What did you do in the reloading room today?

Loaded 100 223 with CFE-223 and Hornady 68 Match Point bullets. Hoping they will help going out to 500 yards. Then 50 - 300 BO with 150 grn Hornady SP bullets over 15.9 grn of H110.
 
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Loaded 100 223 with CFE-223 and Hornady 168 Match Point bullets. Hoping they will help going out to 500 yards. Then 50 - 300 BO with 150 grn Hornady SP bullets over 15.9 grn of H110.
You loaded 168 match points into 223 cases? I would hope they just make it out of the barrel!
 
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I bought a pound of Sport Pistol powder a while back, and finally decided to load up some test loads in 45acp. I used RMR 200 plated, and Xtreme 230 plated bullets. Took them to the Wake County range in Apex (my first time shooting there). I had good results with all of the loads. I will to load up some other calibers to see how it performs.

Did the usual when I got back, cleaned guns, sorted and decapped brass.
 
I dug thru a huge shopping bag in a box full of brass from a friend. Everything from 25 Colt to 45/70 and everything in between. 80% of it is .30 caliber (30/40 Krag, 30-30, 30-06) so I am happy but damn sorting rifle cases that mostly all look the same and are within a inch of each other. I'll be sorting this brass for a while. Showed my youngest son (15 YO) a .45/70 verses a .444 and he's like Yeah I want a Marlin Guide Gun :)

that kid makes me proud every time I turn around
 
Loaded 100 9 MM with 4.1 gns of CFE Pistol under a Hornady 150 XLD bullet. Est Velocity 950 ft/sec.
First time using CFE Pistol
 
Cleaning rifles, then planning to load some 260, 6.5x47, and probably some other stuff that I'm behind on. The boys have gone through my stash of ammo in a couple weekends that I'd been hoarding for about a year and a half. Good training though.

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Reloaded the brass that I shot today (40 - 6.5 CM, 40 - 308, 20 - 204 Ruger and 9 MM).
PLEASE remind me not to pick up any more brass. There was so much brass in the grass in front of the benches from the mini shoot they had last week . I must of picked up 100 to 125 - 6.5 CM brass, 50 - 300 BO brass and maybe 25 - 308 brass all once fired. Being OCD, I had to tumble every one of them, resize them and then trimmed the 6.5 and 308. All range pickup rifle brass I use a small base die the first time and it was getting harder to resize the 6.5 so I cleaned the die with brake cleaner. Then it was next to impossible to resize the brass after cleaning the die. Had to FL size them then run them through the SB dies.

I think that I got all I could get out of this 308 brass.
Split Brass 308.jpg
 
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All range pickup rifle brass I use a small base die the first time and it was getting harder to resize the 6.5 so I cleaned the die with brake cleaner. Then it was next to impossible to resize the brass after cleaning the die. Had to FL size them then run them through the SB dies.

Do you use conventional case lube or a spray, like Hornady One-Shot?
 
Do you use conventional case lube or a spray, like Hornady One-Shot?

I have tried just about everything and ended up using Hornady Unique lub. Very similar to Imperial Wax Lube at half the price. A small tub last for over a year.
 
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I have tried just about everything and ended up using Hornady Unique lub. Very similar to Imperial Was Lube at half the price. A small tub last for over a year.

I also clean my dies with brake cleaner. Before I use them, I’ll shoot a couple bursts of one-shot case lube into the die...seems to work well.

You may be able to take a q-tip or other swab and put a thin coat of Unique inside the die after you’ve cleaned it. IIRC, Unique CL will not contaminate powder/primers.
 
Getting ready to turn money into noise tomorrow.

6.5x47 on the left and 260 rem on the right (the minion has confiscated it)

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Playing around with some 300 BO bullets from Missouri Bullet Company. They are the 215 gn flat point bullets that I am having a hard time getting them to feel.

I ordered those same bullets just yesterday for some 300BLK subsonic load testing. All the heavy/slow bullets seem like black magic is required to get them to work.
 
Today was die cleaning day. I keep mine pretty clean, but stumbled across a deal on 9 toolheads for the 650 all with dillon dies an caliber conversions. Most have had very little use, but took them down and cleaned them up. The powder funnels were, as usual, the worst, I swear that they spritz them with salt water as they leave the factory. Chucked them in the lathe and a min with brass wool/oil followed by a rag with flitz and they look good, flitz on a q-tip in a drill (turning opposite the lathe) took care of the inside.

I also got some old bullets that looked like heck. The lead ones went into the melt pile, the jacketed ones got tumbled without pins in hot water, dawn and lemi shine for 30 min and look brand new.

Tomorrow I’ll tackle the powder measures.
 
