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Thread: Enjoying a cup of coffee while handloading !!

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy dogdoc's Avatar
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    Enjoying a cup of coffee while handloading !!

    Just brewed a delicious cup of strong coffee and am headed to my shop to load some cast 158 grain swc 357 mags. I know, I know I am breaking all the rules and am at risk of death from lead poisoning but I do have a covered thermos cup and am careful not to touch the drinking area when I imbibe. Anybody else have this bad habit and willing to admit it??�� I remember some old handloading ads that had a steaming cup next to the press lol.i guess there are worse proclivities

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    I do the same, if it's in the morning. That's why mugs have handles.

    DG

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by dogdoc View Post
    Just brewed a delicious cup of strong coffee and am headed to my shop to load some cast 158 grain swc 357 mags. I know, I know I am breaking all the rules and am at risk of death from lead poisoning but I do have a covered thermos cup and am careful not to touch the drinking area when I imbibe. Anybody else have this bad habit and willing to admit it??�� I remember some old handloading ads that had a steaming cup next to the press lol.i guess there are worse proclivities
    I powdercoat everything for cartridge guns. No mess, no lube - and no exposure to lead. I wear gloves and a respirator when casting - still wear gloves when powder coating. Once that is done its safe, so I also drink coffee when reloading. I even make my coffee in a Keuring using refillable pods with coffee I ground myself - so thats reloading too.
    Currently casting and loading: .32 S&W Long, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 10mm, 44 Special 44 Magnum. .223, 7.62x39, 7.62 x 54R, .30-06, 45-70, .32, .36, .44. .45. .50. .54. .58 and .60 round ball and various minies. And .375 heel crimped conical for those .36 conversions . KB6MRP on Discord

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    Boolit Buddy
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    This is my current favorite until someone gets me a Vihtavuori one.

    I’m not too worried about lead exposure. According to Richard Lee dust from dry tumbling brass is the biggest culprit. I wet tumble now.
    Spent primers drop down a tube on the bottom of the ram and directly into a trash bag with a rubber band holding it in place. I shoot outdoors.
    Blood level was barely measurable a couple of years ago.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    I am a soda jerk so a can is always around (unless I am around a pot of melted lead).

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    I run my blood work once a month and do lead levels once a year. I cast more than most but less than some. I drink coffee and chew Copenhagen the entire time I cast.
    Been casting for a shade shy of the past 5 decades and I don't pop up with anything. Betting the caffeine and nicotine kill me before the Pb

    Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Boolit Bub
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    I don't normally stick my fingers into my coffee since I gave up cookies for Keto. I cannot think of how you cross contaminate the coffee with the lead from your fingers. Most lead poisoning is from paint or coatings (think red lead primer) and really went down in the environment when they took the tetraethylead out of gasoline.
    I wouldn't eat anything like finger foods as that would pick up lead for sure. But no coffee? Shoot me now!

    KB

    Sent from my SM-A546U using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    I generally have a beverage at hand, coffee in the morning, water in the afternoon.

    Other bad habits, I anneal plinking rifle brass and I roll size pistol brass. Oh, and I seem to have an affinity for less popular calibers, excepting 45GAP, 357sig, and 40S&W all of which I dodged.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master WRideout's Avatar
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    Coffee and reloading makes life worth living.

    Wayne
    What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - or else it gives you a bad rash.
    Venison is free-range, organic, non-GMO and gluten-free

  10. #10
    Boolit Master Half Dog's Avatar
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    I watch the birds and squirrels eat while I drink a cup in the mornings. I get up early and this lets the wife sleep in.
    The sooner I fall behind...the more time I have to catch up with

  11. #11
    Boolit Mold
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    Wife say it seems like I've been cutting down on coffee. Don't know, but always enjoy a good cup or pot. Coffee and water are drink staples when doing anything!!!!

  12. #12
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    I don't eat or drink while reloading or casting. But I'm not gonna tell someone else what to do or what not to do. I like having a reason to take a coffee break, wash the hands, and have a snack.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
    ― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001

  13. #13
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    I tried drinking something while loading but had to stop. I would get busy and the coffee got cold and the beer got warm!
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    The coffee is usually gone BEFORE I go to the reloading bench, but there is always a bottle of water within easy reach.

    Everything I have ever done to earn a living required me to get my hands dirty so why would I be concerned about a little passive lead exposure?

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by Kennibear View Post
    I don't normally stick my fingers into my coffee since I gave up cookies for Keto. I cannot think of how you cross contaminate the coffee with the lead from your fingers. Most lead poisoning is from paint or coatings (think red lead primer) and really went down in the environment when they took the tetraethylead out of gasoline.
    I wouldn't eat anything like finger foods as that would pick up lead for sure. But no coffee? Shoot me now!

    KB

    Sent from my SM-A546U using Tapatalk
    Exactly......

    Unless you inhale or ingest the lead residue off your fingers you won't get lead poisoning from handling cast bullets when reloading them or from handling the cartridges after loading.
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I do the same thing except that I usually switch over to beer in the afternoon. I don't drink when I'm charging cases but I will have a beer or two while casting or doing case prep. I also like to have a cup while sitting in the loading room looking out of the window and watching the birds and squirrels.

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy dogdoc's Avatar
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    Glad to know I am not the only one who lives life on the edge lol.

  18. #18
    Boolit Bub
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    Coffee, iced tea, or a glass of water is almost always within arms reach when I'm loading. Not on the bench, but not far away either.

  19. #19
    Boolit Bub





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    Black coffee in the morning, water the rest of the day. Always have a cup close by while I am doing anything.
    Last edited by Bull; 04-29-2024 at 02:03 PM. Reason: Misspelled word

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Your fine. Don't stir with your fingers.
    Shiloh
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check