Free Corona Lead Part 2

[jonp]

I can't let Love Life one up me! I have some ingots of pure Lead I bought on vacation a few years ago. Yes, on vacation I stop at LGS's just to see what they have and ran across a box of lead ingots. They are stamped P but I can't verify that is what they are but they are the correct hardness.

So, the story I want is: Tell me about the first round you reloaded. Mine was a Lee whack-a-mole at my hunting camp up in the woods for a Blackhawk 41 Magnum using Blue Dot before we knew Blue Dot would blow up any gun it was used in. I didn't have a mentor but read about it in a gun or hunting magazine or something and thought that I could do that so bought a Lymans Reloading manual and read the beginning several times, read the powders and loads, picked one and went to buy what I needed.
On the table looking out over a pond, gas lights, no phone or electricity. October nasty day with the wind blowing and spitting a rain/snow mix so my wood stove was keeping me warm. I grimaced, just a little , when I popped it with the hammer but nothing blew up which is a good thing since it was 30 miles to a hospital down a dirt road. My grin when pulling the trigger the next morning in the yard has never ended and over 30yrs later I still smile when I shoot something I made myself.

Contest will end Sunday 10 May or when I decide I've got a good story. The last time worked good enough that I sent out 2 boxes of 15lbs. Let's see what I get this time.

[Scrounge]

I can't let Love Life one up me! I have some ingots of pure Lead I bought on vacation a few years ago. Yes, on vacation I stop at LGS's just to see what they have and ran across a box of lead ingots. They are stamped P but I can't verify that is what they are but they are the correct hardness.

So, the story I want is: Tell me about the first round you reloaded. Mine was a Lee whack-a-mole at my hunting camp up in the woods for a
Blackhawk 41 Magnum using Blue Dot before we knew Blue Dot would blow up any gun it was used in. My grin when pulling the trigger never ended and over 30yrs later I still smile when I shoot something I made myself.

Contest will end Sunday 10 May or when I decide I've got a good story. The last time worked good enough that I sent out 2 boxes of 15lbs. Let's see what I get this time.

I was somewhere between 6 & 10, when I started helping my dad (not at all sure I was really of help if it was early in that span) reload. He'd started me shooting handguns at age 4, with an old SAA Colt in .45Long, so that is what we were reloading. I think. A scoop make from a cut down shell with a wire loop, and a little stick to push in and check the mark and make sure there wasn't too much powder in the shell. Slow and careful. I didn't live with my dad anymore after age 4, so I wasn't there much except for a couple of weeks in the summer, but we (Mom, brother and I) usually lived somewhere fairly close after age 8 or so, we would hang out there when we could. Dad had a Herter's C press, and mostly Herters dies. I think I was 12 or 14 before I got to cast boolits. And I'm sure I was pretty irrigated because my brother, who is a year and a half younger than I am, got to do casting the same time I did. It wasn't fair! I have no idea what kind of powder it was when we were loading for the real cowboy gun. By the time I was 12, dad had a GI 1911. Pretty sure we were using Unique in that. That was long, long ago, and far, far away, and in another universe. And may have been a dream.

[Biggin]

I don't have a good story and I don't need the lead I hope it goes to somebody who does. Loaded my first rounds in high school. A buddy of mine got a kit for his birthday I believe it was a Lee challenger kit. We didn't have internet then and had to drive 90 miles one way to find a store that sold components. We put our money together and bought a couple of lbs of unique some small pp and some hornady swaged lrn .358 boolits . We didn't have a clue what we were doing but we didn't blow up any guns and didn't get hurt. We both had .357 revolvers so that's what we loaded for.

[GONRA]

jonp - GONRA successfully uses Blue Dot for .44 Mag, .44 AUTO MAG and .45 Win Mag.
Where's the Blue Dot problem? Some jerk who shouldn't be hand loading in the first place?

[jonp]

jonp - GONRA successfully uses Blue Dot for .44 Mag, .44 AUTO MAG and .45 Win Mag.
Where's the Blue Dot problem? Some jerk who shouldn't be hand loading in the first place?

there has since been a warning about using Blue Dot in 41 Mag. I still use it in a 41 MAG Blackhawk with no problems.

