What did you reload today?

[ron]

SUH Weet! One Ragged Hole! Care to Share your Recipe?

This load used once fire LC 89 Match brass. Uniform neck tenson is key to accuracy. LC
Match brass is no better than regular LC just no crimped primers. You want to spend some
money Lapua brass at about a buck apiece. You will get many more reloads. Start at the
lower end of charge weights using IMR 4064. No crimp standard full length sizing of brass.
I have experimented with neck sizing only. Dive into that Rabbit Hole have fun.

Lapua 308 Winchester Brass Large Rifle Primer Pocket Box of 100

Lapua World-class brass begins with high-quality raw materials and superior smelting and metallurgical competence. Throughout the production process,...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Mono1]

This load used once fire LC 89 Match brass. Uniform neck tenson is key to accuracy. LC
Match brass is no better than regular LC just no crimped primers. You want to spend some
money Lapua brass at about a buck apiece. You will get many more reloads. Start at the
lower end of charge weights using IMR 4064. No crimp standard full length sizing of brass.
I have experimented with neck sizing only. Dive into that Rabbit Hole have fun.

Lapua 308 Winchester Brass Large Rifle Primer Pocket Box of 100

Lapua World-class brass begins with high-quality raw materials and superior smelting and metallurgical competence. Throughout the production process,...

www.midwayusa.com

Thanks ron!

 

[Caveman Jim]

Well OLe Caveman kind of put the cart before the horse today but in time this will come to fruition, eventually.

I started resizing the last 500 cases of LC 5.56 that I am keeping. I was seeing a lot of pristine brass, zero to very minor defects and a thought went through my brain. This stuff would look really good as 25–45 Sharps conversions.
I was able to get 260 cases resized in 5.56 and 220 in 25-45 Sharps.
I found a great barrel and that is the real reason that I'm selling my stash of LC brass, plus a little intervention never hurts.

 

[Mikej]

This load used once fire LC 89 Match brass. Uniform neck tenson is key to accuracy. LC
Match brass is no better than regular LC just no crimped primers. You want to spend some
money Lapua brass at about a buck apiece. You will get many more reloads. Start at the
lower end of charge weights using IMR 4064. No crimp standard full length sizing of brass.
I have experimented with neck sizing only. Dive into that Rabbit Hole have fun.

Lapua 308 Winchester Brass Large Rifle Primer Pocket Box of 100

Lapua World-class brass begins with high-quality raw materials and superior smelting and metallurgical competence. Throughout the production process,...

www.midwayusa.com

Hey Ron, what kind of differences might there be between commercial 06 brass and LC '69-'72 brass? If any. I seemed to notice some minor difference when sizing. Could have been slight variances in the amount of lube too. I'm using the lube pad. curious what to expect from them compared to a bunch of PPU ammo that I bought/shot.

 

[ron]

Lube pad? Haven't used one for many years. Spray on Dillon lube works best.
The lube pad is a PIA to clean the lube off the cases. The home made Lanolin and Alcohol is
a copy of the Dillon lube but much cheaper. Easier smoother sizing and cleans of with water.
PPU sure is nice brass and I have used it. Different brass requires load adjustment for
optimum accuracy. Now shooting a M1 Rifle sub MOA accuracy is not needed or capable
with iron sights. I have been using Speer 125 grain TNT and a light charge of IMR 4064.
Good for targets out to 200 yards and less recoil. Does not beat up the rifle as much.

Make Your Own Case Lube – Ultimate Reloader

ultimatereloader.com

 

[Mikej]

Lube pad? Haven't used one for many years. Spray on Dillon lube works best.
The lube pad is a PIA to clean the lube off the cases. The home made Lanolin and Alcohol is
a copy of the Dillon lube but much cheaper. Easier smoother sizing and cleans of with water.
PPU sure is nice brass and I have used it. Different brass requires load adjustment for
optimum accuracy. Now shooting a M1 Rifle sub MOA accuracy is not needed or capable
with iron sights. I have been using Speer 125 grain TNT and a light charge of IMR 4064.
Good for targets out to 200 yards and less recoil. Does not beat up the rifle as much.

Make Your Own Case Lube – Ultimate Reloader

ultimatereloader.com

Yeah, yeah, I know, there's better ways to lube. Just been too lazy to do something else. I should step up to stainless pin tumbling too! If brass is relatively clean I size/decap and clean again before all the rest of the fun prep. Been using 150gr Speer MKs with 47 gr IMR4064.

So far all I've been loading is the PPU that I shot new. I bought several 100 rounds before everything went to bubblegum ammo-wise. I also have a couple hundred commercial once fired by a club member in his Garand, that I haven't done anything with.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Yeah, yeah, I know, there's better ways to lube. Just been too lazy to do something else. I should step up to stainless pin tumbling too! If brass is relatively clean I size/decap and clean again before all the rest of the fun prep. Been using 150gr Speer MKs with 47 gr IMR4064.

So far all I've been loading is the PPU that I shot new. I bought several 100 rounds before everything went to bubblegum ammo-wise. I also have a couple hundred commercial once fired by a club member in his Garand, that I haven't done anything with.

Talk about me being a caveman, get with it man. But I have no room to talk do I, I still don't own a Dillon.

 

[Lilhigbee]

Talk about me being a caveman, get with it man. But I have no room to talk do I, I still don't own a Dillon.

Would you like to??

 

[Snip]

I still don't own a Dillon.

Women will swoon and name their first born after you...

 

[Caveman Jim]

Would you like to??

Thanks but a blue machine is not in the cards for me in the near future.

 

[Mono1]

Women will swoon and name their first born after you...

Really??

 

[2ndtimer]

Thanks but a blue machine is not in the cards for me in the near future.