It was a nasty day today so played around in the garage. Loaded 40 - 6.5 with some Shooter World Long Rifle (38.0 gns) under some Hornady ELD 140s. Will be glad when this powder is gone. Not saying it is bad but I am sticking with 4350 in the 6.5 if available. Then loaded 40 - 308s with 41.7 gns of Varget under 165 grn maybe A-Max.

For some reason it seams that I am going through a lot of 6.5 and 30 caliber bullets lately. Is anybody shooting 2nd that pop-up on the internet every now and then? Not use if it is worth the 4 or 5 cent savings.
 
@Bullseye Baldee said he wanted to go shooting today, so I quickly worked up some test loads so I could compare Sport Pistol powder in large and small primer 45acp brass. When I got back from the range, I cleaned the gun and then worked up some more test loads using different small primers, both regular and magnum, since I was questioning the results I got earlier.
 
last night I cleaned some pistol brass and decided to load up the last of my sized and lubed .38 SWCs. Ended up loading about 75 rounds before I realized I didn't have enought cast pills lol. Time to get back on that lead melting saddle.

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50/50 range scrap/wheelweight lead into a Lyman 4 pot SWC mold (358477) which usually casts 154gr out of my alloy. I love these out of .38 and mild .357 mags. Very accurate out of my Smith model 64 out to 50+ yards!

Powder is IMR Target 3.x grains for around 850fps so it's not slow by any means.

Bullet looks like this with a single square grease groove.

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I tracked one of these down on CastBoolits after reading this article:
http://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/4/64/thirty-five-years-with-the-lyman-358477
 
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Well,

Time for the unveiling....

Ordered an XL750 and have been working on getting it setup and also learning “Dillonese”. Have made the 9mm to 45 conversion and pumped out maybe 1700 rounds. Was temporarily setup in unhealthy and unheated attic. Used the NRMA plan for the reloading bench. Had a cabinetmaker & friend make the base, but modified it so that it looks like a cabinet or a base unit for bookcase units. Did beef up the front and put in an additional leg...so it has 5 now.

He delivered it in pieces and we assembled and set up and DW did the staining and varnishing with me, or course, doing the lowly prep, sanding, steelwooling, etc. It is now pretty much complete. Not lagged to wall, yet. Have a lot of lead on shelves to weight it down and do final carpet compression.

Added in a small shelf for eye level powder scale and mics and calipers and such. In the interim, I also decided that I wanted a powder measure for each powder....am running 4 different powders. Found them really cheap and ordered 2 more. I had opted for a bunch of upgraded kits or packages from Dillon and had two. Added a bunch of Armanov upgrades such as the bolt down Toolheads, Powder calibration knob assembly, quick disconnect clamp, primer tube and finally, the Prarie baffles.

I then reverted back to my days as Director of Environmental and developed a two color, background and label, system for each powder using colored duct tape and colored Brother labels. Labeled all containers and the individual powder hoppers (cylinders).

I now have an Excel file with the Armanov set points for each powder measure. I can interpolate and be within 0.0005 Gr. if I need a new load. With the VV N-series and Bullseye it takes very little adjustment. CFE Pistol is a little wider spread. I also made a stand for the out of use powder measures using a short piece of 1/2” iron pipe. Will make a stand for the primer tubes so they are vertical after being filled.

That’s it.....here are the pictures
 

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Went through another set of test loads in 45acp, using 200gn plated bullets, and Sport Pistol powder. This is the third set of test rounds I have done, because I was having a hard time believing the results.

I tried a mixture of large and small primers of various types, and this powder is the most sensitive to type of primer than any powder I have tried. In all of the tests I have done comparing primers, the large primers were alway the highest velocity, then small magnum primers, then small regular primers. For most powders, there is less than 40fps difference. I’m seeing over 200fps with this powder, but the interesting thing is that Winchester small magnum primers are faster than anything else. Also, CCI 550 small magnum primers are slower than CCI 500 regular small primers.

In addition to the unexpected differences in velocity, I am also seeing large standard deviations (> 45 fps) and extreme spreads, so I think there is something else going on, like case position sensitivity. I think I will load up some 38spl with this powder and run my powder-forward test to see if that is the case. It will also be interesting to see how this powder performs in higher pressure calibers like 9mm or 40.
 
@Toprudder what is the case volume vs. the powder load?

I ask as velocities can vary tremendously with a small amount of powder in cases that were tilted forward or backwards before firing. It's how the powder sits in the case: burns back to front (normal) or along the top (high pressure).
 
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@Toprudder what is the case volume vs. the powder load?

