What did you do at your reloading bench today?

ironpony · Feb 15, 2017

iH8DemLibz said:
Scrounged up some pewter objects today to melt down for the tin content. Or would that pew-pew-pewter since it's gun related? Pewter is 85% to 98% tin.

Spent $6.00 on the items. Recovered 12oz. of tin. Pretty good deal since tin is running about $25.00 for 16oz. shipped.

At the bottom of the pot was a bit of yellowish material. Has to be bronze. Since bronze is a combination of copper and tin. And pewter contains just a percentage or two of copper.

Checkit!

Not reloading related but I have seen some putting powdered tin in bottom paint which will keep almost anything from attaching to your hull. Illegal in the US/parts of the carribean only, in other countries it is pre-mixed from the manufacturer. This info is 5 years old.

My reloading bench is being moved to my office which is currently stripped for new bench/desk, paint,, and an extra window for more light.
Loaded about 1200 rnds 147 gr. 9mm in the last week .... which may be gone after this warm stretch of weather on the way

In search of reduced load for 7mm remmag, picked up a new Vortex scope from Gun Connection, yesterday. Good guys, great MDS price. yeah that is a partial shout out.

Uncle Duke · Feb 15, 2017

ToolAA said:
We'll that explains it. I didn't even know that there was a small uniflow drum until now. I ended up weighing almost every charge.

Thanks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It may well explain some of it. The powder type and volume can explain some of it too, but that's another story.

Check your cylinder to be sure of just exactly what you might have. Not sure how old your unit is. Years ago, the Uniflow I believe was supplied with both large and small cylinders. Nowadays if I'm not mistaken, they're ordered as either large or small cylinder, with either a 100 grain or 50 grain capacity respectively. Now what I encountered a long time ago with mine is that the 100 grain large drum can be dialed down to meter small pistol charges. Especially with small charges of flake powders, but with small charges of powder generally, it just doesn't do it nearly as accurately as the small cylinder will.

iH8DemLibz · Feb 15, 2017

Melnic said:
What do you lube with?
I put some yellow beeswax on the screw.

HOw do I need to clean the lead off the sprue plate and top of mold? Do I need to heat them up and dip into the pot of lead?

I lubricate the screw/plate/pivot with a tiny amount of CLP. Though any gun oil would work. Then wipe off any excess.

Never had build-up as severe as you're showing. But the gentlest of gentle scraping will remove the build-up. Work slowly. Don't gouge the cavities. I soak the remaining lead residue with Shooter's Choice brand Lead Remover. Then brush the aluminum blocks with a brass bristle brush. Stainless brush on the steel sprue plate.

I hold the blocks closed in a padded vise. That way you're always making contact with the tops of the blocks when scraping. No chance of going sideways and nicking the cavities.

For pre-heating, I heat my blocks up until the shiny steel ferules on the wood handles are too hot to touch. Uncomfortably hot. And with lead at 720-740 degrees, it drops perfect bullets. Blacken the cavities with bee's wax soot as well.

I'm also going to try Loctite 222 Purple on the screws. That screw backing out/loosening BS is BS. The excess heat may prove too much for the Loctite though.

Sticky · Feb 15, 2017

Melnic said:
What do you lube with?
I put some yellow beeswax on the screw.

HOw do I need to clean the lead off the sprue plate and top of mold? Do I need to heat them up and dip into the pot of lead?

I use sprue plate lube that came with a couple of the molds I have from Mihec. It works great, comes in a little dropper bottle. I use it to lube the hinge on the mold, the sprue plate pivot point and I put a drop or two on a q tip and carefully apply a thin film to the top of the mold blocks and the entire sprue plate, top and bottom. I usually only have to do this once when I start to cast after I have the mold preheated and it works great. I have no idea what it is, but it works.. lol (I'll go find a bottle and post a pic of it here soon). I don't get any lead accumulation on the top of the mold blocks and I have steel, aluminum and brass molds. Any little bit that accumulates on top of the sprue plate I can just flick off easily, it doesn't adhere.

I use a separate hot plate to heat my molds. I have found they run better when they are hot and this way I can run two molds... when one get's a little too hot, I grab the other off the hot plate and let the first one cool a bit, then rotate back again. I often cast two different boolits at a time to take advantage of that method.

Uncle Duke said:
It may well explain some of it. The powder type and volume can explain some of it too, but that's another story.

Check your cylinder to be sure of just exactly what you might have. Not sure how old your unit is. Years ago, the Uniflow I believe was supplied with both large and small cylinders. Nowadays if I'm not mistaken, they're ordered as either large or small cylinder, with either a 100 grain or 50 grain capacity respectively. Now what I encountered a long time ago with mine is that the 100 grain large drum can be dialed down to meter small pistol charges. Especially with small charges of flake powders, but with small charges of powder generally, it just doesn't do it nearly as accurately as the small cylinder will.

