Reloaded 50 .308 Win cases with the new Whidden non-bushing die I just received. I was so impressed with the Whidden.223 resizing die I thought I would try there .308 resizing die. I picked up their .308 Win case gauge too.
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What did you do in the reloading room today?
- Thread starter Kisssofdeath
- Start date
I've been a busy old fart. Yesterday, I primed, charged and seated 6.5 Creedmoor rounds for the RPR, then did the same for .25-06 hunting loads that I need to practice with. (got some Berger 115's 
) Today, after mowing a bunch of lawn with the hand mower (battery problem with the lawn tractor) I sized and deprimed 6.5 cases for both the MPA (small rifle primer) and the RPR (large rifle primer). Got them in the cleaner to get the lube off when a huge thunderstorm hit. Got back down to the house from the shop just before the rain came.
) Today, after mowing a bunch of lawn with the hand mower (battery problem with the lawn tractor) I sized and deprimed 6.5 cases for both the MPA (small rifle primer) and the RPR (large rifle primer). Got them in the cleaner to get the lube off when a huge thunderstorm hit. Got back down to the house from the shop just before the rain came.
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primered , and powdered and topped 400 rounds so far for this coming week end . was lazy only worked an hour or so on resizing some of a box of brass I am slacking now 4 boxes of brass to do and still 100 pieces needing de primering from last week end . starting to think hanging that hammock was not such a good idea I keep catching what to me feels like that perfect breeze and I am out .
Loaded up a couple ladder tests with components I had on hand for .308. It’s still over 100 here so moved part of the reloading process into the A/C.
Well, not today, but fairly recent.
Have Lee Cast press which has the primer decap tube right into a bin! Oh I tell you, this is living. Come back from the range, decap brass using universal decapping die and put it in the "to be soniced" box (I really got the press because I need the larger threads for one of my 404 Jeff dies but I think mostly it will be for decapping)
Next will be the labelled hooks with the spare shell holders! Oh yes! I should have done this years ago!
Scrummy
Have Lee Cast press which has the primer decap tube right into a bin! Oh I tell you, this is living. Come back from the range, decap brass using universal decapping die and put it in the "to be soniced" box (I really got the press because I need the larger threads for one of my 404 Jeff dies but I think mostly it will be for decapping)
Next will be the labelled hooks with the spare shell holders! Oh yes! I should have done this years ago!
Scrummy
Got myself a Mighty Armory decapping die and had to test it out
Seems much less likely to bend like the Lee die in inherited from a buddy did. Does the job well. I'm likely to upgrade my RCBS die to a 6.5CM from Mighty Armory. The only thing holding me back is the price.
Also testing out some nail polish to mark the base of the brass so I know who owns which brass on the range
I've run out of IMR4350 and am almost out of LRPs, so may have to shoot something else for a bit
M
Seems much less likely to bend like the Lee die in inherited from a buddy did. Does the job well. I'm likely to upgrade my RCBS die to a 6.5CM from Mighty Armory. The only thing holding me back is the price.
Also testing out some nail polish to mark the base of the brass so I know who owns which brass on the range
I've run out of IMR4350 and am almost out of LRPs, so may have to shoot something else for a bit
M
In a few different rifles, all GAPs, I'm getting about 2760.
Set up my new K&M arbor press and L.E. Wilson Micrometer Seater dies (in .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor). Technically, the photo was taken in the kitchen...but the whole setup made its way to its spot on the reloading bench.
I got some orange fingernail polish to try out on my rims. We'll see how it works and see if I can see it on the rangeWatch out for sharpie residue in the chamber... I've been bit by that before. I only do the rim anymore.
Reloading for me was to crank out 110 rounds of Dasher for a club match, load 250 rounds of 223 on the Dillon for practice, start tumbling my 223 brass so I can process the brass for the next cycle since I shoot through 1k then process the entire lot. Gonna try playing with a Dillon RT1200 trimmer this next cycle to see how it does vs the Giraud.
