Well, here I go

[John McCorkle]

I make my .38S. FWC's on an old restored Green Machine, this is the current recipe...I just try to keep this jar full and don't load by the thousands, just by the hundreds...



I admire your quest to master the handgun after so many years of rifle, I did the same thing. Got tired of being a lousy shot with the pistol. From the .38S. I moved to the 1911 with the same attitude. Now it's this jar that I try to keep full...



Once you have settled on a recipe you like the next objective, at least for me was to get the lead back with the least amount of effort. I built a backstop catcher that'd put my lead into a 5 gallon metal bucket. Then it'd go directly to the smelt pot...no digging in the berm, I'm too old for that anymore.

Practice on this side...



Get the lead back on this side...



It was a lot of work to build this gizmo but that part is in the past now...



today it's practice, practice, practice...then after about 3,500 rounds with the .38S. there's about 75 lbs. of your lead waiting in the metal bucket. Then it's off to the smelt pot to turn that into this...



You know the rest of the story after that...it's a real pleasure to get all that silver stuff back.
Good luck with your project...

Yo!!! I like that bullet trap! Never thought of something quite like that but that dog will hunt!!

I have access to a welder if I can get some steel and some time something like that would work beautifully

And thank you, selling off a couple safe queens to fund it all...better to wear out what I have than have more and use them none.

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[OS OK]

I wrote several articles over at The Reloaders Network on this project...this one pretty much sums up the design of this gizmo. Hope that it helps if you decide to build one too.

https://thereloadersnetwork.com/2018...-works-part-2/

c h a r l i e

[John McCorkle]

I wrote several articles over at The Reloaders Network on this project...this one pretty much sums up the design of this gizmo. Hope that it helps if you decide to build one too.

https://thereloadersnetwork.com/2018...-works-part-2/

c h a r l i e

Thanks again, did a little looking into bullet traps in general... everything from dirt berm to design like yours....which I dub "the Cadillac"...found a good "midsize sedan" version that looks inexpensive enough and simple enough I might just be able to do it.

https://youtu.be/gdPSAoPx3R0



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[OS OK]

Thanks again, did a little looking into bullet traps in general... everything from dirt berm to design like yours....which I dub "the Cadillac"...found a good "midsize sedan" version that looks inexpensive enough and simple enough I might just be able to do it.

https://youtu.be/gdPSAoPx3R0




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Ha! That's the guy who inspired me to do one too...I just sized mine up a wee bit so that hopefully I wouldn't/couldn't miss the thing. Then after getting a quote on the steel (sticker shock) the project sat on the back burner for several years.

I made a backstop using a 55 gallon barrel and rubber tire mulch...it would stop anything I owned, rifle included at point blank range. Used this gizmo for a while but soon grew tired of a 2 hour tear-down and cleanup for the lead recovery...this is the last batch I took out of the barrel when I moved into the new backstop...



Also the diameter of a drum is not that wide so it really was a pain when the rim of the barrel got hit and I had to get the ball peen hammer out to repair the barrel band and rim before re-assemblly...also had to keep replacing the 1/4" plywood that held the targets. On the plus side, tire mulch doesn't deform the rounds and it was a good backstop to recover rounds from if you wanted to inspect them.

I forgot about that post...I did a post on that build here last year...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...e-Load-Workups

...too bad you don't live near by or I'd give it to Ya.

[John McCorkle]

Ha! That's the guy who inspired me to do one too...I just sized mine up a wee bit so that hopefully I wouldn't/couldn't miss the thing. Then after getting a quote on the steel (sticker shock) the project sat on the back burner for several years.

I made a backstop using a 55 gallon barrel and rubber tire mulch...it would stop anything I owned, rifle included at point blank range. Used this gizmo for a while but soon grew tired of a 2 hour tear-down and cleanup for the lead recovery...this is the last batch I took out of the barrel when I moved into the new backstop...



Also the diameter of a drum is not that wide so it really was a pain when the rim of the barrel got hit and I had to get the ball peen hammer out to repair the barrel band and rim before re-assemblly...also had to keep replacing the 1/4" plywood that held the targets. On the plus side, tire mulch doesn't deform the rounds and it was a good backstop to recover rounds from if you wanted to inspect them.

I forgot about that post...I did a post on that build here last year...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...e-Load-Workups

...too bad you don't live near by or I'd give it to Ya.

Awfully nice of you, thanks!

I had the same thought about the tire mulch in a 55 gal drum...that may work for me in the interim too...where did you find your tire mulch and was it decently priced to fill a 55 gal drum?

Also, how do you separate the mulch and boolits ? I wouldn't need to make it routine, maybe once or twice a year would be fine...55 gal buckets round here can be had for 12$ ea (plastic ones) and I bet if I look I can find bulk mulch decently priced too

Looks like you've given this bullet recovery alot of thought

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[OS OK]

Awfully nice of you, thanks!

