38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Nice! Have you tried double round ball loads? I found the singles didn’t have enough neck tension to get a proper burn.
I bet a 375 round ball sized down would help with that. Much more bearing surface.
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What did you do in the reloading room recently?
- Thread starter DW357
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Nice! Have you tried double round ball loads? I found the singles didn’t have enough neck tension to get a proper burn.
I bet a 375 round ball sized down would help with that. Much more bearing surface.
SJan
NES Member
I ran some more brass through the tumblers so now I'm sitting on a full to the top 5 gallon bucket of clean 40 brass. I'm switching from Clays to E3 for USPSA Limited major.
I have test samples loaded, but I need to get outside and chronograph before committing to loading in quantity.
I also have 2 new guns that need to be checked to make sure they make PF with my go-to loads.
I have test samples loaded, but I need to get outside and chronograph before committing to loading in quantity.
I also have 2 new guns that need to be checked to make sure they make PF with my go-to loads.
Nice. Why the switch to E3? Just curious. I have no experience with either of those powders.
SJan
NES Member
Clay's, while super soft shooting in 45 and 40 at major, is reverse temperature sensitive. It produces lower velocity at higher temperature. E3 is stable across any temperature
Well that’s a very legitimate reason to switch! It still baffles me how some powders are reverse temp sens. It just seems counterintuitive.
I switched the press over from 44 to 9mm last night and cranked out a couple hundred rounds. Haven’t loaded any 9 since January. Got a good stash made but it will go quick.
I loaded up 300 rounds of .357 magnums with the 125 grain Zero JHPC (which I'm guessing are Hornady HAP .356" 125 grain bullets which Zero Bullet Company has put a cannelure on--more power to 'em). I was using the 7.5 grain Universal load that I've gotten good accuracy with in my Henry. Also loaded up 50x 44 magnum 240 grain lead bullets over 9.5 grains of Universal. I like that load out of my Model 69.
I tried all kinds of things to get my powder drop to like Universal. Tapping to settle, different nuances of actuating the lever, etc. Nothing worked. Trouble is that the flakes like to get jammed in between the parts. Variability is horrible, generally between 7.3 and 7.8 grains. I was weighing each charge and in most cases making manual adjustments. Eventually I just gave up and dumped it in the Chargemaster, which is slow but only overcharges once in awhile with Universal. I like how Universal shoots and how easy cleanup of the gun is afterwards, but damn. I had a reason to load just a few H110 loads in 44 magnum, and having the powder drop work properly was refreshing. I think I'm going to have to let Universal go once I'm done with the (sigh) just over 3 pounds of it I've got left. I know I was ragging on Shooter's World Heavy Pistol over unburned powder granules, but what I didn't mention was how much I like Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol. Now that powder meters perfectly and burns fully. Leaves the gun a little more dirty than Universal, but that doesn't seem very important.
I tried all kinds of things to get my powder drop to like Universal. Tapping to settle, different nuances of actuating the lever, etc. Nothing worked. Trouble is that the flakes like to get jammed in between the parts. Variability is horrible, generally between 7.3 and 7.8 grains. I was weighing each charge and in most cases making manual adjustments. Eventually I just gave up and dumped it in the Chargemaster, which is slow but only overcharges once in awhile with Universal. I like how Universal shoots and how easy cleanup of the gun is afterwards, but damn. I had a reason to load just a few H110 loads in 44 magnum, and having the powder drop work properly was refreshing. I think I'm going to have to let Universal go once I'm done with the (sigh) just over 3 pounds of it I've got left. I know I was ragging on Shooter's World Heavy Pistol over unburned powder granules, but what I didn't mention was how much I like Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol. Now that powder meters perfectly and burns fully. Leaves the gun a little more dirty than Universal, but that doesn't seem very important.
Renegade800
NES Member
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Loaded 155 rounds of 308. 175 grain SMK. 43 grains of Varget. I keep my reloads in the plastic Richardson’s ice cream containers I’ve accumulated over the years. I get a lot of crap at the range. You can fit about 150 308 in the plastic Richardson’s container, 600 9mm. Helps me keep track of how many reloads I have by counting the containers.
Nothing else they make requires as much attention to detail as the hollow points on those bullets. Nothing else looks anything like them. And they mic out at .3565" tops. They're smaller in diameter than the 158 grain Zero JSPs and JHPs. Occam's Razor.
slap shot
NES Member
it was that one with the standard base to attach to the mill
regarding static on plastic. wash all plastic items in soapy water and the problem goes away.
slap shot
NES Member
Prepping to reload 30-30 Win for the first time. Luckily, when i bought my '94 from a friend, i also bought all his ammo, all his brass, a set of dies, some projectiles and a pound of IMR3031. I will definitely use up that pound first as it's a proven load. (30 grains with a 150 gr soft flat nose.) , but...
I always look at other possible loads using powder on hand and CFE223 looks pretty interesting. Seems to be capable of higher velocities at similar pressures. Definitely gonna try some in the low end, mid range, work up, and chrono to see how they do.
I always look at other possible loads using powder on hand and CFE223 looks pretty interesting. Seems to be capable of higher velocities at similar pressures. Definitely gonna try some in the low end, mid range, work up, and chrono to see how they do.
You should play around with Trail Boss powder for some real fun plinking with the lever gun.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Cast some Lyman 535 grain postels for the 45/70
Cast and water dropped an akro bin full of a Lee copy of the Lyman 311041 but without the gas check.
I’m going to let them age a week or so and load some in the 30/30 with moderate loads.
