What did you do in the reloading room today?

[skeettx]

Boxed up 35 boxes of 20 gauge shotshells that I loaded this week
on my Texan M reloader :)

Soooo went through about 50 pounds of wheelweights :o

Mike

[Idaho Mule]

I cast a few this morning. RCBS 25 85 CM, RCBS 32 98 SWC , and some Accurate ?? big fat .44's for son's 44 BH. I got the 44's and 25's weighed out and stored in boxes. Just making a pile of the 32's here lately but it's getting pretty big. JW

[greenwart]

50 lee 309-170-F ahead of 28.2g of r-15 (long range match). What not to love, total cost $0.13 a piece vs $0.85 at Wally World.

126389

Bob

[Jack Stanley]

Yet more case prep ............

Jack

[taco650]

50 lee 309-170-f ahead of 28.2g of r-15 (long range match). what not to love, total cost $0.13 a piece vs $0.85 at wally world.

126389

bob

exactly!!!

[hickfu]

Spent around 30 minutes just sitting there looking over all the powders, primers and cast lead boolits I have and hoped that someday soon I will be able to get back to casting and reloading...

[dragon813gt]

Does looking at it through the back door count ;)
To cold to attempt to work in it. Only going to get colder as the week progresses. Is the bathroom a reloading room if you're reading Hodgdon's Annual in it :laugh:

[Jal5]

This weekend I finished loading all the 45acp brass I had prepped. I need to clean and prep another batch and pour more BOOLITS for them! Next up will be prepping brass for 223 loads.

[Muskyhunter1]

I sized a bunch of. 314 and 309 boolites. Too dam cold to do any molding. I got three molds and a sizer in the mail to me. Hope it warms up soon so I can get molding in the garage.

[triggerhappy243]

loaded up a bunch of 250 savage ammo for a friend. he was thrilled when he found out.

[tazman]

I loaded some light test loads for my 9mm. I haven't tested light loads for accuracy yet since the heavier loads work so well.
I loaded some Lee 356-120-tc boolits over light charges of Bullseye and WST.
I'll try them out this weekend.

[bigarm]

Carried a Dillon order out to the man cave.

[62chevy]

Stored about 100# of free lead.

[Jack Stanley]

Case prep still ....................... Thank goodness for Doug Giraud's trimmer !

Jack

[websterz]

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy258/websterzdesign/Mobile%20Uploads/20150108_090833.jpg (http://s797.photobucket.com/user/websterzdesign/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150108_090833.jpg.html)
Today I tumble lubed all of the .356 124's that I sized yesterday. Now I'm moving over to the presses to decap a few hundred .40S&W cases and load up some .451 230 grain TC TL rounds to test in my 1911. If the weather ever warms up I want to have some test loads ready.

[youngmman]

"Why I'm at it" can get to be a three day event.....only to be stopped by wife, children or work....
I was going to tune a new Springfield Armory EMP Saturday then start casting. NOW, I find out I have to go visit my Daughter instead. I love her dearly, but really! Where the "H" do these convoluted priorities come from anyway.

[1911KY]

Installed a Lyman M die on my LNL, put handles on my new NOE mold, reamed primer pockets on a few hundred Herter's 45 cases and installed the correct PTX expander after receiving a replacement from Hornady.

I probably wouldn't have bought the M die had I received the correct PTX expander in the first place!! I purchased a .451 and received a .355!!! I should have looked at the stamp on the metal. Package stuffer at Hornady wasn't paying attention when he loaded that one.

[SSGOldfart]

I added another 14 feet of bench space today,and working on a new floor now.

[Dave C.]

I sized 1300 H&G#68's on my Star.

[Jack Stanley]

Finally finished sizing and trimming .223 cases . Set up the annealing machine and ended up with just over MMMMD of them when it was all done . Off to final polish now .

Jack

[websterz]

Finally finished sizing and trimming .223 cases . Set up the annealing machine and ended up with just over MMMMD of them when it was all done . Off to final polish now .

Jack

How long does it take to size and trim 4500 .223 cases?

[Jack Stanley]

I didn't keep track of the time and rather than using Hornady "One Shot" for lube I was using the greasy pad which took longer . Sizing and decapping on the Co-Ax , trimming with the Guraud ..... I'm guessing between nine and eleven hours . I played five movies in the background while the sizing was going on does that help ? ;-)

Today I finished up the polish after anneal step and sanded some cans to get them ready for paint and cut some cardboard for can liners .

Jack

[taco650]

Today I finished up the polish after anneal step and sanded some cans to get them ready for paint and cut some cardboard for can liners .

Jack

Guess I missed why you needed to anneal the cases. I've been reloading since 1979 but never in high volume so I've never annealed any of my brass.

[triggerhappy243]

Me neither............... But i do need to start annealing 22-250 brass because when i withdraw the expander ball from some of this brass, it screeches as i pull it out.

[Jal5]

Decapped about 60 cases of 45 acp after dinner and will finish the prep and load them tomorrow. That will be the last of those at least until we get out of the deep freeze and I can shoot again.

[michiganmike]

I cast the Lyman sabot for my Remington 12 gauge slug gun. According to Lyman the mould is supposed to drop 525 grain slugs. I use salvage lead from a local business that buys scrap metal. My lead ingots include sheet roofing lead, lead pipe, dental lead, and other types of supposedly "pure" lead. Well, it may be close, but it ain't pure lead.

And some of the sabots were very light, some as light as 475 grains. They were pretty, nice, shiny, no ripples or pitting, nice crisp, clean lines. But light. I set them aside. And today remelted them, mixing them with ingots from three separate lead "smelting sessions. I use mini muffin tins for making ingots. I hoped that combining the light sabots with equal weights of lead of the three casting sessions would create a consistent allow with a reliable weight.

So far that seems to be working. My pure lead still isn't pure. But my efforts are yielding Lyman sabots around 490 grains with casting pot to casting pot consistency.

And in the middle of all of this my Lee 10 lb. bottom pour pot started a leak that I couldn't fix with the screw driver. So, I emptied out the pot, let it cool off, disassembled it, and cleaned out the pot and the bottom pour spigot.

Works like a charm! I was pleased with the fruit of my labor.

[Jr.]

Finished painting my first bench. Have to work tomorrow so can't get to the store for bolts to mount a press. But hopefully have it mounted and functioning soon. Have a new carrier on its way for the Lee I got from brassmagnet.

126874126875

[Jack Stanley]

If not annealing works well for anyone I'm good with that . In this case I scrounged up every empty Federal brand case I had with some of them dating back to 1987 . Annealing them all does help me on the target I believe , in addition to adding a little bit of life before the necks crack . A sample loading of cases before annealing was a bit larger on the target .

Today I'm deciding on either paint and stencil the cans or just start loading and wait for warmer weather to paint .

Jack

[TXGunNut]

Nothing yet, need to test some loads before I get to do any more loading. Doubt I'll make it to the range this weekend but I guess an hour or two cleaning, sorting and straightening up in there might help.

[JWFilips]

Funny Yet Sad: Somedays ( Like today, when I have not much to do and the weather is nasty) I just go down to my loading room & sit by my press. Dreaming of better days to come!:bigsmyl2:

[62chevy]

Funny Yet Sad: Somedays ( Like today, when I have not much to do and the weather is nasty) I just go down to my loading room & sit by my press. Dreaming of better days to come!:bigsmyl2:



Yup done the same a time or two.

