Hated Reloading Tasks

[alamogunr]

At various times there have been threads about things that we dislike intensely. I just finished pulling the boolets on about 150 loaded .44Mag rounds. They were some that were thrown in when I bought a Browning '92 from an individual. He couldn't get the '92 to shoot and when I tried it with these rounds, the boolet went thru the target sideways. When I examined the barrel, you could barely see the lands. Took a couple of hours to clean out the lead. I set the rest of the rounds aside and didn't take notice of them until last week. I decided to try them in a handgun. After about 50 rounds, I had enough. Checking the barrel, it was leaded badly also. I checked the throats and they checked .431 with plug gages. I didn't slug the barrel. The charge was 9 grains +/-. The boolets miked .4295 consistently. They were commercial SWC's, bevel base and a hard lube. I decided to pull the boolets. I now have almost 150 boolets to melt down with my next pot full of WW and the same number of primed brass. The powder went on the shrubbery. The powder was a very small flake. I assume Bullseye but I don't use it often(need to start) and didn't get it out to compare.

I have to say that old Midway impact bullet puller held up through all approx. 150 rounds. Not being a carpenter, my hammer arm got a little tired. Is a collet type bullet puller easier or faster to use?

[pdawg_shooter]

On cast bullets, I run them up in my press, grab the bullet with a pair of wire stripper pliers and lower the ram. Quick, easy and no spilled powder.

[Doc_Stihl]

I use the same trick as Pdawg shooter. I like to use side cutters when the boolit is hard to get ahold of. I'll need to try the wire stripper trick.

[btroj]

That's the quicker way in my opinion.

[Jim]

I've got a Frankfort Arsonal (sp?) hammer I bought ten years ago. I've gone through probably three or four sets of the collets, but the hammer and nut are still on the job. No tellin' how many hundreds of rounds of milsurp ammo I've pulled apart with it.

[runfiverun]

since the bbl was allready leaded up i would have just shot them all and been done with it.

[btroj]

I have another 50 rounds of leading 38 special to shoot Run. Sometimes that's the best method.

[alamogunr]

I don't use the collets in the hammer. Quite awhile back someone on this board suggested using a regular shell holder. I've used that ever since.

I wish I had thought of the press and pliers method. I already had to put the case in the shell holder.

After 50 rounds, I had patterns rather than large groups and my hand was getting sore. I guess they would have been patterns, some didn't even stay on the paper.

[**oneshot**]

I cut out a coffee can lid to sit on top of the press to prevent galling the top of the die nut, then pull them out with wire cutters like a few others do.
Its fast and prevents powder from dumping all over the bench.

[GL49]

Wire strippers. Wish I'd thought of that 40 years ago. I've got a bunch of those that aren't good enough for their intended purpose any more.

[RayinNH]

Wire strippers work great. The hole just below the joint fit a .30 cal boolit perfectly. The wire connector crimpers above the joint fit other calibers as well. I use a 1/2" washer on top of the press to prevent messing up the threads.The boolit goes up through the hole in the washer...Ray

[montana_charlie]

It isn't a 'reloading task' but it is one that is easy to hate.
That would be stuffing a 1000 round case of bulk 5.56 NATO into stripper clips ...

[429421Cowboy]

I hate pulling boolits because its counter-productive! Another reloading task i hate is trimming rilfe brass, slow and boring! Add preping a new batch of once fired i.e size, trim, polish, deburr/chamfer, clean primer pocket and uniform flashhole is an excelent cure for ADD!

[btroj]

It isn't a 'reloading task' but it is one that is easy to hate.
That would be stuffing a 1000 round case of bulk 5.56 NATO into stripper clips ...

You are "reloading" the stripper clips.

And pulling bullets isn't technically a reloading task, it is an unreloading task.

[Tom W.]

Once, after surgery, I was bored and trimmed some .44 mag. revolver brass.
The operative word here is ONCE.

[Adam10mm]

I hate lubing rifle brass before sizing.

I hate trimming rifle brass after sizing.

Other than those two, I'm pretty OK with reloading.

