What did you reload today?

[ageingstudent]

Ah, but can he strike a stone and get water from it?

The golden calf worshippers want to know.

He can find brass like manna apparently. I guess it falls from the sky whenever he needs it. I really think the beard has something to do with it.

 

[Newberg]

....So, I called Dillon customer service and after verifying all the tightening and other checks, they asked me the one question that I had not done - did I use any case lube????

Well, no I had not. I mean I had been told it wasn't necessary for 9mm - right??? No, Dillon said I needed to.

So, while being a sceptic, I grabbed my Bootleg Case Lube that I use on rifle brass in my Rockchucker ( https://ultimatereloader.com/2017/05/09/make-your-own-case-lube/ ), put some cases in a gallon plastic bag, added a couple sprays, rolled the cases around, let them air dry, and ran some through the Dillon. EUREKA! It worked great and no more case length sizing issues or downstroke pressure issues. The only additional thing I had to allow for was to make sure the cases were dry such that the powder wasn't clumping on the case walls.

The press issues were eliminated, and the new rounds shot great at the range today - win/win!....

I had this EXACT situation! I use the same bootleg lube too!

I spray into a gallon zip lock bag, dump in clean cases and roll them around. Dump them out to dry in the case feeder while I setup the press. I'm a believer now in lubing 9mm and pistol cases. Absolutely made a world of difference in my speed and consistency.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Apparently your referring to OLD books chiseled into stone is OK as Hodgdon website lists TiteGroup OK for several 357 magnum pistol loads, from light to heavy bullet weights.

View attachment 1845384

Yes sir, this is the one.

 

[Caveman Jim]

View attachment 1845611

I have been reloading 9mm for almost 3 years now without many real issues until recently. My standard practice was to clean with S/S pins - one wash with Dawn, dump dirty water and repeat using car wash ( I thought I did so because it made the brass lustrous and shiney. ) Three or four months ago I ran out of the car wash and did not replace it since it was winter and I wasn't going to be washing my car in the near future.

Fast forward a couple of months and I started to have problems - 2 or 3 per 50 - where the case would not pass a case gauge. The finished round would sit up about a 3/16" to 4/16" high in the gauge. The downstroke on the Dillon XL 650 was experiencing extra pressure randomly and the problem cases were the end result and needed to be pulled apart and re-ran.

I tried just about everything to solve the problem including:

- tighten all bolts
- tighten the dies
- lube the bottom of the powder funnel - didn't work after 3 or 4 cases
- polish the bottom of the powder funnel
- burnished the bottom of the powder funnel with titanium dioxide

Nothing seemed to work and the problem was getting worse to the extent I was getting about 6 - 8 bad cases per 50 reloaded - definitely no bueno.

So, I called Dillon customer service and after verifying all the tightening and other checks, they asked me the one question that I had not done - did I use any case lube????

Well, no I had not. I mean I had been told it wasn't necessary for 9mm - right??? No, Dillon said I needed to.

So, while being a sceptic, I grabbed my Bootleg Case Lube that I use on rifle brass in my Rockchucker ( https://ultimatereloader.com/2017/05/09/make-your-own-case-lube/ ), put some cases in a gallon plastic bag, added a couple sprays, rolled the cases around, let them air dry, and ran some through the Dillon. EUREKA! It worked great and no more case length sizing issues or downstroke pressure issues. The only additional thing I had to allow for was to make sure the cases were dry such that the powder wasn't clumping on the case walls.

The press issues were eliminated, and the new rounds shot great at the range today - win/win!

After all this was done and finished, I had a "hey dummy" moment''' - strangely standing in the shower of all places...

View attachment 1845631

...when I finally realized that the wax in the car wash had been my lube. When I thought I hadn't been using any lube, I actually in fact had been using a type of lube all along until I stopped when the car wash ran out.

When I started producing more 40 S&W and then later 9mm on the turret, that was the exact reason why I switched over to wet cleaning w/SS pins and car wash/wax.
I thank @Madpick for posting a very detailed video and then answering some of my questions to send me down yet another rabbit hole. Thanks brother.
I also wear gloves after I clean and dry pistol AND rifle brass and when loading, so I don't put any oils or grease on them.
It works slicker than owl poop on a rainy night.

