What did you do in the reloading room recently?

So what are people thinking happened here? Partially out of battery?
As hard as it is to immagine, a 380 barrel?

It looks like it was sized down. But an out of battery is the more likely explanation that makes it look like it was sized down with the lower bulge. Just surprised it didn’t rupture the case.
 
Came across this while processing 9mm brass,

That looks like a Glock casing that went through the die a few too many times and/or was shot from a straight blowback PCC with an unsupported chamber. Could be both but looks like it was resized.
I had some case ruptures due to short chambers in the AR9mm platform. Makes for a bad day, looks like this one survived due to strongk brass.
 
Realized the other day at the range that I had last loaded .30-30 in 2012...on the old Lyman turret. Finally set up and loaded 150 of these 165g coated from missouri bullet using IMR 3031. Tested a few in my Marlin lever and quite pleasant recoil. Need to bust out the chrono but been too windy and rainy. 20240229_222909.jpg
 
Realized the other day at the range that I had last loaded .30-30 in 2012...on the old Lyman turret. Finally set up and loaded 150 of these 165g coated from missouri bullet using IMR 3031. Tested a few in my Marlin lever and quite pleasant recoil. Need to bust out the chrono but been too windy and rainy. View attachment 856249
Are you using a gas check with those bullets? I haven’t touched my 30/30 stuff in over a decade but that’s my next caliber to play with on the bench
 
No gas checks on these. I have slowly transitioned (no, not that way) to using coated bullets across the board in many of my calibers. I will ultimately chrono these and tweak the charge weight but it is merely range fodder for lever guns, both Marlin and Savage 99. No need to push these to the high end of the charts. For many years I loaded 32.0 grain of Win 748 with 170 grain jacketed soft point Remington, Winchester, Speer. Remember when those were about $14.95/100? I still have price tags to that effect. Now I've switched to IMR 3031 and like it fine. These are only 26.0 grain powder with the 165 grain bullet. I've had very good luck with Missouri bullets in several calibers. Hard enough and now that you can get coated, no more lube to deal with keeps things cleaner. Much less smoke too. I also use DG bullets and the Blue Bullets in my handgun calibers, again very nice results with less smoke and no more leading issues (provided you don't drive them to max speeds).

And in going through my stash I've found I also have a few more boxes of .30-30 that I loaded up in *ahem* 1996. Apparently when most of the 21 year olds were out drinking it up I was home on Friday night making boooolits. :rolleyes:
 
You may also notice my varied collection of brass...I'm not match shooting my lever guns and don't bother sorting headstamps. I sort other calibers such as .308 keeping Lake City together vs. commercial, and use the LC in an HK91 with a fluted chamber that absolutely dings and destroys brass. That said, I smooth it out in the resizer and beat it up all over again with the same rifle. A touch of sizing wax helps out.
 
This - My Model 19 doesn't care about some 38 +P
He went from 5.9 to 4.9...depending on the powder, that could have been a:

nuclear explosion GIF
 
No gas checks on these. I have slowly transitioned (no, not that way) to using coated bullets across the board in many of my calibers. I will ultimately chrono these and tweak the charge weight but it is merely range fodder for lever guns, both Marlin and Savage 99. No need to push these to the high end of the charts. For many years I loaded 32.0 grain of Win 748 with 170 grain jacketed soft point Remington, Winchester, Speer. Remember when those were about $14.95/100? I still have price tags to that effect. Now I've switched to IMR 3031 and like it fine. These are only 26.0 grain powder with the 165 grain bullet. I've had very good luck with Missouri bullets in several calibers. Hard enough and now that you can get coated, no more lube to deal with keeps things cleaner. Much less smoke too. I also use DG bullets and the Blue Bullets in my handgun calibers, again very nice results with less smoke and no more leading issues (provided you don't drive them to max speeds).

And in going through my stash I've found I also have a few more boxes of .30-30 that I loaded up in *ahem* 1996. Apparently when most of the 21 year olds were out drinking it up I was home on Friday night making boooolits. :rolleyes:
Thanks
years ago I bought 500 Xtreme copper plated Flat nosed bullets but haven’t gotten to loading them, and was looking at getting a mold for cast bullets as I have access to plenty of lead
I have been reading different opinions if I need a gas check or not, honestly I just need to do some real homework on reduced loads and cowboy loads. But I have a hankering to take my late uncles Winchester out!
 
