What Are You Doing On The Reloading Bench Today?

216522 Views 3183 Replies 127 Participants Last post by shop tom, 11 d ago

gandog56

Discussion Starter · Oct 26, 2016

Looks like the thread disappeared, so I want to reopen it.

I was bored tonight so I went out to the shed and whipped me up 100 rounds of .454 Casull. I used Nosler 250 grain JHP projectiles and W296 powder. Supposed to give me a muzzle velocity of around 1755 fps.

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runfiverun

· #3,141 · 4 mo ago

if the word UP was in there somewhere it'd be wrong for sure.... LOL

more powder coating and sizing.
dealt with the over crowding issue by simply moving all the 44 bullets to 2 shelves in the reloading room.
one box in there might be 45's.
i stopped and went back to filling containers and powder coating more stuff.
i got close to 4-K bullets coated today.
one more day of that, and i can start on the what do i need to cast list.

Reactions: 1

blaster

· #3,142 · 4 mo ago

cast a 20# pot of lead into 175 gr. .401 bullets. then powder coated and sized them.

Reactions: 2

Ranger4

· #3,143 · 4 mo ago

Punch the primers and resized about 50 of the Tullamo steel 357 mag cases today, inspecting them inside with a flashlight. I started reloading 45 acp steel cases maybe 10-11 years ago after reading an article by Lane Pierce of Shooting Times. I load them to full power with lead bullets and shoot them in my single action cowboy guns and SW Governor.

Last year, I resized some of the 45 acp steel cases to 400 Corbon making them a bottleneck case. I was shocked to learn the worked so well and have reloaded them a couple time just as an experiment. I did not expect them to take reshaping to the bottleneck case. I was ignorant of the fact that cartridge case steel is an alloy. not like rigide steel at all, so I continue to load the 45 acp and now the 400 Corbon.

A couple years ago during the ammo crises I found Tullam0 brand 357 ammo at Academy for about $17 a box and bought 5 boxes. It is very hot ammo. I fired some in a Rossi model 92 and then fired some in my J Frame Smith and Wesson. In the 3 inch barrel it goes over 1,200 fps and over 500 foot pounds. I was very surprised. The load was 7.5 grains of Unique.

Anyway last year I load 50 rounds of those steel cases just for grins. They were a mild load, 1,125 fps with the 158 grain SWC gas checked from a 4 inch revolver. That is 444 foot pounds of energy and a lot less recoil for my 72 year old hands. Anyway, I found about 50 more fired cases and prepped them for loading. Not sure if I will stay with the 158 grain SWC or go to the 125 grain JHP, I have 300-400 of them on hand. Anyway just another experiment. I have hundreds of cleaned and ready 357 cases just sitting around, but loading the same old stuff is not as much fun.

I also plan to use the steel cases for bird shot loads and for 3 ball loads down the road. My thought is to load them for a one time use and then just toss them. My shot and buckshot loads I put a little extra crimp on them and sometimes they split, if the still split, no big deal.

Just my part of saving the world by recycling one round of brass at a time.

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austinjoe13

· #3,144 · 4 mo ago

I’ve been back at working to set up my reloading space in our new house. It’s coming along slowly. I also have to organize our hunting and camping gear while I do it.

Reactions: 3

Wicked109

· #3,145 · 4 mo ago

BJung said:
Finished up on my chess set cast from range scrap

BJung, that chess set looks awesome. Details please, what did you use to melt the metal, where did you get the moulds for the pieces, and other than brass, what metal did you use for the white pieces?
v/r
Wicked109

Reactions: 2

Wicked109

· #3,146 · 4 mo ago

As for the Reloading Bench, this weekend will be tumbling some fired brass, doing the case length check on a batch of new brass. Cleaning off the bench of stuff that accumulates during winter. Revising my inventory to add some new serial numbers for my records.
Other things...include taking a bunch of stuff to the Salvation Army and some really nice clothes (my son's old and lightly used clothes) to the relief agencies that are getting a shipment ready to go to Turkey after the recent earthquake.

Reactions: 1

snowman1

· #3,147 · 4 mo ago

Had a hundred 22-250 brass prepped and primed ,added 38.0 gr H-380 and 50 gr Vmax for the 700 BDL. Great coyote medicine, really pops when it hits them.and they hardly ever run.

