What did you do at your reloading bench today?

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  • Harrys

    Short Round
    Jul 12, 2014
    3,362
    SOMD
    Well since I am well stocked and things are scarcer, I put my laptop on my loading bench so at least I have something to do on it.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    About 250 or so 9mm on the Dillon 650, 100 300AAC 200gr subs on the Lee turret. Not a bad day for me. Ended the day by setting up the turret to load up 300AAC 125gr supers.
     

    steves1911

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 2, 2011
    3,026
    On a hill in Wv
    Resized all the brass from the last couple months of shooting. (87)300 win mag, (54) 257 weatherby, (265) 308 win, (462) 223 rem. The 308 and 223 will get run through a Giraud tri way while I'm watching TV later.
     

    JBoshoven

    Member
    May 30, 2021
    28
    Severn, MD
    Finally found a Lee Pro-4000 set up for 45 ACP at a Lee distributor in stock. The also had the shell plate and expander/powder die in stock. So I ordered them. They came yesterday. I got the press mounted to my bench and set up last night. Verified the powder charge again this evening and then loaded 200 rounds of 45 ACP after dinner. It sure is a lot faster than my single stage press. I have to say I like it a lot. I also found the powder measure throws the powder I am using on the money (at least the 20 or so I weighed). I think going forward I will weigh a lot fewer.

    Maybe tomorrow I will have some time to set it up for 9 mm and give those a try.

    Jack
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    Finally found a Lee Pro-4000 set up for 45 ACP at a Lee distributor in stock. The also had the shell plate and expander/powder die in stock. So I ordered them. They came yesterday. I got the press mounted to my bench and set up last night. Verified the powder charge again this evening and then loaded 200 rounds of 45 ACP after dinner. It sure is a lot faster than my single stage press. I have to say I like it a lot. I also found the powder measure throws the powder I am using on the money (at least the 20 or so I weighed). I think going forward I will weigh a lot fewer.

    Maybe tomorrow I will have some time to set it up for 9 mm and give those a try.

    Jack

    It's a great press. Word of advice, prime separately or hand prime the cases. I had a hard time trying to keep track of priming when trying to do things all at once. I also suggest buying those plastic replacement parts sets for all the plastic bits. I wore out my feed ramp and index gear on myns after countless use. Extra sets should be free on their website, just pay shipping.

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
     

    JBoshoven

    Member
    May 30, 2021
    28
    Severn, MD
    Thanks for the advice. A friend of mine has three of the pros1000s. He has loaded thousands of rounds on his. I will have to look at the lee website and see if parts are available. I was really surprised to find the pro-4000 and conversion stuff for sale given the way reloading components and equipment are just not available.

    Jack
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Thanks for the advice. A friend of mine has three of the pros1000s. He has loaded thousands of rounds on his. I will have to look at the lee website and see if parts are available. I was really surprised to find the pro-4000 and conversion stuff for sale given the way reloading components and equipment are just not available.

    Jack

    Yup. My experience is Lee says the parts are X amount. However they’ve only ever charged me shipping when I go to check out. Now this is just plastic replacement parts, not dies and stuff. But I got replacement parts for my Lee APP and my Lee Classic (the indexing spacer the later).
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    Tried out a more conservative approach in processing my 223/556 brass range pick-ups. Before, I processed everything all in one go, but ran into brass with small primer pocket holes and berdan cases (rare) which broke a fair bit of decapping pins. I also convert 223/556 brass to 300 blk, so it's an added plus getting those sorted out:

    Sorted 300+ 223 brass. Roughly half of it separated for 300 blk conversion. The rest of the brass was lubed up and ran through the decap/resize die. I then case gauge them for max case length, putting the allowable lengths back on trays, and separating the ones that need to be trimmed. Finally, I separate the commercial non-crimped cases from the crimped ones. The crimped ones are then swaged. Of the 300 brass, I came out with 76 readily reloadable pieces for 223. The brass that needs to be trimmed + 300 blk convertibles are saved for another processing session.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Tried out a more conservative approach in processing my 223/556 brass range pick-ups. Before, I processed everything all in one go, but ran into brass with small primer pocket holes and berdan cases (rare) which broke a fair bit of decapping pins. I also convert 223/556 brass to 300 blk, so it's an added plus getting those sorted out:

    Sorted 300+ 223 brass. Roughly half of it separated for 300 blk conversion. The rest of the brass was lubed up and ran through the decap/resize die. I then case gauge them for max case length, putting the allowable lengths back on trays, and separating the ones that need to be trimmed. Finally, I separate the commercial non-crimped cases from the crimped ones. The crimped ones are then swaged. Of the 300 brass, I came out with 76 readily reloadable pieces for 223. The brass that needs to be trimmed + 300 blk convertibles are saved for another processing session.

    So I am curious. What is a good way to tell what is crimped and what isn’t?

    I found out the hard way all FC 223 brass (and I assume 5.56) is crimped. It doesn’t visually look like it to me though. Some mil brass is obvious crimped. I sort of assume any 5.56 brass is.

    Or is it more “you figure it out over time”

    I’ve noticed PPU and Remington 223 brass is not crimped and primes like butter (not loose though) in my press.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Set up my Giraud for 7.62x39. Trimming a few hundred 7.62x39 cases should be a good project for a few evenings.

    I am still waiting on my Lyman bushing so I can use my xpress case trimmer for 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel. Not hard up as I’ve got a lot of Starline new brass for the later and some new primed FC and some mystery “maybe improperly resized” primed brass for the later.

