What did you reload today?

[osprey]

Loaded some 185 gr. Remington golden saber for the .45 acp's I love these projectiles just really hard to find now days getting ready to do 500 102 gr. GS For .380 acp as soon as I get brass for em lol

Unfortunately it looks like the original GS is no longer available which is unfortunate as it is one of my favorite old school hollow points. They really shine in mid range velocity loadings. I still have a bunch for 38 special loads.

 

[oremike]

My 10 mm brass shipped today, so now I know what I'll be doing next week.

 

[po18guy]

My 10 mm brass shipped today, so now I know what I'll be doing next week.

So, today you reloaded your anticipation?

 

[CLT65]

Just loaded a few .43 Spanish rounds for an old 1870's Remington rolling block. Please don't laugh too hard at my cheesy converted cases. I'm too cheap to pay $4 each for proper brass, so I reformed and modified some belted mag brass to work.

 

[DLS]

Who would laugh at that! Great job keeping an old shooter alive and kicking!

 

[DirectDrive]

Just loaded a few .43 Spanish rounds for an old 1870's Remington rolling block. Please don't laugh too hard at my cheesy converted cases. I'm too cheap to pay $4 each for proper brass, so I reformed and modified some belted mag brass to work.

View attachment 1117223

Please educate me on how a modern belted case can work in an antique firearm.

 

[CLT65]

Please educate me on how a modern belted case can work in an antique firearm.

It's one of those things you might call advanced techniques. It's a fairly common conversion for this cartridge. The modern belted case is far stronger than the original brass was and the loads are light.

The belted Mag brass works because it's nearly the right diameter. You just need to turn the belt diameter down slightly. This can be done easily on a lathe, or a poor man's lathe (drill press). Then you cut the neck off to length, and anneal the top so it can be expanded without splitting, to form the .43 neck.

I expand the neck in steps, depending on what brass I started with. So far I've used .264, 7mm, and .338 Magnum brass. Once fully expanded I size them in the .43 Spanish die, and trim to final length.

The brass in the new neck is still going to be a little too thick, so you can ream it, cut it with a special tool, turn it on a lathe, or use the Khyber Pass method- a drill press and a file.

The rim is far too small to engage with the extractor, so the standard method is to use a very specific size steel retaining ring.

I know it sounds pretty rinky dink to by-the-book reloaders, but the finished product is effective and safe.

 

[Rlynn]

Polished up some 222 brass. I will get dies this weekend and I can start reloading for this cartridge. Looking forward to it.

 

[JRuby]

Picked up a remington 721 that had been rechambered from 300 H&H. Since I have more 300 H&H I have plans of fire forming 100 H&H to 300 Weatherby.

 

[po18guy]

Just loaded a few .43 Spanish rounds for an old 1870's Remington rolling block. Please don't laugh too hard at my cheesy converted cases. I'm too cheap to pay $4 each for proper brass, so I reformed and modified some belted mag brass to work.

View attachment 1117223

Well done. How is chambering with the belt? I looked at the 50-110 brass conversion article and I think you chose the better choice. 15,000 PSI should do just fine in a case made for 63,000.

 

[CLT65]

Well done. How is chambering with the belt? I looked at the 50-110 brass conversion article and I think you chose the better choice. 15,000 PSI should do just fine in a case made for 63,000.

The belt needs turned down about .005" to .008" in diameter to fit the chamber. I wish I had a lathe, but this small amount is easily done in a drill press. I've been doing some minor case conversions for decades, but this is my first time with something like this. So far it's working well; I've loaded and fired these cases several times each. It takes quit a while to make just ten pieces.

The other option would be to buy a few. Track of The Wolf has what looks like very nice custom brass, even has the proper headstamp, for $4 each. It does hurt a bit to spend $80 for a box of 20 pieces of empty brass. Even then, I'd buy a few except for the fact that my rifle has a damaged chamber. I failed to notice before I bought it that there was a gouge in the chamber neck. It's only a couple thousandths deep, but leaves a very noticeable bulge in the fired brass neck. It doesn't really affect chambering or extraction, but I don't know how long the brass will hold up, with the bulge being repeatedly resized. These ten pieces are my first, and a bit shoddy and amateurish as I was learning how to do it. So far they're doing fine but I'll load and fire them a few more times before passing judgement.

This is also my first rolling block rifle. Now I regret not getting into antique rifles sooner! I passed up a bargain on a 50-70 a few years ago. I don't see many bargains now. These were originally black powder cartridges. I loaded and fired a couple with black powder, but right now I'm just not into that yet. Loading and cleaning is so much easier with smokeless.

 

[ageingstudent]

The belt needs turned down about .005" to .008" in diameter to fit the chamber. I wish I had a lathe, but this small amount is easily done in a drill press. I've been doing some minor case conversions for decades, but this is my first time with something like this. So far it's working well; I've loaded and fired these cases several times each. It takes quit a while to make just ten pieces.