I need to find a heavy gas check flat point for the 30/30. 180 or heavier. Should make for some nice sound on steel
Cast and water dropped an akro bin full of a Lee copy of the Lyman 311041 but without the gas check.
I’m going to let them age a week or so and load some in the 30/30 with moderate loads.
I need to find a heavy gas check flat point for the 30/30. 180 or heavier. Should make for some nice sound on steel
Loaded another 500 rounds of 9mm last night.
If you can get the Lyman 311008 LRNFP, you'll have a great economy plinker load. It's a .32-20 WCF bullet, but it can be sized to .308" or whatever you need. I've loaded the Graf's 90g TCJ DEWC in .308 and .30-30, too. It chambers in the FR-7 just fine, but I don't own any leverguns in .30-30; some trial and error will find what feeds adequately in your lever.
GRAF BULLET(.308)98gr TCJ DEWC (7.62 NAGANT) P/100 - Graf & Sons
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38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
What kind of accuracy are you getting?
I’ve played with the lee 93 SWC but I do love me some wadcutters.
I can only speak for .308 Winchester, of course, but they bust cans as well as any other load. I don't rate the FR-7 as a target gun and my marksmanship is marginal at best. They seem to hit in the area that I'm shooting (that's about as technical as I can be). Can't say I've shot at 100 meters off of a sandbag with this load...sorry (and with irons, I'd be happy to get all shots into the scoring rings of a B-27 target).
The Graf's bullet is plated, I believe. I don't push them at warp speed. I've had Frontier 155g plated bullets leave whisps of lead on paper, which is indicative of the bullet coming apart (from what I've read), so you don't want to go overboard with velocities.
The Graf's bullet is plated, I believe. I don't push them at warp speed. I've had Frontier 155g plated bullets leave whisps of lead on paper, which is indicative of the bullet coming apart (from what I've read), so you don't want to go overboard with velocities.
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EddieZoom
NES Member
Spending a lot of time recently sorting through my clean 9MM brass stash. The "clunker" rate while reloading them has reached an unacceptable percentage. I'm lining up 20 or so on the bench at a time and then using a lighted magnifier to check out the head stamps. I've got 380's, crimped primer pockets, and something that is ether Egyptian or of alien origin ;-
Yep, it's about as much fun as it sounds.
Yep, it's about as much fun as it sounds.
Damn where did you find that brass lol
As readily available as 9x19mm brass is, you can sort by headstamp to provide better consistency and discard the few problematic pieces you may accumulate. I've found AMERC brass is an automatic toss. Some WRA brass doesn't seem to size for proper grip tension, so I get rid of them, too.
Obviously, you have to eliminate the berdan-primed cases before you go to the press, unless you like bending/snapping your decap pins.
Obviously, you have to eliminate the berdan-primed cases before you go to the press, unless you like bending/snapping your decap pins.
Yep. AMERC, CBC, Aguila, FM, Xtreme, Tulabrass, and any other “stepped” cases.
Eric H
NES Member
I can't say I've come across any Aguila stepped brass cases, just an external case "serration."
No Aguila doesn’t have the step inside. FM and Xtreme do and there are a couple others I can’t remember. CBC, Tula, and Aguila always creates a bulge and won’t chamber in my guns.
I don't recall if these pictured are IMI or *I*...
Although 9mm Magnum cases should be obvious, you'll also have all manner of headstamps/names for .380 Auto brass not to mention 9x18mm Makarov, 9x21mm, 9x23mm (Winchester, Steyr, etc.) and who knows what else.
I suppose you could try the Hornady 147g XTP-HPs in some of these cases as they have a boat-tail base.
As for .380 (9mm Browning, Kurz, etc.) brass, it usually commands a small premium over 9x19mm brass, so maybe you can get rich reselling this stuff.
Although 9mm Magnum cases should be obvious, you'll also have all manner of headstamps/names for .380 Auto brass not to mention 9x18mm Makarov, 9x21mm, 9x23mm (Winchester, Steyr, etc.) and who knows what else.
I suppose you could try the Hornady 147g XTP-HPs in some of these cases as they have a boat-tail base.
As for .380 (9mm Browning, Kurz, etc.) brass, it usually commands a small premium over 9x19mm brass, so maybe you can get rich reselling this stuff.
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Loaded up 100x light .357 Magnum loads with Universal, trying out a new process for doing the charges. Previously I've tried to use either the powder drop or the Chargemaster with Universal, the former being generally a failure and the latter successful but intolerably slow. This time I wanted to try using both. I dropped all 100x in a row in rapid succession from the powder drop with the charge set to 0.1 grains under my target. Then for each round I dumped the charge out into the weighing pan and hit the trickle button once, twice, or three times, as needed to get the right charge. If it was over charged, I dumped a little back and started over. It was a fresh can, and I wasn't getting as much variability, generally -0.2 to +0.1 grains, which is probably livable as is, given that there weren't serious overcharges like there was with the older can. It would have gone a little faster if I'd dialed in the powder drop to the target load, as most charges were dead on to what I had originally set it to. I wonder whether the variability worsens the more the powder gets exposed to open air. It does change appearance noticeably, from a relatively uniform tan color when opened to a mixture of lighter and darker flakes as time goes on.
EddieZoom
NES Member
Cast boolits. It was a great deal ;-)
EddieZoom
NES Member
Just came across some MaxxTech with a significant internal step...apparently Russian...apparently total shit.
I don’t know how old powder can drop inconsistent charges. Maybe have a drift in weight between humidity and any type of gassing off the powder may do?
Interesting to see if it makes any difference for you down range