[montana_charlie]

It isn't a 'reloading task' but it is one that is easy to hate.
That would be stuffing a 1000 round case of bulk 5.56 NATO into stripper clips ...
You are "reloading" the stripper clips.
Okay ... I guess ... but that creates another semantics problem during the next phase.

When shoving those rounds into a magazine, I don't know if that is 'unloading' the stripper clip, or 'reloading' the magazine.
It certainly cannot be that I am doing two things at once.

My wife has assured me I don't have that capability ...

CM

[RU shooter]

Wire strippers work great. The hole just below the joint fit a .30 cal boolit perfectly. The wire connector crimpers above the joint fit other calibers as well. I use a 1/2" washer on top of the press to prevent messing up the threads.The boolit goes up through the hole in the washer...Ray A big +1 It also works good on jacketed bullets too. And I though I was the only cheap er I mean frugal one using them:-D

[1Shirt]

The thing I hate is prolonged repetition in anything I do. That is particularly true when reloading a large quantity of handgun brass. After 50 it gets old quickly!
I pull pistol blts with a pair of dikes, wire strippers sounds like a good idea.

1Shirt!

[**oneshot**]

Prepping new cases would have to rank up there with my "not so liked" reloading tasks.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Annealing brass, without a doubt!

[Ola]

First I thought that there is nothing I hate about reloading. But then I realised it:
I hate EVERYTHING that I must do with a single-stage press. Ok, the bullet seating is ok, because it is the final stage that makes the ammo ready-to-go.

Hmm.. Is it possible to make a progressive press to lube and seat the CS's and then automatically seat the bullet in the case?;)

[L Ross]

I don't really mind any of the physical tasks I have control of. What I hate is standing at the check out counter forking over ever larger amounts of my ever shrinking dollars for powder and primers. That "task" really sucks.

Duke

[GRUMPA]

Annealing brass, without a doubt!

I'm right there with you on that. But I have figured a way to increase the rate and now it's not so bad. But still it's a PITA when it seems that 1k pcs seems to take all day, but it actually doesn't.

[Iowa Fox]

[QUOTE=1Shirt;1809071]The thing I hate is prolonged repetition in anything I do. That is particularly true when reloading a large quantity of handgun brass. After 50 it gets old quickly!

Many years ago I sat the youngest son down to reload 500 45ACP empties on my Lyman Spartan. I think the repetition got to him as he got on the phone mid project and ordered us a Dillon. All these years later I can't thank him enough and still chuckle when I think about him working on that pile of empties.

[Blammer]

my most hated reloading task is empting all them loaded pieces of brass so I have something to do!

[FISH4BUGS]

Once, after surgery, I was bored and trimmed some .44 mag. revolver brass.
The operative word here is ONCE.

I don't think I have trimmed a pistol case in my 40 years of reloading....and I shoot a LOT of pistol ammo in open bolt submachineguns.....never trimmed a revolver caliber either.
I think i will take a hundred 357 cases and even see if they NEED trimming.
I may be crazy but trimming is rather enjoyable to me. I have a Forster hand trimmer set up and I will usually do 250 cases at a time, maybe 10-20 here and there. Every time I get up and stretch I will head to the shed and do a quick few. If I have a few hours to spare you can bang out a lot of them. Right now I have 250 Hornady Match 308 cases I am doing. Before you know it the 250 are done. It also gives you a chance to inspect each and every one of the cases.....I guess if you are gong to do it, you may as well do it right. To me that is just part of the deal....no different than smelting, casting, resizing and lubing, reloading, etc. Just one of the steps involved.
I have 2000 Cavim 308 cases to do. Will process them right the first time....just bought a Bushmaster 308 and can't wait to shoot them.

[Gliden07]

Not reloading task. A casting task sorting a 5 Gallon bucket of dirty WW's!!

[Plate plinker]

Filling primer pick up tubes.

