What did you reload today?
- Thread starter Ad Astra
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Running 200 .38 Spl. cases through the HF wet tumbler. I'll load up some 125 gr. plated RNFP and some lead 148 gr. wadcutters later today or tomorrow.
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- #283
Annoyed and chagrined to have a Berry's plated projo stuck in a 4" 38 barrel. 
Squib round? I use powder scoops. My Red Dot load must be lighter than I thought... And I always (make that usually) use my own soft cast boolits. Arrgh. Took the grips off, vised it, and beat two oak dowels into splinters... Gun is in the freezer for an hour and trying again.
Buy a brass rod if that fails. Yes, it's been soaked in penetrating oil. Any tricks I've overlooked? Thanks.
AA
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- #284
ALLLL RIGHTTTTTT! The freezer trick actually worked! A slight tap or two drove it right back into the cylinder. Amen!!!!!
Gun was so cold it was burning my hand. Fearing condensation I instantly sprayed it down, and threw it in the fridge for a slower thaw.
Now. When the missus gets home... Going to need a story.... AA
Some 200 357 mag. Using the DAA case feeder on the 550, it works perfect with this caliber. With 9 mm it needs some wiggling so the case is inline with the primer, but the 357 is perfect aligned. For this round I do like the feeder, for 9 mm, it takes too much to watch out for. Would I get this case feeder again, in general no, but if I had a dedicated press for 357 and 38 spl, yes; but my two presses are either large small primer.
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- #286
The freezer trick actually worked! A slight tap or two drove it right back into the cylinder. Amen!!!!!
Gun was so cold it was burning my hand. Fearing condensation I instantly sprayed it down, and threw it in the fridge for a slower thaw.
AA
On her way home!
So I was considering getting yelled at for having a greasy, just-fired pistol in the fridge and had an even better idea:To help get rid of the condensation even quicker, I put the pistol in our toaster oven on "warm."
Problem is, the thermostat runs away on that thing. Next thing I know there's a horrible petroleum smell coming out of the toaster oven... grab the gun and it's too hot... 
️ She comes in and says, "What's that awful smell?"
"Horse. I was cooking a Colt."
AA
Topped up my supply of hunting rounds for the fall, assembled 20 of each:
.358 Winchester, 180gr Barnes TTSX, 47.6gr Winchester 748, Starline brass, CCI no. 200
6.5 Creedmoor, 130gr Swift Scirocco, 42.0gr H4350, Peterson SRP brass, CCI no. 450
.358 Winchester, 180gr Barnes TTSX, 47.6gr Winchester 748, Starline brass, CCI no. 200
6.5 Creedmoor, 130gr Swift Scirocco, 42.0gr H4350, Peterson SRP brass, CCI no. 450
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- #288
I did just send off for some Norma ammo, but the sight of all those empty plastic boxes made me decap, clean primer pockets, and start tumbling 150 of 38 Special. Ones with the Berry's plated projo are getting a 
P loading, especially if fired from a Colt.AA
I just ordered a bunch of assorted 6.5 projos to load in 6.5 Grendel and Creedmoor. I wish I could find some more H4350, have less than a pound on hand, but have other powders than could be put to use.
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- #290
Upped my 38 Sp load to 3.9 of Red Dot; fairly sure those 358s aren't getting stuck in the barrel... of any S&W.
Seriously thinking of loading some (9mm) Berry's 356 plated for use in Colt 38 Special. The Colt's simply have tighter cylinder throats and some report tighter barrel also. From elsewhere: "I discovered that groove diameter of my S&W revolvers was .357" while the diameter of my Colt revolvers is .3548".
Just need a good crimp,and have a 500-ct of the Berry's plated 356s.
Getting that one stuck Berry's 3575 was enough!
AA
Seriously thinking of loading some (9mm) Berry's 356 plated for use in Colt 38 Special. The Colt's simply have tighter cylinder throats and some report tighter barrel also. From elsewhere: "I discovered that groove diameter of my S&W revolvers was .357" while the diameter of my Colt revolvers is .3548".
