What did you do in the reloading room recently?

SJan said:
I fired 150 rounds over my chronograph today. Here is a comparison of the 3 powders I tested, each loaded to achieve the same Power Factor (124gr at 1400fps = 173 PF)
Shooting the 3 loads mixed in the same magazine, I notice no difference in felt recoil, the dot tracks the same, the only negative is the 3N38 is louder

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Nice. Looks the muzzle flip was about the same throughout the whole mag. Of course it's already minimal as it is with the comp.

I just shot about 250 rounds today to practice for Area 7. It's going to be a fun match - can't wait.
 
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Mountain said:
I have always wanted something in .45-70. Now I really want one so that I can load something like this and have a ball- no pun intended.

Someone periodically making this mold?

Too much crap going on and some lost weekends for work travel. Really enjoyed the seminar last year & maybe will return next year assuming it's run again.

***

Bought some 155 TMK's on sale and with a discount coupon. Have not shot them yet but hope to have them loaded up this week for a test at 200 yards.
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I hope to see you next year.
I think this mould was a one off that someone had done on their own. When you get a 45/70 I'll send you some ball-ets to try. Though a full weight 405 over 12 grains of unique or similar powder is super fun too. About 1000 FPS and hits like a freight train.
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
I hope to see you next year.
I think this mould was a one off that someone had done on their own. When you get a 45/70 I'll send you some ball-ets to try. Though a full weight 405 over 12 grains of unique or similar powder is super fun too. About 1000 FPS and hits like a freight train.
Click to expand...

Nice!

I do have a .458 SOCOM. Cycling the action is a complication that a .45-70 won't have. Always wanted a JM Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun or even the more traditional model.

Reminds me that I have a question about cast in ported barrels. I'll search and if nada, post that separately...
 
Back to standard bullets.... Frontier 155g Plated in 7.5x55mm over 22.0 grains of IMR 4198.
This time sitting at 50 yards (9 rounds, saved one for the camera):

ytmbcdZl.jpg



Arghhhh...you got me!

ydcnV1ul.jpg
 
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Mountain said:
Nice!

I do have a .458 SOCOM. Cycling the action is a complication that a .45-70 won't have. Always wanted a JM Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun or even the more traditional model.

Reminds me that I have a question about cast in ported barrels. I'll search and if nada, post that separately...
Click to expand...

You will not regret a nice 45/70
They can clog comps but harder alloy and coating helps with the issue from what I remember
 
Today I prepped 300 cases for my M1. My god, I hate case prep. Looking forward to loading them up and shooting them though.
 
andrew1220 said:
Cool. The only rifle calibers I reload currently are 30-06 and 30 carbine but I haven't tried neck sizing the cases for my Garand yet. I have about 1,500 rounds of HXP and PPU garand ammo so I haven't reloaded too much 30-06.
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There is no real reason to neck size in the M1.
When you get to loading up some 06 from your M1 use your case headspace gauge (I,think you said you,had one) check out your fired cases first before you just neck size. Do not be shocked when the case headspace measures different on many cases.
 
Cast a bunch of 9mm 130 grain round nose bevel base smooth sided.
Some of the 45/70 collar buttons too.

Paper Patched some more 535 grainers for the 45/70
 
Kind of tired. Over the last few days, I loaded up

1. 100 light .357 Magnums with plated bullets for the GP-100.
2. 50 powder-puff .38 specials with plated bullets for my Dad's old 1970's Charter Arms Undercover
3. 100 .357 Magnums with various jacketed bullets. I'm working up loads with HS-6 and H110 to see what shoots best in one of my rifles.
4. 100 .44 Magnums, same story as #3.
5. 100 .45 Colts with 250 grain XTPs and 255 grain plated bullets driven by low-end Ruger-only loads for the Blackhawk (expecting circa-1000fps, maybe a little more).