[375supermag]

I don't think I have trimmed a pistol case in my 40 years of reloading....and I shoot a LOT of pistol ammo in open bolt submachineguns.....never trimmed a revolver caliber either.
I think i will take a hundred 357 cases and even see if they NEED trimming.
I may be crazy but trimming is rather enjoyable to me. I have a Forster hand trimmer set up and I will usually do 250 cases at a time, maybe 10-20 here and there. Every time I get up and stretch I will head to the shed and do a quick few. If I have a few hours to spare you can bang out a lot of them. Right now I have 250 Hornady Match 308 cases I am doing. Before you know it the 250 are done. It also gives you a chance to inspect each and every one of the cases.....I guess if you are gong to do it, you may as well do it right. To me that is just part of the deal....no different than smelting, casting, resizing and lubing, reloading, etc. Just one of the steps involved.
I have 2000 Cavim 308 cases to do. Will process them right the first time....just bought a Bushmaster 308 and can't wait to shoot them.

I positively hate trimming brass. I don't do it very often and I still hate it.
I once paid a gunsmith friend of mine to trim .375 Winchester cases to .375SuperMag length. Trust me, if I pay anybody to do something that I have the time and ability to do, it is a task that I detest.

[azrednek]

Separating brass is a dreaded chore for me. 380, 9MM and 9MM Mak mixed together in a tumbler is a nightmare. Not quite as difficult but still a king sized PIA. 38/357, 45ACP 45AR, 44 Spec and Mag and even 45 Colt mixed with 44 Mag.

I always scarf up brass left behind by other shooters. I currently don't have a 40 S&W or 32ACP. The 40 and 32's always wind up getting stuck in a larger piece of brass in my tumbler. So while I'm separating brass I have to keep my inertia bullet puller handy.

[429421Cowboy]

DUH!! I just remembered the one reloading task i hate more than trimming brass and the is deburring and chamfering. I am supprised that more beginning reloaders don't give up at that step!

[FISH4BUGS]

I positively hate trimming brass. I don't do it very often and I still hate it.
I once paid a gunsmith friend of mine to trim .375 Winchester cases to .375SuperMag length. Trust me, if I pay anybody to do something that I have the time and ability to do, it is a task that I detest.

Well...if you are willing to part with your money to avoid a task, then you must REALLY hate it. Different strokes for different folks.
Every step of the process, from sorting and smelting ww's to case prep, PP swaging, trimming, deburring and chamfering, PP cleaning and reloading is almost the best part. It is beginning to seem that shooting is becoming secondary to the reloading process. The ammo inventory is building rapidly.
The pleasure of it for me comes from not having television. My then 7 year old son and I machine gunned the TV 25 years ago and finished it off with a 20 ga. Not having TV actually allows you more time to do the productive things that you like to do and to relax a bit more.
Now that I think about it, I hope I never get into any trouble (not that I would)....the newspaper stories would be terrible. "....found at his home were machine guns, silencers, sawed off shotguns, explosives (the media's term for smokeless powder) and thousands of rounds of ammunition...." Forget the fact that everything is legal and registered.
However, it doesn't take long to blast away a thousand rounds at 32 rounds per magazine and a rate of fire somewhere around 1200 rpm. Even the 45's have a rate around 700 rpm or so.

[Ola]

Separating brass is a dreaded chore for me. 380, 9MM and 9MM Mak mixed together in a tumbler is a nightmare...

Do you have 9MM or 9MM Mak? Because the 9mm Makarov brass will usually work just fine in 9x19 mm reloads.

[Recluse]

Rifle brass prepping in numbers over 20.

For my match-grade thirty-cal stuff, I rarely prep or load more than 20 rounds at a time.

But for .223 and 30-30 where I may do several hundred at a time, it drives me up the wall. Since it's for plinking, I don't always do the anal, thorough job I do on the match-grade stuff.

:coffee:

[camotruck]

preping a new batch of once fired i.e size, trim, polish, deburr/chamfer, clean primer pocket and uniform flashhole is an excelent cure for ADD!

+1 Yep

[jlchucker]

I hate lubing rifle brass before sizing.

I hate trimming rifle brass after sizing.

Other than those two, I'm pretty OK with reloading.

That pretty much sums it up for me, too.

