[ninwnc]

Loaded out the last of the .223 brass I had on hand. Guess I'll start on .38s & 357 Magnums next.

 

[blaster]

powder coated some .45 230 gr bullets I cast a few weeks ago.
loaded up 103 10mm primed cases with my 175 gr. cast powder coated bullets and 10.3 gr. of Long Shot.

 

[quavodus]

I sized and expanded a bunch of 9mm. Loaded some too. But, have got down to a low count on primers again.

 

[blaster]

loaded up 84rds. of .45 Super brass with L.P. Magnum primers, 9.5 gr. of Long Shot and 230 gr cast & powder coated LSW bullets. out of my 1911 they chrono around 1150 fps. not nuclear but still thumpers!

 

[Jack Ryan]

Poured some more buck this afternoon and cut them apart this evening.

Went to Harbor Freight and picked out three different "cutters" that looked like they might be good for this job. I like the STRAIGHT cut tin snips best of the three. I got them just for this job so I got out the dremel and did a little grinding to thin them out a little. I'll probably hit it a few more times like that to get them just right but they have about doubled the speed on cutting these and it still takes longer to cut them apart than to pour them.

 

[Moroco Mole]

Sat here looking at my loading stuff today. Was going to alloy some do some mixing, and get ready for casting session.
My postal scale got broke somehow. So no way to weigh my lino and tin.
Guess I am going to get a new scale tomorrow.

 

[BJung]

I melted range scrap with my electric pot today while doing gardening for my mother. I'd take a break every so often to check the pot, clean out debri, and pour the molten lead. I was able to make 8 ingots.

 

[quavodus]

loaded up 84rds. of .45 Super brass with L.P. Magnum primers, 9.5 gr. of Long Shot and 230 gr cast & powder coated LSW bullets. out of my 1911 they chrono around 1150 fps. not nuclear but still thumpers!

The .45 Super is a neat round. How's the recoil on it?

 

[BigEd63]

Tinkered with my clapped out hand Priming Tool to hopefully get it going until either repair part comes in or I locate a replacement.
I could have tested it today.
But.
I just don't feel like it.😁

 

[AK Hunter]

I ‘m just processing brass because until I need to load I’m not going to load because I can’t replace the components at today’s prices. I have a good stock of loaded rounds in the ready. So I on a reloading hold.

 

[Moroco Mole]

Blended alloy for half the night in my fondue pot hot plate set up.

Made with COWW and Real Lino so a lot of guess work on content.

Got 75 lbs of what should be close to an antimonial heavy lyman #2 clone. Or at least hard cast.

Put that back to settle a few days then going to test it to see what I ended up with. It will be used in my AR 15. Main thing is I have 75 lbs of a consistent stock to work from while developing the load. I can always adjust with known alloy later.

 

[Ron The Legend]

Anyone here have good or bad experience using Lee's crimp dies? I had poor groups last week on the 7x57. When I didn't crimp I got great results. However I loaded the bullets just off the lands when I didn't crimp instead of crimping the cannalure.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Uesed them thousands of times. Never had a problem.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I been pouring buck shot like it's a job.

I believe the democrats are preparing for REAL war.

 

[Moroco Mole]

Anyone here have good or bad experience using Lee's crimp dies? I had poor groups last week on the 7x57. When I didn't crimp I got great results. However I loaded the bullets just off the lands when I didn't crimp instead of crimping the cannalure.

Had nothing but good out of lee for pistol and AR15,
But for those rounds 7 mm ish, they seam to do best with a Redding taper crimp die. And a minimal jump. Or better jammed to the lands with no crimp at all.
Only my experience but I would say try a tapper crimp if you are planning on anything besides bench use.
Now Lee also makes a taper crimp Now not sure if one is available for 7x57 at the moment. I have had good luck with one in 30-06.

 

[blaster]

The .45 Super is a neat round. How's the recoil on it?

not bad. about the same as a 10mm with stout loads but way less than a .44 mag.

 

[Ron The Legend]

Had nothing but good out of lee for pistol and AR15,
But for those rounds 7 mm ish, they seam to do best with a Redding taper crimp die. And a minimal jump. Or better jammed to the lands with no crimp at all.
Only my experience but I would say try a tapper crimp if you are planning on anything besides bench use.
Now Lee also makes a taper crimp Now not sure if one is available for 7x57 at the moment. I have had good luck with one in 30-06.

I will try crimping the bullets right off the lands and some with the standard taper crimp and some with no crimp at all and report back. Thanks for the input.

 

[BigEd63]

Anyone here have good or bad experience using Lee's crimp dies? I had poor groups last week on the 7x57. When I didn't crimp I got great results. However I loaded the bullets just off the lands when I didn't crimp instead of crimping the cannalure.

IMHO, they can work okay if you trim to length and don't over crimp.
I've a friend who is a LEE fanboy and thinks you have to crimp all the time and only use them. Plus to he cases don't need to be trimmed equally .....um I call bs in both counts.
I trim all my once fired brass to the same length after sizing
Then regardless of crimp groove or not I crimp it. If no groove I just use a light crimp if it's dual use .308Win. or 5.56NATO. I do not crimp .300 win mag as I single load and use the same lot of brass so neck tension should be the same.

 

[runfiverun]

i don't crimp anything unless i have to.
that goes for many of my revolver rounds too.

spent part of the morning attempting make a lyman mold round, i'll have to make another set of laps and measure them before i can say whether today's efforts were any good.

then i took the 1200 i been working over down to the range with a mix of different cases to function test it, and see where the pattern lands.
everything worked exactly as it should and it's slickernsnot now.
still need to do a recoil pad.... and maybe lower the comb just a hair.
and i'll need to do some pellet counting, i don't think the fixed choke is a full like it says, the pattern in the snow looked more like a modified.

 

[Ron The Legend]

IMHO, they can work okay if you trim to length and don't over crimp.
I've a friend who is a LEE fanboy and thinks you have to crimp all the time and only use them. Plus to he cases don't need to be trimmed equally .....um I call bs in both counts.
I trim all my once fired brass to the same length after sizing
Then regardless of crimp groove or not I crimp it. If no groove I just use a light crimp if it's dual use .308Win. or 5.56NATO. I do not crimp .300 win mag as I single load and use the same lot of brass so neck tension should be the same.

I too trim and sort all my brass because I usually have a couple guns in the same caliber. This is the first time I've used a Lee crimp die, so a learning experience even for an old reloader. Thanks for responding.