[Jack Stanley]

Decided to wait until spring to paint and stencil the cans . Instead I lubed and sized about a thousand 225462's for the project . Also loaded MD of .223 Remington gallery loads .

I may have to warm up the pot before this is over .

Jack

[Schrag4]

Today I casted probably close to 1000 9mm boolits of the Lee 124gr RN tumble variety (6 holes). Will be powder coating them sometime in the next week or two.

[taco650]

Nothing yet, need to test some loads before I get to do any more loading. Doubt I'll make it to the range this weekend but I guess an hour or two cleaning, sorting and straightening up in there might help.

Don't clean and organize! You might lose something!!!

:bigsmyl2:

[poorfarmer WF]

New to the forum, thought to add what little bit I did today. Cast a little over 100 HBRN Lee 405 gr 45-70. Still new to casting and really appreciate the help from my mentor, Fuzzy Foster. Thinking they're going to shoot okay. First pass at casting was last weekend producing a little over 200 .454 RB. Some look really good, some like wrinkly old farts (like me.)

Now, to figure out the lube problem on the 45-70. Double alox doesn't seem to help. Gotta try something else.

[dtknowles]

I turned down rims on 20 pieces of 50-70 brass and formed them to 12x44 Swedish, loaded them with Pyrodex and 365 gr. LFP.

Tim

[TXGunNut]

Don't clean and organize! You might lose something!!!

:bigsmyl2:


Quite the opposite, I generally find something!

[TXGunNut]

New to the forum, thought to add what little bit I did today. Cast a little over 100 HBRN Lee 405 gr 45-70. Still new to casting and really appreciate the help from my mentor, Fuzzy Foster. Thinking they're going to shoot okay. First pass at casting was last weekend producing a little over 200 .454 RB. Some look really good, some like wrinkly old farts (like me.)

Now, to figure out the lube problem on the 45-70. Double alox doesn't seem to help. Gotta try something else.

Welcome to the forum! What makes you think the alox isn't working on the 45-70?

[trixter]

Got the parts in the mail yesterday for my press. Reassembled it checked everything and loaded about 500 rds 45ACP with Lee TL 452 200SWC. I'm back in business.

[FredBuddy]

I read a lot here, and hopefully contributed to the knowledge base.

[popper]

Just adding to the list, cut BO brass, PC a bunch, try Smoke's powder, process a bucket of fired brass, load some BO & 30/30 - but it's too darned COLD in the garage. We did get 1" of good soaking rain last nite.

[poorfarmer WF]

Welcome to the forum! What makes you think the alox isn't working on the 45-70?

Still getting a little leading toward the muzzle. Have backed the powder down to well within trapdoor, using over powder card with HB 405gr Lee cast. I've been double tumble lubbing, which did improve the leading a bit. So, my buddies tell me leading toward the muzzle usually points toward lube issue. Thinking I'm going to give the 45/45/10 found here a try with my next batch.

Thanks!

[mac60]

I've had 500 pcs. of 7.62 Nato brass for a while and haven't done anything with them yet. Decided to get them all press ready. I figured I'd do 50 or 100 at a time until they're all done. Did the first 50 today.

[The Dove]

I loaded 50 rounds of 9 MM. Sized and lubed 500 - 9MM boolits. Dusted off the Dillon calendar pics on the wall............. The Dove

[labradigger1]

Deburred 400 06' cases, powder coated 500 30 cal pills, gas checked and ran through the star, loaded up 200 rounds with imr 4895 and tumbled a couple hundred 22-250 cases.
Lab

[websterz]

I went thru a few hundred 9mm cases, culling and smashing all the AMerc brass, and got the good stuff primed. I only had a dozen or so that went into the scrap bucket this time.

[labradigger1]

I went thru a few hundred 9mm cases, culling and smashing all the AMerc brass, and got the good stuff primed. I only had a dozen or so that went into the scrap bucket this time.

Amen on the amerc, it's been 15 years since I loaded 45 acp for my old s&w 4506 but I do remember they were total ****.

[RobS]

Took a bit of time today to be in the ManCave. Sized/lubed some BRP 378-270 HP's and metered/weighed out some Varget to put in some shiny 375 H&H brass. I seated these boolits in the cases, put a light crimp on with the Lee collet FCD and will be testing for cold weather performance this coming Tuesday morning.............suppose to be 11-12 degrees F with light variable wind from the north when I plan on testing.

[farside]

Cast 9mm, 45acp, and Tokarev bullets. Tumble lubed them all. Replaced the decapping unit on my RCBS .303 BR die, and then sized and primed some brass from my last range find. Loaded up some Tokarev rounds with 700x, developing a load that will function my Tok. A good day. :)

[Dirtdgger]

Cast up a bunch of crappie jigs and powder coated them. I was really bored.

[pertnear]

It was cold, wet & rainy here today. Cleaned & polished a bunch jackets made from .22LR cases getting ready for making a bunch of AR .223 plinker ammo.

[doc1876]

on Thursday I got tired of dealing with the having to mount and unmount my single stage press, so I pulled EVERYTHING out of the "dining room". and put it in the living room.
Friday, I went to the local office supply, and bought a 6 foot tall, heavy duty set of shelves, installed them in a L pattern to the original loading desk, (moving it out 18 inches) and then proceed to put everything back, and reorganize. On Saturday, the "final touches" (never really final are they) were implemented, giving me about 80% more room. I am now set up to load either press in a more organized pattern.
Today, I finished trimming cases, and tomorrow when the grandson is at school, I will pound out 200 card wads, and when he gets home, we will finish the blanks for my Henry.

[TXGunNut]

Not a thing. Wasted weekend. :-(

[taco650]

on Thursday I got tired of dealing with the having to mount and unmount my single stage press, so I pulled EVERYTHING out of the "dining room". and put it in the living room.
Friday, I went to the local office supply, and bought a 6 foot tall, heavy duty set of shelves, installed them in a L pattern to the original loading desk, (moving it out 18 inches) and then proceed to put everything back, and reorganize. On Saturday, the "final touches" (never really final are they) were implemented, giving me about 80% more room. I am now set up to load either press in a more organized pattern.
Today, I finished trimming cases, and tomorrow when the grandson is at school, I will pound out 200 card wads, and when he gets home, we will finish the blanks for my Henry.

Got pics? Maybe some of us could learn a better way to "skin the cat".

[mold maker]

Got up Sat morning with good plan and intentions.
Ha.
Grand kids showed up with plans for me to take them shopping. Took all day so postpone til Sunday.
Got family off to Sunday school and built a fire in the basement. Drama queen G Daughter shows up with a terrible (to her) problem.
Late in the evening I found a new (to me) office chair at GoodWill, for the casting bench.
Maybe after getting the G Kids off to school, I can start Sat. over.
I did have fun with the Kids though. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[doc1876]

yes, I do, however there are much better pics on loading benches than mine. Also the large window is in the background, and the pics are not too good. I will share one, but as I say thee are better ones than mine, this will work for me

[trixter]

I let everything have the day off.

[Eddie2002]

Sorted a couple hundred 30-06 cases by headstamp, decapped them and started to resize them on the Hertzer single stage press I picked up at the last gun show.
Unpacked the Sedgley Springfield 30-06 which came from my dad's collection and gave it a good cleaning. Need to use it to check some 150 grain condom bullet reloads that just are not working in my BDL 700 in 30-06. Going to try some cast plinkers in the Springfield next.

