What did you do at your reloading bench today?
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jimbobborg
Oddball caliber fan
Decapped, resized, and cleaned about 300 10mm brass last night. I was going to do more but the match I was prepping for got cancelled.
Muleskinner
Ultimate Member
Finished tumbling 6000 9mm started tumbling 2000 7.62X51 set up a dedicated rifle caliber press and inventoried my primer stash. I am sorely lacking in small pistol primers.
That's a pricey set of dies as I recall.
They definitely are. I had wanted a set for years but didn’t want to spend the $300 for a full set. I went to local shop last week and found a used but never used three die set and the form die for $69 out the door. I actually just formed brass and loaded up an entire box this evening.
Ughhhh
This was from Sunday
Lee pot went free flow on me. Grabbed the muffin tin as fast as I could but still made a mess trying to dump back in with ladle till I got to it
Was so loving this while it was working.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This was from Sunday
Lee pot went free flow on me. Grabbed the muffin tin as fast as I could but still made a mess trying to dump back in with ladle till I got to it
Was so loving this while it was working.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
buellsfurn
Ultimate Member
bummer that looks like more then 3 %
Aaarrgh.. I hate when that happens! I have never had one that bad, thankfully..
I always keep a screwdriver right there to jog the metering screw a little when it starts to drip. A few drips is no big deal, but when it makes a puddle and starts to splash, then it gets sketchy!
I did make a small mess ladling out some smelted lead a couple weeks ago turning some wheel weights into ingots for the pot though, luckily it was outside in the yard.
I always keep a screwdriver right there to jog the metering screw a little when it starts to drip. A few drips is no big deal, but when it makes a puddle and starts to splash, then it gets sketchy!
I did make a small mess ladling out some smelted lead a couple weeks ago turning some wheel weights into ingots for the pot though, luckily it was outside in the yard.
Lee pots are known for this and I have a theory as to why. It seems to happen only when you leave the pot full when you shut it down. If you leave it 3/4 full, it won't happen. It has to do with the location (or amount of coils) of the heating coil. If you leave your pot full, I believe that the lower pot melts first and, as the metal expands, it pushes up and the solid lead at the top lifts the valve stem up.
I always leave my pot full when I shut down so that it doesn't corrode. To counter the pin getting pulled, I put a 1 pound ingot on top of the valve stem where the lift arm connects to it. Since doing this, I have not had any spills.
Just my .02.
I always leave my pot full when I shut down so that it doesn't corrode. To counter the pin getting pulled, I put a 1 pound ingot on top of the valve stem where the lift arm connects to it. Since doing this, I have not had any spills.
Just my .02.
Muleskinner
Ultimate Member
If you have a small cut off saw and a set of 41 mag dies you don't need the RCBS die set
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw0Yyph9echyf7MK3YbXfds0&cshid=1553642310774
Thanks for the link. I doubt I will be making any shot loads anytime soon but I may have to pick up a .41 mag die set just in case. 
So I would say mine was 1/2 yo 3/4 full and it did not leak. But it leaked shortly after adding more lead and i would guess the fresh lead cooled it down enough to lock the rod while the thing free flowed. I normally was loading small muffin disks but started on the corn bread sticks which are larger.
I just got a new thermometer and was trying to keep it at 700 which I’m betting was part of the problem. Maybe I need to run hotter?
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I run my lead up to 800* and as the mold heats up, I drop it back to 750*. Pure lead melts at 621* and alloys go up from there. I don't think you can keep your mold hot enough using 700*.
So, I ran it between 750-800 and things were much better.
Anytime I was around 800+ I"d say it was shrinking. After pulling the dipper away, I could see the lead sucking into the hole.
I weighed all the minie balls and the lightest ones had divots in them. I separated the bullets into 4 groups
<485, 485-487, 487-489, 490+
1% range of variation I thought was not too bad.
Most of them were 487-488. The ones that were down at <485 had divots at the top. Those I'm pretty sure were when it was 800 or hotter.
I have 2 civil war era muskets and one Repro Enfield and it needs 576 diameter, one needs 578 and the other 580.
I'll keep and size them as they fit best but I think I'll still use up the light ones and size them. Once I have good shaped bullets with the other ones, I'll try them just to see how they throw the groups off. never too old to learn something. I'd like to know how critical the weight is
Anytime I was around 800+ I"d say it was shrinking. After pulling the dipper away, I could see the lead sucking into the hole.
I weighed all the minie balls and the lightest ones had divots in them. I separated the bullets into 4 groups
<485, 485-487, 487-489, 490+
1% range of variation I thought was not too bad.
Most of them were 487-488. The ones that were down at <485 had divots at the top. Those I'm pretty sure were when it was 800 or hotter.
I have 2 civil war era muskets and one Repro Enfield and it needs 576 diameter, one needs 578 and the other 580.
I'll keep and size them as they fit best but I think I'll still use up the light ones and size them. Once I have good shaped bullets with the other ones, I'll try them just to see how they throw the groups off. never too old to learn something. I'd like to know how critical the weight is
Minies are the hardest projectile to make due to how much lead it takes. When I used to shoot Civil War rifles, I used to have a cheap hot plate that I kept my molds hot when making Minies. The reproduction rifles, with the exception of Parker Hales, had barrel diameters that were all over the place. By experimenting, I found that using a thin skirt mold made bullets that would give better consistency than those with thick skirts. You may also try using 3F instead of 2f in rifled muskets. It leaves less debris and has a faster power spike that will set the skirt better. At 60 grains with a .58 cal hole, you don't have to worry about high pressure.
jimbobborg
Oddball caliber fan
120 rounds of 9mm subsonic last night, another 100 or so tonight, a lot more this weekend. I'm going through about 500 rounds a week now. I need to start loading 40 again.
I made 75 good .530 round balls yesterday. Pretty good with a two cavity mold.
jmike3543
Active Member
- Sep 10, 2018
- 207
I prepped 48 30-06 cases. Gonna finish loading them tomorrow
hodgepodge
Senior Member (Gold)
100 rounds of .45LC.