The other option would be to buy a few. Track of The Wolf has what looks like very nice custom brass, even has the proper headstamp, for $4 each. It does hurt a bit to spend $80 for a box of 20 pieces of empty brass. Even then, I'd buy a few except for the fact that my rifle has a damaged chamber. I failed to notice before I bought it that there was a gouge in the chamber neck. It's only a couple thousandths deep, but leaves a very noticeable bulge in the fired brass neck. It doesn't really affect chambering or extraction, but I don't know how long the brass will hold up, with the bulge being repeatedly resized. These ten pieces are my first, and a bit shoddy and amateurish as I was learning how to do it. So far they're doing fine but I'll load and fire them a few more times before passing judgement.

This is also my first rolling block rifle. Now I regret not getting into antique rifles sooner! I passed up a bargain on a 50-70 a few years ago. I don't see many bargains now. These were originally black powder cartridges. I loaded and fired a couple with black powder, but right now I'm just not into that yet. Loading and cleaning is so much easier with smokeless.

.43 Spanish...in a rolling block...outstanding no matter how you make it work if it works.

 

[DLS]

... I failed to notice before I bought it that there was a gouge in the chamber neck....

Way more work than you might like to think about, but could you pull the barrel, cut it down by one thread and cut a new chamber? That should remove the gouge in the chamber neck.

I'm impressed at your case conversion work for sure. I'd be really impressed if you did the above with just your drill press (J/K)

 

[CLT65]

.43 Spanish...in a rolling block...outstanding no matter how you make it work if it works.

Thanks. It's been a fun project. It shows promise as a shooter, holds them inside an inch at 25 yards. Yes, I know that awfully short distance for an old musket that's nearly as tall as I am, but at this time I'm just making brass and working up a load. The sights are extremely primitive and missing the elevator.

Way more work than you might like to think about, but could you pull the barrel, cut it down by one thread and cut a new chamber? That should remove the gouge in the chamber neck.

I'm impressed at your case conversion work for sure. I'd be really impressed if you did the above with just your drill press (J/K)

Thank you. It's actually a 20 year old Harbor Freight drill press. I keep thinking about buying something better, but this one works OK. I figure if they can make entire guns using an old hacksaw blade, worn-out file, and ball peen hammer in the Khyber Pass, then I should be able to make some usable ammo with a junky old drill press.

I've thought about a couple different ways to fix the chamber. I think the best would be to ream out the neck of the chamber a few thousandths. I've read that some people do this anyhow so they can use thicker brass and/or larger diameter bullets. Most rifles in this caliber benefit from oversize bullets, but most chambers are too tight to accommodate them. Reaming out the neck area should clean up most of the gouges, or at least minimize them. There's still the expense of buying or renting a chamber reamer and either trying to do it myself or paying a gunsmith to do it. For now I'll live with funky looking brass, as it doesn't really effect shootability.

 

[po18guy]

As to drill presses, the easiest improvement is a better chuck. They come OEM with wimpy, loose undersized chucks for the capacity of the motor. I have a 40-sometihng year old Mark1 drill press from the old Pay-N-Pak in Kent, WA. I was never satisfied with the chuck. I noted that the spindle taper was JT33, so I ordered up a Vertex Pro chuck. A bit of a difference. Does reduce the throat of the press by about 3/4" but the precision is absolutely worth it.

 

[Steel Head]

Annealed 100 cases of 338 edge and measured up some bullets to spec a reamer on my next rifle

 

[Steel Head]

As to drill presses, the easiest improvement is a better chuck. They come OEM with wimpy, loose undersized chucks for the capacity of the motor. I have a 40-sometihng year old Mark1 drill press from the old Pay-N-Pak in Kent, WA. I was never satisfied with the chuck. I noted that the spindle taper was JT33, so I ordered up a Vertex Pro chuck. A bit of a difference. Does reduce the throat of the press by about 3/4" but the precision is absolutely worth it.
View attachment 1117976

It's amazing the difference in a great versus so so lathe or drill Chuck.

 

[ma96782]

In preparation for a warmer time.....I bought more 9mm brass.

Aloha, Mark

 

[brucekr]

Polished up some 222 brass. I will get dies this weekend and I can start reloading for this cartridge. Looking forward to it.

I think I have a few dozen 222 cases that I'd be willing to donate to your cause.


Been prepping brass myself for 9mm, 300 blk, 44 mag, and 357. Figured if I can get past that part, I'll actually load some bullets in the next few weeks.

 

[partsed]

In preparation for a warmer time.....I bought more 9mm brass.

Aloha, Mark

My sister brought me 250 pieces of 9mm from their trip to the range….