Mine is old... very old and I have both large and small. Large works for pistol, but the smaller one is much better for those small charges for sure.. :thumbsup:

Seagrave1963 · Feb 16, 2017

added 110 rounds of .223 to the small batch of .308 to take to the range at some point. Used 55gr Hornady FMJBT and Sierra 60gr HP with some various powders to just get the feel of reloading.
.

iH8DemLibz · Feb 16, 2017

Please tell us you labeled the containers too....

.....and not just the lids.

I envision mass confusion if your lids get blown around.

Seagrave1963 · Feb 16, 2017

iH8DemLibz said:
Please tell us you labeled the containers too....

.....and not just the lids.

I envision mass confusion if your lids get blown around.

good idea - was planning on only opening 1 at at time at the range and using the spreadsheet on the loads to record results. It fulfills my OCD needs :innocent0

iH8DemLibz · Feb 16, 2017

150 grain hard cast from a Lee mold.

Thinking the hard cast may work better in a Glenfield/Marlin micro-groove barrel.

Pstango · Feb 16, 2017

Just cleaned it. Nothing else. :/

iH8DemLibz · Feb 18, 2017

A little follow-up to the lead smearing discussion. .500 diameter, hollow base, muzzleloader bullets. With liquid alox.

Top Row: Lead too warm. You can see where it tore lead out of the nose. This is what builds up under the sprue plate. Causing a gap between the mold and the plate.

Middle Row: Lead possibly a little too cool. Happens when you are striking the sprue plate level with the mold or at a slight upward angle. The sprue cutter is jumping over the sprue.

Bottom Row: Bullet casting awesomeness. Nice flat noses. And no smear. You get this when you smack the sprue plate at a downward angle to the mold. Cuts just like scissors.

And a pitcher too.

Sticky · Feb 18, 2017

^^ WELL DONE^^

Great examples of some common casting issues! :thumbsup:

BradMacc82 · Feb 18, 2017

Just spending some time converting some .308 FGMM and LC brass over to .260 duty.

Resized and deprimed, on to turning the necks to .015", and then tumble and trim.

offthepaper · Feb 19, 2017

Well, this morning while using my Lee Auto Hand Primer on some 30-30 brass I snapped the handle on the Auto Primer. No big deal, or so I thought. I have the old round style. It seems parts are no longer avaiable for this style of hand prime tool. Lee came out in 2010 with the new square redesigned model. A quick search of reviews is not good for this product as most seem to prefer the old style loader.
Has anyone tried the RCBS hand prime tool? How does it compare to the Lee? Can I use the same Lee shell holders in the RCBS Hand Prime tool?

tdt91 · Feb 19, 2017

The RCBS works great and the Lee shell holders will work, however I was told the other day by a member that they work better with RCBS shell holders. He and I both had some issues with not seating the primer enough and he found the design of the RCBS shell holder made it seat deeper.

DaemonAssassin · Feb 19, 2017

Ran off 100 rounds of 223 on the 550, early this morning.

tdt91 · Feb 19, 2017

Rolled 100 rounds of .38 special 148 grn wad cutters

iH8DemLibz · Feb 19, 2017

Processed more free wheel weights.

This latest haul netted forty two pounds of usable lead.

Gotta love tire shop generosity.

PowPow · Feb 19, 2017

I started planning my first 7.62x54R load with things I have on-hand: Norma brass, Sierra .311 180gr SPT, and either IMR 4350 or Varget. Lyman 50th load data says Federal 210 primers, which I do not have, but I do have Winchester WLR and Remington 9 1/2. I have more WLR than 9 1/2, so I'm thinking to try them first. I'll be loading for Mosins first and perhaps one day for a VEPR in that cartridge. I might try for my PSL if I can get enough brass. Anyone have favorite loads for these?

iH8DemLibz · Feb 19, 2017

PowPow said:
I started planning my first 7.62x54R load with things I have on-hand: Norma brass, Sierra .311 180gr SPT, and either IMR 4350 or Varget. Lyman 50th load data says Federal 210 primers, which I do not have, but I do have Winchester WLR and Remington 9 1/2. I have more WLR than 9 1/2, so I'm thinking to try them first. I'll be loading for Mosins first and perhaps one day for a VEPR in that cartridge. I might try for my PSL if I can get enough brass. Anyone have favorite loads for these?

WLRs are the bomb.

Use them.

toolness1 · Feb 20, 2017

PowPow said:
I started planning my first 7.62x54R load with things I have on-hand: Norma brass, Sierra .311 180gr SPT, and either IMR 4350 or Varget. Lyman 50th load data says Federal 210 primers, which I do not have, but I do have Winchester WLR and Remington 9 1/2. I have more WLR than 9 1/2, so I'm thinking to try them first. I'll be loading for Mosins first and perhaps one day for a VEPR in that cartridge. I might try for my PSL if I can get enough brass. Anyone have favorite loads for these?

Pick up some of the .312 Hornady 174gr HPBT Match bullets and give them a try if you aren't satisfied with the Sierra .311's. I've done extensive testing with both and have yet to find a Mosin that doesn't like the Hornady bullets better. I use 46gr 4064, WLR primers. I mostly shoot cast, powder coated bullets though.

Mostly. :lol2:

What did you do at your reloading bench today?

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