this is a very important round...

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taraquian

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While it may look like any other .223 REM, this is the first round I have made in over 3 years. While trying to make a comeback from becoming very overweight, and having no energy or drive, I managed to tear up my right shoulder, surgery is in my future but I am a PT believer and even my Dr. is surprised with my recovery. I decided to limit myself to 223 or .22lr for rifle for the time being, I have been to the range 6 times, but I started from the beginning with reloading, reading up and starting my load work UPS from scratch (I almost regret passing my ABCs along in the pay it forward thread). All this blubbering over 1 round for my AR...but its great to be back WIN_20180916_163717.JPG
 
That's great. I think many of us have life or murphy step in and separate us from this wonderful hobby from time to time. Welcome back to something you enjoy, may you have many more years and many more dented primers!
 
its exciting isnt it? all the worrying and time spent making sure its just right will end with a very relieved and satisfying bang!
 
Looks like a good start. I'm two years post surgery on my left shoulder. Did not tear the rotator cuff...I pulled it apart. Surgery was successful and two years later (1st year PT'd most of it) I'm as good as new.....total motion no pain. So hang in there....and the sooner the surgery the sooner you get back. IMO, don't put it off if you really need it.

So can you change your press to left hand? ;)
 
Thanks for all the replies! At the time of the injury there was no way my family could deal with me not working that long. I had already avoided a "necessary" neck surgery by being stubborn and dedicated to PT. I asked my Dr. if I could PT my way out of this and he said I had 8 weeks, as that's how long I had to wait for surgery, I actually have better range of movement than I did before. Still hurts sometimes but its manageable with over the counter meds.

My AR rifle is great, however my new toy (AR pistol) is not the best thing, especially with the shockwave blade on it. I think I am going to try one or both of the other options one the kinks are worked out of this build.

As far as swapping to left handed, my lee turret won't play nice, however I bought a lee reloader press to deprime on and it works left handed, I may stick with batch loading rifle and use it more.
 
A very important round indeed, I'm glad you're back at it. I look forward to more of your posts, press on.;)
 
While it may look like any other .223 REM, this is the first round I have made in over 3 years. While trying to make a comeback from becoming very overweight, and having no energy or drive, I managed to tear up my right shoulder, surgery is in my future but I am a PT believer and even my Dr. is surprised with my recovery. I decided to limit myself to 223 or .22lr for rifle for the time being, I have been to the range 6 times, but I started from the beginning with reloading, reading up and starting my load work UPS from scratch (I almost regret passing my ABCs along in the pay it forward thread). All this blubbering over 1 round for my AR...but its great to be back View attachment 803728

Congrats, that is awesome! I give you credit buddy. Life can be very challenging and difficult unfortunately but there is no other option but to push onward, some way, some how. I am new to reloading myself (about 5-6 months at the most) and I am really enjoying it and there is so much to learn and so many different aspects about it all. I have been acting like a very dry sponge - trying to soak up as much factual and valuable information as I can. I have several books on reloading, Hornady, Speer, Lyman, Nosler and various others. I am primarily focused on reloading .223 and .308. I do plan to try some pistol rounds as well since when I purchased an assortment of items from an awesome guy, he had several bottles of unopened powder, primers, presses and a ton of stuff (picked it all up for $500 I believe it was) and now I am off to the races :)

Eric
 
PT works with some things but sometimes the knife is necessary. I'm not a great fan of the results historically turned out by orthopedists but with arthroscopy, results are better than before. Make sure to ask around about the results of surgeries done by your selected specialist.

I'm glad to see you're out of the doldrums and back at the reloading bench.
 
Believe me, I understand.
I've been in & out of the hospital 6x since Sept 2017.

So my reloading (and shooting) went from 12K/year to 750 rounds in 2018.
Absolutely zero shooting in all that time & 200 of those reloaded rounds have been in Sept 2018 (this month).
 
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I tore up my knee and it took two years for me to be able to walk normally again. I would put that round up high on the shelf and when things get bad, go look at it as a reminder that when you have that operation, you can get over this as I did. I had to stop shooting and reloading for two years to pay for the medical bills for the operation. Thanks Obama Care.
Hang in there and don't give up.
 
Just got back from the range this afternoon. Shot some 6.5 Creedmore test rounds that I loaded up six months ago. Spent most of the summer flat on my back due to a pinched nerve in my neck. Incredible pain. It was so nice to get out and hear the blast and see the bullets go down range today!
 
One of the guys I compete with Steel Challenge, who is a top level shooter, had his RC fixed last October. This weekend is going to be his first match since then, 11 months of rehab. My wife tore her RC in May, had the surgery in June and now has most of her motion back and minimal pain. I guess it depends on the damage and the persistence/physical condition of the patient.
 
Congrats on getting back with it.

If you shoot from a bench, I can highly recommend a Lead Sled to take the recoil off the shoulder. I have a cheap one, the Lead Sled Solo, that works well with ARs. Even without a weighted bag in the tray (not needed for a 223) the recoil to the shoulder is minimal. I worked up loads in my 44mag rifle and my shoulder never hurt when using the Lead Sled, but when I ended up shooting from my shoulder without it, it HURT. I was surprised in the difference.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/394466/caldwell-lead-sled-solo-rifle-shooting-rest
 
No, not going to bronze it. Hell, I'm not even putting it on the shelf. I'm gonna shoot it, that is what we make these for right? That's the first of a new ladder work up I'm doing, I want to start over so I tossed my old load log and am reworking my loads.

I do use my lead sled during workup and testing, but I feel like it takes the joy out of shooting after that. What magazines do you use in your sled? My 30s don't fit. I just ordered some 5 and 10 rounder, I hope they feed ok.

I am sure my trade (electrician) did me all kinds of favors speeding my recovery :uhoh:.
 
I do use my lead sled during workup and testing, but I feel like it takes the joy out of shooting after that. What magazines do you use in your sled? My 30s don't fit. I just ordered some 5 and 10 rounder, I hope they feed ok.
I normally use a 10 or 20 round magazine with my lead sled. The 10 round mag is perfect for working up loads as I normally have 5 or 10 round groups that I shoot. Without a weight in the tray, I can use a 30 rounder, but I have to lift the gun up to change the mag.
 
I normally use a 10 round magazine with my lead sled or a BobSled. You have to watch out for the wide bases on on some, for they want slide between the rails to install. Lately I have been using the Bobsled's as it slows the process down to give the barrel some cooling time between shots. This also eliminates any damage to the bullet being fed from the magazine.
 
When I first started I was loading single rounds though the ejection port, it let the barrel cool down and made me slow down... found my load and spent all weekend pulling that lever... almost 50% failed to feed from the mag, they were all at max length and not well formed (I had neck sized them as I only owned 1 .223) I always test them from a mag now.

I just finished the rest of my ladder loads and dusted off the lead sled today, looks like my new Hera 10 round will be a great fit. Now to go buy some lead bags, I have been using a cannonball as weight and it rolls from the recoil. Then I remounted my scope and bore sighted it. This weekend I'll sight it in and then test my loads.

If I get off early enough tomorrow I think I'm going to work up a set for my .357 I just bought last week. I had ordered .38 dies the day before I got hurt, so they have been sitting for 2 years and never even been set up.

I forgot how much I enjoyed time at the bench.
 
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