Reactions: 3

runfiverun

· #3,148 · 4 mo ago

okay, for real i'm done powder coating, and the shelves are sorted, labeled, and stacked.
unless i decide to start on coating that 5 gallon bucket of 158gr. rnffp's and put them in the I hope the G-boy likes shooting a 38 cal. long term storage.

now to start on the list of stuff i need to cast.

Reactions: 3

BJung

· #3,149 · 4 mo ago

Wicked109 said:
BJung, that chess set looks awesome. Details please, what did you use to melt the metal, where did you get the moulds for the pieces, and other than brass, what metal did you use for the white pieces?
v/r
Wicked109

I purchased my mold from Prince August: White Metal Casting | Toy Soldier Miniatures | Themed Chess Sets (princeaugust.ie) I used .45 FMJ lead and added 2% tin to improve flow out and lower the melting temperature. I save the used jackets to show where the lead came from for users. After a cast or two, you'll notice that the pieces will not flow out and will have to correct the problem but cutting an air channel from that place out of the mold. This will allow the pocket of air to escape and the cavity to fill. Sometimes you can find a good deal on Ebay for a used set. I recently purchased a toy solder mold set to cast a set of soldiers so my nephew can take up the hobby of painting than playing games on his cell phone. For the chess set and these future toy soldiers, I PC the bullets to seal the lead in. You'll also will have to buy clamps to hold the mold together, a small hacksaw to remove the sprue, file to flatten the base, and small files to remove excess lead.

Reactions: 2

austinjoe13

· #3,150 · 4 mo ago

I finally found some primers yesterday! I bought two trays each if CCI small rifle and small rifle mag. No large rifle anything, and no pistol primers that I want.

Reactions: 3

mouser868

· #3,151 · 4 mo ago

Loaded up some fire forming loads for the 7-30 Waters

Reactions: 3

BigEd63

· #3,152 · 4 mo ago

I'm currently priming 100 .357mag cases.
Then back to charging and bullet seating whatever might be left of my current.300BO cases.

Something I did notice before but double checked.
My charge weight of H-110 for .300BO 110gr Hornady VMAX bullet is identical to my charge weight for my pet load for a.357mag 125gr JHP. 19grs. of H-110.

Reactions: 3

runfiverun

· #3,153 · 4 mo ago

my 300 BO load for the 230gr slow motion bullets is the same as my 9mm 124gr. not slow load.

4 gallons of 158gr. 357 bullets coated and sized, only took 4 days.
i'm finally done... done, as in i'll never cast another 38 cal. pistol bullet again... unless you count 9mm bullets as 38's
i'm out of those.

Reactions: 3

aht_six

· #3,154 · 3 mo ago

Getting ready for a pig hunt in Texas. Loaded up 80 rounds of 6.5 CM with 129 gr SST bullets and 60 rounds of 150 gr .308 Win for my AR-10’s. Also loaded 140 rounds of .223 Win with 65 gr Gamekings for my son. We plan on leaving Thursday if the snow hasn’t closed 35.

Reactions: 5

runfiverun

· #3,155 · 3 mo ago

well i been cranking the crap out of a couple of press handles.
ain't got a single round loaded, but i'm getting a good pile of bullets laid in.

Reactions: 3

mouser868

· #3,156 · 3 mo ago

Casting bullets for the 30-30 and the 35 Remington

Reactions: 2

BigEd63

· #3,157 · 3 mo ago

Just working on seeing how much loaded ammunition I can squeeze out of my last can of Unique.
More than I expected and might even have to buy another 100ct box of 230gr Hornady XTP's.

Reactions: 3

BJung

· #3,158 · 3 mo ago

While doing yard work for my mother, I melted JHP range scrap and air rifle range scrap and individually casted 18 ingots (12 jhp core lead ingots and 6 lead pellet ingot )

Reactions: 3

SafetyFirst

· #3,159 · 2 mo ago

Cleaned and de-primed some 9mm brass. Recently found some pistol primers locally and now just waiting for a good deal on some bullets.

Reactions: 2

455rocket

· #3,160 · 2 mo ago

I've kinda been dragging my feet but finally finished up with all of my 300 Blackout. Once fired brass with CCI primers, 18.7 grains of H110 powder and topped with a Hornady V-Max 110 grain bullet.

Reactions: 2

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