What have you done in the reloading room today

After returning from the Range, I decapped the 223 I fired earlier while trying some new loads in the Wife's rifle
Loaded up some of the more-promising combinations this afternoon and we'll see how the little woman does with 'em tomorrow.

 

Sorry to hear about storm damage...
Glad no one was hurt...
I (and I am sure others) wonder about the well being of all THR members (e.g. Gunny in Louisanna) during events like these hurricanes.

 

Took a few days off from the bench to regroup. Been working up a ton of LC and PSD 223 brass which means reaming crimps., uniforming primer pockets, sizing and trimming. Right now I have about 300 LC completed and another 400 PSD to size and trim. That is not counting the 120 loaded rounds sitting on the bench awaiting testing.

Starting Monday the range I've been working will be opening 7 days a week until Thanksgiving and our gun deer season. Now instead of working Wed., Thur., Fri. I will be working Mon/Tues, Thurs/Fri.. Leave home at 7am and don't get back until 6pm so there won't be much time for much else.

 

Glad to hear there were no injuries. We had 3 huge maples removed a few years ago because they were between our house and the neighbors and didn't want them coming down on us.

 

Found a 3rd generation family owned biz that sells buffing equipment to the jewelry folks.

Ordered 2,4" diameter... 1/2" thick buffing wheels for the new drill motor on loading bench. Will machine a threaded "spud" for chucking them up. We have a VERY sophisticated,fancy buffing setup in the shop. All the bells N whistles. The problem is,it ain't the cleanest of environments. Oh it's nice,heck, OSHA approved even but,unless you're trying for some SERIOUS metal removal,best stay away from it.

Changing lanes a bit;

On holsters,you don't use "cutting" compounds. And in my experience,no compounds. So plain,clean buffing wheels and are the order of the day. I use Fiebing leather dies and clear coats. All of which stays in the shop. But having a small,"clean" buffing setup in the loading room is just what is needed for shining up holsters around the bench. The 2 wheels together were 8$.

Will get some pics up once it all comes in.

One of the main reasons this "turning center" is under the bench is the funk gets slung into the trashcan vs anywhere it acts as a pollutant,like all over the $$$ tools.

 

Going to get ALL ammo boxes off the sweet,custom built storage unit on the loading bench today.

Just too many nice $$$$ tools that need to be on that rack..... not stupid ammo boxes.

Been meaning to do it,well today is the day. Edit to add,really embarrassing pic.

 

Inventory time... seeing what I have left, and updating my spreadsheets.

 

Getting ready for deer season in a coupe of weeks.
Prepped some .243 brass and loaded up a few loads with bullets I've never used in it before.
Gotta go to the range and test them some time this week.

 

Deprimed about 300 pieces of brass from Saturdays range day. 40 of them were some 223's that I loaded for my AR that I wanted to try. They ran ok so I'll load the other 960 sometime. Maybe this afternoon. The load was mixed range brass, a no name Midway 55 grain varmint bullet, BL-C2 and a Remington BR primer.

 

That took a cpl hours and am about 90% satisfied. Will see how it works. This is not all the ammo.... but is about all that stays in here.

 

More 5.56mm... this time 2 test charges of H335 and a generic 62grn BTHP. I'm hoping this bullet will work well enough in both my 1:7 Colt H-bar, and my 1:8 carbines. My H-bar detests anything 55grn... this would be a happy medium, with a bullet much cheaper than a 69grn SMK or Nosler.

 

Wet tumbled some more brass today...a small batch of 45 acp with the rest of .44 Rem Mag. that was all de-primed.



Separating the 45acp by headstamp is one thing, but what got to me again this afternoon was separating primer pocket size.
Eyes became tired after about 15 minutes.
Dim light bulb came on...
Used my large primer pocket swager as a go- no go gauge.

MUCH easier on the eyes!

 

Tumbled around a 1000 45acp lpp brass now let the loading begin.

 

On Saturday I "threw together" a couple hundred .44 Mag plinking rounds consisting of WLP/mixed brass/Unique and Lyman Cowboy 240 grain LRNFP bullets.

Putting them together...



Final product:...



Had planned to shoot them at the range today (Sunday) using a couple of RedHawks and a Henry rifle. Was going to bring two swinging plate steel torso's I freshly painted fluorescent orange just for the occasion. However, that was not to be. Was derailed by the in-house CINC who had different plans. Instead, I hauled our patio furniture and the Iron Ogress' (mother-in-law) to the off-site storage unit, retrieved the snow blowers from there and prepped both yards for the coming winter.

 

Lucky me... We have had snow on the ground since the 14th of October. Allows me more time to be in the reloading room, but I have a feeling I will be paying that back come Spring with also two yards to care for( about two acres.!) ( Another 7 months of Winter... Grrrr...)

 

Pics please

 

Jesus. What ranges are you shooting out to?

 

I use an “instant” OD micrometer. Spring loaded lever. Super quick measuring. Only really use in the garage though. Good for motorcycle valve cap shims. Also for any pinion/diff shims. Else I have old craftsman calipers. I’m also not comp shooting.

 

What are you shooting those out of? I was gonna get unique for some lower power loads, but ended up using some Vihtavuori N340 I had lying around from .45 ACP loading. I went the other way and got some more Enforcer and H110. I’m also shooting it out of a Marlin 1894.

 

Iron Ogress! Hahahahaha

 

Eventual goal is F-Class with a look back at the halcyon days of youth and good eyesight....bowling pins at 300-500yards was the game in those days. For now, I'd be happy with consistent sub 1/2 MOA @100 yards.

.40

 

Cleaning up the work area in progress. I need to find a magnifying light to do some head stamp sorting. I did buy a few plastic containers at the grocery store to keep things in, arranged by where I am in the process. I really only need to do that for the .223, but might as well go all out