I ask as velocities can vary tremendously with a small amount of powder in cases that were tilted forward or backwards before firing. It's how the powder sits in the case: burns back to front (normal) or along the top (high pressure).
That is why a lot of folks like Unique. I have read a lot of experiments where the gun was leveled each time before the next shot. Then that experiment was run again from tilting or holding barrel down each time....then again holding barrel vertical. IIRC, the SD and velocities were all over the map for loads that were less than maybe 30 - 50% of case volume.

Unique did not have much variation
 
@Toprudder what is the case volume vs. the powder load?.
It does not fill the case that well, and what you mention is exactly what I meant when I said “case position sensitivity”.

I have read a lot of experiments where the gun was leveled each time before the next shot. Then that experiment was run again from tilting or holding barrel down each time....then again holding barrel vertical. IIRC, the SD and velocities were all over the map for loads that were less than maybe 30 - 50% of case volume.
I do that experiment routinely with my revolver loads, for any powder that does not fill the case. It is called the “powder forward test” by many. I’ve seen as much as 300fps difference between powder forward and powder rear with some powders. Titegroup is good in that respect, but BE86 was one of the best in 357 and 44 magnum loads that I tried. Most true magnum powders (2400, 4227, H110) will fill the cases so the test is not necessary for them.

As far as powders I tried in 45acp that were sensitive to primer size, PB (now discontinued) and Trailboss were two of the worst, at almost 200fps difference.
 
Loaded up some 9x19s with 3N38 and SRPs and 147 HSTs. I wasn't getting the expected velocities with SPPs, so talked with VV, did some research, and figured this was at least worth trying out. Started with the min load and worked up to max with a 1.152" COAL (book is 1.142" with XTPs). If this works out as I expected, then I'll be looking to trade several thousand CCI 500s for CCI 400s in BST soon. :D
 
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That is why a lot of folks like Unique. I have read a lot of experiments where the gun was leveled each time before the next shot. Then that experiment was run again from tilting or holding barrel down each time....then again holding barrel vertical. IIRC, the SD and velocities were all over the map for loads that were less than maybe 30 - 50% of case volume.

Unique did not have much variation

too bad it's a nasty stinky dirty filthy shotgun powder. Unique is great for newbs.
 
Loaded around 200 9 mm with old school powder.
3.9 gns of Green Dot under 124 grn Missouri RN bullets. Interesting how much space the Green Dot takes up in the case.
 
Have the new DILLON XL750 running great on 45. Have loaded over 1500. Some comments...

Loaded 750 Virgin Starline cases today. Originally sold by @Butter to a member who decided not to go the reloading route. I had done some “experiments” with Starlines before. So I lubed 500 and ran them. I used the cheaper Frankford Armory alcohol/lanolin mix. Ran about 150 in a batch with a few cotton balls. Tumbled them manually for a few minutes in a plastic nut jar (with lid). Not bad.

Decide to run a second lot of Starlines. Got in a hurry and did not lube them. NOPE. This ain’t gonna work. The primers seat harder and you get erratic depths. The flaring on the Dillon is part of the powder measure. Mike Dillon’s concept was to use the nitride residue in the case mouth as a lubricant. Dillon tech support says to only vibratory deburr (dry with media...not wet and no SS pins). If you remove the nitride powder residue, the flaring tool will be more difficult to extract. This breaks the rhythm of the press and you get more erratic powder drops. OK....how bad can it be? FUGLY comes to mind. I stopped about 25-50 into the run. Emptied the case bowl feeder. This time, in addition to putting a few squirts on the cotton ball, I hit the contents with about 6 sprays. Should have got some more balls. 8 or so would have been right for 150-200.

WOW. That made all the difference. Handle effort was greatly reduced. Primer seating was also easier. This speeded up the cycle. Was running about 8 shells per minute. Probably doing 10 - 11. Very consistent rhythm.

I also did some speed experiments. Found that I COULD do 12-13 per minute. However that tends to impact primer seating and occasionally crimping. You have to really concentrate to get to the stops on each end...otherwise you will have some protruding primers.

Also found that the seating plug was reversible. Started loading all SWC for my new Wadcutter toy. Now experimenting with Brazos 180’s HiTek Coates. They weigh, in bulk, about 184...which is close to the Magnus 185’s. Several well known (Distinguished level BE) recommend both. Experimenting with BE and VV N-310, again based on their loads.

Finally got my “EZ2See” labeling system formalized. Marked each powder (using 4 different ones). Used 4 different colors of duct tape. Have 4 powder measures. Each one is banded. Also have Brother labels (contrasting) for easy ID. Then labeled each powder container and also color coded the tops. That should prevent mixing up. Then made up a new label template in Excel. Used colored paper so that I have labeled segregated by colors,

Other than that, it was a quiet day.....
 
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I used some new 44mag brass one time and had one heck of a time running them through the expander, I finally had to lube them all to get it to work. Lee powder-thru expander.
 
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