[Michael J. Spangler]

loaded up 100 rounds of 45 auto rim with 452423 and 6.5 grains of unique
loaded up 50 rounds of 45-70 with the lee 457-405 and 11 grains of unique.
switched over the dillon from 45 AR to load some more 38 specials. I ran out of brass recently, but i scored 500 more mixed cleaned once fired.
that should keep me loading for another night or two.
can't wait to hit the range this week

[dtknowles]

Turned down the rims on 20 Bell 50-70 cases, sized them for 12 x 44 R, loaded them and tested them on Sunday along with 9 made from 348 Win brass. Cleaned them last night and reloaded the ones with 348 headstamp tonight and primed the other 20 before honeydoo's called me back from the shop. I guess I can go back and finish loading them now.

Tim

[bigarm]

Took some bullets out to the man cave that a nice person from Marlin Owners sent me to try out in my Marlin 44-40 cowboy. I am waiting on the sizing die and then will powder coat, size and load them up.

[bruce drake]

Nothing today, :( but yesterday I was able to reload 50 cases of 6.5 Grendel with 100gr Hornady A-Max over 29gr of IMR 8208XBR for this spring's rifle matches.

[taco650]

yes, I do, however there are much better pics on loading benches than mine. Also the large window is in the background, and the pics are not too good. I will share one, but as I say thee are better ones than mine, this will work for me

Those shelves made a big difference.

[dolang1]

Used a Lyman 45 today for the first time. I bought it on gunbroker.com back in November. I have always tumble lubed until today. I had to download a manual from this site to figure it out. I sized and lubed about 200 hp 45s. I enjoy using and working on the older equipment.

[triggerhappy243]

Loaded up the second round of test ammo for the 250 savage. The first ladder tests went well... A little too slow in velocity.

[Jack Stanley]

Prepped a couple more cans for painting and cut cardboard liners for them . Perhaps may load some more today .

Jack

[robg]

sized and expanded 100 .357 cases.cleaned the shell holders.

[websterz]

Since my reloading room is also my machine shop there's always something needing done. Today I am cutting brass and aluminum on the bandsaw to use in making reloading press parts. Aftermarket parts for the Lee Loadmaster are going to be a new sideline for me.

[rr2241tx]

Greased 101 PJ Creedmoor boolits with Emmert's.
86 rounds of 40/65: 58.1 gr OE 2F, card wad, 410 gr 30:1 PJ Creedmoor for this Saturday's BPCR match.
100 rounds of 44/40: 7.0 gr Bullseye, 200 gr Badman for next Sunday's Cowboy Lever Action Pistol Cartridge match. 20 minutes of looking for my Stanley pick that I was poking corn cob out of the flash holes with when the phone rang. Found it in the funnel of my drop tube! CRS is coming to us all. 15 minutes pleading with Gato to get out from behind a stack of surplus ammo and leave the room with me so I could close the door.

[Jack Stanley]

Filled another can from the loading press , another D gallery loads for the two twenty-three Remington .

Jack

[bigarm]

Took out today's deliveries. 5 pounds of WW231, 3 mould handles and 5 sizing dies. Now I can size and powder coat the bullets I have.

[Tom W.]

Got some 9mm brass ready to load, and sized and lubed some boolits for it.

[kens]

casted some MiHec 308 HP & FP boolits. Gosh, these are sweet molds.

[shoot-n-lead]

Loaded some 44 special rounds to try in a new gun and a few hunting rounds for one of my flattops.

[Blacktail 8541]

Cast a couple hundred 44 cal 250 grain LFN from my new LBT 4 cav mold. And then set up a star sizer for it.

[dragon813gt]

Boiled an old Star sizer that had an unknown lube inside and lots of lube all over the outside. I know I'm going to regret doing it this way. The paint was already coming off and I know most of it will be gone by the time the pot cools enough to remove it. Made the mistake of removing a LAM1 before the lube hardened and it led to a sticky mess all over it. All this work for a sizer I plan to resell. Bought it for the sizing dies that came w/ it.

[kens]

If you bought it for the dies that are in it; then I'll swap you a set of dies for the sizer.

[dragon813gt]

I bought it for the multiple dies that came w/ it. Thought it would have top punches for all of them but for what I paid I'm not complaining.

[Wayne Smith]

Pulled out my 41Colt brass, inventoried my boolits and got out my mold. I've got a almost two boxes of brass to load, and need to cast most of the boolits.

[trixter]

As seems to be too much of a habit, I walked by on the way to work.

[RKJ]

Cussed my LEE dripomatic, Lyman 30 caliber mold and 4500 sizer. Finally decided I'd better quit before something really bad happened. :)

P.S. I don't cast a lot and haven't had a lot of problems with that LEE pot, but I'm just about ready to drop the money on an RCBS, it would be cheaper than a heart attack.

[triggerhappy243]

LOL, NO HEART ATTACK. I DO ALL MY CASTING WITH A LADLE AND C.I. POT. IF IT DRIPS, ITS BECAUSE I MISSED.[smilie=b:

[Jack Stanley]

Ran about DCC of the Lyman 225462 bullets through the Star , mounted a couple of scopes and zeroed another rifle .


RKJ , feel free to weld the hole on the bottom of that pot closed and use it for dipping , then buy the RCBS it worked out for me that way . ;-)

Jack

[dragon813gt]

Scraped lube off the entire exterior of a Star. Tried to figure out how to disassemble it to repaint it. That doesn't seem to be happening. Oh well, I will finish cleaning it up this weekend.

[bigarm]

Picked up some more storage containers with lids for brass, etc. while shopping today and took them out to the cave.

[Tom W.]

Finally got a bit more than 100 9mm rounds loaded, and a bunch more brass cleaned and sized..Now to get a .357 sizing die.... I can see that the single stage press is gonna be a slow go for the 9......

[RKJ]

Ran about DCC of the Lyman 225462 bullets through the Star , mounted a couple of scopes and zeroed another rifle .


RKJ , feel free to weld the hole on the bottom of that pot closed and use it for dipping , then buy the RCBS it worked out for me that way . ;-)
Jack

Jack, That was something I hadn't thought of, but I may have to do that. Most likely if I do get the RCBS I'll try to sell the Dripomatic to some new (unsuspecting) caster that doesn't cast that much and doesn't want to spend a bunch of money. (Tongue in cheek)

triggerhappy243 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?34793-triggerhappy243), If I tried Ladle casting, I'd probably drip the lead onto my hand. :)

Seriously, most times I can time the drips and slow them down, but the condiment cup I use for the drips would lets the drip hit and then splatter out at me. Having molten lead come whizzing at your head is a tad unnerving.

[triggerhappy243]

id be more afraid of dripping on my who-whos. i always wear leather gloves.

[shoot-n-lead]

Loaded a few more rounds trying to find the right load for a new gun. Loaded some yesterday and was not real impressed with the results I got today.

[flylot]

Loaded 400 rounds of .45acp. Wife and I fired 200 of them this evening at an indoor range......I'm certainly shooting more now that I'm reloading...... :-)

[taco650]

Jack, That was something I hadn't thought of, but I may have to do that. Most likely if I do get the RCBS I'll try to sell the Dripomatic to some new (unsuspecting) caster that doesn't cast that much and doesn't want to spend a bunch of money. (Tongue in cheek)

triggerhappy243 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?34793-triggerhappy243), If I tried Ladle casting, I'd probably drip the lead onto my hand. :)

Seriously, most times I can time the drips and slow them down, but the condiment cup I use for the drips would lets the drip hit and then splatter out at me. Having molten lead come whizzing at your head is a tad unnerving.


