find 'em.

I have the same problem where I size in my basement work area . . loose one every once in a while not he floor and I swear there is a hole somewhere that they roll in to - I usually find 'em when I sweep the area though. Ive been married well over 40 years and I know better than to do some things in the kitchen. lol

[Tallbald]

I guess I should be more specific folks. The only lead shavings that I found were a few "fins" from the base that occurred at casting. Sometimes I'd flip them off or place the entire bullet in the re-cast pile. Only a few fins showed up and fell to the press base. The trash can was in case (and I'm still new to casting and sizing). The sizing die is fine and consistent.
Miss Penny and I are second marriages for one another. She's a country girl who grew up with tractor parts in the kitchen occasionally, lots of love at the stove and table, and family activities in the kitchen. I was a suburban boy but the kitchen table was the center of activity for my family. Heck. Even weak newborn baby calves in the winter were bottle fed in her kitchen. God's creatures deserved care too. Penny and I together lay out quilts and leather for cutting in the kitchen, we both cook as we can with our physical limitations, we have four indoor rescue dogs, and there's no such thing as "her space" or "my space" any more than there's "her money" or "my money". We are a bonded married couple going on 8 years together. We've been through the bad and know what's good.... each other and the other's joy. Penny refuses to let me get hot or cold by insisting I reload in the garage or shop. Kitchen table loading was her idea.
Again the only trimmings from my sizing die are from my lower skill level casting. I believe the sprue plate wasn't held snugly enough to the mold blocks and caused the "fins" I found, and I'll work on my technique. Don

[bangerjim]

Pb, like vampires, not welcome in my house and neither ever cross the house thresh hold. I keep all my Pb processing and loading in my back shop....far away from any food prep or living space.

And I also have never shaved lead off a boolit when sizing. (no fins ...ever) And the little tiny bit you have there...is it worth diving for? Not for me. Any possible scraps from my sizing, case brass trimmings, depriming, etc go either in a plie either under my press/tools or the floor and are vacuumed up later and thrown away. And yes I throw all spent primers in the garbage. Not worth the time or effort to try to take them to the yard and sell for the tiny few $$ of scrap they would bring.

You should check your drops for fins and if they appear, check/clean your mold halves for deposits that are holding the mold apart. That is why I water drop to cool the slugs so I can check a few every hundred or so. No need of blindly cranking out hundreds defective boolits, being afraid to "break your casting rhythm", when you can easily correct the problems on-the-fly.

And I sure would figure out a way NOT to work with casting and loading in the kitchen!

My opinons. All work perfectly for me. Your mileage may vary.

banger

[Garyshome]

That's NOT the best place to be working on reloading/sizing!

[mdi]

Yall ever look for an unfired primer in the trash, only to find it wet from the mess in the trash can?
Well I have.

Yep, and I dried it out and Loaded it!