I got an RCBS Chargemaster combo on Saturday that really made loading the .357 and .44 magnum easy with different charges.
 
meh said:
Kind of tired. Over the last few days, I loaded up

1. 100 light .357 Magnums with plated bullets for the GP-100.
2. 50 powder-puff .38 specials with plated bullets for my Dad's old 1970's Charter Arms Undercover
3. 100 .357 Magnums with various jacketed bullets. I'm working up loads with HS-6 and H110 to see what shoots best in one of my rifles.
4. 100 .44 Magnums, same story as #3.
5. 100 .45 Colts with 250 grain XTPs and 255 grain plated bullets driven by low-end Ruger-only loads for the Blackhawk (expecting circa-1000fps, maybe a little more).

I got an RCBS Chargemaster combo on Saturday that really made loading the .357 and .44 magnum easy with different charges.
Click to expand...

I've been coveting the CMC for a while now. Hated working up loads and fiddling with the powder drop. I've resorted to adjusting to throw starting load and just trickling the rest of the way up to max with a dipper. Someday I'll have to find an extra $275 lying around and splurge.
 
headednorth said:
I've been coveting the CMC for a while now. Hated working up loads and fiddling with the powder drop. I've resorted to adjusting to throw starting load and just trickling the rest of the way up to max with a dipper. Someday I'll have to find an extra $275 lying around and splurge.
Click to expand...

I think I'll probably use it a lot for my rifle loads just for precision and because I somehow managed to use it without sprinkling powder on the bench (I'm a messy cook, generally, though I'm good about cleaning up after). I got one of the plastic scale pans with the integrated funnel.

I paid $319, though. :( Most of my reloading equipment is Hornady, but researching this one, it was clear from all the reviews that the RCBS was a cut above--too many reviews of the Hornady complaining about endless over-charges despite adjusting the trickle rate. One never knows with on-line reviews, and FortuneCookie45LC seems to like his, but I was dissuaded. Buy once cry once. With the RCBS I probably had just 8 or so over-charges in 200 rounds, and all but one or two of those was immediately after changing the charge. That first one is sometimes dispensed too fast, but after that it settles down.
 
meh said:
I think I'll probably use it a lot for my rifle loads just for precision and because I somehow managed to use it without sprinkling powder on the bench (I'm a messy cook, generally, though I'm good about cleaning up after). I got one of the plastic scale pans with the integrated funnel.

I paid $319, though. :( Most of my reloading equipment is Hornady, but researching this one, it was clear from all the reviews that the RCBS was a cut above--too many reviews of the Hornady complaining about endless over-charges despite adjusting the trickle rate. One never knows with on-line reviews, and FortuneCookie45LC seems to like his, but I was dissuaded. Buy once cry once. With the RCBS I probably had just 8 or so over-charges in 200 rounds, and all but one or two of those was immediately after changing the charge. That first one is sometimes dispensed too fast, but after that it settles down.
Click to expand...

I've been watching the price for a while and $319 is around what it's been going for. It's dipped into the high200's a few times but I've never pulled the trigger. My research came up with the rcbs being the better machine as well.

eta- https://camelcamelcamel.com/RCBS-98923-Combo-110V-AC-Chargemaster/product/B00139UC6O?context=tracker
 
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meh said:
Kind of tired. Over the last few days, I loaded up

1. 100 light .357 Magnums with plated bullets for the GP-100.
2. 50 powder-puff .38 specials with plated bullets for my Dad's old 1970's Charter Arms Undercover
3. 100 .357 Magnums with various jacketed bullets. I'm working up loads with HS-6 and H110 to see what shoots best in one of my rifles.
4. 100 .44 Magnums, same story as #3.
5. 100 .45 Colts with 250 grain XTPs and 255 grain plated bullets driven by low-end Ruger-only loads for the Blackhawk (expecting circa-1000fps, maybe a little more).

I got an RCBS Chargemaster combo on Saturday that really made loading the .357 and .44 magnum easy with different charges.
Click to expand...

Nice! I'm sure the Zeros will shoot well.

