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Cleaning some range pickup brass.
What Are You Doing On The Reloading Bench Today?
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Loaded about 100 rounds of 357 mag, gas checked lead, hollow points. Do not shoot 357 much these days and needed to build up some supply. Cheapest 357 I found on the net was about 75 cents each plus tax plus shipping. Getting close to 85 cents per round. Got about another 100 primed cases and will be loading from 125 grain JHPs in them.
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I need to get my revolver out and shoot up some. So I can get some fresh ammo loaded up. I have some . 357 and 38 ammo that I loaded in 2018 when I first started.
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They don't get too old to shoot but you just need to enjoy them every year..... IA few months ago I found some 45 acp that I loaded in 1986, a box of the flying ashtray bullets, a huge hollow. I chronographed several of them. They were all just where they should be. The were 898 fps. Point is they all fired and none of them degraded. I really enjoyed shooting them. Being that old, they probably did not cost me $4-$5 to reload back then. We get too many guns and just go shoot the most fun ones, and the others just sit in the safe. It is not fair to the gun, shoot em.....
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I bought a 4# jug of HiSkox 700X about 2 years ago and finally got around to opening it up. I've been loading up some 9mm JHP's and so far the 700X has worked pretty well. And it burns clean - none of the soot that I get from Bullseye or Red Dot.
Next, I'll try it on some 44Mag 240gr LSWC's and see how those shoot. Probably some of the folks here have used that powder but this is a first for me. These will be for some milder loads - I already have some loads with 2400 that are a lot hotter than I enjoy. (Arthritis is setting in on the 4th and 5th fingers in both hands and those 100 yard steel whacking loads just are not so easy to shoot as they used to be.)
Next, I'll try it on some 44Mag 240gr LSWC's and see how those shoot. Probably some of the folks here have used that powder but this is a first for me. These will be for some milder loads - I already have some loads with 2400 that are a lot hotter than I enjoy. (Arthritis is setting in on the 4th and 5th fingers in both hands and those 100 yard steel whacking loads just are not so easy to shoot as they used to be.)
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junction.
700-X is awesome in all sorts of stuff.
i use it in the 45 acp and even in my 300 BO bolt gun for subsonic stuff.
it works good in the 9mm and 38 special for target loads too.
i've used it for light cast bullet loads in several 30 cal. rifles, and i even heard a rumor it does pretty good in the 12ga.... LOL
700-X is awesome in all sorts of stuff.
i use it in the 45 acp and even in my 300 BO bolt gun for subsonic stuff.
it works good in the 9mm and 38 special for target loads too.
i've used it for light cast bullet loads in several 30 cal. rifles, and i even heard a rumor it does pretty good in the 12ga.... LOL
today I ordered small pistol primers from American Reloading. they were about $100. per thousand if you bought 4,000. they were from Argentina. sadly, what I need most are large pistol primers and they still aren't available. but I saw the last batch of small pistol primers disappear, so I jumped on these.
loaded up some of the first batch of 230 gr. .30 bullets I cast & powder coated the other day. I loaded them with 12 gr. of CFE BLK powder. I didn't get to chronograph them y
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et but they were quiet out of the 9" bbl. AR pistol. out of the 16" Mini 14 a couple got close to the sound barrier.
et but they were quiet out of the 9" bbl. AR pistol. out of the 16" Mini 14 a couple got close to the sound barrier.
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You are right. It's a very versatile powder
I never gave it a lot of attention before but it shows up in all of my old reloading manuals. The newer ones - not as much. I think many younger folks like the newer "whizbang" powders. But I like to stick with what has worked. (I'm not used to having much of a reloading budget to work with)
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some of the new powders are damn good.
i done some blind work with CFE-223 in a wildcat i designed and was very impressed with it.
i could just burn up the jug i have with one single load and be happy as a clam.
only problem is i only have the 1 jug of it, i got uhhh mm pounds of the other stuff.
i'm okay with that.
i done some blind work with CFE-223 in a wildcat i designed and was very impressed with it.
i could just burn up the jug i have with one single load and be happy as a clam.
only problem is i only have the 1 jug of it, i got uhhh mm pounds of the other stuff.
i'm okay with that.
I failed casting bullets today. First, I tried smoking my Lee molds with some dollar store matches and it not only took a long time to smoke my cleaned aluminum molds but it left an oily residue than a black soot layer. The bullets kept on casting with a wrinkle. I switched over to Diamond wooden matches and the surface was then evenly covered. After a few pours to heat my mold, my spout plugged up a lot. I gave up, deciding to clean my pot out and clear the spout out poperly; thinking about maybe buying some valve grinding compound so the stem will seat better.
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Just doing some casting myself taking a breather. I use a hot plate to warm my mould up to 400 degrees before casting. Usually good bullets, in 2 or 3 pours. Then if doing a marathon, I can lay my mould on it and take a break, then be up to good bullets In three drops.
Never was much into smoking, or release agents, just usually cast with a new mould till it comes right.. If it does not in about 10 runs and wrinkles I will hit it with break cleaner and a nylon brush while cool, or crank the heat till frosted bullets come, then back down.
If it sticks, after 10 rounds. I will switch to something else and go over it for burrs later.
Never was much into smoking, or release agents, just usually cast with a new mould till it comes right.. If it does not in about 10 runs and wrinkles I will hit it with break cleaner and a nylon brush while cool, or crank the heat till frosted bullets come, then back down.
If it sticks, after 10 rounds. I will switch to something else and go over it for burrs later.
I returned to my lead pot today for 2-3 hours. I cleared my lead pot nipple, re-assembled my pot, and remelted 2 Lee ingot sized amounts of lead from yesterday. I made sure my mold was hot by dipping one edge into the lead and using a propane torch on the other end. I failed to drop the stream of molten lead onto my sprue plate so some molten lead spiraled into a cavity and another poured in. I also didn't monitor the lead temp or the volume and just poured. So, I expect weight discrepancies. I'll cull through my pile of 40-170 Lee TC bullets later and powder coat the best ones.
I plan to cast hollow point molds next week. One set will be using .22lr lead. The other batch will .22lr lead and 2% tin. I look forward to comparing the bullets in some jugs of water.
What kind of groups do you get with this load? I have both components but haven't made 9x18 test loads yet.
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Never messed with Seperating 22 lead from our range. Just melt it in with all the other take Range scrap.
Interested in seeing how it acts, for you. Never had a hollow point mould before, so intrigued.
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I got the bench rebuilt in my reloading nook. We’ll see how it all comes together. I don’t have quite as much room as I did at our old place, but I do get the garage… I’ll settle for a closet.
Let's see a photo of it.
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