What did you do at your reloading bench today?

[Archeryrob]

you have come a long way with that powder coating. that looks nice

Thanks, I gave up on what all the big names show with shake and bake and dump in a wire rack. You get bald spots from bullets sticking and bald lines from the rack. I stand them all on their bases on parchment paper and and use ice cube trays for 6.8 and 30 caliber bullets to stand them up.

I look back at the first stuff I did and thought was okay and I shake my head looking at it now.

 

[lazarus]

Love my Inline Fabrications roller handle. The original ball would leave my palm sore after a few successive reloading sessions.

Did have to pull the roller itself off the handle to drip some oil in it when it started "squeeking."

I did end up doing that about 1k rounds ago. Works even better now. Something I try to remember to do every few thousand rounds is put a couple drops of motor oil on all of the hinge pieces of the press and the ram shaft (that's what she said)

 

[trickg]

What I did last night wasn't "at the reloading bench" per se, but it was reloading related.

A couple of months ago, I bought a 12 ga reloading setup from a super nice guy who was selling his setup due to some age-related health concerns. It is an awesome setup - a MEC 9000G progressive shotshell reloader, and a ton of supplies - hulls, wads, primers, powder, shot - it was everything I needed to jump right in and reload.

Last night I bought three 27-gallon totes at Home Depot and made a point to try to organize everything I'd brought home that day in boxes, and that included going through a couple of big boxes of Winchester AA hulls to make sure that they were ok - I ended up tossing a number of them due to cracked or split brass, and some had a level of corrosion on the brass that with everything else that was there, I just didn't feel a need to try to save them.

Everything that went into the totes was geared towards Winchester AA specifically. That's the easiest way to go because it seems like Winchester made a point to make it fairly idiot-proof for loading 1-1/8 oz loads.

-- Winchester AA hull
-- Winchester (or Claybuster equivalent) AA12 Wad
-- Winchester 209 primer
-- Powder - lots of trap load recipes that call for the AA12 wad with 1-1/8 shot that are 1200 fps or slower.

Anyway, by the end of the evening I had everything sorted and categorized in 3 totes, which got a bunch of smaller boxes out of my workshop and cleaned that area up considerably - it was a lot of stuff.

 

[85MikeTPI]

What I did last night wasn't "at the reloading bench" per se, but it was reloading related.

A couple of months ago, I bought a 12 ga reloading setup from a super nice guy who was selling his setup due to some age-related health concerns. It is an awesome setup - a MEC 9000G progressive shotshell reloader, and a ton of supplies - hulls, wads, primers, powder, shot - it was everything I needed to jump right in and reload.

Last night I bought three 27-gallon totes at Home Depot and made a point to try to organize everything I'd brought home that day in boxes, and that included going through a couple of big boxes of Winchester AA hulls to make sure that they were ok - I ended up tossing a number of them due to cracked or split brass, and some had a level of corrosion on the brass that with everything else that was there, I just didn't feel a need to try to save them.

Everything that went into the totes was geared towards Winchester AA specifically. That's the easiest way to go because it seems like Winchester made a point to make it fairly idiot-proof for loading 1-1/8 oz loads.

-- Winchester AA hull
-- Winchester (or Claybuster equivalent) AA12 Wad
-- Winchester 209 primer
-- Powder - lots of trap load recipes that call for the AA12 wad with 1-1/8 shot that are 1200 fps or slower.

Anyway, by the end of the evening I had everything sorted and categorized in 3 totes, which got a bunch of smaller boxes out of my workshop and cleaned that area up considerably - it was a lot of stuff.

Good deal. Stay on course with the same load and you'll be fine. I went down several rabbit holes with slugs, buckshot, steel shot, 3", etc. and have a dozen totes now..

 

[trickg]

Good deal. Stay on course with the same load and you'll be fine. I went down several rabbit holes with slugs, buckshot, steel shot, 3", etc. and have a dozen totes now..

I had some other hulls - Federal and some Activ hulls, but the Activ hulls hold more than the Winchester, so for the moment the only thing I'm going to load are the Winchester AA and the big ol box of Peters Blue Magic hulls I was lucky enough to get. Everything I read said to reload those just like an AA, and so far it seems to be performing exactly the same way.

In any case, I have SO many AA hulls, there's really no need to develop a load for any other hull.

The one thing I am going to try - and this is mostly for my wife who is a little more recoil-sensitive than I am - is that I'm going to try moving from 1-1/8 oz of #7.5 to a 1 oz load of #8.