M
This brings me more joy than it should:
Bought the cast press for occasional use with dies for large stuff (Needed larger thread than Lee 4 hole turret)
However, does mean most of the time I can leave the decapping die in there and have my spare shell holders nearby for post range decapping pre cleaning. AND THE SPENT PRIMERS GO STRAIGHT IN THE BIN!
Scrummy
Bought the cast press for occasional use with dies for large stuff (Needed larger thread than Lee 4 hole turret)
However, does mean most of the time I can leave the decapping die in there and have my spare shell holders nearby for post range decapping pre cleaning. AND THE SPENT PRIMERS GO STRAIGHT IN THE BIN!
Scrummy
Loaded up a ladder for some 6.5 Creedmoor hunting ammo, trying out some 123 ELD's to get some velocity out of my 18" barrel. Loaded up 123 ELD's in Prime 6.5 Creedmoor brass (Norma), N150 Powder and CCI 250 Magnum primers.
Looking forward to seeing what velocities I achieve. Trying a range of 38.0 to 40.6 grains of N-150. The original intent for this rifle was to use 143 ELD-X precision hunter rounds, of which I have a few boxes, but velocity is pretty slow out of the 18" barrel at ~2500 fps.
Looking forward to seeing what velocities I achieve. Trying a range of 38.0 to 40.6 grains of N-150. The original intent for this rifle was to use 143 ELD-X precision hunter rounds, of which I have a few boxes, but velocity is pretty slow out of the 18" barrel at ~2500 fps.
Good evening all,
Hope this finds everyone well after the week. Popped out to the garage for an hour this evening and loaded up some punchy 44 special.
Loaded up a ladder with Handloader Magazine data for .44 Special +P (.44 S&W Special +P (Pet Loads) | Handloader Magazine) as the bullets are just a bit too long to cycle well in my .44 mag lever action and I liked the idea of a faster, punchier recoiling load. It’s a 25kpsi load and given .44 mag tops out at nearly 40kpsi should be fine.
Anyway, it’s quite a “historic” load – 15.2-16.7gr of 2400 coming up in 0.2gr increments. A hot .44 Special load? Must be challenging my inner Elmer! (Hopefully it’s Keith rather than Fudd…)
Hope this finds everyone well after the week. Popped out to the garage for an hour this evening and loaded up some punchy 44 special.
Loaded up a ladder with Handloader Magazine data for .44 Special +P (.44 S&W Special +P (Pet Loads) | Handloader Magazine) as the bullets are just a bit too long to cycle well in my .44 mag lever action and I liked the idea of a faster, punchier recoiling load. It’s a 25kpsi load and given .44 mag tops out at nearly 40kpsi should be fine.
Anyway, it’s quite a “historic” load – 15.2-16.7gr of 2400 coming up in 0.2gr increments. A hot .44 Special load? Must be challenging my inner Elmer! (Hopefully it’s Keith rather than Fudd…)
Let a nice spike walk, did not need the meat and did not want to waste a buck/antler tag on a deer we don’t want.
Oh, wait, this is reloading room…Yesterday, i finished loading my 6.5 Creedmoor Starline brass for the MPA. Still have Hornady brass and Lapua brass prepared and ready to charge and seat bullets. (Hornady LR brass for the RPR and Lapua SR brass for the MPA)
Oh, wait, this is reloading room…Yesterday, i finished loading my 6.5 Creedmoor Starline brass for the MPA. Still have Hornady brass and Lapua brass prepared and ready to charge and seat bullets. (Hornady LR brass for the RPR and Lapua SR brass for the MPA)
I decided last night I probably have enough powder and primers scattered about the floor of my reloading room to load several hundred rounds. Of course the mix of large, small rifle / pistol primers and several dozen types of powder might be a problem. lol
Realize I've drifted into serious fire hazard territory and need to do something about it. Not sure what without the risk of a fire.
Realize I've drifted into serious fire hazard territory and need to do something about it. Not sure what without the risk of a fire.
The only nice spike is a dead spike. Those need culled out of your gene pool.
You can always find someone that needs the meat or would be happy to help you with the culls.
Mostly I pass on nice heads these days so the younger shooters have something to look at for a longer time than me.