[Bazoo]

Well, about 8 years ago I was down to the local gunsmith. He had some reloading stuff on the junk table. I ended up with a spartan press and a set of RCBS 357 dies and some odds and ends. Somehow I ended up with everything required over the next few weeks or so and a guy off another forum sent me some Lee 358-158-RF he had cast. I ended up loading titegroup in a handful of 38 especial cases. Went to the farm and let them go out of the Smith 642 I was carrying at the time. Been hooked ever since. So my first reloads was with cast bullets out of a lee mould, if that ain't a winner I dunno what is.

[Martin Luber]

My dad grew up on a farm and only shot factory loads. They had a shotgun and a Crossman pellet rifle. No 22 since some neighbor told them a 22 rf could travel too far and hit them. Imagine that, 110 acres on hilly terrain and someone is afraid of getting shot. No longerva working farm with rats to be shot. So we had all those shells, old and dry, high brass #6 mostly. Got a hand trap and some clay birds and decided to try to hit some flying targets. Never did that before. Old gun kicked like a mule, Had a wonderful time, should have had ear plugs though. So I wanted to do more of that. Shells weren't cheap and we didn't have a lot of free cash so I wanted to learn to load. Didn't know anyone who did. Dad wasn't keen on the idea. So I had two tasks; one was to learn all about loading shotgun shells, all the different kinds and procedures for each type, then to convince dad it was ok to do. We Found felt wads, tools and other components at a tag sale. Got a book Lyman's l recall . Went through all the steps with a Lee loader. Took forever to load a box! The biggest joy was taking them to the field and trying them out. The anticipation, excitement, worry, and fear. They worked just as advertised but didn't warn of the lifelong affection and addiction for a hobby and shooting sports.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Me: about 14 and talked My parents into buying me a MEC shotgun reloader. Back then we had rabbits and grouse. Still have squirrels rest are all but gone or are. It took me a long time to get enough to reload any one main shot shell for practice. I still pick up every hull I find. So I learned loading WWAA, RXP, SP, and Champion and Federal Paper hulls. I still recall yelling up to Mom and Dad going to test a few more. Looking to see pressure and shooting after dark 8, 9, even as late as 10. Many nights in the basement loading on the table me and my dad made. Still have that table in basement of the farm where we made it. Wood was saved by Uncle Mike and Dad from old wire mill in Monaca PA. Was old 3/4" boards they used for packing shipping and receiving, was stored in the barn for 20-30 years before I talked dad into using it. Table is not heavy enough for a regular reloading press but works good for shotgun. Now has two MEC's one is the first one and other is 20 gauge. Been a long time since I have had to load any. Price of reloading shot shells is ?? compared to buying. I always look to get back to reloading them but with the Pheasants and grouse gone and rabbits few and far between just as cost effective to buy.

Rifle reloading was next at a old buddies grand father's house. His granddad and father were tops, he turn into a bit more of a person that didn't like to follow the rules. Accident happen but not like his, he became too game hungry.

Pistols came after I was in my 20's my dad was not a reloader. I don't know if he could. He never learned or was interested. He says I'm like his dad was I don't like to kill a animal I raise but I can. My dad get all upset and hurt inside, I understand what needs to be done and get past it. This first pistol was a 44, to have because at the time there was talk about making PA shotgun only.

Rest is all over the place. Now I try to teach my girls. Hopes is to have a full setup for each if they should have a need or use for it. Working on cleaning up and start a workroom for them and us to work and reload.

[fatelk]

Cool thread. I don't need any more lead, myself, and I'm sure someone else can use it much more than I could, but I'll add my story anyway.

I was almost completely self taught when it comes to guns and reloading, really didn't have a mentor. My dad had a couple guns around the farm, but he doesn't personally like guns. I had a grandfather and uncle who had guns and hunted, but didn't hunt much by the time I was old enough, and while they had guns, they weren't particularly "into" them. My dad bought me my first .22 rifle when I was 14 or 15, then my uncle gave me one, then my grandfather gave me one. I shot a lot of .22 ammo. Then I talked my dad into buying an old 30-06 that was in the want adds in the paper. I bought exactly one box of factory ammo. This was all in the mid to late '80s. For a short time I scrounged around buying whatever cheap surplus ammo I could find, and saved the brass because I'd heard you could refill them. I still have that first 30-06, except now it has a .270 Winchester barrel, because the corrosive primed surplus ammo rusted out the original barrel.

