What did you do in the reloading room recently?

IT would be worthwhile to rechamfer them if there's any chance of tearing the jackets. Nothing is worse that having to call the pit for your target and finding that the bullet just didn't find it's way home. Now, if it's just practice blasting ammo...
This is just plinking ammo for 120 yards. I pulled a few bullets and some only had very light scratches on the jacket. Not down to the lead by any means.
 
Send it?....
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Kidding aside, I guess I need to check this brass more carefully. Possible it got damaged during shipping based on the condition of the box....
 
I did anneal...it was much more visible before I tumbled the brass after priming. I shut the lights off in the basement real romantic like and used a blow torch and a cordless drill with a socket on it. The 20 cases I did in the spring seem to have held up just fine to the fire forming and I only had one cracked case after a few reloadings.
I have not had a case/neck split since i backed off my FL die. More or less running it like a neck size die.
 
I did anneal...it was much more visible before I tumbled the brass after priming. I shut the lights off in the basement real romantic like and used a blow torch and a cordless drill with a socket on it. The 20 cases I did in the spring seem to have held up just fine to the fire forming and I only had one cracked case after a few reloadings.
That's my method too. Without the romance! LOL
 
Was in the middle of casting and lost one of the pins in the mold handles - Lee could raise the price a dollar and use screws?
Only had 6 pounds cast so I fixed the mold with a #8-32 set screw - just turned the pot back on to do another 5-6 lbs (or whatever I get before my feet get cold)

And 25 minutes and maybe 10 pours later the other pin decided to go on vacation - I guess I won't be casting tonight...


Edit - fixed the set screw size. I may yank the pins from a couple of other molds and replace them with set screws given how much better the mold feels now.
 

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loaded 500 45 ACP jacketed 230gr RN with HP38 and with S&B Large pistol primers. Found out that some brass is tight with these primers. CBC, Herters, a couple others. Really messed with the rythm of loading. Going to try CCI LPP for the next few hundred and see if it was just the primers. If it is the primers I am going to have to burn a few thousand and then not buy them again.

Also my first time using the hornady bullet feeder die. Still working on it as I now have to try using the PTX on the powder drop rather than the hornady expander die.
 
loaded 500 45 ACP jacketed 230gr RN with HP38 and with S&B Large pistol primers. Found out that some brass is tight with these primers. CBC, Herters, a couple others. Really messed with the rythm of loading. Going to try CCI LPP for the next few hundred and see if it was just the primers. If it is the primers I am going to have to burn a few thousand and then not buy them again.

Also my first time using the hornady bullet feeder die. Still working on it as I now have to try using the PTX on the powder drop rather than the hornady expander die.
CBC (magtech) and Herters has tight pockets. I’ve had bulging issues with the CBC brass in 9mm so I scrap it.
 
Was in the middle of casting and lost one of the pins in the mold handles - Lee could raise the price a dollar and use screws?
Only had 6 pounds cast so I fixed the mold with a #6-32 set screw - just turned the pot back on to do another 5-6 lbs (or whatever I get before my feet get cold)

And 25 minutes and maybe 10 pours later the other pin decided to go on vacation - I guess I won't be casting tonight...
ahhh that sucks. Nice looking bullets though. What alloy? COWW?
I cast about 7 pounds of NOE 453423 and another 7 pounds of 000 buck for use as dual round ball loads in 38 special.
 
ahhh that sucks. Nice looking bullets though. What alloy? COWW?
I cast about 7 pounds of NOE 453423 and another 7 pounds of 000 buck for use as dual round ball loads in 38 special.

Alloy is just range lead with 2% tin
Also notice that I put a #6 screw in my first post - that's wrong, it is a #8-32 x 5/8 set screw. Drill through with a #29 bit, debur the exit, tap about 90% through and then run the setscrew into the partial threads to lock it.
The fix takes less time than it takes for the mold to cool enough to handle - and the screw holds the mold halves aligned much better
 
Coated 15 lbs of bullets - I think I have the process down. Running a thermocouple in the middle of the bullets and monitoring when the temp hits 380° - five minutes after that and they are done. If I preheat the tray on top of the toaster oven it takes 12 minutes for 3 lbs or 15 minutes without preheat.
IMG_20190116_174059182.jpg Cooling one tray and drying another - found later that preheating on top of the oven is much better (after a minute on the fan to flash off the acetone)
IMG_20190116_175135820.jpg
IMG_20190116_174221842.jpg HiTek starts curing at 380°F
IMG_20190116_191131517.jpg Last tray - looks great