I had the same thought about the tire mulch in a 55 gal drum...that may work for me in the interim too...where did you find your tire mulch and was it decently priced to fill a 55 gal drum?

Also, how do you separate the mulch and boolits ? I wouldn't need to make it routine, maybe once or twice a year would be fine...55 gal buckets round here can be had for 12$ ea (plastic ones) and I bet if I look I can find bulk mulch decently priced too

Looks like you've given this bullet recovery alot of thought

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Yeah bullet recovery out here in KaliFornia is paramount...that stuff is getting hard to find. I enrich my COWW blend with tin up to 1.5~2% so I especially want that stuff back. It makes beautiful casts.

I think I used 8 bags of this stuff...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0...N8CB/203714943

Notice in the post, I made a plug for the bottom of the barrel to reduce it's volume by 1/3...nothing penetrates beyond about 18" if you tamp the mulch as you fill the barrel.

Cleanup is done on a tarp...pull the trap onto the tarp and open the front end and start digging out the mulch and casts together...most of the pistol cast is in the front end not deeper than about 12". You can grab the cast as the mulch falls onto the tarp or just put the mulch in a pile first. My brother helps on this cleanout...you can see the casts all mixed with the mulch.



I found it easier to empty first and use the little buckets to put the mulch back in the drum...we would spread the mulch around on the tarp & then scoop handfulls off the top and put them in the buckets. The casts being much heavier will sort themselves to the bottom of the mulch and collect directly on the tarp...then when most of the mulch has been put back into the barrel you have to hand pick all the casts and place them in another bucket...then final cleanup.

I would replace the 1/4" plywood front at the same time. All the bags the mulch came in was layered on top of the barrel under the plywood...they would stop the mulch from coming out of the front when the plywood got shot up real bad.

[kir_kenix]

I kind of went the other way in .38 special the last couple of years. I load thousands of very light for caliber boolits...group buy 77gr DEWC. Pushed hard enough (3.2-3.5 gr BE) they stabilize in 4" revolvers well enough for me to reliably hit my 6-8" gongs out to about 40 yards. Great for young and/or female relatives to get some serious trigger time without getting beat up.
No idea how many have gone down the tube in various j,k,l and n frames but I try and keep a couple of 50cal ammo cans full of them for company. Cheap, easy to load, easy on the guns, and even easier on the shooter. Of course, for serious target work it's nearly impossible to beat swaged 148gr HBWC (zero or Remington) over 2.7 gr BE. But for short range work on plates or beer cans that stubby 'lil DEWC is about perfect.

[jsizemore]

I shoot with whatever SP primer is on sale usually 1 or 2 5000 cases at a time. An 8lb jug of Promo works out to $15-$16/lb in my area. I buy both at the local gun show when it comes to town to avoid the Hazmat. I give the couple I buy from a heads up before the gun show. Great price on both. I make a donation to the local youth shooting programs while I'm there. 3 grains of Promo or Bullseye works great.

I've bought brass from the good folks on this website.

I shoot H&G #50 PB & BB and both shoot well. I use Micro-Lube in the last lube groove to avoid a mess. I also use White Label's BAC. Works in my 4" & 6" models 10, 14,15 & 19.

My cost runs a little less then 5 cents/round.

[John McCorkle]

About to buy some primers for testing, wanted to pick your collective brains on it.

Smokin deals on off brand primers...as low as 22$ per 1k which would be substantial savings over a large purchase of let's say 20 or 30 k.

Anyone have experience with any of the following and what is your take? (These are strictly target not for personal carry or hunting rounds):

Ginex
Tula
Wolf
Seller and bellot?

Looks like powder valley has the best pricing on powder hands down too...but primers I e always just used cci...but nearly 10$ per 1k more (depending on where you get them) that's 240 - 300 $ more...that'll buy alot more prer or powder or lead

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[Jniedbalski]

Seller and ballot worked great for my 38 loads.the wolf of Tula worked very good also for me really couldn’t notice a difference in them. The seller and bellet is all I can find any more around here. They have plenty of cci and the other top brands but there 10 to 12$ more per 1000. Between all the primer brands I thank i have used the seller and bellet more just because there cheeper and always in stock . The Tula they are always usally our

[John McCorkle]

Update on progress:

Started my load testing and am seeing promise out of Tite group and Lee 143 wc and bullseye with that same bullet.

Getting used to this revolver, but noticing some initial details to adjust in my trigger pull...with striker fire pistols I can see a clean 'wall' of break and can be relatively on target but with double action I can see the sights move (when dry firing) showing me I'm not getting that 'straight to the rear' trigger pull that I'm looking for...

It'll take time in sure but it's frustrating to see it so clearly and not be able to "blame it on the gun or ammo" this problem is all me. But this is what I am doing this for... identify when I need skill honing and practice correctly...

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