What are you using for powder for the light 357 plated loads?
 
andrew1220 said:
Nice! I'm with you on loving to reload as much as shooting lol. I wish I could quit my job and just reload, I have so much fun making ammo and trying new loads to test at the range. But I got to balance reloading with personal life as the fiancé gets pissed when I'm down in the basement while she's upstairs watching TV or making dinner [laugh]
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fiance' = still time my friend.... i do kid , a little. Seriously though if your shooting hobby or any hobby is a source for a sour spot with her it will only get worse. She probably thinks once your married you wont go shooting any more. Maybe this is true becaouse of more time to wife/fsmily/home ....my wife asked the other day "when is this shit going to end"= shooting reloading, matches, building ect ect. I simply said "when i die" i seen the gears turning in her head[smile]
 
i simply negate this by spending MORE time at the range...and in the basement. shooting/reloading/cleaning/building...it never ends for guys like us, so why pretend?

lucky for me, my gf is in med school...and as long as she has coffee and the dogs and house are taken care of, she doesn't really bother me while i'm doing 'gun stuff' because she's so friggen busy learning 'doctor stuff.' she also knows i couldn't give a damn how much money she'll be making, because i've been just as happy living in a camper with my own shooting range in the back woods as I am living closer to work in the city with my range close by. plus, i'm a hustler...lol...always making moves here or there to pay for my hobby. i just helped her sell her house for a $60,000 profit by busting my ass all spring and summer...i don't think she'll be bothering me about how much time i spend at the range any time soon!


mac1911 said:
fiance' = still time my friend.... i do kid , a little. Seriously though if your shooting hobby or any hobby is a source for a sour spot with her it will only get worse. She probably thinks once your married you wont go shooting any more. Maybe this is true becaouse of more time to wife/fsmily/home ....my wife asked the other day "when is this shit going to end"= shooting reloading, matches, building ect ect. I simply said "when i die" i seen the gears turning in her head[smile]
Click to expand...
 
andrew1220 said:
What are you using for powder for the light 357 plated loads?
Click to expand...

Hodgdon Universal with the 125 grain HPs, CFE Pistol with the 158 grain HPs, and Titegroup with the 158 grain RNFPs. Those are all X-treme bullets. These powders don't seem all that different to me, except that cleaning out the powder drop after Titegroup is a little more work because it likes to hang on to flat surfaces.

I shot all of the light .357 magnums last night. They all went bang, and they all felt pretty much the same in terms of recoil and report. But they were wimpier than I hoped, like standard .38 specials at most, obviously less recoil and report than factory 125 grain Remington .38+P JHPs. I used WSP primers, not magnum. Consequently, I wished I had produced several loads for each powder to dial in the charge. I was over-confident that a load of any of these safely-reduced powders between 38 special +P and the starting .357 magnum load would be nice, a little less pressure from the extra case capacity with a little more powder hopefully to overcompensate without getting into true magnum territory. A couple of weeks ago I had loaded up some really nice light 44 magnums that way. They were just what I wanted, more stout than 44 specials and more comfortable to shoot for an extended period than a regular 44 magnum load.
 
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mac1911 said:
fiance' = still time my friend.... i do kid , a little. Seriously though if your shooting hobby or any hobby is a source for a sour spot with her it will only get worse. She probably thinks once your married you wont go shooting any more. Maybe this is true becaouse of more time to wife/fsmily/home ....my wife asked the other day "when is this shit going to end"= shooting reloading, matches, building ect ect. I simply said "when i die" i seen the gears turning in her head[smile]
Click to expand...

That was an old post [laugh] I'm married now...She doesn't mind my hobbies. I just reload when she's doing schoolwork, cleaning the house, babysitting her god daughters, or just out doing errands. Need to make sure to balance time with the wife and time reloading/shooting. Whenever I have matches which is pretty much every weekend, she'll just make plans with her girlfriends until I get home. It's been working fine so far.

And she occasionally comes to the range with me - probably 3 times per year lol. She has a couple pistols but I think I shoot them more than she does...
 
meh said:
Hodgdon Universal with the 125 grain HPs, CFE Pistol with the 158 grain HPs, and Titegroup with the 158 grain RNFPs. Those are all X-treme bullets. These powders don't seem all that different to me, except that cleaning out the powder drop after Titegroup is a little more work because it likes to hang on to flat surfaces.