    Still trying to figure out what is wrong with the RMR mystery junk brass. The double handful I’ve checked on my case gauge and OAL gauge checks out fine. Checking with a .310” FMJ it might be that the necks were sized to .308. I haven’t put calipers on any of the necks. But the base barely makes it in to the case mouth. Seems like it’ll seat, but might just need to be run through a bit to be neck sized.

    I’ll definitely check every case before loading any of it, but really happy I picked up 500 cases pre-primed for ridiculously cheap. Sort of wishing I’d gotten 1k cases, but hell it’ll take me years to load and shoot the 100+500 I have as I only have an SKS in it and tons of steel cased still. Also only have 250 projectiles…so I’ll need to wait till .310/.311” bullets are something approaching available again.
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    So I am curious. What is a good way to tell what is crimped and what isn’t?



    I found out the hard way all FC 223 brass (and I assume 5.56) is crimped. It doesn’t visually look like it to me though. Some mil brass is obvious crimped. I sort of assume any 5.56 brass is.



    Or is it more “you figure it out over time”



    I’ve noticed PPU and Remington 223 brass is not crimped and primes like butter (not loose though) in my press.
    Commercial brass like pmc and gfl stick out as always being non-crimped. Hornady, Winchester, FC, PPU are hit and miss, but I can sometimes spot pockets that have been flared or swaged in the past due to having a countersink. Military headstamp brass are always assumed crimped.

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,725
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Commercial brass like pmc and gfl stick out as always being non-crimped. Hornady, Winchester, FC, PPU are hit and miss, but I can sometimes spot pockets that have been flared or swaged in the past due to having a countersink. Military headstamp brass are always assumed crimped.

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

    That's pretty much it. Over time you will get more conditioned to determining which is which.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Commercial brass like pmc and gfl stick out as always being non-crimped. Hornady, Winchester, FC, PPU are hit and miss, but I can sometimes spot pockets that have been flared or swaged in the past due to having a countersink. Military headstamp brass are always assumed crimped.

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

    Thanks Guzman and John.

    Oh well. I guess no “one neat trick” :-)

    So far I think I am up to about 1k pistol rounds reloaded in the last year of various calibers, but rifle I am still very new too (not that a thousand pistol rounds reload makes me any kind of salted veteran, but I am at least very comfortable in what I am doing). Maybe 200 rounds total.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I am still waiting on my Lyman bushing so I can use my xpress case trimmer for 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel. Not hard up as I’ve got a lot of Starline new brass for the later and some new primed FC and some mystery “maybe improperly resized” primed brass for the later.

    Still trying to figure out what is wrong with the RMR mystery junk brass. The double handful I’ve checked on my case gauge and OAL gauge checks out fine. Checking with a .310” FMJ it might be that the necks were sized to .308. I haven’t put calipers on any of the necks. But the base barely makes it in to the case mouth. Seems like it’ll seat, but might just need to be run through a bit to be neck sized.

    I’ll definitely check every case before loading any of it, but really happy I picked up 500 cases pre-primed for ridiculously cheap. Sort of wishing I’d gotten 1k cases, but hell it’ll take me years to load and shoot the 100+500 I have as I only have an SKS in it and tons of steel cased still. Also only have 250 projectiles…so I’ll need to wait till .310/.311” bullets are something approaching available again.
    How in the world did I not know about that brass? I ordered 1k of it, and threw in some of the 69gr 224 projos for testing purposes. I guess I'm now in the 7.62x39 loading game for real...

    I agree that it sounds like a quick trip through a neck sizer and/or expander die would sort them out fine if the only problem was the neck being too small in diameter. (The NOE .312x308 expander looks perfect for this...) And if they're gauging correctly out of the box, I can't imagine they're unsalvageable unless there's some other horrible problem (very possible!).
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    How in the world did I not know about that brass? I ordered 1k of it, and threw in some of the 69gr 224 projos for testing purposes. I guess I'm now in the 7.62x39 loading game for real...

    I agree that it sounds like a quick trip through a neck sizer and/or expander die would sort them out fine if the only problem was the neck being too small in diameter. (The NOE .312x308 expander looks perfect for this...) And if they're gauging correctly out of the box, I can't imagine they're unsalvageable unless there's some other horrible problem (very possible!).

    Yeah if I can get my ass in gear and actually gauge a bunch more and check them over more carefully I might order another 500. At 13.5cpc shipped, I mean hell, why not? I’ve been waiting to get to the range to test out their 69gr .224. I worked up 30 rounds at 3 powder charges to test 5 each in my 16” and 20”. Not looking to precisely find tune the load, but I want to get a vague feel for accuracy before committing to getting 1k projectiles (I picked up 500 about 2 months ago).

    What I need now is a relatively cheap source for .310/.311 bullets. Though the 250 I have I will keep me occupied for a long time. I don’t have an ideal powder for 7.62x39. But I can make it work. Enough to try to work out a decent load and load up a couple hundred plinking rounds at any rate. I might pickup a box of Hornady .310 SST’s. I’ve been wanting to take my SKS hunting some day. I do have a box (two?) of Hornady steel case 123gr SST and a few boxes of PPU and S&B SP. But I’d like to work out my own SST or SP load so I can dial in the best accuracy possible and then load up a bunch on the cheap(ish).

    Also don’t blame me if your brass sucks. I’ve only checked maybe 30 or so cases. But you can always press out (carefully!) the LRP and use them in something else for plinking and sell the brass to a recycler and get most of your money back worse comes to worse. A fair amount of labor though.

    I got I figuring I might have to cut the depriming pin off my Lee 7.62x39 sizing die and carefully full length resize the brass, but so far mine looks like maybe just run it down to neck size it and be done. I did pickup a spare depriming/neck sizing pin from midway in a recent order since it was $3.
     

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