What did you do at your reloading bench today?

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  • platekiller

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 7, 2011
    1,780
    Martinsburg, WV
    I made a ball bearing roller handle for my Lee APP Press. I took a 4" piece of closet bar, used a Forstner bit to bore 7/8" holes for the bearings, some other bit to bore the center hole through, and then used some random hardware I had laying around to get it to work. The original bolt I was going to use was a 5/16ths, but that ended up being too big to fit the hole in the press handle, so I used a 1/4" bolt I happened to have, some bushing from the skate wheels I robbed the bearings out of, and managed to get it to work - I had to use a spacer so that I could get the attaching bolts to engage the threads. It ain't purty but it works.


    Looks good. Might have to mess with mine now... thanks


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    platekiller

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 7, 2011
    1,780
    Martinsburg, WV
    4be169053a969e1a6658f1a85c98c9a3.jpg

    Not much on hand but this was fun. I need to clean the bench a little.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,598
    Glen Burnie
    4be169053a969e1a6658f1a85c98c9a3.jpg

    Not much on hand but this was fun. I need to clean the bench a little.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I like it!

    I spent some time decapping some 9mm tonight now that I have a better case feeder. It dramatically increases productivity with that press and it beats loading the single tube one by one.
     

    PowPow

    Where's the beef?
    Nov 22, 2012
    4,712
    Howard County
    Still waiting for my Dillon replacement large primer magazine. It shipped on 4/6 and has been stuck in USPS somewhere after Phoenix since 4/11. Private industry shipped me a new one pretty quickly, and our lovely USPS is showing what government does best.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    RCBS just responded to my email about my broken brass separator that I sent almost a month ago. They are sending me a complete new unit.

    That's a great warranty! The original was bought from a Cabelas catalog back around 1989 or so. I don't think it owed me anything. :party29:
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Hopefully they don't send it USPS through Phoenix!

    Funny you should say that. I ordered springs from Wolff Spring Co. in PA, just outside of Philly. So far, they have been in transit making their way to Southern VA, up through to DC and now are in the DC distribution hub. Not bad for being in shipping for three weeks. :lol:
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    RCBS just responded to my email about my broken brass separator that I sent almost a month ago. They are sending me a complete new unit.

    That's a great warranty! The original was bought from a Cabelas catalog back around 1989 or so. I don't think it owed me anything. :party29:

    DAAAYYYMMMMM
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I bummed the FW Arms decapper and swage foot dies off a buddy, so now I am about 3/4 of the way to getting my Evo working. Lack of a Lyman M-die is a bit of a killer, but I'll work around it for now.
     

    Speed3

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 19, 2011
    7,816
    MD
    I loaded some rounds last week to make sure gun still shot well. By accident I noticed after the fact, that I didn't lube the neck prior to seating the bullets(my normal process). Went back out today with lubed necks and was taken back by the ES/SD difference between the 2.

    Non-lubed ES 25, SD 6.5 over 15 rounds.
    Lubed ES 15 and SD 4.7 over 15 rounds.

    Not to mention group size was smaller. 10 fps equates to a solid 2.5" @ 1k yards for my load

    Something for you guys chasing small groups to try, imperial graphite neck lube on the inside of the neck just prior to seating bullet.ake sure to wipe the graphite off after seating, it can become messy.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    Finally gave in and put the Lee dies on my Evo so I could load some 223. On the whole, it went very well. I think I may need to tweak the swage rod a bit, but for the most part, it was a smooth process. Only hiccup in it would be resolved by the Lyman M-Die I have on order.
     

    85MikeTPI

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2014
    2,699
    Ceciltucky
    Finally gave in and put the Lee dies on my Evo so I could load some 223. On the whole, it went very well. I think I may need to tweak the swage rod a bit, but for the most part, it was a smooth process. Only hiccup in it would be resolved by the Lyman M-Die I have on order.

    :needpics:

    :D
     

    PowPow

    Where's the beef?
    Nov 22, 2012
    4,712
    Howard County
    Still waiting for my Dillon replacement large primer magazine. It shipped on 4/6 and has been stuck in USPS somewhere after Phoenix since 4/11. Private industry shipped me a new one pretty quickly, and our lovely USPS is showing what government does best.

    :shocked2: It arrived today!!! :rockon:
     

    GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    Been running a bunch of brass through the tumbler for a friend.