Is it the 10 or 20lb pot? I've read that a good cleaning and checking of the valve usually helps. Also, I'd put a sheet pan under the whole thing when casting and just pick off the drips when they start to pile up.

[WRideout]

I rolled up fifty rounds for my 7.62 Nagant. I use the 100 gr Lee RN, LLA lube, 5.3 gr Unique. I'm still having trouble with the long, skinny cases buckling somewhat when I seat the boolit. I cured that by running them through the sizer die one more time; it's fussy work, but now they all chamber well.

Wayne

PS: I used the new cases my kids sent me for Xmas. They sure do love me!

[jabo52521]

Pan lubed some 45 Acp with Ben's Red. Dropped a boolit. Got down on all fours to get it. Saw a bag hanging under the reloading table. This was inside.127522 Unopened bag of new 44mag cases and 50 new nickel plated.Price on the unopened bag read $17.95 .

[RKJ]

Is it the 10 or 20lb pot?

It's the 20 lb. one. I think it does need cleaning as it didn't use to be this bad. The way I've got it set up I don't think a cookie pan will fit. I do need to find something with higher walls.

[RKJ]

Pan lubed some 45 Acp with Ben's Red. Dropped a boolit. Got down on all fours to get it. Saw a bag hanging under the reloading table. This was inside.127522 Unopened bag of new 44mag cases and 50 new nickel plated.Price on the unopened bag read $17.95 .

That's like finding $$$ in one of your old coats. Hidden Treasure! :)

[dolang1]

Found a wheel weight in Taco Bueno's parking lot.

[flylot]

Aha! Business is picking up! :-)

[Tom W.]

. The way I've got it set up I don't think a cookie pan will fit. I do need to find something with higher walls.

Try one of those Lodge cast iron "ashtrays / spoon holder" things. They work really well and fit well, too.

[echo154]

Um……created indoor lightning:holysheep:holysheep!!!!! Seems there is a difference between 12v dc and 120 ac:groner:
PS I will post more as I continue to build my PID.

[thxmrgarand]

I did something that is reinforcing to me and may be helpful to someone. For many years now most of the powder I use for rifle and pistol - especially pistol - and a little of what I use for shotgun has been from yard sales. As a matter of fact I have far too much powder but I seldom if ever pay more than $1 per pound. Several years ago, without anything ever having gone wrong, I discontinued buying powder in containers that had been opened. More recently when I happen to buy ammo at yard sales I don't shoot the reloads (but I do buy all ammo regardless of caliber as I always know someone who can use it). Today I loaded up enough shotshells for the week and then I disassembled some pistol ammo. A few weeks ago I found at a yard sale a very nice, complete Lyman 310 kit in the display carton. It has been used but not much, and the carton - from the 1950's maybe - is in great shape as well. A nice old hunting knife was thrown in and a wooden box with .44 magnum reloads; mixed brass, 240 grn swaged bullets, unknown (of course) primers. In disassembling the cartridges I weighed the powder in one and it came in at 27 grains as I have never put that many grains of any powder in a .44 cartridge. I haven't tried to identify the powder. But it may well be a stouter load than I want to shoot. As I become older I become more cautious and (arguably) wiser. It was all still a great haul for $8 - the asking price. My yard sale addiction has no apparent cure.

[taco650]

It's the 20 lb. one. I think it does need cleaning as it didn't use to be this bad. The way I've got it set up I don't think a cookie pan will fit. I do need to find something with higher walls.

Would a metal 9x13 baking pan work? Also, restaurant supply stores have REALLY big stuff. That may be more $$ than you want to invest. If you decide to give up on the Lee, pm me.

[dragon813gt]

Some cleaning brushes arrived from Amazon. So I put them in the drawer and realized I need to get rid of the big kit in a wooden box. It's taking up to much space in the drawer and I don't use anything in it anymore.

[45cal.scott]

First time casting. Cast about 60 rounds of 45cal. 230gr round nose for my New model Blackhawk.
New lee production IV bottom pour pot and double cavity mold worked great, with only first two boolits had to go back in pot
But, i did the research and got some great tips from the forums. Some times
it's better to be lucky than good. We'll find out after tomorrows session.

[45cal.scott]

Are the rounds hanging up in the gun?
I've owned 2 AR-15's and have never found the need for small base dies, but every situation is different. I use just a standard .223/5.56 Lee three die set

[Digital Dan]

Played with a low velocity explosive, vegetable fiber wads, large quantities of extruded brass, leveraged presses, dies, couple pounds of lead, copper, tin, arsenic, precision scales, drop tubes, wax based lubricants, hot plates, ignition initiators, and organized a large quantity of very old coins.

Then I got in my truck and drove into the sunset.

D

No craters were formed during this undertaking. No animals were harmed. One spider was converted to existence in only 2 dimensions.

[bigarm]

My reloading room (we call it the man cave) is a multipurpose room. First I made one more frame to surround those plastic nut and bolt storage drawers, so I will have 3 with pine wood frames around them to make them look nice and match the walls somewhat. I then turned my attention to the reloading area. I cleaned up the oil on the 5 sizing dies I got in a couple of days ago from a guy that custom makes them. I then sized 30-30 and 45/70 bullets I had cast previously. I ordered some sample packs of checks from Vulcan so put checks on some and left some without. We will see how they work. For the 30 caliber they had 3 different types, 2 aluminum and 1 copper and just one type of aluminum for the 45. I then put some things away. I moved things around so I could fit the ww231 and trailboss in with the rest of the powder.

[jonp]

Loaded up 6 45lc with 454190 over 4.6gr Trailboss and 6 358158 over 3.2gr Trailboss to try out the powder I got on Christmas vacation

[Jack Stanley]

Used up the last of the 225462 bullets into the gallery loads today , loaded almost a M . Total count into federal cases is just shy of MMMD . Final cleanup in the tumbler , paint the cans and I can call this one done .

Jack

[taco650]

My reloading "room" is also known as the garage. Walked by my loading bench about 30 times today while using my chop saw and table saw. Spent all afternoon installing wood flooring in the dining room and had to trim many pieces and even re-milled a few so I could use up the scraps. Never did anything gun or reloading related. :-(

[Digital Dan]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/Black%20Powder/4570_zps7b2ab9ae.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/Black%20Powder/4570_zps7b2ab9ae.jpg.html)

[TXGunNut]

Reloading room? I have a reloading room? COOL! Been a really long week and chore list for tomorrow is pretty long and scary but someday I'll go looking for that reloading room. Always wanted one of those. ;-)

[Jack Stanley]

My batch of gallery loads got a short trip through the crushed corn cobs just enough to remove any little patches of stray bullet lube on the exterior of the loaded rounds . When they came out of the tumbler they were nice and clean and went into six thirty caliber ammo cans for storage . Have enough to almost fill another can but likely I'll start shooting those up first using them right out of the big coffee can .

Jack

[bigarm]

Powder coated then sized bullets for 30-30, 45-70 and some for 44 spl/mag and 44-40 that someone was kind enough to send me to see if I would like the mould as I need to buy one yet.

[Tom W.]

just finished casting a whole bunch of 9mm boolits, then loaded a box and a half of some that I had already loobed up. I think I gotta get a progressive press sooner or later.....

[taco650]

Who thinks this should be a sticky??? I DO! If there's a Moderator reading and you agree, please sticky this. We're 19 pages in now and it keeps building.

[websterz]

Wow...a post I started may get stickied?? That's awesome!

