Hold on here we go, another loose cannon doing reloading, I'm still laughing like he'll....
Ok. First my story.
In my quest to reload .308 my loving significant other purchased a Co Ax for me.
I have added Forster Ultra National Match dies.
A Lee universal de-capper.
A Frankford Arsenal Quick and EZ case tumbler kit.
A Thumblers Tumbler with SS media.
A bullet puller.
The ABC's of reloading.
The Sierra reloading manual.
My obvious first steps were to de-prime and clean the Federal brass I had on hand. I used the Lee die and de-primed the 242 pieces I have on hand. I split them into three groups and tumbled them in the Thumblers.
Overall thoughts thus far. I appreciated the Lee die and it's construction. The way it allows the pin to slide up and not break saved me already. I managed to get a few cases off center or something and found this feature before I knew I needed it.
I chose not to re-size until after the cleaning.
Like others I have added a brace to the motor of the tumbler. Mine happens to be a small piece of stainless to give the tumbler some bling. I rinsed the media three or four times between batches and they all came out looking good. The last batch had two pieces with pins in the primer holes. No big deal to remove, the primer pockets did not get as clean as the others but it's still clean enough. Drying is important. My first batch was interrupted by the other half needing to cook dinner. This group didn't quite have the bling of the others but a quick trip through the vibratory took care of the water spots they had. I tried three and four hour tumbles, they will all be four hours from now on. The primer pockets are just enough cleaner to justify the last hour.
Now here is where I solicit input. My next steps seem to be primer pocket uniforming and trimming to length. While I am not really brand specific, I do want quality tools that I won't have to replace. That said I can only put so much into it at a time. I would rather wait a bit and get the better tool than by something cheaper just to replace it in six months.
I need suggestions for the above plus some thoughts on a powder measure or dispenser.
Thanks in advance.
Ok. First my story.
In my quest to reload .308 my loving significant other purchased a Co Ax for me.
I have added Forster Ultra National Match dies.
A Lee universal de-capper.
A Frankford Arsenal Quick and EZ case tumbler kit.
A Thumblers Tumbler with SS media.
A bullet puller.
The ABC's of reloading.
The Sierra reloading manual.
My obvious first steps were to de-prime and clean the Federal brass I had on hand. I used the Lee die and de-primed the 242 pieces I have on hand. I split them into three groups and tumbled them in the Thumblers.
Overall thoughts thus far. I appreciated the Lee die and it's construction. The way it allows the pin to slide up and not break saved me already. I managed to get a few cases off center or something and found this feature before I knew I needed it.
I chose not to re-size until after the cleaning.
Like others I have added a brace to the motor of the tumbler. Mine happens to be a small piece of stainless to give the tumbler some bling. I rinsed the media three or four times between batches and they all came out looking good. The last batch had two pieces with pins in the primer holes. No big deal to remove, the primer pockets did not get as clean as the others but it's still clean enough. Drying is important. My first batch was interrupted by the other half needing to cook dinner. This group didn't quite have the bling of the others but a quick trip through the vibratory took care of the water spots they had. I tried three and four hour tumbles, they will all be four hours from now on. The primer pockets are just enough cleaner to justify the last hour.
Now here is where I solicit input. My next steps seem to be primer pocket uniforming and trimming to length. While I am not really brand specific, I do want quality tools that I won't have to replace. That said I can only put so much into it at a time. I would rather wait a bit and get the better tool than by something cheaper just to replace it in six months.
I need suggestions for the above plus some thoughts on a powder measure or dispenser.
Thanks in advance.