Everything I've read seems to agree that from the 16-yard line, I'll break just as many birds with the 1 oz as the 1-1/8 oz, and if I move to the #8 shot, I'll have pretty much the same number of pellets as with the #7.5.

That's what I'm going to try anyway - I just received (literally about 10 minutes ago) a bag of 500 Claybuster wads that copy the Win AA12SL wad, along with a MEC 1 oz shot bar.

 

[exodus308]

About to start loading 1k of 158gr 357

 

[Squaregrouper]

I started assembling my portable single stage setup for cripples at my dining room table. It will be clamped in place and can be removed/hidden before my wife gets home from work.
(I am recovering from a major hip surgery and don't yet feel comfortable using steps when I am home alone.)
.

 

[missedthebarn]

I started assembling my portable single stage setup for cripples at my dining room table. It will be clamped in place and can be removed/hidden before my wife gets home from work.
(I am recovering from a major hip surgery and don't yet feel comfortable using steps when I am home alone.)
.
View attachment 457746

Hope you heal quickly, two TV trays kept me from being killed by the wife.

 

[Archeryrob]

I would put a towel between the wood and the table and use two C camps as you're gonna flip that off the table using that press. That's about what I do with my sausage stuffer.

 

[Squaregrouper]

I would put a towel between the wood and the table and use two C camps as you're gonna flip that off the table using that press. That's about what I do with my sausage stuffer.

Cardboard and C clamps.

 

[6-Pack]

loaded 252 cast hollow points for 9mm. Should be 147 by the MP mold description but they are 155 for me. Then ran out of bullets. Just one box shown

My 147 grain HP mold (Lyman) comes in around 155 as well.

 

[Archeryrob]

My 147 grain HP mold (Lyman) comes in around 155 as well.

Everything I cast seems to be heavier.

 

[Rockzilla]

I started assembling my portable single stage setup for cripples at my dining room table. It will be clamped in place and can be removed/hidden before my wife gets home from work.
(I am recovering from a major hip surgery and don't yet feel comfortable using steps when I am home alone.)
.
View attachment 457746

Yep..done that many times ..only thing I got "busted" before I could pack it up. Just by looking at the table, that would be the least worries. The other half would have my *ss, wouldn't worry about the hip, she'd be doing PT on me chasing me..

-Rock

 

[trickg]

Here's a fun one. When I bought the shotshell press, I was gifted a number of pounds of Alliant Red Dot (manufactured in 1995 based on the date on the container) and with the amount of trap me and my wife have been shooting, I decimated that powder, leaving just dregs in the bottle on the press. When I weighed out what was left, I found I had just a touch over 70 gr of powder left.

Today, I trickled the powder onto the scale and put together 4 more shotshells with the very last of that powder:

Hull: Win AA
Primer: Win 209
Wad: Win AA12
Powder: 18.0 gr Red Dot
Shot: #7.5
Projected Performance: 1160 fps (According to the Lyman manual)

I know - kinda dumb, but I hate wasting any reloading components, and even if I can't do a full run, I'll do as many as I can with the dregs of what's left.

 

[ThirtyOught Six]

Rainy day, a good time to anneal some brass.

 

[BFMIN]

Logged in my latest bullet (head) deal, $135 for the lot, shipped.

3/9/2024​	Bullet​	Hot Core 150Gr SP​	Speer​	49​
3/9/2024​	Bullet​	215Gr SP​	Woodliegh​	56​
3/9/2024​	Bullet​	200Gr SP RBT​	Lapua​	82​

plus :

Bullet​

.311 174Gr FMJ​

Hornady #3131​

270​

 

[4g64loser]

Sized 100pcs 6br brass, trimmed on the ol Redding 2400, chamfered and deburred.

 

[guzma393]

Tumbled brass today. Retrieved my processed 7.62x39 from the shed and it had a tarnished patina to them. Wet tumbler got them looking like gold again.

 

[Growler215]

Loaded up 30 9x39mm rounds - Speer 270 gr Hot Cor bullets, 6 powders, 5 different charge weights for each powder. Goal is to find the charge weight for each powder that gives about 1025 fps.

Also loaded 30 350 Legend - 250 gr Hornady Sub-X bullets, 10 each of 3 different powders for accuracy testing.

Planning a range trip tomorrow with 9x39 and 350L AR pistols and my black powder rifle.

 

[4g64loser]

Sized 1500pcs of 9mm brass.