Shooting spikes or otherwise pre determined culls is a sport of it's own and on property that has been managed for a long time is very sporty. You do the landowner a service by tagging them.
When you sit a stand and let 10,12 and 14 point bucks walk all weekend looking for bucks missing brow tines or the damned spike that has learned to shadow behind good deer it becomes a passion.
Something to consider, rant over.
You are right this is the reloading room, so the reason I stuck my face in here.
I have a good supply of tac and 69gr smk's.
I have not used either before.
I am constricted to mag length 2.25 for reliable loading and not hitting lands.
At that length my bto will drop back 0.030 thousandths but figure Sierra likes a good jump most of the time. That bullet has a lot of ass on it, can I get the recommended max of 24.3g of tac behind it?
From Hodgdon and Lee book.
Good luck with the trophy hunting this season and consider burning a tag for the end game.
Some food for thought; the most current wildlife conservation research and theory on cull bucks has changed in recent years. One such example I found quickly, but there are plenty of other/better sources;
What Do You Think About The Cull Buck Myth? | Grand View Outdoors
Nearly everyone has an opinion about the Cull Buck Myth, but should you stop waiting for the perfect whitetail or pull the trigger on the cull buck?
www.grandviewoutdoors.com
It’s nearly impossible to control genetics by culling individual deer in the wild. IIRC, research found it takes ~13 years to completely remove a single buck’s genetic material from a wilderness gene pool.
Most spikes are young, and in many cases their poor growth is not caused by a genetic issue. Injury is a much more common cause of poor antler growth and that poor growth can persist for multiple years even after the injury is healed.
That said, everyone should shoot whatever the hell they want to shoot. I can’t stand people who chastise others for shooting button-bucks and young deer. Hunt how you like, shoot whatever deer will make you happy, and allow others to do the same. Just passing along some whitetail biology as I’ve learned it.
Some tips supported by the current biology, if you want to increase herd health and big buck numbers; focus on providing solid nutrition (where necessary), shooting bucks of advanced age, and learn to accurately age deer on the hoof so you can make good shoot/no shoot calls.
Proper Topic; I need to get in the reloading room. I haven’t touched the Dillon in probably 3 months. 9mm supply is getting low…
Pretty fucking interesting. I have been chewed out for shooting spikes, not shooting spikes and just about every other sin that has been invented. But last thoughts and will go back to the subject at hand.
I got on the Dillion tonight as well. Used the primer feed and bullet seating die. Charged the cases by hand. Had previously sized and finished prepping the cases.
Interesting. Loading some brand new cases, (Hornady) the primer pocket showed a marked indention where the flash hole was punched. Been using cases from this lot and accuracy and shot to shot consistency has been good. On the Starline and Lapua cases, there is not obvious depression. Not sure if Starline punches or drills the flash hole but Have no real complaint about any of the three brands.
But, the bulk of my Hornady cases are starting to accumulate quite a number of firings. The primer pockets are still tight but I am getting head separations. Normally, consider that the head spacing is off. However, these cases were all neck sized and used in only one rifle. (RPR). Since, I honestly don't think these cases are worth further reloads, going to pul the rest of the bullets, save the powder and carefully save the primers (for plinking and short range work) and replace. The barrel is long past the expected lifespan that one would expect. Only thing, it is still shooting quite well.
Final thought, since they were all neck sized, they were getting hard to chamber, so the cases obviously have grown somewhat. It's an interesting hobby.
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Loaded some 6 arc for the bolt gun. 29.6-30.5 of CFE with a 109 Berger.
Resized and trimmed to length couple of hundred 44 mag brass (Wondering how much life it has left...)
Washed and FL Resized some 9.3x62 brass. Need to trim and deburr / chamfer later.
Scrummy
Washed and FL Resized some 9.3x62 brass. Need to trim and deburr / chamfer later.
Scrummy
I moved two 8-pound Vargets from the side door (delivery) to the reloading room.
Started casting bullets for our two .32 revolvers. Ran out of daylight and artificial light in our shop made it difficult to get a good pour.