 

[2ndtimer]

When I started producing more 40 S&W and then later 9mm on the turret, that was the exact reason why I switched over to wet cleaning w/SS pins and car wash/wax.
I thank @Madpick for posting a very detailed video and then answering some of my questions to send me down yet another rabbit hole. Thanks brother.
I also wear gloves after I clean and dry pistol AND rifle brass and when loading, so I don't put any oils or grease on them.
It works slicker than owl poop on a rainy night.

I just put a little Hornady Unique lube on my fingertips on every 5th case or so. Really smooths up the operation on my Dillon 550. Might have to try the car wash wax instead of Dawn and Lemishine. What kind of car wash/wax do you guys use? Do you still add a pinch of Lemishine as well?

 

[CLT65]

I know everyone does it differently, but I use the wash/wax afterwards.

I use Dawn and Lemishine only in the tumbler, then pull all the pins out with a magnet as I rinse the brass. The last step is a capful of wash/wax in clean water, slosh the brass around a bit then drain the water. I dump it onto an old towel just to get most of the water off, then into the dryer, a repurposed food dehydrator.

The super thin and dry coating of wax works very well. Before I started using the wax, the wet tumbled brass was just too clean, would gall and stick on the expander.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I just put a little Hornady Unique lube on my fingertips on every 5th case or so. Really smooths up the operation on my Dillon 550. Might have to try the car wash wax instead of Dawn and Lemishine. What kind of car wash/wax do you guys use? Do you still add a pinch of Lemishine as well?

Lemi-Shine is a definite must and don't forget the Dawn. I use Zip Wax by Turtle Wax, I use an 35mm film container filled 3 times.I use a 35mm film case and fill it three times. That's my recipe and it definitely works well for me.

 

[Mono1]

if I see any that have a belly on them they go into the recycle bucket.

Commendable!

 

[Caveman Jim]

Ah, but can he strike a stone and get water from it?

The golden calf worshippers want to know.

I'll not be putting on any demonstrations for the golden calf worshipers, they will just have to use their imaginations.

 

[ARFrog]

Yes, I use Lemishine in the first of the two cleaning runs as well. I have used a couple of different car washes but have not been brand specific. However, I believe both have had carnauba wax in them.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Ramping up loading before springers are in. Loaded a bunch of 45 acp 230 gr rmr over 5.3 Vv n320. Debating on more tomorrow or go chase a ghost springer.

You never know unless you go. I just may spend my birthday down at Drano this year, I haven't been there in quite a while.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I just put a little Hornady Unique lube on my fingertips on every 5th case or so. Really smooths up the operation on my Dillon 550. Might have to try the car wash wax instead of Dawn and Lemishine. What kind of car wash/wax do you guys use? Do you still add a pinch of Lemishine as well?

Years ago I too tried that but me being such a clean freak I did not like having lube on my skin/hands. The wet cleaning with car wash/wax is the ticket.
Badda bing badda bang.
Now, if I were only loading 20 or so big rifle rounds per session, I may go that way because I do not use wax on the rifle brass since I prep them long before loading.

 

[conditor22]

Must be the season for cleaning brass. In a DIY wet tumbler I put 7 pounds of SS pins, fill 80% with de-primed brass and hot water, use 2 squirts of Dawn and 1 teaspoon of citric acid (like Lemi-shine) (pictures of my tumbler in another thread) after around 2 hours I thoroughly rinse the brass, remove all the pins and excess water in a media separator then soak the brass in a solution of water and car wash/wax, lightly rinse again, remove excess water in the media separator again then dump on a large towel; form the towel into a hammock and rock the brass back and forth removing the water from the outside to prevent spotting. then into a food dehydrator from a thrift store until dry. Batch one


Batch 2


then I loaded 100 cartridges with bullets I swaged out of 22 long rifle brass



The tips loof a little rough but surprisingly over some BLC-(2) I get a 3/8" group with them.

