The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Jkwas on January 13, 2009, 07:48:23 PM
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Well I went off on a new tangent which will consume all my spare thoughts and time. I went full-on into reloading this week. I ordered up a bunch of equipment from Midway, and after I prepare my workspace I will study the manual dilligently, and purchase more supplies next month. My wife is understanding, god bless her, but she told me to keep the info on the QT, lest members of my family will think I've finally gone over the edge. I will be reloading .38spl to start, and my main goal is not to blow my hand off. I took chemistry in college so I think I can handle this. ;D
Sorry my posts haven't been more frequent, but I can't access this forum at work anymore and my web time at home is limited.
I did start a blog: http://jkwasblog.blogspot.com/ So I've got that going for me. We'll see how it all plays out. ;)
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Have fun! It's definitely a rewarding, if costly at times, pastime.
Would be cool if you could use your chemistry background to make your own powder.
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"Keep your feet wet and your powder dry".
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Way to go JKwas, and you picked the best, IMHO, caliber to start with, very versatile and very forgiving, not to mention most accurate round with little fuss. It is not a powder eater either, which these days is important. Keep most of the loads on the light side, and you might get 1500 - 2000 rounds per pound. 7000 grn of powder = 1lb. If you have any questions, post them up, when I was a newbie, I did not know anything or anybody who reloaded, so I just winged it, and did many things the hard way, and the wrong way, now a few hundred thousand rounds later, know much more. If there are any terms that don't make sense to you, just ask, there are NO stupid questions, when it comes to reloading ;D Let us know which setup you bought, so we might advise you on the shortcomings and what to watch out for.
Good luck, M25
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Have fun! It's definitely a rewarding, if costly at times, pastime.
Would be cool if you could use your chemistry background to make your own powder.
If you want make black powder from scratch you need saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Google saltpeter from manure to see how that's made. War has been waged over bat guano and bird poop.
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Ha! I saw captain Kirk do that one time :). Stuck a rock in a log and made a cannon. Made McGuyver look like a pansy.
So how do you make smokeless powder??
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Something all of us should have, the TM 31-210, improvised munitions manual. Use your googlefu.
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Please STICK TO THE PUBLISHED LOAD DATA, light loads can cause as many problems as heavy ones.
Have fun SAFELY ;D
Alfack, PM me this week end and i will send you what I can find in Poor Man's James Bond, by Kurt Saxon.
NOTE : Kurt Saxon only has 2 fingers on one hand ;D in the book he explains how that happened, in short, he got careless.
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Something all of us should have, the TM 31-210, improvised munitions manual. Use your googlefu.
I tried ordering that when I was in the army. They wouldn't let me have it because I didn't have a security clearance. So I bought it by mail order. :) I loaned it out to a friend and when I got it back it had chemical burns on it. He was probably trying to make high explosives.
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Paladin press ;D
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It's amazing how many FMs and TMs are out there on the internet.
I was mostly thinking about how to make a smokeless powder, good enough for consistant reloads. Not for a pipe bomb or muzzle loader , lol. Though, that is good knowledge to have.
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It's amazing how many FMs and TMs are out there on the internet.
I was mostly thinking about how to make a smokeless powder, good enough for consistant reloads. Not for a pipe bomb or muzzle loader , lol. Though, that is good knowledge to have.
Well, this thread has now officially gotten the attention of the FBI
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Thanks for the encouragement! I ordered a Lee single stage press kit with loading manual, Deluxe 4pc carbide die set and an autoprime tool with shell holder. I'm going to mount the press on my workbench shimmed up on the bottom so the decapped primers can be removed. I'm going to try the powder measure that comes with the die set and see how that works out before I go into the more exotic measuring devices. I've got a ton of used brass saved that I will decap first, then after studying up on the procedures I'll order primers, powder and bullets. I'm leaning toward Alliant Bullseye, CCI 500 small pistol primers and 158gn SWC hardcast lead bullets. It seems like the loading data for this bulllet is the same regardless of manufacturer, is this true? Also, how exact does overall bullet length have to be? Can it be done by eye or do I need to break out the micrometer? I'm going to get a bullet puller too for the inevitable screw-ups. I can't wait to "Roll my own" ;D
What's that noise? Are those black helicopters out there? Thank guys! >:(
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It seems like the loading data for this bulllet is the same regardless of manufacturer, is this true?
Generally, no. Each powder maker or bullet maker usually has their own load data for each cartridge. They can vary somewhat, usually not extreme. In your case, I would use the Alliant data that is available. Be sure to note the differences between lead and jacketed bullets.
Also, how exact does overall bullet length have to be? Can it be done by eye or do I need to break out the micrometer?
You're gonna want to break out the micrometer, for sure. You definitely don't want to be over the maximum cartridge spec OAL, especially if you are loading for an auto. Similarly, you don't want to be too far under the load data spec. If you are under, you can increase the pressure of the cartridge and damage your pistola. I usually try to make sure my pistol rounds are + or - .005 of the load data spec, unless the .005 puts me over the max cartridge spec. You don't have to be anally precise, or you would spend a lot of time adjusting your seating die.