Thanks
years ago I bought 500 Xtreme copper plated Flat nosed bullets but haven’t gotten to loading them, and was looking at getting a mold for cast bullets as I have access to plenty of lead
I have been reading different opinions if I need a gas check or not, honestly I just need to do some real homework on reduced loads and cowboy loads. But I have a hankering to take my late uncles Winchester out!
Unless you are pushing >1600fps gas checks are unnecessary. Some people push well above 1600 with coatings and proper fit.

You can coat your own cast bullets simply with a toaster oven.

Watch for a post from @38ExtraSpecial for the next casting seminar if you want to jump start learning
 
Unless you are pushing >1600fps gas checks are unnecessary. Some people push well above 1600 with coatings and proper fit.

You can coat your own cast bullets simply with a toaster oven.

Watch for a post from @38ExtraSpecial for the next casting seminar if you want to jump start learning
Will do thanks! I do have a toaster oven I use it for coating Jig heads
 
After realizing the were overcharged I would have changed my label to read 38+p (or so) and shot them ;-)

I considered that, but... I didn't really know where in the process the powder charge jumped, so they could have *all* been 5.9, (or more?) or maybe just some at the end..

The inconsistency would have been unnerving at best.

He went from 4.9 to 5.9...depending on the powder, that could have been a:

nuclear explosion GIF

I'm using Red Dot. "the books" say max load for .357 magnum is 7.0gr for a 125gr bullet, so probably wouldn't have blown up anything.
 
I did some experimenting with old stock lead and a toaster oven. Did the shake and back method with static charge from a cool whip container. Actually worked well enough. I had to first use acetone and soak to remove lube from the grooves, that was the hardest part of the process getting them clean. But now that I'm all out of old uncoated bullets I find it reasonable to buy coated bullets. If I was casting my own I would certainly expand and perfect the coating process. The benefits of coated vs non are substantial imho.
300 savage?
Actually..I have a 99 in 30-30 and one in .300 savage. Love that caliber.
 
I considered that, but... I didn't really know where in the process the powder charge jumped, so they could have *all* been 5.9, (or more?) or maybe just some at the end..

The inconsistency would have been unnerving at best.



I'm using Red Dot. "the books" say max load for .357 magnum is 7.0gr for a 125gr bullet, so probably wouldn't have blown up anything.
You did the wise thing for sure....just that pile of brass and bullets looked like no fun was had tearing them all down.
 
I want to make some 357 loads with a single .360 ball. I tried 2.5 grains of fast pistol powder but it's still a bit loud. Maybe a slower powder will be better. I'm thinking of Unique, BE-86 or Blue Dot but I can't find any load data on anything that slow. I'm guessing about 3 grains but I'd rather know for sure.
 
I want to make some 357 loads with a single .360 ball. I tried 2.5 grains of fast pistol powder but it's still a bit loud. Maybe a slower powder will be better. I'm thinking of Unique, BE-86 or Blue Dot but I can't find any load data on anything that slow. I'm guessing about 3 grains but I'd rather know for sure.
I would try whatever fast powder you have.
I found if you lighten the load too much that there are ignition issues because there’s no tension on that round ball and no weight to allow the powdered to burn properly.

I got around the issue by sizing a larger round ball down to about .360. This gives you a little bit of bearing surface on the sides so the neck tension will help powder burn.

One of the other things I’ve heard of people doing, but haven’t done myself is deep seating, the round ball as far as you can in the case. It takes up some of the powder space so you have a more complete burn.

It will allow you to go much lower with the powder charge.
 
Prepped and primed 600 M1 Carbine brass. Have all the 110 FMJ bullets but heading to my local gun shop for a few pounds of H110 tomorrow. (didn't make it there, but found the powder I need.)

The brass was free and the bullets were bought 20 years ago. The primers were bought 18 years ago so the cost of the whole project is minimal.

Considering the current cost of M1 Carbine ammo,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WINNING!!!!
 
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