Now comes the fun fart of sorting the brass by headstamp.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Must be the season for cleaning brass. In a DIY wet tumbler I put 7 pounds of SS pins, fill 80% with de-primed brass and hot water, use 2 squirts of Dawn and 1 teaspoon of citric acid (like Lemi-shine) (pictures of my tumbler in another thread) after around 2 hours I thoroughly rinse the brass, remove all the pins and excess water in a media separator then soak the brass in a solution of water and car wash/wax, lightly rinse again, remove excess water in the media separator again then dump on a large towel; form the towel into a hammock and rock the brass back and forth removing the water from the outside to prevent spotting. then into a food dehydrator from a thrift store until dry. Batch one
View attachment 1846014

Batch 2
View attachment 1846015

then I loaded 100 cartridges with bullets I swaged out of 22 long rifle brass

View attachment 1846016

The tips loof a little rough but surprisingly over some BLC-(2) I get a 3/8" group with them.

Now comes the fun fart of sorting the brass by headstamp.

Too funny, I do the hammock thing also. Rock o my baby.
I lay my wet brass out on an old, soft, electric heating blanket in the room, which is about 70° for a few days. I am retired. I got time.

I have heard about swaging bullets from 22lr cases, but I've just got too many irons in the fire to even think about that. Good on you for doing it.

What? I'm not the only one that separates brass by head stamps? I do it religiously.

 

[Tilos]

I've been lurking here...
With all this talk about car wash/wax used in wet tumbling I thought I'd post the way I do it.

Simply, I tumble with Lemishine/Dawn, but NO auto wash/wax.
That wash/wax product goes into the final rinse, before the drying.
I think the brass ends up with more wash/wax on it doing it that way.
I actually have a gallon jug full of water, heavily laced with wash/wax that I use over and over for that final rinse.
Adding a few drops of fabric softener to the rinse water will keep the suds/foaming down to zero.
Try it,
End of troll/lurker post.
.

 

[Dillon1000]

Made 50 6 PPC from 220 Russian. Lot of work. They now sell 6PPC
cases, but when I started you had to made your own. Because I bought
a bunch back when, you don't throw new Lapua brass away. So I continue to build my own. If any one is interested, I can tell how its done.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I've been lurking here...
With all this talk about car wash/wax used in wet tumbling I thought I'd post the way I do it.

Simply, I tumble with Lemishine/Dawn, but NO auto wash/wax.
That wash/wax product goes into the final rinse, before the drying.
I think the brass ends up with more wash/wax on it doing it that way.
I actually have a gallon jug full of water, heavily laced with wash/wax that I use over and over for that final rinse.
Add a few drops of fabric softener to the rinse water will keep the suds/foaming down to zero.
Try it,
End of troll/lurker post.
.

Thanks, I've heard more than just you say that same thing, there must be something to it. Caveman is always willing to try new things Reloading related.

Reminds me of a song, "things I liked, I tried em twice, you got that right" LS

 

[Caveman Jim]

Just finish up priming 200+ 357 cases with CCI 550's on the RCBS APS.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Thanks, I've heard more than just you say that same thing, there must be something to it. Caveman is always willing to try new things Reloading related.

Reminds me of a song, "things I liked, I tried em twice, you got that right" LS

Well Mr. Tilos, I tried your enhanced version of the car wash/wax with brass, very simple and straightforward. There was only one problem, I miss one simple ingredient and POOFFFFF
Not a drop of fabric softener in the house…
But they cold rinse and they cleared right up and the foam went away.
Now to put my shiny waxed babies into the hammock and then onto the drying bed in
The Room…

Note to self, next time at grocery store pick up a small bottle of Snuggle.

 

[Newberg]

After verifying my 38spl load at the range with my S&W model 67 I decided to load up more.

300 CCI primers started in the plan. 292 made it. .

I ended up dumping primers twice today. The first time I was able to find them all. The second dump, I ended up losing 8.

Similar load 3.9grns of A#2 with a 158grn lead SWC.

also broke a few plastic parts on my Dillon SQDB. The blue plastic tip that holds the primers in the magazine tube. I'm suspecting a contaminated it with garage floor dust from the dumped primers.

Dillon is sending replacements as usual.

All in all. 292 more rounds made.