Been collecting 223 cases that have primers seated shitty. Either too much pressure or didn’t get rid of the military crimps well enough so the primer went in tight and got smashed a little. Rather than load those for precision work, saved up till I had 40 of them and loaded them all with 25.5gr of TAC and a 55gr sp bullet That I grabbed on clearance at the LGS for 8 cents each. They’ll be gun warmers.
also tried to get way ahead on primed brass on hand. Managed to put back a few hundred 223 and 6 ARC. I know that’s nothing for the old hands here, but it’s good for me.
lastly, fixed a project gun that has been giving me fits. A 22wmr AR SBR. Finally got it running right and sighted in. Been a thorn in my side for a few months. Now that it’s running, time to order more mags.
first crappy weather set in today in the desert southwest. Gonna be a long winter at the bench.
also tried to get way ahead on primed brass on hand. Managed to put back a few hundred 223 and 6 ARC. I know that’s nothing for the old hands here, but it’s good for me.
lastly, fixed a project gun that has been giving me fits. A 22wmr AR SBR. Finally got it running right and sighted in. Been a thorn in my side for a few months. Now that it’s running, time to order more mags.
first crappy weather set in today in the desert southwest. Gonna be a long winter at the bench.
Adjusted my XL650 toolhead powder drop, powder check, seating die, and crimp die from 115gr RN settings to those needed for 147gr RN. Loaded 100 rounds making sure everything was good to go. Going to try to get some more loaded later this week. Annoyed I didn’t keep better track of my bullet inventory; I’m all out of the 115gr RN.
l moved some things and found my brass soaking jug with some 50-90 brass soaking in very dark water. You know, you shoot em, de-prime and drop em in the water to work on the black powder fouling. Then you let them soak for 7-8 years apparently. Doh!
Burning through the last of some powder from the 50's.
No pictures but sized and lubed close to 200 .32 cast bullets for our Single Six in .32 H&R and the .327 SP101. Then sized and lubed 75, 250 KT bullets for our many .44's. Takes almost as long setting up the lubrisizer as it does sizing and lubing the bullets. But, got er done on what is/was supposed to be a rain day.
200 147gr RN FMJ 9mm on the Dillon.
Need to run some brass through the tumbler. I thought I had a few 1 gallon buckets of cleaned brass all ready to toss into the case feeder, but I had to stop loading when I realized I was out.
I’m sure I’ll find the bucket(s) as soon as I finish tumbling a few thousand more…
Need to run some brass through the tumbler. I thought I had a few 1 gallon buckets of cleaned brass all ready to toss into the case feeder, but I had to stop loading when I realized I was out.
I’m sure I’ll find the bucket(s) as soon as I finish tumbling a few thousand more…
Loaded those Keith Type cast bullets in the .32 H&R cases.m. Sure is fun loading handgun rounds, with light powder charges using a carbide sizing die in a Dillion 550 compared to
Loading rifle precision rounds. Took about an hour, start to finish to load a hundred of .32 rounds.
Loading rifle precision rounds. Took about an hour, start to finish to load a hundred of .32 rounds.
Was able to sneak downstairs and work the lever for a couple hours this evening…. We Have upcoming steel matches every weekend for the next three weeks, need to be sure I have enough ammo loaded and ready to go… still hoping to get another couple hundred done tomorrow.
Installed the Prazipress Heavy 150's little sister: the Prazipress 105. Ordered just shy of 11 months ago, finally arrived today.
I have only 2 complaints about the Prazi and the In-line Fabrication setup. With the Prazi - all of them - the only way you can use the drip tube and the little bottle that holds the primers is to have it mounted hanging off the bench a couple of inches. Unless I mounted the In-line Fab thing hanging off the bench, I can's use the primer drop tube and I don't really want to drill holes and have it hanging off. As regards the In-line fab, mount, for some reason, they drill the holes about 1/4 inch off from where they should be and they give you like M8 or M10 bolts instead of the M12 that Turban intended for it. I don't know why they do this. For my 150 they sent me a new top plate with the holes in the correct location/diameter and I used the proper M12 bolts. I'm going to ask if they will send me a "correct" top plate for the 105 too.