I shot all of the light .357 magnums last night. They all went bang, and they all felt pretty much the same in terms of recoil and report. But they were wimpier than I hoped, like standard .38 specials at most, obviously less recoil and report than factory 125 grain Remington .38+P JHPs. I used WSP primers, not magnum. Consequently, I wished I had produced several loads for each powder to dial in the charge. I was over-confident that a load of any of these safely-reduced powders between 38 special +P and the starting .357 magnum load would be nice, a little less pressure from the extra case capacity with a little more powder hopefully to overcompensate without getting into true magnum territory. A couple of weeks ago I had loaded up some really nice light 44 magnums that way. They were just what I wanted, more stout than 44 specials and more comfortable to shoot for an extended period than a regular 44 magnum load.
Click to expand...

Ohh never tried Universal before. I just use Bullseye for light 357 and 44 mag loads. ~4 gr for 357 mag and ~5 gr for 44 mag. It is nice having a load that doesn't beat up your hand. Very pleasant.
 
So I worked up a load for the 1903 Springfield with 168 Nosler CC's & Varget from 44-47gr in .5gr increments. Accuracy was pretty darn good across the board for 115yds, although the hotter the loads got the higher it would shoot. I had trouble keeping them on paper toward the end and it was getting darker and harder to see that target but the chronograph read all 5 shots. Surprisingly, the 47gr charge had the lowest standard deviation at a difference of 7fps for a five shot group.

Given that the accuracy was similar(ish) but the rounds were hitting different parts of the target, how would you guys choose the load you were going to play around with?

47gr and call it a day...compensating for the difference in height adjustment by eye?

Or stick with a lower charge that might be easier to keep on paper at 115 yards but had a standard deviation approaching 25fps for a 5 shot group?

keeping in mind, this will be a load for the CMP Springfield matches at OCSA next year if the stars align with my drill schedule. Targets are set at 200 yards for the matches so maybe I should just figure on the higher point of impact being to my advantage?

Mac, I know you have some kinda trajectory wizardry going on...what say ye?
 
Dakar652 said:
So I worked up a load for the 1903 Springfield with 168 Nosler CC's & Varget from 44-47gr in .5gr increments. Accuracy was pretty darn good across the board for 115yds, although the hotter the loads got the higher it would shoot. I had trouble keeping them on paper toward the end and it was getting darker and harder to see that target but the chronograph read all 5 shots. Surprisingly, the 47gr charge had the lowest standard deviation at a difference of 7fps for a five shot group.

Given that the accuracy was similar(ish) but the rounds were hitting different parts of the target, how would you guys choose the load you were going to play around with?

47gr and call it a day...compensating for the difference in height adjustment by eye?

Or stick with a lower charge that might be easier to keep on paper at 115 yards but had a standard deviation approaching 25fps for a 5 shot group?

keeping in mind, this will be a load for the CMP Springfield matches at OCSA next year if the stars align with my drill schedule. Targets are set at 200 yards for the matches so maybe I should just figure on the higher point of impact being to my advantage?

Mac, I know you have some kinda trajectory wizardry going on...what say ye?
Click to expand...
im no wizard but a SD of say less than 50fps is going to be fine.
How did you test your ammo...
did you shoot 5 shots of each load onto its own target?
I will usually shoot round robin style on test loads . This will spread out the variations in barrel/action/wood heat issues.
you been around enough to know I shoot poozzeee loads even with jacketed ammo.
I like to apply the OCW method to my load testing and find that sweet spot that delivers good accuracy and less deviation from point of aim in the largest spread of powder charge. Its a little harder to do accurately with iron sights but should show its face well enough to find that nice node of accuracy and powder charge.

Most of my loads for 100/200 yards are on the lowr side of the middle charges of published data..
For my 1903A4 i have a 200 yard load thats running about 2250fps with a 155 grain bullet. its good for about MOA when i can hold MOA ..
My 1903a3 has not seen a jacketed round in 4 years for 200 yard target work. 165 grain flat nose cast bullet at about 1500-1600 FPS
 
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i was getting all set up to load some test loads for my 308 M1 garand project and then DOH i dont have the dies yet! Re barrel happened a bit quicker than expected and have not the time to order dies yet.
 

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