Honestly, the best time to buy a Dillon was about 30 years ago. The next best time is now. But only if you like to load volume and have settled on specific loads. If you are constantly trying different powders and bullets, a single stage press works just fine. I sure like my RL-550B and the ability to knock out 300 rounds of 9mm ammo in an hour.

 

[Mikej]

Talk about me being a caveman, get with it man. But I have no room to talk do I, I still don't own a Dillon.

No, no caveman here. Not enough hair on the shoulders/ back.

 

[eb in oregon]

Lube pad? Haven't used one for many years. Spray on Dillon lube works best.
The lube pad is a PIA to clean the lube off the cases. The home made Lanolin and Alcohol is
a copy of the Dillon lube but much cheaper. Easier smoother sizing and cleans of with water.
PPU sure is nice brass and I have used it. Different brass requires load adjustment for
optimum accuracy. Now shooting a M1 Rifle sub MOA accuracy is not needed or capable
with iron sights. I have been using Speer 125 grain TNT and a light charge of IMR 4064.
Good for targets out to 200 yards and less recoil. Does not beat up the rifle as much.

Make Your Own Case Lube – Ultimate Reloader

ultimatereloader.com

I've never had an issue with a lube pad as once I've completed the loading process I simply wipe the cartridges off with a fluffy rag with either Coleman fuel or denatured alcohol on it. But as Coleman fuel has gotten expensive I've been using the DA more. As I'm usually boxing them up it's not inconvenient to me. And I have two lube pads, one for RCBS case lube and another for castor oil. no problem.

 

[Snip]

Really??

Gotta buy blue to find out...

 

[Caveman Jim]

The other day I swaged a bunch of LC brass, this was a really nice lot that had headstamps from 2018 to 2023 and very few defects. I elected to keep this lot even though I have way too much already processed.

As I normally do while swaging, I look to see if the primer pocket has been cut if so I'll toss it in the recycle bucket. Also, if I do not feel the slightest bit of resemblance I pull the case and toss it into a pile off to the side. Once I'm through with the session I'll look closely at the primer pocket to see why.

I had a half a dozen that were loose as a goose and after pulling out the trusty micrometer I saw why. The obvious one was the primer pocket was cut deeply (I missed that one) by someone who obviously didn't know what they were doing and went just a little too far.
The other one looked normal, had a rounded edge where the swage had been removed before, I miked it and it measured 0.1775". That is a most xcellent year but good golly Wolly!!!
At the time I didn't remember the exact acceptable measurements for the primer pocket so I researched a bit further. I turned to the Internet to remind me of the specs and came up with this, I took a pic but will include the website also.
Hopefully this will help some people that wonder why the primer fell out while they were loading or even shooting.

Ballistic Tools - Articles - Minimum and maximum primer and primer pocket dimensions

Ammunition, reloading accessories, once fired 5.56 brass, once fired 223 brass, brass cleaning supplies, handloading supplies, shooting accessories.

ballistictools.com

 

[eb in oregon]

I spent several hours today loading 150 .32ACP cartridges. I used mixed cases I had bought the other week from a place that sells lots of brass, most used only one time. But it's range pickup so who really knows. I used bullets cast from a Lee mold, the 311-93-1R, 2.4 grains of Unique, Winchester small pistol primers, and the aforementioned mixed cases.

There were 11 different head stamps, three USA makers and the other eight were foreign manufactured. Though PMC is an American company it has it's brass made overseas.

My reason for mentioning this is that the foreign manufactured brass all had tighter primer pockets than the domestic brass. And there is a small difference between those with some taking just a bit more muscle. And as I flare the case mouth and prime on the same operation it's easy to see there is a slight difference in brass and annealing. It was easy to tell the difference between GFL cases and R&P and W-W brass as the GFL took a bit more muscle.

But the primer pockets varied the most. Even after running a Lyman pocket uniformer in each and every case the foreign cases took a bit more effort. I had to put 15 or so back in and carefully give it another nudge.

I don't care much about separating case manufacturers unless for precision shooting, and .32ACP isn't a precision pistol or round. It's a 50 yard maximum and that's a stretch just because of the pistols it's chambered in. Oh if you hit something it will hurt, but you have to hit them first.

I'm just making this post to mention what I've reloaded today and that brass is different and the re-loader has to be on his toes all the time.

Headstamp Codes - International Ammunition Association

Premier cartridge collecting site covering all types and forms of ammunition and their history, manufacture, markings and variations

www.cartridgecollectors.org

 

[CLT65]

I've loaded some .32 acp before too, and wondered about brass brands. I was concerned more about weight variations and powder capacity.

I sorted them by weight using an electronic scale, and there was a significant difference between some brands. I was going to load some the same and shoot them over the chronograph for comparison, but never got around to it.

I haven't cast for it, but have been thinking of getting that same mold and milling a little off of it, so that it would cast closer to 70gr. A coworker recently got a milling machine, so I still might.

 

[ageingstudent]

I imagine a Bimart employee is in trouble. It's safe to say what happened there is that they haven't seen any of those primers in forever, and the old price was still on the books, hadn't been updated in years.

An allotment of primers finally came in and someone just stuck a price on them that came up in the system, and put them on the shelf with no understanding of the circumstances. They seriously lost money on that deal.

"Don't think, we don't pay you to think." All hail the hypno-toad. Don't worry, the manager won't catch hell for not updating the inventory and prices. Blame it on the person stocking shelves for doing what they are told by an incompetent boob.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I can attest to that. I've processed a bit of PSD 5.56 (Korean) and I actually had to set my swagger a little deeper to get the crimp rounded out and the primer pockets were still tight.