What did you do in the reloading room recently?

Somehow had an "A-MERC" case get mixed in when I was loading at some point. Paid for it today at the IDPA classifier. My 1911 wouldn't go into battery because of the bulged case....Had to reshoot.

On another note, I continued loading more 357 magnum. Probably tumble some 9mm brass as well.
 
andrew1220 said:
Somehow had an "A-MERC" case get mixed in when I was loading at some point. Paid for it today at the IDPA classifier. My 1911 wouldn't go into battery because of the bulged case....Had to reshoot.

On another note, I continued loading more 357 magnum. Probably tumble some 9mm brass as well.
Click to expand...

Consider yourself lucky. Last time an A-MERC case slipped past me, the resulting case head separation spontaneously disassembled my FNP-45. Although fortunately it wasn't during a match.
 
peterthefish said:
Consider yourself lucky. Last time an A-MERC case slipped past me, the resulting case head separation spontaneously disassembled my FNP-45. Although fortunately it wasn't during a match.
Click to expand...

Damn! I am very glad that didn't happen to my DW 1911....

So the gun was okay?
 
Yes, you needs cull those AMERC right from the get go.

Separately, I tore down a bunch of .300 Weatherby Magnum and used the bullets in .30-06 and .308. I have over 100 pieces of virgin and once-fired Weatherby and R-P brass, if anyone loads/shoots this caliber. Unfortunately, some of the cases are deformed and have a squatty shoulder from compression during bullet seating or sizing (I think they can be resized and/or fire-formed back to normal). LMK.

ENx9ulWl.jpg
 
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andrew1220 said:
Damn! I am very glad that didn't happen to my DW 1911....

So the gun was okay?
Click to expand...

Gun was fine. It blew the mag out of the magwell and the mag disassembled. It blew out the mag release and blew the safety off. Found all the pieces and put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Wore gloves while shooting for a year or two after that.
 
I have been continuing to try and clear out my reloading room.
I have found a few things...
Buffer retainer and spring... actually was stuck to a piece of insulation.
A RCBS #18 shell holder which I have no idea where it came from...
3 cans of paint...which are now 15 years old.
Oh and some lead...
 
Started a new reloading room project - I've set out to build my own automatic powder dispenser/trickler.

My proposed architecture is as follows; electronic balance communicating with a Raspberry Pi - I will enter my target charge with buttons & LCD screen or an apache web server interface. I will have two methods of dispensing powder; an auger-based system for dispensing 90% or so of the charge, driven by a stepper motor, in combination with a motor-driven powder trickler to finish it off.

First thing I did was source a balance that measures in grains, has resolution equal to or better than .1 grains, and has a data output line that I could tap into. There are a lot of high priced scientific balances that meet the criteria, but I didn't want to blow the budget on the first piece of equipment. I ended up with this - http://myweigh.com/product/ibalance-401/




MYWEIGH-iBALANCE-401_UL.jpg




Next, I started playing with the Pi. I am using Python for this project - I have done SOME programming in C, but it has been 8 or 9 years. Needless to say learning python is a slow process. I have succeeded in receiving data from the scale, interpreting it, and lighting up LEDs which represent the two motors driving the dispensers.

20fbd66fff6fb88949c7e688e4dcfe1e.jpg


(Note the custom gender changer and null modem - its a work of art)

I have begun designing the auger side of the dispenser/powder hopper in CAD. My original concept used a drill bit inside a tube as the auger. I have recurring nightmares about sparks/heating and quickly dropped the drill bit idea. My current plan is to 3d print the auger and housing to meet my needs. I figure I can also fine tune the auger/tube/hopper this way.

A 3d printer is in my future... driving the total cost for this project to at least double (and maybe triple) the cost of an off-the-shelf solution. The printer will get continued use well beyond the scope of this project so I am not sure I can consider it part of the cost. I am simply 'charging it to the job.'

My immediate challenge is choosing a 3D printer. After that? On to the auger/trickler and drive system for the stepper motors.