    Received my order from .22Reloader.com today which includes the Lee Berdan conversion kit and a combo pack of sleeves. Took about 7 weeks for it to arrive and their communications are poor.

    Saw a post on another forum after placing the order that indicates they may also be misleading Lee die owners. Some primers will not fit through the hole in the shell holder and cannot be removed in the normal manner used for Boxer primers, after using the conversion tool. This may necessitate getting creative. I am thinking about drilling the bottom of the primer cup and leaving the side wall to act as the required sleeve to accept the Boxer primer.

    Ordered a Possum Hollow primer pocket uniformer tool off ebay to take care of the anvils. Planning to try a normal primer pocket reamer to prepare them before seating primers.

    I have a moderate collection of Berdan brass cases and it would be nice if they could be put to use, especially given the current market and political conditions.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,598
    Glen Burnie
    Been running a bunch of brass through the tumbler for a friend.

    Received my order from .22Reloader.com today which includes the Lee Berdan conversion kit and a combo pack of sleeves. Took about 7 weeks for it to arrive and their communications are poor.

    Saw a post on another forum after placing the order that indicates they may also be misleading Lee die owners. Some primers will not fit through the hole in the shell holder and cannot be removed in the normal manner used for Boxer primers, after using the conversion tool. This may necessitate getting creative. I am thinking about drilling the bottom of the primer cup and leaving the side wall to act as the required sleeve to accept the Boxer primer.

    Ordered a Possum Hollow primer pocket uniformer tool off ebay to take care of the anvils. Planning to try a normal primer pocket reamer to prepare them before seating primers.

    I have a moderate collection of Berdan brass cases and it would be nice if they could be put to use, especially given the current market and political conditions.
    I'm curious what you're using for tumbling. I've decided to stick with dry tumbling, at least for the time being, and without being able to source corn cob media locally, I decided to try to find a good deal online.

    Zoro.com

    They sell it as corn cob blast media, and I got a 40 lb box for $35, $40 with shipping, which I felt was pretty solid. I ordered a really fine grit - 20/40 - and it's so fine that it won't get stuck in flash holes or primer pockets. I finally got around to testing it out, and I'm happy about the polish it puts on the cases - it's a whole different feel than what I get with the crushed walnut lizard litter.

    I don't know if I'll stick with the fine grit or not - time will tell, and with 40 lbs of it, it's going to last me a good long while. I took the 50 lb bag of coarse ground corn cob bedding that I got from the Co-op and dumped it in the woods. I tried unsuccessfully with several different methods to grind it finer, but it's so lightweight, it resists just about everything and was more of a pain than it was worth.

    On another note, I finished decapping that bucket of 9mm brass. With the 4-tube case feeder and collator for my Lee APP, it makes pretty short work of it - I blasted through the last thousand rounds or so in almost no time.

    With that said, I wound up with nearly 900 "ringers." 894 to be exact - I counted. I'd hate to have to lose nearly 1000 pieces of 9mm brass, but I have yet to hear of a viable way to remove those primer rings out of the case. I've got about 2 more things I'm going to try, but if nothing pans out, then I guess they'll just have to go in the recycle bin.
     

    GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    I'm curious what you're using for tumbling. I've decided to stick with dry tumbling, at least for the time being, and without being able to source corn cob media locally, I decided to try to find a good deal online.

    Picked up a 25 pound box of course ground walnut shells at Harbor Freight a couple of weeks ago for the dry tumbler. I found the fine walnut produced too much dust for my liking. I use a little polish in the mix and the cases come out looking almost new. Haven't used anything else since taking up the hobby.

    I check every flash hole before priming and rarely have to clear one. Easy enough to clear with a paper clip if needed.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,598
    Glen Burnie
    Picked up a 25 pound box of course ground walnut shells at Harbor Freight a couple of weeks ago for the dry tumbler. I found the fine walnut produced too much dust for my liking. I use a little polish in the mix and the cases come out looking almost new. Haven't used anything else since taking up the hobby.

    I check every flash hole before priming and rarely have to clear one. Easy enough to clear with a paper clip if needed.
    Or, leave the decapping pin in the sizing die - that will clear out bits of media as well.

    Typically I don't like to tumble after decapping, but in the case of all of this 9mm brass I've been dealing with, it's just what I'm having to work with at the moment.
     

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