What did you do in the reloading room recently?

headednorth said:
Welp...good news and bad news. Last week did 1k 124 grain 9mm. Over the last 3-4 days I did almost another 1k. I was in the home stretch today and the e clip that holds the de-priming rod in place...disappeared. Looked for quite a while and have no idea where it ended up.

First time for me with this particular break down so I kind of jumped the gun a bit. Disconnected the powder drop rod, pulled out the toolhead and removed the sizing die. (couldnt get a wrench in there to remove the die so I had to pull the whole toolhead). Went to Home Depot, then another Home Depot and finally Lowes and picked up a few 1/4" e clips. Put everything back together, double checked the powder weight and started again. (had maybe 100-ish bullets left in the box of 1k)

Im in the habit of eyeballing the case when I set the bullet to make sure theres powder in there and maybe 50 rounds in I see one that looks way low. Pull it, weigh it...1.9 grains (!?!) I was loading 4 grains of Titegroup for a couple weeks with no issues. So I start charging and weighing one by one and theyre now ALL not only low but all over the road. 2, 1.8, 3.1, etc. Usually the Dillon powder drop is right on the money every time.

No idea what the deal is but I pulled the 9mm head and figured Id switch over to 223 since I only had a literal handful of 9mm projectiles left (of that box at least). Planning on pulling the powder drop die apart and seeing whats what. Silver lining is that before I puled the toolhead the first time, I dumped the finished rounds from the bin, so I know that I have the questionable ones segregated.

About to lube up some 223 and get started on those.

Anyone experience such a dramatic change in charge weights with a 650?
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You pulled the toolhead to remove the sizing die.
It's supposed to stay stable when you put it back; have same measurements - that's the whole point of separate toolheads, just swap the toolhead back in and get back to work.

I found that I needed to doublecheck all of my measurements after swapping toolheads. OAL and powder throw particularly.

But - you have second problem - powder throws are all over the place.

Four thoughts -
1) Check the alignment of the powder fixture, the failsafe rod should be dropping vertically, not vertically and horizontally. It should be straight, not slanted.
2) Did you put the failsafe rod back in backwards? It should hook through from the left.
3) Look at the travel of the powder measure. Is it going all the way forward and all the way back? Short measure implies less than full travel.
4) Did you get moisture in the powder while it was off? Is there some sort of clumping in the powder? Dump powder back into container, eyeball the fixture and refill it.

That's all I've got right now...
 
TrashcanDan said:
Will have to see how that date jives with Holbrook Steel Challenge.
I'll tell you what, I'll trade you.
Coated for 18 loaded 255's in .45. w231 w/ win lp.
Have more on order (1000 250's from miss. b. co.) so its not like I'll never see them again.
If you want, bring your 625 cylinder and I'll ream the throats out to add to the trade value.
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No need for a trade. I’ll just give you some.

I’m one of those lucky guys with a 625 that doesn’t have throat issues.
 
TrashcanDan said:
Was searching around for 200's to load .357's for a friend of mine.
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I can't compete with that 215 grainer, but I have loaded the Lyman 358315 (~205 g) in a .38 Special case and loaded them hot. They tend to bulge in the .357 Magnum case and consequently won't chamber. Load them as long as your cylinder will accept.

Yes, that 170 grainer is good looking. The RNFP is much smoother on the reload vs. the SWC profile.
 

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NavelOfficer said:
I can't compete with that 215 grainer, but I have loaded the Lyman 358315 (~205 g) in a .38 Special case and loaded them hot. They tend to bulge in the .357 Magnum case and consequently won't chamber. Load them as long as your cylinder will accept.

Yes, that 170 grainer is good looking. The RNFP is much smoother on the reload vs. the SWC profile.
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I would call that competition.
 
I believe it's due to seating the bullet so far into the case, that it touches a thicker portion and causes the diameter to swell. I did not record what brand of cases that I used, but using the .38 Special cases solved this problem. You still load these as if it were a .357 (assuming you are shooting these out of a .357 firearm). At the COL you'll be loading these, they will be too long for a .38 Special revolver cylinder.
Needless to say, if your bullets don't swell the brass when loaded into .357 Magnum cases, you'll be GTG.
 