This guy has the right idea, but I don't want to sit in front of it and dump powder in manually. My goal is to 'walk away,' so to speak, and continue with other reloading operations while my dispenser handles the rest.

 
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Found a really good deal on bulk 168gn Noslers shipped to MA. Shipping appeared to be flat rate of $13 for whatever qty. I got an extra 10% for military status, but the price was already 20% off what other online retailers were charging. PM me if you'd like the deets...I'm sure some of you already know about the site though.
 
Mxracer239y said:
Started a new reloading room project - I've set out to build my own automatic powder dispenser/trickler.

My proposed architecture is as follows; electronic balance communicating with a Raspberry Pi - I will enter my target charge with buttons & LCD screen or an apache web server interface. I will have two methods of dispensing powder; an auger-based system for dispensing 90% or so of the charge, driven by a stepper motor, in combination with a motor-driven powder trickler to finish it off.

First thing I did was source a balance that measures in grains, has resolution equal to or better than .1 grains, and has a data output line that I could tap into. There are a lot of high priced scientific balances that meet the criteria, but I didn't want to blow the budget on the first piece of equipment. I ended up with this - http://myweigh.com/product/ibalance-401/









Next, I started playing with the Pi. I am using Python for this project - I have done SOME programming in C, but it has been 8 or 9 years. Needless to say learning python is a slow process. I have succeeded in receiving data from the scale, interpreting it, and lighting up LEDs which represent the two motors driving the dispensers.



(Note the custom gender changer and null modem - its a work of art)

I have begun designing the auger side of the dispenser/powder hopper in CAD. My original concept used a drill bit inside a tube as the auger. I have recurring nightmares about sparks/heating and quickly dropped the drill bit idea. My current plan is to 3d print the auger and housing to meet my needs. I figure I can also fine tune the auger/tube/hopper this way.

A 3d printer is in my future... driving the total cost for this project to at least double (and maybe triple) the cost of an off-the-shelf solution. The printer will get continued use well beyond the scope of this project so I am not sure I can consider it part of the cost. I am simply 'charging it to the job.'

My immediate challenge is choosing a 3D printer. After that? On to the auger/trickler and drive system for the stepper motors.




This guy has the right idea, but I don't want to sit in front of it and dump powder in manually. My goal is to 'walk away,' so to speak, and continue with other reloading operations while my dispenser handles the rest.

Click to expand...


Awesome stuff, please keep us posted!
 
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Dakar652 said:
Found a really good deal on bulk 168gn Noslers shipped to MA. Shipping appeared to be flat rate of $13 for whatever qty. I got an extra 10% for military status, but the price was already 20% off what other online retailers were charging. PM me if you'd like the deets...I'm sure some of you already know about the site though.
Click to expand...

I know exactly who you're talking about. Best vendor for Nosler bullets.
 
andrew1220 said:
I know exactly who you're talking about. Best vendor for Nosler bullets.
Click to expand...

There are often good promo codes for additional percentage off and are good even on sale items sometimes.
I stocked up big last year and I ended up with a average of 13 cents per bullet on my order.
 
mac1911 said:
There are often good promo codes for additional percentage off and are good even on sale items sometimes.
I stocked up big last year and I ended up with a average of 13 cents per bullet on my order.
Click to expand...

Nice - I hadn't looked for promo codes for them before. Just got some 6.5 and 223 from them.
 
i recommend safety glasses so when they child services come thats one less charge[rolleyes]

nice to see he has a interest. my daughter was interested for about 2.5 years.....nothing now.

good job and keep him active
 
mac1911 said:
i recommend safety glasses so when they child services come thats one less charge[rolleyes]

nice to see he has a interest. my daughter was interested for about 2.5 years.....nothing now.

good job and keep him active
Click to expand...


This is GEORGIA, not that commie state you live in. Child Services gets called if I DON'T teach him how to reload. [smile]
 
allen-1 said:
This is GEORGIA, not that commie state you live in. Child Services gets called if I DON'T teach him how to reload. [smile]
Click to expand...

pretty sure the use of (his) eyes is just as important no matter which state he lives in, but i'm not one to judge how people raise their kids/grandkids, so have at it. i'm still amazed at his hairdo though!!! and for the record, I really wish someone taught me 'gun stuff' when i was a kid. i wasn't even allowed to look at my dads guns...had to join the Marine Corps to learn how to shoot!
 