These are the trays - the 6x9 fits perfect in the small toaster oven - Three trays keeps things moving and each one easily fits 3 lbs of bullets (about 170 124g 9mm)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007B8RM8W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Coated 15 lbs of bullets - I think I have the process down. Running a thermocouple in the middle of the bullets and monitoring when the temp hits 380° - five minutes after that and they are done. If I preheat the tray on top of the toaster oven it takes 12 minutes for 3 lbs or 15 minutes without preheat.
View attachment 264613 Cooling one tray and drying another - found later that preheating on top of the oven is much better (after a minute on the fan to flash off the acetone)
View attachment 264615
View attachment 264614 HiTek starts curing at 380°F
View attachment 264616 Last tray - looks great


These are the trays - the 6x9 fits perfect in the small toaster oven - Three trays keeps things moving and each one easily fits 3 lbs of bullets (about 170 124g 9mm)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007B8RM8W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Looking good man!!


Mark how did you make out on testing the coating again?
 
What temp is your oven?
I honestly don't know. The dial is around 380° and the peak temp reading on the thermocouple is around 425°. Times were determined by three minutes from reaching 380° and then pulling a round near the door (coldest area) to acetone wipe test every minute until pass. I came up with this after reading through the insanely large thread on HiTek over at castbullets - once I had the cure parameters I could create a drying profile that would ensure good results (used to coat film at Polaroid in a prior life - never thought that knowledge would end up being useful)

The temperature in your oven is loosely tied to the time to cure - as long as it is hot enough for the bullets to reach curing temperature it will work given enough time. The timing needs to be based on when the bullets reach curing temperature.
 
Looking good man!!


Mark how did you make out on testing the coating again?
The picture doesn't capture the color - there is a hint of red in the gold from mixing two colors. I didn't think I would ever care what color my bullets were but now that they are starting to look good I think I may turn into a bullet snob!
 
I believe my problems are with the oven temp. Last year I didn't have a temp probe in the oven so just set the oven to 400, I'm guessing the temps were actually much higher than 400. Now that I have temp control and set the temp to 400 it is too low compared to last years process since it's actually 400 now. I'm going to crank the temp up to 425 and see how things go.
 
The picture doesn't capture the color - there is a hint of red in the gold from mixing two colors. I didn't think I would ever care what color my bullets were but now that they are starting to look good I think I may turn into a bullet snob!
Nothing wrong with that. Hi-tek gives us some cool options to mix and match.
I just wish he could do a silver.
 
The picture doesn't capture the color - there is a hint of red in the gold from mixing two colors. I didn't think I would ever care what color my bullets were but now that they are starting to look good I think I may turn into a bullet snob!

I use color to differentiate my various weight and size bullets so it's very helpful having multiple colors.
 
Today I drilled out a bullet and put a temp probe inside the bullet. It took 12 minutes to get to 380F so I settled on baking for 15 minutes with the oven on max (450?). They are passing the wipe test and smash test. I coated and sized 40# and cast another 75# while waiting for the batches to bake. It's going to take a while to coat all these bullets. I think I need a bigger oven.

IMG_20190118_202401456.jpg
 
Ohh so I should try the 357’s in 9mm. Good to know.
Can’t wait to load em up. I’m really stocked on pistol bullets now. Love it.
Let me know how they shoot.

Today I drilled out a bullet and put a temp probe inside the bullet. It took 12 minutes to get to 380F so I settled on baking for 15 minutes with the oven on max (450?). They are passing the wipe test and smash test. I coated and sized 40# and cast another 75# while waiting for the batches to bake. It's going to take a while to coat all these bullets. I think I need a bigger oven.

View attachment 264965
Awesome!!! Back in action.
 
Yeah, I've been working on them for a while. Finally got everything working pretty smooth. I got lots of help from Hatch on castboolits but managed to put everything together and program it all myself. Even printed the collator myself. Building everything was a lot of fun, I enjoy these types of projects.
 
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