After a while I found another ad in the paper, for a reloading setup, and excitedly talked my folks into taking me to buy it. I think I paid $75 for a Herters Super 3 press, Herters scale and dies, a bunch of brass in oak loading blocks, a bunch of ancient primers, boxes full of .30 cal bullets, and an old oil tin with 20 pounds of surplus H4831 inside. I C-clamped that press to an old board on a couple cement blocks in my bedroom, and promptly loaded my very first round! I went on to load an awful lot of 30-06 ammo with that old powder.

I think the next round I loaded for was .44 magnum. My dad bought a Marlin .44 mag rifle. I really wanted to shoot it, but for some reason didn't have any ammo, don't remember why. I had a brand new set of dies, but hadn't been to town to buy the appropriate powder yet. I got the bright idea to use H4831, in a .44 Magnum! I was young and dumb, but deduced that it was way too slow to be optimal, and would be underpowered at best. I figured what the heck, packed a couple cases full and seated a bullet on top! Believe it or not, they shot fine. I have no idea what the velocity was...

I see most of you all talk about your fathers and other mentors who gave you your start, and I admit I get a little jealous. I would have loved to had someone who was really into guns and reloading show me the ropes. My dad tolerated my interest, but was definitely not interested himself.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for sharing fatelk. I didn't have a mentor either. I'm self taught in shooting and reloading.

[JimB..]

Just a few years ago a guy on a local gun forum invited me to drive a couple hours and spend some time learning to load 38spcl on a Dillon SDB. Since then I’ve loaded tens of thousands of rounds in at least a dozen calibers.

Going to start casting soon, but don’t need the lead. It’s a nice thing that you’re doing.

[pcmacd]

Well, about 8 years ago I was down to the local gunsmith. He had some reloading stuff on the junk table. I ended up with a spartan press and a set of RCBS 357 dies and some odds and ends. Somehow I ended up with everything required over the next few weeks or so and a guy off another forum sent me some Lee 358-158-RF he had cast. I ended up loading titegroup in a handful of 38 especial cases. Went to the farm and let them go out of the Smith 642 I was carrying at the time. Been hooked ever since. So my first reloads was with cast bullets out of a lee mould, if that ain't a winner I dunno what is.

Lee products are a serious bargain.

The mistake most people make with their LEE moulds is to NOT LUBRICATE the SPRUE PLATE! I've been there....

I've found that spraying the entirety of the mold with "Sprayon #204 Dry Graphite Lube" not only makes the bullets fall out easy, it lubes the sprue plate/aluminum block. There are likely other products that will work equally well, just look for carriers that completely evaporate, and leave nothing oily behind.

This stuff is awesome. It is mostly propane with some graphite in it, so there is no residue.

I use it now on all my molds. It SEEMS (no promises, friends) to also prevent rust.

This stuff is for LOCKS! It rocks on bullet casting molds (I have used it on H&Gs and everthing else, too. It just rocks.)

Happy casting.

[pcmacd]

Cool thread. I don't need any more lead, myself, and I'm sure someone else can use it much more than I could, but I'll add my story anyway.

I was almost completely self taught when it comes to guns and reloading, really didn't have a mentor. My dad had a couple guns around the farm, but he doesn't personally like guns. I had a grandfather and uncle who had guns and hunted, but didn't hunt much by the time I was old enough, and while they had guns, they weren't particularly "into" them. My dad bought me my first .22 rifle when I was 14 or 15, then my uncle gave me one, then my grandfather gave me one. I shot a lot of .22 ammo. Then I talked my dad into buying an old 30-06 that was in the want adds in the paper. I bought exactly one box of factory ammo. This was all in the mid to late '80s. For a short time I scrounged around buying whatever cheap surplus ammo I could find, and saved the brass because I'd heard you could refill them. I still have that first 30-06, except now it has a .270 Winchester barrel, because the corrosive primed surplus ammo rusted out the original barrel.

After a while I found another ad in the paper, for a reloading setup, and excitedly talked my folks into taking me to buy it. I think I paid $75 for a Herters Super 3 press, Herters scale and dies, a bunch of brass in oak loading blocks, a bunch of ancient primers, boxes full of .30 cal bullets, and an old oil tin with 20 pounds of surplus H4831 inside. I C-clamped that press to an old board on a couple cement blocks in my bedroom, and promptly loaded my very first round! I went on to load an awful lot of 30-06 ammo with that old powder.