Dakar652 said:
pretty sure the use of (his) eyes is just as important no matter which state he lives in, but i'm not one to judge how people raise their kids/grandkids, so have at it. i'm still amazed at his hairdo though!!! and for the record, I really wish someone taught me 'gun stuff' when i was a kid. i wasn't even allowed to look at my dads guns...had to join the Marine Corps to learn how to shoot!
Click to expand...


You know, you're right. I wear glasses all the time, so I don't give it a second thought. And because I shoot and ride my optometrist took that into account when specifying the lens material. So I don't think about "safety glasses" or "eye protection" because I'm wearing eye protection almost all the time that I'm awake. But he isn't - and he should be if he's in my shop/garage.

As for his hair - um - that comes from the other side of the family - that's my story.


Thanks.
 
Tried out my new RCBS case lube pad last night. It was useful. 168 rounds of .223 lubed/sized/decapped in 40 minutes, which is blazing for me. Lubed 10 cases at a time.

Used the rest of my time to trim/chamfer/deburr about 70 .308 cases which was not fun. For some reason, the .308s seem to need trimming at a much higher percentage than .223. Maybe because they are hotter? About 80% of the .308s have exceeded max length, whereas only around 25% of the .223s needed trimming.

Since it was all range pickup brass, it's hard for me to say.
 
I haven't even used my 'lube pad' at all yet. I've just been putting a finger swipe of Hornady Unique case lube (similar to imperial case wax, but a LOT cheaper) on my finger every 2 or 3 rounds and it seems to do the trick. After about 250 rounds (of HXP) the lube accumulates in the die so bad I have to take it apart and clean it. Do you lube inside of the neck as well? I've been noticing that I seem to be using a lot more force on the return stroke than the guys on YouTube, and I'm wondering if I should be using something different inside the mouth of the cases?

daekken said:
Tried out my new RCBS case lube pad last night. It was useful. 168 rounds of .223 lubed/sized/decapped in 40 minutes, which is blazing for me. Lubed 10 cases at a time.

Used the rest of my time to trim/chamfer/deburr about 70 .308 cases which was not fun. For some reason, the .308s seem to need trimming at a much higher percentage than .223. Maybe because they are hotter? About 80% of the .308s have exceeded max length, whereas only around 25% of the .223s needed trimming.

Since it was all range pickup brass, it's hard for me to say.
Click to expand...
 
Dakar652 said:
I don't even know what any of that means! [rofl]
Click to expand...

I used to sign off aircraft forms for repairs deliberately avoiding anything resembling a sentence: R^2 INU SYS OPCH C/W IAW 1A-10A-2-94JG-1.

[laugh2]

So, 260 Ackley Improved is a modified 260 Remington wildcat, and I loaded up some different charge weights to test for Optimal Charge Weight, or the happy spot for that cartridge, powder and bullet combination.

Isn't it just more efficient the first way??? [thinking] My jobs after the Air Guard have also been overloaded with jargon, acronym and shorthand so I don't always make a lot of sense.
 
daekken said:
Tried out my new RCBS case lube pad last night. It was useful. 168 rounds of .223 lubed/sized/decapped in 40 minutes, which is blazing for me. Lubed 10 cases at a time.

Used the rest of my time to trim/chamfer/deburr about 70 .308 cases which was not fun. For some reason, the .308s seem to need trimming at a much higher percentage than .223. Maybe because they are hotter? About 80% of the .308s have exceeded max length, whereas only around 25% of the .223s needed trimming.

Since it was all range pickup brass, it's hard for me to say.
Click to expand...



Youcan save yourself a ton of time by using Dillon case lube.
Toss your brass into a zip lock bag. Spray a couple times with the lube and shake.
You can lube a gallon bag of cases in about 30 seconds.
 

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