[RKJ]

Try one of those Lodge cast iron "ashtrays / spoon holder" things. They work really well and fit well, too.

Tom, Thank you. That's a great idea, I'll see if I can find one. I did find a Pot Pie tin that I'm going to try, I don't think it will last too long though (thin aluminum)

taco650, I haven't really tried anything else I like the ideas. I cut down a pop can and that worked but it was hard to get the lead splatters out of it.

[dtknowles]

Who thinks this should be a sticky??? I DO! If there's a Moderator reading and you agree, please sticky this. We're 19 pages in now and it keeps building.

I don't see why this should become a sticky but maybe you could explain why you think so. I usually think a thread should be a sticky when it is heavy with techniques and data that will be referred to over and over. This thread seems to be more about normal everyday activities.

Tim

[Shiloh]

I checked to see what the inventory of on hand boolits is. I need to cast some LEE 125gr. RF and some LEE 200 gr. SWC H.&G. 68 clone with the BB removed by Buckshot.

Shiloh

[Dan Cash]

Got side tracked and started cleaning and rearanging trying to improve storage. Found 2000+ .430 hard cast bullets, 3,000 165 gr 7.62 bullets, 10 pounds of R19 and 7 pounds of Unique that I did not know I had. Did not get cleanup finished but will stow stuff in the AM and get on with it.

[Eddie2002]

Finished resizing all my 30-06 brass and miced a random sampling of the different headstamps. Looks like I'll need to trim the whole batch to get an uniform length before loading.
Spent four or five hours changing out the frizen on my rocklock. The frizen on my Investarm Hawkens just wasn't sparking right and I was getting misfires and hangfires. Did a little gunsmithing and was able to make a Siler small pistol frizen fit. It's a big difference, the flint hits the top two thirds of the frizen, not the bottom quarter. Going to a black powder shoot and rendevous this week and can't wait to see how the reconfigured lock works.

[taco650]

I don't see why this should become a sticky but maybe you could explain why you think so. I usually think a thread should be a sticky when it is heavy with techniques and data that will be referred to over and over. This thread seems to be more about normal everyday activities.

Tim

I'll agree with your criteria but add that I think popularity should play a factor too. The subject matter of this thread is on the light side compared to some others but valid ideas are shared here that support the reason we all come here and read stuff.

[varmint243]

I don't see why this should become a sticky but maybe you could explain why you think so. I usually think a thread should be a sticky when it is heavy with techniques and data that will be referred to over and over. This thread seems to be more about normal everyday activities.

Tim

IMO it could be a candidate for a sticky because it is motivational and thought provoking.
When I read about what others are doing it inspires me to something myself.

Sticky or not, if it keeps getting added to it will stay on page 1 :-)

[Remiel]

about 30 rounds of .30-30 win and 20 7.62x54r, and thats about it

[Efin]

De-prime and Wet tumbling some 44 Colt Brass and 454 Casull brass.

[texassako]

I started in on my next batch of used and abused mold rebuilds/cleanups today when a stuck sprue plate set screw held me up. I gathered up all my odds and ends handgun ammo for a 'clean out the old to make room for the new' range trip this week while they were soaking in some Evaporust. I never did find my easy outs since I cleaned up the shop last yesterday and probably put them in a nice safe place I can't find now.

[shoot-n-lead]

I loaded MORE rounds in an effort to nail down a load for a new gun that I just got. FINALLY, I hit pay dirt and got it shooting on the money with just a small amount of sight tweaking...got to get the right load for those fixed sighted guns and this one proved to be a little daunting...but I prevailed.

[Michael J. Spangler]

i just wrestled with a vibra prime for an hour and a half. what a useless piece of manure.
anyone else have one?

[mattw]

Sorted all of the contents of ammo cans and re-canned a bunch of them to fit quantity better. Cast a few 38's and 40's as well. Oh, made another 40 pounds of alloy!

[TXGunNut]

Haven't been in there all day, too pretty hereabouts to stay inside today. Going to slip in there in a few to put the two pounds of H4350 I scored today on the shelf. :-)

[45cal.scott]

Oiled up the firearms,(rust is evil) and cleaned the work area.
Might even fire up the pot tonight. Find out if first session was lucky or good.

[taco650]

I loaded MORE rounds in an effort to nail down a load for a new gun that I just got. FINALLY, I hit pay dirt and got it shooting on the money with just a small amount of sight tweaking...got to get the right load for those fixed sighted guns and this one proved to be a little daunting...but I prevailed.

Due tell what gun/caliber you are talking about?

[bigarm]

I was doing a small project out in the cave (a wooden box for magazines) and while I was out there I looked for and found an unopened pound of 4579. A guy in Missoula needed some and was willing to trade a pound of Unique for it. Now we just have to get together.

[vietnam71]

Sized and Primed some 45-70's.
Tomorrow drop some powder and load some 405 gr. Cast Boolits.
After years of loading 45 Colt 9mm 45 Auto I'm starting to load Rifle Cartridges.

I use Dillon Square Deal B for pistol and Lee Classic for rifle.

[edctexas]

Loaded 50 44 mag rds with Lee 230gr SWC PC'd with HF Red. Rem LP primers sparking 7.5 gr of HP-38. Remington brass. Loaded 100 45ACP rds with Lyman 200gr SWC. Rem LP sparking 4.6 gr Red Dot. National Match 69 brass. Cleaned the work area prepping for a new storage cabinet. The old one is so full the shelves are bending (its plastic).

Ed C

[shoot-n-lead]

Due tell what gun/caliber you are talking about?

Cimarron 44 special...took 165rds and a couple different bullets...ended up, where I should have started...with a 429421, but I wanted do something a little different... it just wouldn't work well with this gun.

[dragonrider]

Late yesterday afternoon I disassembled my swage press in order to make some revisions for an ejector to push the finished bullet out of the die. Got all the holes drilled today and tomorrow I will make the bar and connecting rods. Will post pics when I get it done.

[dtknowles]

I sorted and stored the range brass from yesterdays shooting along with range lead. Put away unused ammo and fired brass. Looked at the pot and was sad there was not enough time to cast and looked at the piles of bullets than need lube and was not sure what size they need to be. I think I am going to 0.310 on the 30 cal. was 0.311. I think I will hand lube the .22's and the 6mm are sizing off center and need a new plan.

Tim

[AFK]

Yesterday I set up my dies and press to load my 1st 9mm cast bullets. Looks like my 2 guns will plunk the same sized rounds. I was able to get bullets that are .3565 to load and and chamber correctly without reducing the size during seating and/or crimping. Gonna try to get some test rounds loaded and head to the range on Saturday.

[Jack Stanley]

Loaded forty test rounds for the two twenty-three Remington , hope to test them tomorrow .

Jack

[bigarm]

Loaded my first rifle bullets today, 45-70. I had melted the wheel weights and cast them into ingots, then cast the bullets and then powder coated them and today loaded the rounds. Tested some in my Marlin LTD V and they seemed to work fine.

[Efin]

Lubed and sized a buncha 30-30 brass, and have some sweet new 40cal HC from 4given to make some food for the 40's.

[sigep1764]

Tumbled around 800 9mm cases and sized/lubed 300 9mm boolits. Loaded 200 rounds of the same

[Snow ninja]

Sorted through a pitcher full of assorted range brass and deprimed it all. Ended up with about 200 9mm, 150 .38sp, and 50 .45acp ready to be polished...

