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Reloading bug reawakens!

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The Instigator
I blame Walmart!

And the frantic pace of my last job ...

But for the last few years it was just easier to snag a hundred rounds of Winchester White Box .38s when grocery shopping instead of reloading.

Now, the time of reckoning. Spent all DAY yesterday decapping and tumbling an ambitious target lot of 350 .38 special rounds.

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I had cast a bunch of Lyman 358212, a 146 grain roundnose that is accurate in both .38/.357 and 9mm (when sized to .356. It throws around .358, but I size to .358 for peace of mind when reloading .38). One mold, three calibers.

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Aloxed these yesterday ... Shopping for powder loads. Red Dot, Unique and Power Pistol on hand.

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So the bug has re-bitten. Looking at Keith-style molds for .358. I used to cast and shoot a lot in .452.

If Walmart had kept selling pistol ammo - I'd have kept buying! So this is a GOOD thing!

full


I know we have a bunch of more experienced handloaders here than me, but also curious non-loaders, so I'll get some pix up soon.

Got a favorite recipe for .38? I need RN range rounds, but want to workup a decent SWC carry load.


AA
 
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I blame Walmart!

And the frantic pace of my last job ...

But for the last few years it was just easier to snag a hundred rounds of Winchester White Box .38s when grocery shopping instead of reloading.

Now, the time of reckoning. Spent all DAY yesterday decapping and tumbling an ambitious target lot of 350 .38 special rounds.

full


I had cast a bunch of Lyman 358212, a 146 grain roundnose that is accurate in both .38/.357 and 9mm (when sized to .356. It throws around .358, but I size to .358 for peace of mind when reloading .38). One mold, three calibers.

full


Aloxed these yesterday ... Shopping for powder loads. Red Dot, Unique and Power Pistol on hand.

full


So the bug has re-bitten. Looking at Keith-style molds for .358. I used to cast and shoot a lot in .452.

If Walmart had kept selling pistol ammo - I'd have kept buying! So this is a GOOD thing!

full


I know we have a bunch of more experienced handloaders here than me, but also curious non-loaders, so I'll get some pix up soon.

Got a favorite recipe for .38? I need RN range rounds, but want to workup a decent SWC carry load.


AA

What’s the press? I was thinking of starting with Hornady maybe next year, but I’m having second thoughts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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The Instigator
What’s the press? I was thinking of starting with Hornady maybe next year, but I’m having second thoughts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It's a Lyman turret press - had for years, no problems.

Reloading gear preferences are personal. I like Lee dies, but not their molds.

Lots of good press makers, though.


AA
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
I've been re-bitten recently as well. My most recent .38 spl. loads consisted of 125 gr. plated RNFP bullets over 4.9 gr. of Unique. The 125s were all I had on hand, having purchased them years ago to load for my Airweight J frame. The load shoots well in anything I own, is more potent than a wadcutter target load, and tolerable to shoot in the J frame. I don't cast currently, have minimal experience doing so in the distant past. I need to buy some 158 gr. cast bullets. I will buy a lead pot and a lubricator/sizer before I retire in a few years.
I reload 9mm sporadically. It's been several years since I've reloaded any .45 acp but I have a box of several hundred cases just recently run through the vibratory case cleaner.
I've most recently been reloading for my .300 Black Out build. All the factory rounds that I have fired have crimped primer pockets. The first 50 rounds of brass I de-crimped by hand using a de-burring tool and a primer pocket uniformer. What a PITA! I was about to purchase the Dillon bench mounted primer pocket swaging tool, but instead decided to get the "Swage-It" tool, sold by Uniquetek, that replaces the priming mechanism on the Dillon 500 press, allowing rapid processing of brass and doesn't take up any space on my already crowded bench. I have yet to use it, but will soon.
I'm about to start reloading .32 H&R and .327 Federal magnums for my SP101. I even bought another powder charger for my Dillon 500 press. (I now have 8 complete tool heads for different calibers.)
 

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The Instigator
I've been re-bitten recently as well. My most recent .38 spl. loads consisted of 125 gr. plated RNFP bullets over 4.9 gr. of Unique. The 125s were all I had on hand, having purchased them years ago to load for my Airweight J frame. The load shoots well in anything I own, is more potent than a wadcutter target load, and tolerable to shoot in the J frame. I don't cast currently, have minimal experience doing so in the distant past. I need to buy some 158 gr. cast bullets. I will buy a lead pot and a lubricator/sizer before I retire in a few years.
I reload 9mm sporadically. It's been several years since I've reloaded any .45 acp but I have a box of several hundred cases just recently run through the vibratory case cleaner.
I've most recently been reloading for my .300 Black Out build. All the factory rounds that I have fired have crimped primer pockets. The first 50 rounds of brass I de-crimped by hand using a de-burring tool and a primer pocket uniformer. What a PITA! I was about to purchase the Dillon bench mounted primer pocket swaging tool, but instead decided to get the "Swage-It" tool, sold by Uniquetek, that replaces the priming mechanism on the Dillon 500 press, allowing rapid processing of brass and doesn't take up any space on my already crowded bench. I have yet to use it, but will soon.
I'm about to start reloading .32 H&R and .327 Federal magnums for my SP101. I even bought another powder charger for my Dillon 500 press. (I now have 8 complete tool heads for different calibers.)