Just need a good crimp,and have a 500-ct of the Berry's plated 356s.
Getting that one stuck Berry's 3575 was enough!
AA
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- #291
Interesting. Just ran two Berry's projos (356 and 3575) through the cylinder throats of two S&Ws and two Colts.
The 356 passed easily through all four, of course.
The 3575 passed the Colts perfectly, without pressure. But the same projectile passed the S&W's with a slight push needed! The S&W throats seem to be exactly 3575.
And for those Ruger fans ... it was with the S&W camp. Slight push.
So it is indeed the Colts barrel which *may* be a tad tighter. That's OK. It is when you have cylinder throats tighter than the barrel that you get leading and poor accuracy. (I had this with a Ruger 45, where the factory throats were 450 and the barrel 4515. Fixed by reamed cylinder to 4525.)
AA
The 356 passed easily through all four, of course.
The 3575 passed the Colts perfectly, without pressure. But the same projectile passed the S&W's with a slight push needed! The S&W throats seem to be exactly 3575.
And for those Ruger fans ... it was with the S&W camp. Slight push.
So it is indeed the Colts barrel which *may* be a tad tighter. That's OK. It is when you have cylinder throats tighter than the barrel that you get leading and poor accuracy. (I had this with a Ruger 45, where the factory throats were 450 and the barrel 4515. Fixed by reamed cylinder to 4525.)
AA
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- #292
Since a thou matters, just had to load up 50 of the Berry's 124 gr (356) projo in 38 Special today. (3.5-ish of Red Dot) Miked my fired/stuck projo and yes the Colt PPS barrel looks a little tight. These should work perfectly.Sharp eyes can tell this one.... And yes, the crimp matters.
AA
Having previously attempted a light 38 Spl. load of a 125 gr. cast lead FP over 4.0 gr. of Unique, I found it too light a charge as evidenced by poor accuracy at 50 yds. and a variable report. It would take down plates on a plate rack at 25 yds., but 50 yd. accuracy is crucial. So today I loaded 50 rounds with the same bullet over 4.5 gr. of Unique. Hopefully this load will be consistent and exhibit better 50 yd. accuracy. My usual moderate load has been a 125 gr. plated bullet over 4.9 gr. of Unique, but I was looking for something similar to a classic WC load. I should have a chance to shoot the load next week.
Currently decapping approx. 850 pcs of range pick-up 223/556.
The 4.5 gr of Unique load shot satisfactory at the range today, obviously much more consistent results, no off-sounding reports and accuracy as expected.
If you haven't tried trail boss powder, that might be a good one to try too. The .38 special was originally a black powder load, so smokeless powder can sometimes cause uneven results because the case isn't completely filled like it would have been with black powder. Trail boss is a high volume powder, so you fill much more of the case but don't risk overpressure. You get a much more consistent result. I use it for low recoil rounds for my .45 Colt, and my wife enjoys shooting them. After using unique though, and pushing the colt to it's more original velocity, it made things more interesting. The cowboy loads are great for target practice, but unique takes the power and recoil up a bit.
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- #297
Sharp eyes can tell this one.... And yes, the crimp matters.
View attachment 1368661
View attachment 1368663
AA
These fired +perfectly+ in the Colt PPS today! Not a hint of keyholing, just perfect spin stabilization. Crimp was fine too. A sweet, mild target load for the little Colt. 
With a reassuring muzzle flash. Now to make 450 more...AA
My various range salvage brass is starting to pile up, plus what I've shot and need to process. I liked wet tumbling enough after having bought an inexpensive Harbor Freight rock tumbler, that I took advantage of Holiday sales and ordered the F.A.R.T., Platinum edition. Probably overkill, but doing just 100-150 cases at a time with the HF was getting old.
I have some Trail Boss on hand that I bought to work up some subsonic rifle loads, I'll keep it for that. For my .38 Spl. loads, I'd rather dial my Unique charges up or down as needed, since I have a fair amount of that on hand.
Nortac, how are you liking that 6.5 Grendel?