[Goesfaster]

200 230g powder coated LRN
#150 LPP Mixed brass
5.6g Unique COAL 1.25

[robg]

cast 163 158g lee 357 boolits then lubed in lla,probaly load them up tonight.only had 1hr free.

[John Guedry]

Moved both presses to a different part of the bench. Gives more working space where I need it.

[trixter]

I cleaned up the mess from the last reloading session. I am out of empties so now I need to go shoot.

[Ola]

I am out of empties so now I need to go shoot. Wow. That never happens to me. I may run out of ammo or boolits, but not empties.
Well, maybe I'm not spending enough time in the reloading room.

[tazman]

I spent nearly the whole day in there. I cast about 600 boolits for the 38/357 then sized and lubed them. In the afternoon I loaded 300 rounds for the 9mm, 150 rounds for the 38, and 250 rounds for the 40S&W.
I got a lot done.

[dtknowles]

I think I have worked out the sizing for the .243, if I am real careful, go slow and back off and restart a couple times each stroke I can keep them from sizing off center. I got 25 good ones with only 3 bad this evening.

Tim

[39duck]

Measuring and figuring for expansion. Going to slide in an old metal office deck which will give the gunvise a new home which will free up a bench which will have a turret press and a single stage which will cause the mec loaders to be moved which will cause a moving of the safe-not far only a few feet on a concrete floor in the basement. Kind of a rearranging kind of thing!

[websterz]

I love the old SteelCase desks. They are built like tanks! I have my 1000# lathe mounted on one and use another for my casting bench.

[39duck]

I have the matching armoire, on one end a Mec 9000 in 410 and on the other end an old Mec 762R grabber in 12 ga. It has 2 sliding doors on the front of it and I keep all my shotgun shells on one side and bullets primers etc on the other side.

[texassako]

I went through all of my random brass last night to consolidate and straighten up that area. I never realized I had so many duplicate bags and containers of the same thing. The goal this year is to finally settle on one or 2 loads in my Security Six, and putting away all of the .38 Spl brass and getting out more .357 was the start.

[bigarm]

Cast bullets for .357 with my new Accurate mould.

[Jack Stanley]

Stuffed some 2400 into a few .223 cases looking for accuracy .

Jack

[Mauser48]

I loaded my first two boxes of 12 gauge! And made a mess.....

[skeettx]

Mauser48, did your buddies not tell you to mount the press above a cookie sheet pan to catch the shot and powder that you will spill??

You can use these or you can get cheaper ones :)

http://www.wesellcoffee.com/product31.html

Mike

[dragonrider]

" I am out of empties".............." I am out of empties"....................." I am out of empties"
Sorry, nope I just can't wrap my mind around that. :-P

[62chevy]

" I am out of empties".............." I am out of empties"....................." I am out of empties"
Sorry, nope I just can't wrap my mind around that. :-P

Ya that would get to me too.

[websterz]

Spending the day doing a little early Spring cleaning. It's nice to open up the shop and let some fresh air circulate!

[dtknowles]

I am about to see if I have to wade to the shop or if my back yard has drained from the rain the last two days.

Tim

[varmint243]

I finished installing my second safe (locking metal cabinet) bolting it to the floor and wall.
I picked up a Winchester 24 gun at TSC this week at a very good price.
I am having a serious case of buyers remorse over this one.
Turns out it only looks really strong :-( and the nice price was about appropriate for what it is.
IMO It is really a fancy locking metal cabinet, I think they have a lot of nerve calling it a gun safe.
Better than a cardboard box or wood and glass gun cabinet.
It in no way compares to the Winchester 24 gun I bought 10 years ago made in USA

[Jack Stanley]

Seated some gas checks on thirty caliber bullets . Loaded some RCBS 22-55-FN into some two twenty-three cases .

Jack

[dtknowles]

Sized some more 6mm bullets, reject rate for off center sizing is still too high.

Tim

[bigarm]

Powder coated and sized .357 bullets today.

[jonp]

Loaded up some 145gr .357WC over 3.4gr of BE. I have a 4lb jug that has been sitting on my shelf for a few years and decided to use it up.

[taco650]

" I am out of empties".............." I am out of empties"....................." I am out of empties"
Sorry, nope I just can't wrap my mind around that. :-P


Ya that would get to me too.


Mine would be "I'm out of primers!!!!!!!"

[texassako]

Loaded up 400 rounds of .357 with left over bullets from molds I sold this winter and some Clays I am trying to use up. Next up is loading the last 600 rounds of swaged .38 HBWC's that I cleaned up and relubed after someone gave them to me and then promptly forgot on the shelf. I hate to melt down useable boolits when I can load and shoot them instead.

[TXGunNut]

Looked in the door. :-( Tomorrow is range day so I'll have some feedback from the rounds I loaded a few weeks back. May sort some WW's tomorrow, scored an 80# bucket this week and have four about like it in the shed. May get to do a smelting session in a week or two.

[dtknowles]

Yes, I could run out of primers, been there before and I am down to 1000 large rifle. Out of brass, no way and the solution to that is easy, just go shoot some to make more empties.

Tim

[farmrboy]

Had a little time after splitting wood and before supper so I got 20# of monotype rendered and poured into ingots.

[labradigger1]

Could not sleep this morning so made a couple hundred 30 cal gc's from doubled .006 copper sheets.
Lab

[bigarm]

Powder coated several hundred bullets for 9mm/38 Super. Then I set up one of the Dillon's to do .357.

[39duck]

Reloaded 5 boxes of 12 ga shells, loaded 20 test rounds of 357 max, and installed 2 grind to fit recoil pads on my buddy's shotguns

[mattw]

Had a good weekend... My shooting bud and I built a new bench, 10'x27.5". This thing is built old school stout, now to get some special carpet on it and the presses and such. We have $125 in this, we did have to buy most of the lumber and the fasteners.

128554

Then I hung a range hood above the casting bench and now I can get the flex duct and dryer vent for it!

128556

[TXGunNut]

Nice bench, mattw!

Too pretty around here today to spend much time in the reloading room, I grabbed an armful of test loads and headed for the range!

[Thin Man]

I poured about 300 boolits from a Winchester 32 WCF mold I recently acquired. Plan to feed these through a Colt Police Positive and a Winnie '73.

Thin Man

[Jal5]

Prepped about 200 pieces of 223. Nothing but trouble I've written about elsewhere but learned a few things too. Setup a table giving me extra work area in the reloading space.

[AFK]

Today I cast some .45 ACP bullets, I also honed my lee sizer out to a true 452. I drilled and tapped 2 lee molds to accept a set screw for the sprue plate screw. Tumbled some brass and deprimed some other brass. I love snow days.

[triggerhappy243]

Sad to say, i did not work in the reloading room. I worked outside on my boat. 55 degrees... A beautiful day.

[taco650]

Put a brand new RCBS .310 sizer die & top punch into my Lyman 450. Hope to get the lube melted and poured into the reservoir tomorrow. Hope it stays soft enough in my unheated garage to size some boolits cuz I don't have a heater.

[triggerhappy243]

I use a small propane soldering torch and heat up the casting a little. Some put a 100 watt work light up to it.

[bigarm]

Loaded about 200 rounds of .357.

[brown bass hunter]

I ran about 400 pieces of 40 s&w brass thru the Lee bulge buster and left them in the tumbler to polish. This was after I "unlocked" a friends M&P 40 that had jammed up on a glock bulged brass. I warned him of the possibility (experience speaking) :smile:

[shoot-n-lead]

Loaded some 44 special for the flattops.

Now, it is time to warm the 429421 up for a session.