Hm, thanks. Looking at 5 to 5.1 of Unique for that 146 grain RN.

Have done .45 ACP, easy when you're throwing around a lot of .45 Colt. With 9mm, its all too easy to keep buying cheap WWB. Factory.45 Colt is ridiculously expensive.

I'll hand the mic to anyone with a Dillon! Reading their Blue Press for years.

Have the Lee dies for .300 BO - and a ton of brass! Maybe after retirement. Just what I did yesterday ate my Saturday! And no loaded ammo to show yet!


AA
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
Yup, my .38 spl. load is a little on the mild side without being a powder puff load. I haven't chrono'd it, but probably about 850-900 fps. Easy on the gun and the shooter. Easy to make rapid shots in informal competition.
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
I know we have a bunch of more experienced handloaders here than me, but also curious non-loaders, so I'll get some pix up soon.

Got a favorite recipe for .38? I need RN range rounds, but want to workup a decent SWC carry load.


AA

When I grow up, I want to be just like Mike! Great thread! :)
 

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The Instigator
Note: 5 of Unique with that load definitely must be worked up to, 4 is more like it. My casting metallurgy is guesswork and avoiding leading is good. So, hot load, soft bullet = messy leading.

AA
 
After using many different presses, I now load everything on a single stage rcbs rockchucker (I need the press strength for case forming a few obscure calibers) . I have 3500 38 spec loaded with 150 gr I cast myself, and 2000 45acp with my own cast 200gr. A friend gave me an 8lb keg of bullseye for some machining I did for him, so I load it in the 38 and the 45. A little dirty, but accurate. I have also used 231, unique, 2400, and various shotgun powders (red dot, green dot, 473AA) in both.
I dont know how many rounds I have loaded for rifle calibers.
I shoot cast bullets in 458 win, 416 Rem, 375H&H, 303br, 7.62x54R, 30-06, 308, 30-30, 223 and 22 Hornet.
The high numbers of loaded pistol rounds are a result of cold winters and retirement! Some good music and the hours just roll by. Doesnt take long until there's a pile of loaded rounds to box up.

The reason I don't use a progressive:
A shooting acquaintance blew up a ruger super blackhawk. The first round was a squib load with just enough powder to force the bullet into the forcing cone far enough that the cylinder would still turn. He thought it was the empty chamber. Next round was a full power 44 mag. Boom. Blew the barrel 50 meters downrange. Blew the top of the cylinder off. Incredibly, the shooter was unscathed,. Took him hours to stop shaking though! He was loading on a progressive and probably experienced a powder bridge. Somewhere in his reloads was an overload too. Maybe it was the round that followed the squib load. Most better progressive presses (Dillon) now have modifications to prevent this, but I'm happy with my old rockchucker. It just takes more time. I have lots of that now.
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
Although I have and use a Dillon 550, I tend to break down the operations and mostly just charge the cases and seat the bullets on it. I de-prime separate from resizing and do those operations on my Co-Ax press, then I usually use an RCBS bench mounted priming tool before "progressing" to my Dillon. I'm pretty careful about checking my powder charges on the Dillon, I'm not a speed demon when it comes reloading. Many years ago I double charged a .45 ACP when using a Lee Pro 1000. It sheared the locking lugs off of my Wilson barrel and blew the magazine out of the magwell of my 1911. During a match! I got rid of the Lee progressive and got a Dillon. Lesson learned.
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
I like 231 for several calibers, but I'm currently out. I have an excess of Unique that I need to use up. I also have on hand a fair amount of Win. 452 AA, a discontinued powder that is allegedly equivalent to 231 and that is what I've last used to load my .45 ACP rounds. I need to order some 231, but I need to use up these older powders first.
 
Unique is a great powder but flake powders do not meter well. If you a trickling, no problem. I like it for medium-heavy 357 rounds although I mostly use H110 for my 357s these days.
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
Agreed. Until recently, I used Unique mostly for larger capacity revolver rounds like .45 LC, .44 Spl. and light .44 mag loads. I use H110 for .357 mag., .30 Carbine and .300 B.O., among others.
 
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