I think the next round I loaded for was .44 magnum. My dad bought a Marlin .44 mag rifle. I really wanted to shoot it, but for some reason didn't have any ammo, don't remember why. I had a brand new set of dies, but hadn't been to town to buy the appropriate powder yet. I got the bright idea to use H4831, in a .44 Magnum! I was young and dumb, but deduced that it was way too slow to be optimal, and would be underpowered at best. I figured what the heck, packed a couple cases full and seated a bullet on top! Believe it or not, they shot fine. I have no idea what the velocity was...

I see most of you all talk about your fathers and other mentors who gave you your start, and I admit I get a little jealous. I would have loved to had someone who was really into guns and reloading show me the ropes. My dad tolerated my interest, but was definitely not interested himself.

I, too, am completely self taught.

I have a technical degree that has really helped me thru the rough edges.

My first press was a D550. Everbody said,"buy a one lung!" Bah.

Started loading 45 acp. Piece of cake, with locally sourced projectiles and over 38,000 rounds of 45 acp with Bullseye (what a nasty, dirty propellant! Now use Solo 1000! Clean!) Loaded that many more with Solo 1K.

Next up? 9mm. Bullets sourced same place. Nothing but success.

Loading handgun ammunition is NOT rocket science.

Bought a Magma Master Caster in 45 ACP w/ Magma H&G 68 BB clone. Bought a 9mm 147 FP Master Caster Mold. Ordered a custom H&G ?? BB 180 grn SWC for the M/C that required no sizing, and then my customer moved away. Bummer. Still got the 9mm and H&G ?? 180 molds set up for the Master Caster. Love those molds, gotta get some handles.

Moved on to 30 Carbine? Well. it is basically a handgun round. QED. Adapted my Master Caster to take standard molds underneath. It was easy and only took drilling one or two holes in the cast iron base to make it all fit nice and tidy.

Next? 8x58JS mauser? OMG. The dillon powder measure just creamed the upper cartridge case.

So? [we are taking 30 years ago!] Buy a Forster Co-Ax. I bought it because I saw it in a Precision Shooting photo on an article an the army AMU, who make the ammo for the US Army competitors. Good enough for them? Good enough for me!

Don't look back. And a Redding BR-3.

I prep lots of my brass on the Dillon, but load the critical stuff on the Co-Ax.

I load for about 25++ different cartridges.

It is what I do, now that I am re-tarred, and live less than three miles from the Rio Salado firing range in Maricopa County, AZ [how you think I found my house??? duh??? ]

[poppy42]

Well the first rounds I ever loaded were for my Remington 700 bel heavy barrel Varmint special, chambered in 223. I picked up a used RCBS reloading setup from the LGS that I Bought all my guns from. I knew nothing about reloading i’m at the time I had no one to mentor me so everything I learned I learned from reading reloading manuals and gun magazines. The year was 1985. I know this for sure because it was the same year my youngest son was born. All my reloading was done on an old steel desk in the corner of my wife and eyes bedroom. I must’ve done all right because my hand loads were responsible for taking an awful lot of woodchucks in upstate New York. Sadly within a few years I injured my back quite seriously, couldn’t work and wound up selling all the reloading equipment and about 98% of my guns to help support my family. I sure wish I had that rifle back but quite honestly I wouldn’t of changed anything I did family is much more important than toys. It took me quite a few years to get back to where I am today. Such is life. As the saying goes all good things come to those that wait.
Now is a rather comical sidenote to all of this, my other passion at the time was for trapping. There was no garage with this house my wife and I rented so my that old steel desk/ reloading bench shared space with my trapping supplies. Not traps mind you, but sents and lures. For some stupid reason I thought it would be a good idea to store a rather large bottle of fox urine on a desk in my bedroom! If that wasn’t bad enough we had a rather mischievous beagle. Now I think you can all see where this is going so I won’t take up too much of everyone’s time with the details other than to say it cost me an awful lot of money it’s time to replace bed linens, rugs, window curtains, and a few other things! Oh yeah and I spent most of that winter with the bedroom window wide open and the fan running during the day. Fortunately it was a very mild winter on Long Island!.
Anyway that’s my story.

