What did you do in the reloading room recently?

pastera said:
Made up a clamp to hold the case by the rim.
Just need some measurements from the bushings and I can have a beta test printed out for you to test.

Post pictures tomorrow
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9mm
IMG_20210213_095849688.jpg

44 spl (gave away all of my 44 mag brass)
IMG_20210213_095831946.jpg

I may try using a plastic hinge pin so it is fully print in place

All I need now is a couple of dimensions off the Lyman bushings
 
Queen Bee said:
When can we meet so i can give you the device?
Click to expand...
Do you have calipers?
It would be easier for me to get an initial set of parts done before meeting up - you don't always get what you designed with 3d printing. If I have a rough model, I can do fit check and know what will work right there when we meet up.
 
Mudflap621 said:
How many firings on that brass?
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No idea. I stopped tracking training brass because I have so much of it it doesn't matter. I buy new unfired brass for ammo I really care about like 77gr Sierra loads and keep that separated.

When I processed the last 35,000 223 case batch I threw out maybe 100-200 total.
 
xtry51 said:
Some freedom capsules that didn't make the cut. The two on right cracked when seating. You can feel it happen and sometimes hear a tiny click. The one on left I didn't notice until I was inspecting before putting it in the can.

Having the rounds on strippers makes a quick final check easy.

View attachment 449591
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Very typical for 223/5.56. Annealing greatly helps with that.
 
bigblue said:
Meh. Why bother with high volume reloading?

Maybe on the bolt gun stuff but bulk? Seems like a waste of time and my time is expensive.
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Maybe his time is cheap?
if you bought bullets right
Powder and primers in bulk its still much cheaper than running even the cheapest bulk ammo.
Especially if your shooting 5k rounds or more a year.
Ex: if you bought one of those pales of General Dynamic 55 gn bullets back a few years your talking around -.04 a bullet. Even bulk hornady got down to .06 each very recently. .02 primer and about 11 cents in powder. Oh unless you jumped on a few cases of the surplus 844 your talking -12 cents a round?
Cheapest I have seen any 223 in a while is .25 for wolf gold and maybe 19 for steel crap.
its all good and depends on your income/time/needs ect ect
 
Another 100 .233 loaded. Goes fast once the brass prep is done.

No reason to anneal with the amount of brass I have. Even if I only got 5 reloads per case it would take me a decades to shoot that much and use what I have. My highest training year was 12k rounds of 223 and about 7k rounds of 9mm. I don't shoot as much now, maybe 5k of each per year.

20210213_203522.jpg
 
mac1911 said:
Maybe his time is cheap?
if you bought bullets right
Powder and primers in bulk its still much cheaper than running even the cheapest bulk ammo.
Especially if your shooting 5k rounds or more a year.
Ex: if you bought one of those pales of General Dynamic 55 gn bullets back a few years your talking around -.04 a bullet. Even bulk hornady got down to .06 each very recently. .02 primer and about 11 cents in powder. Oh unless you jumped on a few cases of the surplus 844 your talking -12 cents a round?
Cheapest I have seen any 223 in a while is .25 for wolf gold and maybe 19 for steel crap.
its all good and depends on your income/time/needs ect ect
Click to expand...

You are actually arguing against yourself.
If all other components are cheap, then it doesn’t matter how expensive the brass is. Even brand new brass would result in a cheaper reload than retail ammo in the current market. As a result, why worry about the condition and longevity of the brass? It lasts however long until it splits, then toss it. The impact to total cost compared to retail ammo is minimal.

I loaded up 77gr & 80gr SMK’s I had laying around, just a few each over TAC.

F8258748-F5CF-45EA-BDA8-BB8E3F77A8AC.jpeg

I will see how they do in my new Savage 12 that loved my 69gr SMK’s today. Five shot group.


F9B8CAB5-4E90-4BF6-BFA7-39213D09CC04.jpeg
 
steven grammont said:
Made up a few rounds to test out...... Semi wad cutters , 4grs 231 , 158 copper plated semi wad cutters.
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They should work. If you use cast bullet data for plated bullets, you're a bit on the high side, per Hodgdon data (3.3 gr. to 3.7 gr), but being a .38 Special, I'd not expect a major problem (especially if shooting these in a .357 Magnum revolver).
Jacketed bullet data calls for 3.8 gr. to 4.3 gr.
 
Last edited:
NavelOfficer said:
They should work. If you use cast bullet data for plated bullets, you're a bit on the high side, per Hodgdon data (3.3 gr. to 3.7 gr), but being a .38 Special, I'd not expect a major problem (especially if shooting these in a .357 Magnum revolver).
Jacketed bullet data calls for 3.8 gr. to 4.3 gy Lee data book didn't have any numbers for W231 at 158gr , so I just read over some threads on a couple of sites and it looked like many of people were using 4grs of w231 with this weight of bullet. I will be shooting these out of a .357 , so I don't expect any problems. I will test these out before loading up the rest of the 500 I have to reload.
Click to expand...
 
steven grammont said:
Lee data book didn't have any numbers for W231 at 158gr , so I just read over some threads on a couple of sites and it looked like many of people were using 4grs of w231 with this weight of bullet. I will be shooting these out of a .357 , so I don't expect any problems. I will test these out before loading up the rest of the 500 I have to reload.
Click to expand...
You're a little bit past 38 and into 38 +p territory, probably no big deal for a 357, but Hodgdon doesn't spec 231 for 38 +p with a 158g bullet. Probably best to go straight to the powder or bullet manufacturer sites vs forums where you'll be trusting weirdos like us.

https://shop.hodgdon.com/reloading-...,748&man=60,61,62&powder=1531&items=7413,7412
 
Mudflap621 said:
[pics]
Click to expand...
I've not completed the project yet, the top shelf needs to be built out, press installed, the aforementioned small part/tool storage added on the bench, cabinet enclosed, and the LED lights permanently installed, but here it is. The bike will be taken down and the bracket lifted when it comes time to run the press. Overall, not a bad plan for the space available.
bench.jpg
 
I will test these out before loading up the rest of the 500 I have to reload.
Click to expand...
It may seem trivial, but let's say you drop your charge down to 3.5gr from 4.0gr for the next 500 rounds. You will use 1750 grains of powder (3.5gr x 500). At 4.0gr, you will get 437 rounds loaded with the same 1750 grains.
You get 63 free rounds with a 3.5gr. charge.
This savings may not be a consideration, if the lesser load doesn't work for you, but it just goes to show how you can economize, if desired..
 

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