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NavelOfficer said:
I believe it's due to seating the bullet so far into the case, that it touches a thicker portion and causes the diameter to swell. I did not record what brand of cases that I used, but using the .38 Special cases solved this problem. You still load these as if it were a .357 (assuming you are shooting these out of a .357 firearm). At the COL you'll be loading these, they will be too long for a .38 Special revolver cylinder.
Needless to say, if your bullets don't swell the brass when loaded into .357 Magnum cases, you'll be GTG.
Click to expand...

Gotcha.
I might cut a case open and do a side-by-side
 
midway generated a shipping label/tracking number last night at 11:30 for my bullets for 7.62x39. i just ordered them that afternoon. last time i ordered from midway, larry potterfield took the slower mule to the warehouse to get my stuff and said stuff didn't leave the building for another 10 days. now if lenny mcgill could be that efficient over at the glock shop things would be alright in the world.
 
After loading the .38 Special for about 40 years I still haven’t learned everything about it. I loaded some 125 Gr bullets over Clays powder to use in Steel Challenge. Loaded them up and dropped them into cylinder with no problem. But now I need to put them into 8 round clips. I find the grooves in the .38 Special are not uniform. Clips for Remington will not fit Winchester or Hornady and so on. So I standardized on the Remington and bought clips for those. Loaded up the clips and they would not drop into my S&W cylinder easily. Found that the crimp I put on them was ok for individual rounds but when put into a clip some of the cases would catch on the face of the cylinder. So ran them back through the crimp die with a slightly heavier crimp and problem solved.
 
Knob Creek said:
But now I need to put them into 8 round clips. I find the grooves in the .38 Special are not uniform.
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The rim is the only thing on that case that doesn't have a standard spec. Varies by manufacturer.
Quick guide for that-
tkcustom.com

TK Custom FAQ's | How to Use Moon Clips for Revolvers - TK Custom

Do you have questions about moon clips? Visit the TK Custom FAQ page to learn more about fitment and how you can use moon clips for your revolver.
tkcustom.com tkcustom.com

I think I have 25 or so of each
 
Just ordered last few things to start my 308 loading. Got A bump guage, le wilson brass case guage, Some fmj from Hornady and Nosler, Go- no go gauges from ballistic tool, and a wheeler sight install kit with lapping tools and torque wrench. New tikka should be here Friday so gonna need some boolits. [rockon]
 
Uzi2 said:
Those make perfect reloaded ammo boxes, or other "gather together" boxes. Small enough to handle and strong.
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Only down size is the sizes are not consistent except the larger wheel bearing boxes. They are pretty hefty and I toss them so just putting it out there.
 
Sized and trimmed a 1 gal pail of 223 cases yesterday and today up until i broke a decap pin. Have a bunch more to go but Im going to start loading what I have and hope to pick up some pins Saturday. Shipping is a couple weeks out for the ones Ive found in stock online. Do local shops usually carry decap pins ? (RCBS headed pin fwiw. Glenns, Shooters?) Should prob order a 5 pack anyway now that I think of it...
 
headednorth said:
Sized and trimmed a 1 gal pail of 223 cases yesterday and today up until i broke a decap pin. Have a bunch more to go but Im going to start loading what I have and hope to pick up some pins Saturday. Shipping is a couple weeks out for the ones Ive found in stock online. Do local shops usually carry decap pins ? (RCBS headed pin fwiw. Glenns, Shooters?) Should prob order a 5 pack anyway now that I think of it...
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Where are you located again? I have some if you need them.
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
Where are you located again? I have some if you need them.
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Im in Danvers. Thanks for the offer though. [thumbsup] Im heading out Saturday anyway and even if I dont find any, I just ordered some that will be here on the 4th. Even if I end up loading what I have prepped now I still have plenty of other stuff to keep me busy.
 
greencobra said:
fwiw...rcbs has sent me decapping pins for nada. have done it more than once. i don't decap military crimped in primers with the die, i've taken the pin out. i use the lee tool.

View attachment 384061
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I didnt think of reaching out to them. Looked on their site but didnt think of just asking. Figured its just the cost of doing business.
 

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