Let us know how you did, when you manage to crank a few out.
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You should be able to get decent dial caliper for under $50 from any of the shooting supply places, Midway, Brownell's etc, or tool supply co. MSC, Harbor freight. You DO NOT need a set off $250 digital Mitatoyo calipers.
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I resurfaced my workbench and built a mounting block and bolted down the press on saturday. I shimmed it so that the decapped primers eject out the bottom into a collection area. I decapped 200 casings and got them ready for priming. I only found two cracked cases which I discarded. So far, so good. This week my primers, powder, and bullets come. Get the safety glasses out! :o
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OK Jkwas, now your commited, I would not use bullseye, or CCI primers, not that they are bad, but the powder is dirty, and the primers are very hard, the hardest if I might say so, if you have any action work done on the revolver they might not go bang. For revolvers, Federal 100's are the best, and Winchester 2nd, remington is not too bad. Winchester 231 is one my favorites for .38 special, and the new target powders, super field, etc.. are very clean and reliable. You will get lots of unburnt powder from bullseye that will collect under the extractor, and bind the cylinder.
Now that you have chosen a single stage press, 1st, resize all the cases, then bellmouth, the cases so the bullet can enter undisturbed, then reprime them all, and next charge them with powder and seat the bullet, and crimp at the same time. Do this in stages with as many cases as you have available, and you can produce a lot of ammo without working too hard.
Good luck ;D
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Wow, you sure are getting a lot of advice. Let me throw in my $.02...
Primers
Check the directions on the Lee Auto-Prime. I have a bunch of Lee equipment, and all of it warns against using Federal primers. There is something about Federal primers that is funny with Lee equipment. I have stuck to CCI, Winchester, and have recently tried Wolf as well. Lee has posted the instructions for most of their equipment on their website. Google Lee Precision.
Powder
I started reloading back in 2005 and was really nervous when I got started. Initially, I started out loading .45 Colt for cowboy shooting, much like the .38 Spl. You will do fine, just stick to the basics to get started. You might want to look into trying some Hodgden Titegroup powder when starting out. It is easy to work with and pretty forgiving in long revolver cases. You also get a lot of bang for your $ with this. Also as mentioned before, Winchester 231 is great as well.
Recommendations
Look into getting a Lee Powder Funnel. It is just a few bucks and will make your life easier when using the Lee dippers. It fits ontop of the powder through-expander die. I also use something called an Overall Length Cartridge Gauge. This is simply a metal cylinder machined to the maximum dimensions of the specified round. I check every round in these gauges as part of the quality control and checks I do after I have loaded my ammo. Any case exceeding the max OAL will stick out the end of the gauge.
Good luck, and have fun with it. Reloading is a great hobby. In just a few years, I have gone from one to eight calibers with all kinds of various machines, devices, and tools. It is a tinkerer's dream come true.
M.
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I can use some help. I will be reloading the following: 38spc, 44 mag and spc, 45 acp, 223, and lastly 308. I have not done this before. It would be nice to have the time to experiment with different powders, but bHO is barking at the door. I want clean burning, good powder for each caliber mentioned. The 44 will also be used in a long gun. I want to buy a sh*t load, that is why I am asking. Every minute the price goes up. Thanks in advance
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I can use some help. I will be reloading the following: 38spc, 44 mag and spc, 45 acp, 223, and lastly 308. I have not done this before. It would be nice to have the time to experiment with different powders, but bHO is barking at the door. I want clean burning, good powder for each caliber mentioned. The 44 will also be used in a long gun. I want to buy a sh*t load, that is why I am asking. Every minute the price goes up. Thanks in advance
A lot of the guys at my range have recommended Titegroup for handguns and Varget for rifle loads. They all say they are clean burning, will load a wide variety of calibers, and they go a long way for the buck.
A good friend says the Varget is the best he's ever run through his .308. Very clean, he says.
I have both powders in storage but have yet to have time to try them. My first batch will be .44 mag and special using the Titegroup. John Taffin speaks highly of it in his reloading column.
Good luck.
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I highly recommend Universal Clays for most any pistol round. Burns clean, shoots great, and handles temperature extremes very well.
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Good luck with your reloading. Would recommend that you clean your cases before depriming. That keeps dirt and powder residue out of your dies and prolongs their service. I use a vibrating tumbler. Some people don't clean their brass before depriming, everybody does it differently, and that is fine. Second what Tom said, get a micrometer. It is an important tool, probably on the most used tool in reloading and over all cartridge length is important.
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One other peice of equiptment you might want to get after you get started reloading is the Lyman Universial Case trimmer. You are not going to have .38 cases stretching out in length, but reloading for semi-auto rounds it is nice to have all the cases the exact trim to length as stated in the reloading manuals, this gets rid of a lot of headaches. Personally I trim all my cases after the first time they are fired just to keep everything the same length. Have fun reloading can be addicting. ;D
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Get a bullet puller as well. You will make mistakes and need to take them apart from time to time!