Prazi doesn't make better ammo but it sure is nice #bling
ETA: with it set up as is, (See my finger pointing on the second pic), I can cut the primer drop tube and it will dispense them reliably into a pie pan under the inline mount.
I have only 2 complaints about the Prazi and the In-line Fabrication setup. With the Prazi - all of them - the only way you can use the drip tube and the little bottle that holds the primers is to have it mounted hanging off the bench a couple of inches. Unless I mounted the In-line Fab thing hanging off the bench, I can's use the primer drop tube and I don't really want to drill holes and have it hanging off. As regards the In-line fab, mount, for some reason, they drill the holes about 1/4 inch off from where they should be and they give you like M8 or M10 bolts instead of the M12 that Turban intended for it. I don't know why they do this. For my 150 they sent me a new top plate with the holes in the correct location/diameter and I used the proper M12 bolts. I'm going to ask if they will send me a "correct" top plate for the 105 too.
Prazi doesn't make better ammo but it sure is nice #bling
ETA: with it set up as is, (See my finger pointing on the second pic), I can cut the primer drop tube and it will dispense them reliably into a pie pan under the inline mount.
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Got some 6 creed tumbling for a night match at pigg river next week
Get in touch with Dan at Inline. They may be able to set something up for you. I had a couple of custom things done and they got it right. One thing took a couple of rounds to get right but they followed up quickly and did a great job!
Went digging around to reassemble my paper patching gear which seems to have been scattered all over the house. It’s funny I mostly stopped shooting certain rifles because I grew weary of doing it, and now I’m looking to do it for other rifles stupid stupid.
Not reloading last few days but doing some "gun plumbing" in getting my 8x56 scope leveled into new QD rings (Rusan, seem quite well made and less expensive than Leupold QRWs / Recknagels - and also available).
When you start asking what is really "level" and "flat"....
When you start asking what is really "level" and "flat"....
I call mine a Wheeler, level, level not level. For obvious reasons. I not longer use it.
Loading 22 NOSGAR, 85.5, SB 6.5 for the wife's AR tonight.
Got a 600 match Saturday, weather permitting.
Weigh the charge in grams, sprinkling little grains of 6.5.
Tare an empty case and check charge before inserting an inverted projectile and setting case into the loading block.
Tare next case, charge, etc. Bullets presorted for BTO and weight.
Once rolling along it goes smoothly.
Got a 600 match Saturday, weather permitting.
Weigh the charge in grams, sprinkling little grains of 6.5.
Tare an empty case and check charge before inserting an inverted projectile and setting case into the loading block.
Tare next case, charge, etc. Bullets presorted for BTO and weight.
Once rolling along it goes smoothly.
Been a while since I ran a single-stage so hard... But processed 1500 rounds of .38 Spl. to primed/flared.
Going to be wadcutters for the Smith 52...
Tomorrow I'll get them all loaded... But it's a long day to do that many.
Sirhr
PS. Also did about 300 very old .38's from Rem and Win. 1930's, probably. Including Balloon Head cases. Which, for the record, are not happy with steel pin tumbling. The pins get stuck in the balloon heads. But the brass is really cool and I'm going to set them with round-nose bullets and put them in some old boxes to case up with some old guns!! Balloon cases are... interesting!. Small firing pin hole... sticks steel pins. If they weren't such cool headstamps (and rugged brass) I'd have tossed. But these need to be reloaded!
Going to be wadcutters for the Smith 52...
Tomorrow I'll get them all loaded... But it's a long day to do that many.
Sirhr
PS. Also did about 300 very old .38's from Rem and Win. 1930's, probably. Including Balloon Head cases. Which, for the record, are not happy with steel pin tumbling. The pins get stuck in the balloon heads. But the brass is really cool and I'm going to set them with round-nose bullets and put them in some old boxes to case up with some old guns!! Balloon cases are... interesting!. Small firing pin hole... sticks steel pins. If they weren't such cool headstamps (and rugged brass) I'd have tossed. But these need to be reloaded!
That's one on my want list. I blame it on old Gil Hebard catalogs.
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