[billyb]

Like you my first try at reloading was the Lee tool. A Christmas gift from my sister-in-law. Had never heard of reloading fired brass. It was 38 spl. Did some reading of the instructions, bought some powder, primers and bullets. Bought a plastic mallet to beat on the brass to resize it. Loaded my first six rounds and drove to the river to see if they worked. Cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger and the gun made the craziest BLOOP and the bullet hit the ground about 15 feet from me. I could not believe what had just happened so I fired one more round, BLOOP. Turns out I had bought the wrong powder! Do not remember what it was, but I knew it did not work in a S&W model 10. Did a little more reading and bought Bullseye. Reloaded a lot of rounds with that Lee tool.

[BrassMagnet]

Well I was casting in Kindergarten. Daddy! Daddy! Can I make bullets?
Dad would fire up a Coleman stove and I was off to the races casting 358495 wadcutters with a single cavity mould and a dipper. I cast so many of them as a kid that I was still shooting them in my mid twenties.
I also got to shoot that 45 Colt at five years old. Dad held it and I got to pull the trigger. I learned how to shoot with a Stevens Favorite .22 shooting mostly shorts as that poor gun was pretty shot out. With no magazine and no ejector you sure do learn how to aim!
Reloading was pretty young, too! When I read "An American Guerrilla in the Philippines" by Ira Wolfert my first thought was I would just go into the reloading room and load up some ammo for that old Springfield 03A3.
Don't you listen to Scrounge if he denies this story. I have told it this way so many times it is now the truth!

[john.k]

I cant even remember the first reload I did .....but it would have been because my father figured if we had no ammo ,we couldnt be shooting guns when he wasnt there .I also remember casting bullets in moulds made of plaster .And for sure blackpowder salvaged from dud firecrackers.I remember getting primers in a cardboard tray ...probably surplus stuff......A schoolmates father worked in army ammo store ,and their house was packed with stuff he brought home from work....very little useful tho ,and I recall cracking a stove hotplate when I set off a primed 20mm case ...case even put a ding in the tin roof over the stove ...but no one suspected .Anyway ,20mm cases was where my first smokeless came from ,worked good in a boer war 7mm Mauser.....When we were kids ,we had very little ,and the idea of buying reloading presses was a dream from a friends Outdoors magazine.

[Rellik137]

I might as well give this a try, first off I’m completely new to the concept of bullet casting; my only knowledge comes from what I read and see on YouTube videos. My story goes as follows. I’m not sure what really sparked my interest in firearms where I was living they built an indoor range and thought this would be fun to try little did I know I would become hooked on it. Fast forward a few years I bought my first press a lee hand press kit, I have loaded about 400 rounds and counting, started out with 9mm and worked up to .38/.357. I remember when I bought the powder my rookie mistake was buying blue dot not knowing it was mostly used for magnum and shot shells, I was terrified to fire them luckily it all went well. My interest in casting is to load 90 gr loads and wadcutters for .38 yet I’m on the fence cause I’m on a shoestring budget and don’t want to invest a lot of money into something I may or may not like. Unrelated to reloading but funny none the less. I was at the range with my wife and I was setting up and went to fire my first shot all I hear is babe! I immediately set the gun down and turn around, she was like fire just came out of the gun is that normal? Lol I just laughed and said yes

[nueces5]

I moved in with my old girlfriend, over 20 years ago, and decided that if I wanted to keep using my 357 I should reload. So I got a reloading book, and I went in public transport to buy, press, scale and dies.
I installed a wooden board as a shelf and assembled the press. I went to get gunpowder, tips and primers at a gunshop that was a few hundred meters from my house. I chose the powder that needed the lowest charge to operate, a box of 1 1/2 Rem primers and was happy at home. Needless to say, the first rounds I loaded were wrinkled until I learned to regulate the dies. There were no youtube tutorials at that time.
There is a page that I really like, Stevepages, the story of what was his evolution in shooting, is exactly what happened to me. The first time I read it I laughed a lot alone and in front of the computer.
Now I can no longer enter the page, something I really regret.
At that time I began to feel very sad for all the bras that I had left lying in previous years. 357 brass are expensive and difficult to get in Argentina.

[jonp]

"At that time I began to feel very sad for all the bras that I had left lying in previous years."

Me too, nueces5.