What have you done in the reloading room today

Cleaned up 1,500 miscellaneous .45 auto cases - tired of hunting for my IMI Match hulls so plan on using random stuff for practice (most is IMI '87 & '89). Ran 100 rounds through the Dillon 650 - 200 gr semi-wadcutter cast lead with a whopping 3.6 gr of Clays behind them. Want to chrono these and some other loads before loading the rest. Looked at the cost based on what I paid for the components a "few" years ago... ~1 Oz of Clays - $1.00, 100 Win primers - $0.65, 100 cast bullets - $3.00, brass was "free".

 

Bearded Phil how do you like that new pro melt

 

You WILL LIKE IT

 

It will . Dillon powder anvils are very precise . Simply throw #3 charges don't bother weighting until the #4 Th. charge adjust as necessary and Repeat until You've got the load you want . Lock it down and go to town . It's one of the first impressive things about Dillon reloaders I liked ,consistent powder charges . Is it BR quality loads ,NO but as good as any Progressives I've seen . Powder meters Best IMO ,if the measure is kept half to Full of powder . Keep Your powder can out or make note of powder you're using and left over can go back into it's container if there's extra when You are through . I always keep an Allen hex set on the bench ,along with Die wrenches makes MY life easier anyway .

 

It's NOT ugly if it works

 

Two questions if I may ask ; How does cost compare with commercially made ? Do You source your own copper sheet and are You able to melt copper scrap down and re-roll it or utilize it ? Thanks

 

Cleaned up!

 

So each check maker is $110 plus some tax and $9 shipping.

I'm using aluminum flashing in two different thicknesses, .014" for the .30 cal and .0078" for the .357.

for the .0078" flash I got a roll from Lowes that's 10" x 50' for $36 shipped. I didn't punch out a full width of checks on that one but I imagine that will punch out around 17 or 18 down the 10" width needing just over half an inch for one row to cut and not overlap.

So say 1-1/4" strips need to be cut, that gives 480 strips that will punch about 34 checks per strip. That means the full roll of flash will make somewhere around 16,320 checks. $36 bucks / 16,320 checks means a cost of $.002/check or .02 cents.

Doing the same kind of math for the .30 cal in .014" flash, a quick break down.

16 checks per 1" strip. (out of 4" x 50' roll)- that's both sides of the 1" x 4" strip, 8 checks per side.
600ea 1" strips, x 16 = 9,600 checks
Roll cost $35 from Ace, shipped to and picked up in store
$.0036/per check or .03 cent per check.

So if you figure maybe $30/1k of commercial checks by the time I've used 5000 of each I'll be breaking even on the cost of the maker & flash and then from there it's all free (minus my time). May seem like a while to get there but I essentially now have a lifetime supply of gas checks for 30-30 and my heavy .357 mags.

 

I'm going to give it a full run this Saturday hopefully so we shall see.

I primed it up like I said and that took about 2-1/2 hours (yuk!) I had it set to 730F for a while and then bumped it to 800F after seeing no melt happening.
After I bumped up the temp I had a whole 20lbs melted in about another 20 mins (I bumped up at right around the 2hr mark).

I noticed a slight drip from the nozzle when I switched it to 0F to cool and unplug it but just a tiny bit. Only dripped maybe 1 or 2 times.

 

Check your math again. .002 is two tenths of a cent. That's cheap and gooder

 

You're right, I added an extra zero converting to cents.

 

Phil I will be awaiting your report.

 

Also should add that you need to set the temp to 0F and let it cool to 160F or under and then unplug it to turn it "off". It doesn't have a switch.

Cooling down on a 20lb pot took about another 2-1/2 hours. Now that I know I'll just set a timer after I'm done with my sessions and go back to unplug it after an appropriate amount of time.

 

Just being able to keep loading without having to worry about supply chain issues seems worthwhile.

 

Used up the last of my #9 on to new adventures. It's a dam shame my chronograph didn't work last range trip because sw heavy pistol is on deck and I got no numbers.... first time loading the dark green. I like it. Same Ole noe 154.

 

Thanks Phil for the detailed Info . Obliviously I mistook your Aluminum for copper MY bad .
I believe I will order one in .44 cal. ,kind of a shame they don't have interchangeable Dies sets as .38 for ME would also come in handy .
The reason I asked was ; We owned avocado and citrus groves in Southern Calif. before moving up in Idaho . Anyway I've got a few Rolls of Copper ,I'll need to check gauge or thickness as I know it's not as thick as commercial pucks . I believe copper tape is 3.5- 4.0" width perhaps 0.005" or 36 gauge . I remember I had to cut it and slice a lock tab when wrapping tree trunk . Used as Snail and slug barrier and the agricultural supply house had different weights . I bought the heaviest as I Didn't want to do it again for years . I don't remember the weight of the rolls but 22 lb. comes to mind quite heavy for 8" diameter .

 

Ran the wet tumbler yesterday, then the dryer. Annealed about 6-700 pieces of brass this morning, consisting of 5.56, 6.8, x39, 6.5CM, and 243win. I'll start sizing later this week.

 

You're welcome!

Just direct message Dave on his ebay page and see if he can get you what you want.

He has this note on his product description, not sure what the deal is but maybe ask him for more details:
"

• We also offer an interchangeable gas check maker set saves space and cost along with other great reloading tools"

With .005" flash that's more the gauge he says to use with plain base checks. He usually recommends .004" for those I see. I cut up an aluminum can of some V8 drinks I get regularly and gauged it with my calipers. Not super exact, a micrometer would probably be better but on those I got .004" thickness readings.

 

Continued swaging the .223 cases I poorly removed the primer pocket crimp on, got 450 done, and I'm maybe halfway done . Also played with my new .223 Giraud tri way trimmer a bit. It's dead on for the trim length I want (~1.745) but I'm not getting much for an outside chamfer, and a bigger than I'd like inside chamfer. Looks like I'm going to have to adjust it a little!

 

Prepped and primed some more 357 brass for testing loads with the new cast bullets. CFE Pistol and W231 will get a turn. Maybe HS 6 too. It’s listed as potentially most accurate for 158 LSWC in my manual.

I also discovered the joy of sizing and flaring lubed pistol cases. It’s smoother and a little easier. The difference isn’t huge but it’s there.