[44deerslayer]

I hate emptying the tumbler and case sorting

[largom]

There is nothing about handloading that I dislike, it is my greatest passion. I load and shoot most all American calibers and hoard brass for all. I truely enjoy working on brass which is sized, trimmed, flash-holes deburred, primer pockets reamed, separated by headstamp and then weight sorted. You might say that I shoot more so that I can handload more.

Larry

[TheDoctor]

If you count it as a reloading task, then the lubra sizer is the one step I do not like.

[Adam10mm]

Buy a Star sizer. You won't regret it.

[rockrat]

Lubing the cases before sizing (another chore I dislike) isn't bad, its taking the lube off the case, is a pain and time consuming.

As with many others, trimming the cases is a pain.

[abqcaster]

I lube, de-prime, then tumble to get the lube off. What I hate is Lubing the bullet. Stuff gets every where and even if it smells like roses, I get sick of the smell.

What I hate most though is have to shoot them after all that work I did reloading them. :bigsmyl2:

[km101]

Swaging the primer crimp out of milsurp .223 brass is one of my least favorite chores! But pulling bullets because of a mistake or problem is right up there. :(

Ken

NRA Life Member

[ErikO]

I don't really mind any of the physical tasks I have control of. What I hate is standing at the check out counter forking over ever larger amounts of my ever shrinking dollars for powder and primers. That "task" really sucks.

Duke

Agreed!

[ErikO]

Lubing the cases before sizing (another chore I dislike) isn't bad, its taking the lube off the case, is a pain and time consuming.

As with many others, trimming the cases is a pain.

A short tumble after the rounds are loaded works great.

[abqcaster]

I don't really mind any of the physical tasks I have control of. What I hate is standing at the check out counter forking over ever larger amounts of my ever shrinking dollars for powder and primers. That "task" really sucks.

Duke

I also, vehemently agree! :groner:

[Lloyd Smale]

that and trying to stuff them neatly into ammo cans.
It isn't a 'reloading task' but it is one that is easy to hate.
That would be stuffing a 1000 round case of bulk 5.56 NATO into stripper clips ...

[44man]

You fellas are flat out too specific! :kidding:
It is repetition plain and simple and that involves every single operation.
I only enjoy loading when I am experimenting or fixing a problem. After that it ALL is boring.
Testing stuff uses the smallest amount at a time and may be why I test so many things, to keep the repetition down. :coffeecom
If you enjoy it, you have your eyes closed with dancing girls on your eyelids! I am old but still enjoy a pretty girl! :bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[Ola]

It is repetition plain and simple and that involves every single operation. Also casting?

I hate repetition in reloading, but not in casting boolits. I can go hours without getting bored. It is the physical fatique that makes me stop.

[mold maker]

I also, vehemently agree! :groner:

I totally agree.
At 70 with bum legs, all loading/casting/shooting, are enjoyable. You young bucks will learn that even repetition is fun, if it's a way to be involved.

[Love Life]

Case trimming is the task I hate. Maybe it is time to get a power case trimmer, but the old one still works.

[gbrown]

You know, I've been reloading since 1963 and started out with Lee dies and hand loading tools. I still have some. The little punches and anvils for depriming and priming and such. I have an old C-H c-press I got for 19.95 on clearance in 1966. I have my Lee hardness tester set up in it. I can remember casting 5,000 .30 cal M-1 carbine boolits for an ole boy sizing and lubing them using a Star. I got paid for that, but it was a lot of work. Back in 2001 I had surgery and knew I would be down for a while. Before surgery, got everything organized and while recuperating, used my primer pocket swager and Forstner trimmer to clean up a couple thousand .223 military. I have hand lubed thousands of pieces of brass to size. Now just use a spray can of Midway product. I also shoot .357 Herrett, 2 different guns, in which I was taught, make cases for each and fire form them and don't mix 'em up. Have about 500 of each. I make them on the old C-H. There is no task I dislike. If I had to, I'd still do it with the Lee's. Its' all fun. Thinking about taking my casting pot with me to the camp this year and during down time, make boolits. I think it would be fun doing it by the campfire.