[Horace]

Loaded 50 303 Savage with a NOE 311291 169 gr. .311'' atop 16.5 grs. 2400

Horace

[Schrag4]

Yesterday, loaded up some powder coated boolits:
http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc484/Schrag4/PC2_20150126.jpg

Today, coating some more boolits:
http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc484/Schrag4/PC_20150126.jpg

[therealhitman]

Tried out my new .356 Star sizing die from Lathesmith finally. And a punch.
Pumped a buncha 356-402 120gr TC lube gruves full of Blue Angel hard lube.
Then I ran outta boolits. Too cold and rainy outside to cast more so I played pinball.

The best thing about pinball machines in the reloading room is you can play a pinball machine for hours
and when you stop you have the same amount of powder and primers as when you started!

[Bullwolf]

Since the RCBS Load block held an odd amount (80 pieces) of brass...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=128650&d=1422338037&thumb=1

I made a wood loading block for the reloading room that holds a nice even 50 pieces.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=128652&d=1422338156&thumb=1 http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=128651&d=1422338136&thumb=1

It's warmer looking and more pleasant than the cold green plastic load trays.

Then, with the new loading block, I assembled a few 240 grain 44 Special hand loads.



- Bullwolf

[Patrick L]

Well, last night I set everything up to do a run of 5.56 jacketed (sorry!). Was anticipating a snow day
The darn storm stayed too far East!!!

[Love Life]

Sunday I turned 75 lbs of hodge podge alloy into 75 lbs of homogenous alloy ingots. It'll feed the 45's and 38's.

[ukrifleman]

Beagled my RCBS 140gn .264 `Silhouette` mould, to cast .268 bullets for my T38 Arisaka

ukrifleman.

[bigarm]

Cast a bunch of .357 today.

[ipijohn]

Loaded 500 Mak's that I PC'd last week, also a couple hundred PC'd 145 grain Lee 40 S&W.

[websterz]

Yesterday I sifted about 60 pounds of range scrap. Added to the little bit I had on hand gives me about 80 pounds, enough to do a pour but it will have to wait. Got the plumber over this morning replacing our water heater. Oh well, at least I'll have another good gas burner when I finish scrapping out the old one. Maybe I'll get to make ingots tomorrow.

[rr2241tx]

Was humiliated by my Lyman 4500's refusal to let go of a .378 sizing die. After a couple of hours I took it off the bench and hauled it to a friend's where we repeated the ineffective attempts before finally using a 40 ton press to break the die body loose. Also discovered I'd left about 100 pieces of 5.56 brass in the vibratory polisher for at least 24 hours, maybe more. They are really, really shiny now.

[Efin]

De-primed and sorted a batch of 45lc I just received, ready to go into the wet tumbler this afternoon for loading this weekend with my new dies due here in Friday ;)

[tazman]

Cast 800 boolits for the 38/357. Sized and lubed them along with 500 for the 40S&W. Got things ready to load some 38 special.

[TXGunNut]

Didn't even darken the doorway but I have some much-needed single-stage therapy scheduled for this weekend. Will probably be too soggy to shoot or smelt so will likely follow that with some single malt therapy. ;-)

[NC_JEFF]

Prepped some '06 brass for more cast load tests.

[Doggonekid]

Today in my gun room I find my self back on the computer looking at Cast Boolets, again. I love this sight. I enjoy reading all the really cool threads as much as my kids enjoy playing their video games. I feel like I am getting an education for my time spent on the net. I may spend 4 nights a week on the computer but I spend at least 1 day off and one night a week casting boolets. Winter will soon come to an end and I have to have enough bullets to last me and all my kids for the whole summer. That what I do is load all winter and shoot all summer.

[Jal5]

Sorted the rest of my 556 military brass about 200 cases. Separated out the H 1 type that was giving me trouble.

[btroj]

I cleaned some yesterday. Holy cow was it a mess. Need to do more of that today.

Forgot how messy neck turning is. All that bass on the floor finally got vacuumed up.

[trys357]

Threw some 357 brass in the tumbler.
Reloading some 45ACP later.

[rototerrier]

50 308 DT PC with GC

[btroj]

Continued cleaning today. I have grown tired of tripping over old batches of bullets, some sized and lubed, from past experiences. These little, and not so little, batches are sometimes a decade or more old. Most are from a far harder alloy than I currently use. I decided it was time to go back to the garage for resmelting with the range scrap. This will all be melted and kept separate as it will be harder than my range scrap.

Ever wonder how much lead is just hanging around? I even amazed myself. I expected 50 to 75 pounds.

http://i1348.photobucket.com/albums/p733/Btroj/IMG_2612_zps0e344d03.jpg (http://s1348.photobucket.com/user/Btroj/media/IMG_2612_zps0e344d03.jpg.html)

http://i1348.photobucket.com/albums/p733/Btroj/IMG_2611_zps528db67b.jpg (http://s1348.photobucket.com/user/Btroj/media/IMG_2611_zps528db67b.jpg.html)

[Efin]

Finished the last of the 45lc brass and received the 45lc dies, now to load some up tonight and this weekend. May have my 454 Casull dies in as well...

[Jack Stanley]

Changed lube in the RCBS sizer and replaced it with another type . Ran seventy bullets through just to make sure I got any old lube cleared .

Jack

[labradigger1]

Picked up a used mag 20 off of craigslist the other day and today it arrived in the mail.
Fired it up and cast 18 pounds of 06' boolits to try it out.
Lab

[Love Life]

More batching. If my weights and calculator are correct, this should be a good alloy as cast, WQ, or heat treated. Only the hardness tester will tell the tale.

[btroj]

I got a new die made for the Star for my SRH. I have been sizing to .432 but that is a bit hard to shove thru the .4315 throats. Based on advice from Cbrick I made a new sizer that allows a snug slip fit thru the throats, well, 5 of them. Bullets measure .4313 after sizing.
Used a blank from theperfessor and a small boring bar I ground myself.

[gloob]

This week, I cleaned up my reloading bench. While I was at it I found a sized and gas checked 223 bullet that must have jumped ship before the batch was tumble lubed. And 1 prepped 223 case.

OCD got the better of me. I scraped up a little of my tumble lube and smeared it into the grooves, then proceeded to load it over 10.1 grains of SR4759, which happens to be one heaping sized 9mm caseful.

I also found an unopened can of HP-38. Haven't used this powder in over a year. Too bad for hazmat. I wouldn't mind trading this for a pound of Unique.

[Jack Stanley]

Loaded fifty more rounds for the two Twenty-three and cast about six hundred RCBS 22-55-SP bullets .

Jack

[midnight]

I drew down about 1200 5.7x28 cases to 0.302 for use as 30 cal jackets.

Bob

[bhn22]

I melted down about 80 lbs of 38 wadcutters as part of my wadcutter addiction therapy.

I'm already feeling anxious, and there are plenty of wadcutter moulds around here, including two 4 cavity H&Gs. If things get really bad, I may try tapering off and casting some semi-wadcutters, which are known to be less addicting.

[btroj]

I melted down about 80 lbs of 38 wadcutters as part of my wadcutter addiction therapy.

I'm already feeling anxious, and there are plenty of wadcutter moulds around here, including two 4 cavity H&Gs. If things get really bad, I may try tapering off and casting some semi-wadcutters, which are known to be less addicting.


Resist the WC urge, you don't use them anymore. SWC is where it's at dude.

