What did you do in the reloading room recently?

I am a little worried about the 45ACPs, which will be shot in a revolver, a Blackhawk convertible. With the kinetic puller used on the round the first time I seated one, the seated bullet popped out on the first strike. It hadn't been taper crimped at that point, but a proper taper crimp should not add much, if anything. I guess if they move under recoil I can just over-crimp them a little. Maybe switching from the Lyman M-die to the simple Hornady expander would also help.

At one point I was using one of these-


Was having the same creeping problem in a 625 and the Redding die put an end to it.

Also, oddly enough, it also stopped when I started using a Sq Deal.
 
Had a chance to stop by the range on my way to work and chrono a few more of the 9mm (w/986, 2-5/8").
This is turning out to be my favorite: 4.1 gn Alliant SP behind 115gn FMJ (Everglades standard).
I chrono'ed 4 clips (28 rnds) - and then shot 6" plates with another 112 rnds ! :D Man, it sounded like Jingle Bells out there !
I've also made up several hundred with the XTP 115gn JHP - so I may document those next week.

Mean=955, Median=956, SD=33, Mean PF=110, High=1023, Low=893

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I realized today that I really don't need to cut brass down to imitate more closely in 44 magnum the internal ballistics of WST in 45 ACP. I just need to seat them deeply, like they were some kind of wadcutter almost. That way, I won't have to deal with fouling in the charge holes from using shorter brass. I don't want to do an exact duplicate because the 45 bullets are Brinell 18, and the 44 ones Brinell 12, but if I can get about 16K psi in 44 and 19K psi in 45, I think things should be about right. After some calculations, I settled on a COAL of 1.375" in 44 magnum brass, 1.225" in 45 ACP. Quickloads with 6.5 grains of Bullseye (don't have WST in QuickLOAD) tells me 16K PSI at 1025 fps in 44 magnum, 19.5K psi at 1084 fps in 45 ACP. The 44 COAL is a bit longer than what would give equal case capacity, I think, but there's obviously going to be more friction to overcome in the 44 situation, hence a bit higher pressure if all other things were made equal. All this is just an exploration of the concept, obviously. The WST load will probably end up around 5.1 grains, give or take and might not be the same for the two calibers. The 44's do look like a mistake. LOL

View attachment 500089
Not really looking like a mistake

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Haha, I can only imagine what my basement is going to look like after another 10-20 years of reloading. Not too cramped now but only been buying components and reloading for the last few years.
Mine was already cramped the first weekend in the house. “I” dont have a basement I share a a small “utility room”
With heater, HW tank and Oil tank
 
Mine was already cramped the first weekend in the house. “I” dont have a basement I share a a small “utility room”
With heater, HW tank and Oil tank
I had my 275 gallon tank removed now I'm down to a Roth 165 gallon tank and freed up a lot of space. Granted it's nowhere near my reloading bench but it certainly gives me more room for other crap lol.
 
Dillon 550.

A few hundred rounds into an 38spl run and....*snap*. Operating rod (#13869) snapped...that's a first for me. This is the rod the attaches to the roller on the primer slide to push it back into position to grab a fresh primer when the handle is pulled.

Put in a warranty claim with Dillon for a new one....I'll superglue/tape it back together until it arrives and limp along ;-)



View attachment 498132View attachment 498131
Free replacement received, back up and running.
 
I loaded some 115 cast with HP38 and IMR4227 for the .32/20. The IMR loads might be a bit hot for the 1873 but the HP38 loads are good in both the 1873 and the 1892. Both rifles are well over 100 years old and still shoot fine. I also finally have a smokeless powder load for the .43 Spanish Remington rolling block. It's 23 grains of 5744 and a .43 Mauser bullet that's sized a bit bigger than the .43 Spanish bullet. The Spanish bullet works with black powder because the powder charge will bump it up. Smokeless won't do that. Cleaning the rifle after black powder is pretty quick and easy but I don't want to risk wrecking any of that .43 Spanish brass. It's expensive and hard to find. My rifle is picky and won't shoot with Track of the Wolf brass.
 
I loaded up all of the brass I had laying around after pulling those f***ed up rounds I made with Acme Bullets. Loaded the brass with N320 and Blue Bullets.
Tested what I thought were the okay Acme loads in the new Shield Plus today but nope they’re f***ed. Leaded after just a few rounds. I still have like 400ish rounds left and I have 0 interest in pulling them. I’m tempted to buy a new Shield barrel for $120 just to blast these off but seems like a waste of money.
 
Tested what I thought were the okay Acme loads in the new Shield Plus today but nope they’re f***ed. Leaded after just a few rounds. I still have like 400ish rounds left and I have 0 interest in pulling them. I’m tempted to buy a new Shield barrel for $120 just to blast these off but seems like a waste of money.
Leading, where in the barrel?
What size bullet and did you slug your barrel?
Time for a new bullet puller. Try the one manufactured by Hi-Point
 
Leading, where in the barrel?
What size bullet and did you slug your barrel?
It seemed like towards the very end. The Acme’s are .356" and no I haven’t slugged my barrel. These are literally the only coated 9mm bullets I’ve had leading issues with. Blues, Eggleston, Bayou, Ibejiheads, lucky13 have all been fine.
 
