What did you do today in the world of reloading?

[Polkwright]

How funny! I was thinking today that I needed some kind of gentle vibration on the hopper to settle it.... I didn't even think about a little aquarium pump.
GREAT idea.... I'll get one today and give it a try...

I had even thought about having some kind of timer that I could turn it on, and it would turn off after a given amount of time.. If you leave your pump on continuously, do you notice heavier charges if it sits unused for longer than "normal" cycle times? In other words, can you settle the powder too much? Personally, I wouldn't think so, but I've been mistaken before.....

it was a loooong time ago, though....

I use it on a Dillon. At my normal pace it's very consistent but if I pause for a moment it does tend to throw .1 or .2 heavier. But that's on a Dillon. Depends on how you're going to use it. Mine has a switch in the cord and I try to turn it off as soon as possible when I stop. But the error thrown is less than the normal error with 700X. If I go real slow they all throw heavier and are consistent. But it only settles to a point. It doesn't "pack" down to a large error. I've weighed hundreds of charges figuring this out.

Get the smallest pump. It's plenty.

I'm trying to figure out a use for the air output from the pump!

I've have also seen other things used. One guy removed a vibrator from a cellphone. I guess that was wireless? Electric razor, but those are bit too harsh. Some clown always throws up a pic of his wife's "personal massager" duct-taped to a Uniflow. I found the aquarium pump just right.

 

[Moonpie]

Annealed some 30-30 brass

 

[CodyK]

Working on some .223 loads, and I’m running into a lot of military brass, so I ordered a Mighty Armory decapping die and swage set. Been using the prep station to work on the primer pockets, but needed something better. Plus some of those crimped primers are stubborn, and I broke a pin on my Lee decapping die the other day. Luckily I always keep several on hand.


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[TexMex247]

I just weighed out some bulk 62gr bullets I recently acquired. At 9 cpb I think I did alright. 3k to play around with. Just wish I knew what brand they are but they look like Armscor to me. Not exactly precision projectiles but they'll still make for some fun at the range. I'm shopping for Sierra SMKs for the 308 and unfortunately I don't think I'll do any better than 35 cents each. I'd prefer 168s as I rarely push them out that far but I've only found 175s at that price point.

Probably should take what I can get.

 

[country_boy]

Turning 100 pcs of 357 m brass into 256 win mag brass.

 

[RevolverGuy]

Nothing today, but tonight will be setting this up:

This will be my second so I can leave one each setup for large and small primers.

Not the greatest progressive, but I know its nuances and I’m invested in the system.

Besides, Milo approves

 

[TexMex247]

I just picked up 20k pistol primers from a local class 6 FFL who shut down production recently. These should keep my going a while.

 

[robertc1024]

Got some Lapua brass drying. After figuring out the load, jump length, etc. I’m ready to load a pile of 6.5 Gaymoors.


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[Dermako]

Working on some .223 loads, and I’m running into a lot of military brass, so I ordered a Mighty Armory decapping die and swage set. Been using the prep station to work on the primer pockets, but needed something better. Plus some of those crimped primers are stubborn, and I broke a pin on my Lee decapping die the other day. Luckily I always keep several on hand.


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You will love the Mighty Armory decapping die.
On the Swedge Set be careful, setup is everything.
They produce some very good products IMHO.

I use the Dillon swedger more often than not. Just seems I can crank them out faster with it than using the press.

 

[hornetguy]

I did a lot of sorting of .45 ACP brass (probably not necessary ) Then sized/de-primed a hundred or so, then primed 200....
I need to finish the rest of my brass, 200-300? and get it ready to load. Then I'll likely do a marathon session and try to load up most of them.

 

[BBL]

I managed to tumble and sort some .44, .45 and .38 brass from our last trip to the range (yup, it was fun) but need to find some time to de-prime it and put it away because it is just sitting on the reloading bench. Maybe when it gets a little warmer.

 

[deemus]

Loaded some 140g SSTs in 6.5CM. Using my ladder test load of 39.1g of H4350 and some new Alpha Brass. My ladder test yielded a .448 group. Hoping these are at least that tight.

 

[TexMex247]

What col do you run on those deemus? What's your jump to lands? Just asking because I plan on loading for the 6.5 soon. I did just get a fresh bag of starline large primer brass for it and I have some H4350 secured.

 

[deemus]

OAL is 2.66. I don’t know how to do the lands measurements.

I like the Starline brass and have loaded some with that. But purchased the Alpha brass to see if I can get better than .448 groups.

I have given up on the Hornady brass due to the crimp, been accumulating that in its own container. But most has already had the pocket reamed.

 

[robertc1024]

What col do you run on those deemus? What's your jump to lands? Just asking because I plan on loading for the 6.5 soon. I did just get a fresh bag of starline large primer brass for it and I have some H4350 secured.

For what it's worth - I was using some small primer Lapua brass with CCI 400's & H4350 for my loads out of a 26" barrel Savage. I ran loads in 0.4 grain steps and got my best group at 39.7 grains using 140g Hornady ELD Match bullets. The 39.7 was at the top end of what I tried, but all my groups were < .78 MOA. That one was ~0.4. I had about a 0.020 jump. Full sized brass with the shoulder bumped back ~0.002. Velocity averaged 1642 fps.

Edit - I don't measure OAL anymore, I measure to the ogive.

 

[robertc1024]

OAL is 2.66. I don’t know how to do the lands measurements.

I like the Starline brass and have loaded some with that. But purchased the Alpha brass to see if I can get better than .448 groups.

I have given up on the Hornady brass due to the crimp, been accumulating that in its own container. But most has already had the pocket reamed.

Besides, Hornady brass is so soft, if you load it hard, it blows up the primer pockets. Never tried Alpha. Heard Peterson is good stuff.

 

[TexMex247]

Thanks for the info guys. I also use a comparator when I get a new bullet to get a general col at the jump I want. I've thought about sp 308 and 6.5 brass but I have 4k federal 215m, 2k federal 215s, 1k federal 210m and 2k fed210s. I also just had 5k federal sr match arrive yesterday so I've got plenty of options. I still haven't pulled the trigger on any sr brass yet.

I'm hoping the 215ms are a winning combo with TAC in the 308. I've been prepping 308 brass daily lately. After deer season I plan on comparing some 308 loads cut from 2.0" up to 2.015" to see if it makes any difference. Also going to run 4 or 5 primer options for SD and Fps. Naturally I'll settle on the most consistent and accurate combo.

 

[Txhillbilly]

Besides, Hornady brass is so soft, if you load it hard, it blows up the primer pockets. Never tried Alpha. Heard Peterson is good stuff.

Alpha and Peterson brass is good, but both are a lot thicker than Lapua or any other brand. You can't come close to putting the same powder charge in them.
I've tried both brands, and gave up on trying to get any where near the velocities that I get with Lapua or Starline brass.

My go to load in my 22 CM is 43.2 gr of H4350. In Lapua or Starline brass the powder charge is near the bottom of the neck, the same charge in Alpha or Peterson will be at the top of the neck, and very over pressured if you were to shoot it.
Loading a close to max load in either of those cases will give me a velocity several hundred FPS less than I can achieve with Lapua or Starline brass.

 

[Txhillbilly]

Ordered 300 pcs of once fired 308 brass to use in the 308 upper that I bought a while back. I won't use my match brass for my bolt action in it.
I got 200 pcs of it prepped yesterday- De-primed, Full length sized, Primer pocket reamed, Flash hole reamed, Trimmed & chamfered. I'll finish the rest today.

 

[wakosama]

dug out my 30-30 lyman 310 set, 100 old brass and 100 150g psp blems. Rl-7 or 4198?