[Jupiter7]

Loaded: 200rds of 200grn .40s&w with AA5
100rds of 200grn 10mm with power pistol
100rds of. 30-30 with 311-165 with 10grs unique

[tazman]

Spent some time this afternoon cleaning the cylinder of my 357 mag. I ran over 250 rounds of 38 special through it yesterday and today. The specials were loaded with bullseye and the cylinder had a baked on layer in the chamber between the case and the throat. I think I need a better solvent than Hoppes 9. It took 5 passes with wet patches and lots of brush work to get it all out and that was with leaving it set and soak for 20 minutes after each wet patch.
I think I may need to get a 38 special just so I don't have this much trouble cleaning the gun.

[bigarm]

Sorted a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights.

[taco650]

Spent $20 on this at the tire store in the small town I work in.
129170

I then spent about an hour sorting and ended up with one big coffee can full of lead clip-ons, milk jug has the steel, the peanut butter jar has the zinc and the USPS shipping box has the stick-on lead with more to sort in the orange bucket.
129173

Might smelt the coffee can contents Monday AM because I don't have to be at work until 1pm.

[bhn22]

Resist the WC urge, you don't use them anymore. SWC is where it's at dude.

But I've got a monkey on my back!

[btroj]

Then put the monkey to work loading WCs in 38 special cases.

[OnceFired]

I cleaned it. That was enough work - didn't really do anything but clear off space & organize. Started to drill out stuck corn cob out of an old can of 5.56. I'm still paying for that mistake ages ago.

[TXGunNut]

Only a driveby today. Tomorrow is case-prep day. Gun cleaning will also proceed.

[jabo52521]

Played with a new old I found on Lee Discount section. Always wondered if I could load black powder bullets I modern cases. Yep. I can. 129195129196129197

[prs]

I got into my new old stock of 45ACP ammo. Loaded a big ole bunch of magazines and went to the range to make some empty cases. Then, washed cases, lubed cases, and dried cases. Gotta rotate yer stock, doncha know?

prs

[Jack Stanley]

Inspected yet another pile of RCBS 22-55-SP bullets .

Jack

[RP]

I have to say I would run out of powder and primers way before running out of empties,
But I been converting 223 brass to 300 BO. Taking all my brass that is not LC and will work for 300 BO so after I am done with that I should have a life time supply.

[gloob]

Started to drill out stuck corn cob out of an old can of 5.56. I'm still paying for that mistake ages ago.
BTDT. Last time I did it, I baked the cases in the oven for a bit. Then when I poked with a stick, the corn cob crumbled and fell out rather easily.

[mattw]

I was doing a little cleaning and found some interesting cases... Super X and Super Speed 30 G 1906 on both of them, a tiny handful of 218 Bee once or nonce fired cases and a real 30-40 Krag case. I have one that I need to post a pic of, not sure what it is. It is paper patched with an odd shaped head and odd markings, it appears to be an original load. Oh heck, there are several I need to research. I even found a Newton case, a few once fired 32 Win. Sp. and a few Win. 357 SLR cases.

It was a fun deep dive for stuff!

[tazman]

Cast up 15lb of NOE 360-150-SWC this morning. Sized and lubed them this afternoon.
Loaded test loads in 9mm and 40S&W using WSF and HS6 which I just recently acquired. Will test them out this weekend.

[texassako]

Fixed a couple more neglected molds. One was only a bit rusty and needed a sprue plate lock screw, but the other needed a complete rebuild kit, rust removal, and fixing one rusted in lock screw. Should be able to try them out tonight, 358311 and 35863 4 cavity molds.

[Patrick L]

Well, we had a snow day, so I finished sizing my .312 155 HM2 boolits I will shoot Highpower with this year.

[mac60]

Loaded the following:

.357 mag. - 50 rds.
.45 acp - 50 rds.
30-30 - 30 rds.
7.5x55 - 20 rds.
7.62x54R - 20 rds.
8x57 - 20 rds.

Had a few spare minutes yesterday and did a little shooting. I'm bored with shooting paper anymore - fired every round at steel and had a ball. Loaded up and ready to go again.

[MaryB]

Absolutely nothing... Physical therapy worked me over hard today... running the laser though to get stuff out.

[bhn22]

Bwa-ha-ha.... I cast hollowpoint bullets from my elderly Ideal 358156HP & 358439 moulds. A hundred of each. They're running right at 11 bhn, and will be used in 50 ea 38 Spl +P, and 50 ea 357 magnum. I shall be loading upon the morrow... The goal is to duplicate Winchesters 38 Spl +P lead hollowpoint load.

[taco650]

Smelted about 15#'s of COWW's, still more to sort and then smelt.

[trys357]

Loaded up 40 rounds .45acp

[labradigger1]

Not today but last evening, loaded 100 55 grn Sierra 1360's in 22-250 and 50 50 grain hornady sx in 22-250. Getting ready for groundhogs.
Lab

[1989toddm]

Played with a new old I found on Lee Discount section. Always wondered if I could load black powder bullets I modern cases. Yep. I can. 129195129196129197

That's a cool mold! I'm going to assume .454?

[gloob]

I cleaned up and tweaked my M dies, today.

When I pulled them out of their boxes, I found that the stem nut had loosened itself on one of my dies. And on another, the nut was so tight, I needed to whip out a pair of clamps, my oil can, and a wrench to break it loose. I found that my expander plugs hadn't quite worked themselves loose, again... yet. But they immediately came loose after I breathed on them wrong, even though I had used red locktite on them and torqued them down with pliers when I last opened the dies. To fix these two issues, I figured I could just copy Lee and put some O rings in there. Only I didn't have any the right size, so I made some leather washers to install in those two spots. This seems to be secure, but only time will tell.

I cleaned up the threads on the body where I had screwed the stop screw too hard (i.e. hard enough to work!) using a shim and some 400 grit wet/dry. And then I installed Lee lock rings. I left the regular lock ring on there, too. So now I have Lee rings that actually lock on the die by hand tightening the two lock rings against each other. The Lee ring is on the bottom, of course, to lock the die on the press with no tools.

[tazman]

I got in a new to me mold off eBay this morning and just had to try it out. The mold is a custom Lee 6 cavity in 40 caliber. I think it is supposed to be a nominal 145 grain TC. It drops at 148 grains at a .403 diameter with my alloy.
I fired up my Lee 20lb bottom pour and got the mold heated up. After a couple of passes I was getting good boolits. In about 45 minutes I had a little over 400 of them on the table. I then ran them through the sizer and lubed them with White Label X-Lox. They are now drying under a fan. Tomorrow morning some of them get loaded for a trial run over the weekend.

[hdjohn]

clean and swag pockets ?

[Uncle Jimbo]

Cast some bullets from a new mold I got Monday. Cast really good. (I really didn't cast in my reloading room. Do it on the patio. But close enough.)

[JB Weld]

Pulled some j-word bullets from some loads I got in a trade.
My. 300 win mag is long gone, I am going to trade the primed brass and load the bullets up in an '06 (one day).

[dolang1]

I cast 20lbs.of 45hp with my new MiHec mold. Now my back hurts and my hands are cramping so bad I can barely hold this glass of scotch. I love this mold and can't wait to order another one.

[websterz]

Right now I'm heating up the Lee 4-20, getting ready to try out a new mold. Yesterday the BBT delivered my new Lee 358-125 RFN. I'll be resizing them to .357 and loading up a ladder test with Titegroup for my SR9.

[labradigger1]

Made 1127 30 caliber gas checks with the freechex and famco arbor press.
Lab