Yesterday, I had a chance to collect some verification data on the .44 Mag (629-6 w/2-5/8") 7.1 gn Alliant SP / 240gn SWC. Very good accuracy 25-30' and the data was pretty much a repeat of the last set..

Couldn't miss 6" and 8" steel gongs from 30' even if I tried. :D (two handed, and as long as it was a center hold on the 'top edge' of the plate)

Next up is 7.5 gn. Who would have guessed a snub could be so much fun.

LOAD 9 - 240gn SWC (T&B), 7.1 gn Alliant SP, 44 MAG 1F Rem Brass

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42-shot mean = 802, standard deviation = 18, PF = 192
 
Received my copy of the "Blue Press" from Dillon and was skimming...the prices across the board on reloading equipment noticeably higher....supply/demand ? Inflation ? End of the world price gouging ?

Coming late to the reloading party has got to really suck....
Try here: Shop All Products | SCHEELS.com

I just got a 750 from them and the price was better than anything I could find around here and much better than flee bay.
 
Tested my 45acp using 230 grain plated round nose and 6.3 and 6.6 cfe pistol. I'd say bullseye powder is a tad more accurate.....but.....these are just fine for plate shoot work that's for sure. I'll start using cfe for batches of plate shoot stock to save the bullseye for actual bullseye league lol

Also.....scores some small and large pistol primers at ktp today.......500 small and 500 large at 5.99 per pack so not terrible.

And.....got a surprise delivery of 1000 each 45acp 200 grain lswc and 1000 each 357 158 grain jsp at the front door today. 8 days from orde placement to delivery. Price was juat under 10 cents per round.

Been a great day! I'm set for awhile on components that's for sure.
 
It seemed like towards the very end. The Acme’s are .356" and no I haven’t slugged my barrel. These are literally the only coated 9mm bullets I’ve had leading issues with. Blues, Eggleston, Bayou, Ibejiheads, lucky13 have all been fine.
Coating failure for sure, why is it failing?
i have not jumped to the coating game.
Maybe when I run out of bullet lube?
I get some leading in a 1911 with a generous barrel and bullets are a touch to small. It takes 100 rounds or so before it starts but gets worse quickly from there.

.356” with the coating?
I run .358” cast through my 9mm
Aprox 12-16bhn , lubed with 2500+<use this on everything.
I dont push my cast loads very hard. Maybe 700fps?
 
Cfe pistol 45 qcp load data shows 200 grain cast swc velocities over 1000 fps. Is that barrel leading velocity? I've always been told by old timers to keep lead projos under 900 in a 45acp load or risk a leaded bore.

Screenshot_20210710-151746_Chrome.jpg
 
Cfe pistol 45 qcp load data shows 200 grain cast swc velocities over 1000 fps. Is that barrel leading velocity? I've always been told by old timers to keep lead projos under 900 in a 45acp load or risk a leaded bore.

View attachment 501283
That’s why these old timers keep dying off. They’re not too smart 😂😂

Seriously though I shoot plain based lube lead through my 1894 Marlin 170 grain bullet with a max load of 2400. No lead at all. Probably 1700 FPS
 
Leading isn't really about velocity, rather about pressure and hardness. It gets related to velocity indirectly by way of pressure. Blow-by causes the worst leading, and that's caused by failure of the bullet to obturate in the bore. This will happen if the pressure is too low for the hardness of the bullet. In that case you need a softer bullet if you want to run it at that velocity. If, on the other hand, the bullet is too soft, then the bullet can't stand up to the heat and friction, and then you get leading again by various means. You might find this page interesting:


and


I'm not sure of the precision of the formula. I think of it as just a rule of thumb.
 
Leading isn't really about velocity, rather about pressure and hardness. It gets related to velocity indirectly by way of pressure. Blow-by causes the worst leading, and that's caused by failure of the bullet to obturate in the bore. This will happen if the pressure is too low for the hardness of the bullet. In that case you need a softer bullet if you want to run it at that velocity. If, on the other hand, the bullet is too soft, then the bullet can't stand up to the heat and friction, and then you get leading again by various means. You might find this page interesting:


and


I'm not sure of the precision of the formula. I think of it as just a rule of thumb.
Good info
 
Its not all about velocity , i was running 32sw, 38spl , 357mag,9, 45s at the top end of load data
Especially in 357 and 45 . No leading or just a tiny bit after 100s of rounds.
Poking holes in paper with cast i dont load any more than needed these days.
For 45 i basically run it just hot enough to get 100% cycle and group well enough to hit the black at 50 yards with NRA service rifle target = 5 1/2" or so black bull.

great info here chapter 7 all about leading
 
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I've been using this scale since 2012. Hard to imagine, but I just checked Amazon order history. It has been very reliable. It reads within less than 0.1gr of my Chargemaster all the time. Measures in Grams, Ounces, Grains and Carats. I haven't changed the battery in well over a year.

20210711_230525.jpg

One downside. The weight that came with the scale was not exactly 50.000g. I had to add a tiny piece of tape to increase the weight and make it match the (2) Chargemaster weights I have. Honestly this doesn't effect anything since the scale cannot be calibrated, so the weight is really not even needed.

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Can't post link since Amazon is partially down at moment, but here is a screenshot. MTM digital Scale. $36.
Screenshot_20210711-225913_Brave.jpg
 
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