Pass on the wisdom!

[ISP 5353]

Best reloading tip that I learned the hard way: Alway, Always, Always use enough case lube!

[chris in va]

Yes! I discovered that a boolit sized .003 over bore slug works well in my picky CZ 75.

[Shoney]

After an extended loading session at night, when you get up in the morning, never, Never, NEVER, fry bacon in the nude.

[dmazur]

2- If you use a whack a mole bullet puller, shell holders replace the 3 piece collets and o-rings nicely.

Maybe. However, this isn't necessarily safe, even if you've been doing it for years.

Here's a link from another forum. If you go all the way to the end, there's a summary of the event -

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=50347&page=3

Apparently this practice isn't dangerous to the point that lots of incidents occur. It has to be a "perfect storm" of combined circumstances.

Nevertheless, it bears some study.

[RWJOHN]

Make sure your scale is not being affected by ceiling fans, vents, etc...

Peace

RJ

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by FEG

1) New brass or really clean brass tends to stick with carbide dies, especially in something tapered like 9mm. Buy a cheap plastic plant sprayer. Mix one part Lee case lube to ten parts rubbing alcohol. Load up a block of cases, then mist them lightly. Spacing one of these minimally lubed cases in about every ten cases to be loaded (i.e. #s 1, 11, 21, etc.) makes sizing them much easier.

Should you do this with the cases up, down or laying on their sides?

How long do you let them dry before putting primer or powder in them?

Does seem like a good idea. Though I have heard that if you let lube get underneath the carbide ring, it can pop out of the die. No worries if you don't over-do it, though.

Lost Sheep.

[FEG]

Should you do this with the cases up, down or laying on their sides?

I place them normally in a caseloading block, so they are up.

How long do you let them dry before putting primer or powder in them?

I've never really timed it. If you use rubbing alcohol and "mist" them, they dry very quickly. If you use water, it seems to take forever. I load on a single-stage, so everything takes longer, relatively speaking. (That is, I'm not dumping them in a case collator or anything.)

Does seem like a good idea. Though I have heard that if you let lube get underneath the carbide ring, it can pop out of the die. No worries if you don't over-do it, though.

That's the key, I think. A light mist more than does the job. Also, using more than one cartridge per ten ends up being a bit of overkill.

[wncchester]

Place a beam scale on a shelf about nose high, as it should be, and it suddenly becomes quite easy to see and use! It seems many people prefer digital powder scales simply because they are "easier" to read while sitting on the bench top, only worse place to put a beam scale would be UNDER the bench top!


A powder measure should be mounted in a sturdy stand and sitting about a foot behind the front edge of the bench. The worst possible place to mount a powder measure is in a single stage press. Next worse is on the front of the bench where it takes up valuable bench space, it's awkard to use and is subject to casual damage.


Speed batch processing cases by trimming, deburring, sizing/decapping them while moving from-to different boxes, not taking time to place them in a loading block until they are primed and ready to charge.


Charge cases faster and more consistantly if you're going to drop powder without weighting it by leaving them in the loading block and move it from case to case as a unit. Check for consistancy of the powder columes or weigh any you may wish after they are all charged.

[flyguy958]

Place the brass you are sizing, decapping etc in the shell holder with the hand you operate the handle of the press with. This will keep you from learning the messy/bloody way what a decapping pin does to your index finger.

It is amazing that when you feel resistance on the press handle your instinct is to push harder no matter how much pain it is causing to your other hand.

[briandg]

along with the last post, right handers use the left to handle shells.

Sure, you can reverse your press, so that you are handling your shells with your right hand, so it will be a little easier to perform operations, but if your left hand is stupid, uncoordinated, and incapable of working in tandem with the other, you want the SMART right hand in charge of the part that will be controlling the ram. I tried this, and had a few other people try it, and it seems unanimous that the best hand should be controlling the press, rather than the other way around.

The reason I think it works that way, is that you will be concentrating on your left hand, so as to properly handle the brass, and your right will be working mostly on a very low level of mental demand.

No, I never hurt myself, but I did ruin a few shells, and it was a frustrating experiment.

[animal]

For the do it yourselfer cheapskates (like me)…

Don’t bother making a rotary tumbler even though it’s cheap and easy to do … it isn’t worth it unless you’re gonna make it huge for tumbling thousands of rounds at a time… They’re blindingly SLOW compared to a vibrator tumbler that you can buy pretty cheaply from Midway.
I suffered through a couple of years of a rotary, and didn’t even know I was "suffering"… until I bought one of those silly looking blue pumpkin things.

Mount presses to doubled ¾ plywood bases, make your bench where it accepts the bases, and a storage rack to accept them too, unless you have lots of room. Accumulating reloading equipment tends to "just happen" after you get into it, and it’s really irritating changing out stuff once you end up with a couple of MECs, a progressive, a single stage, some bullet sizer/lubricators, a case trimmer or two, etc. … and ALL have different mounting hole patterns.

Don’t skimp on a powder scale… but oddly enough, I’ve found that the Lee balance is actually pretty accurate.

Don’t buy a Lyman case trimmer :barf:… unless it’s about 90% off and you intend to make your own using only the pilots and cutter head out of the box…. The rest of the thing is scrap metal,imo.

A powder trickler is so cheap, there’s no excuse to not have one ... if you’re going to be working up rifle loads.

[wncchester]

"Don’t buy a Lyman case trimmer … unless it’s about 90% off and you intend to make your own using only the pilots and cutter head out of the box…. The rest of the thing is scrap metal,imo."

???

[Irish80prf]

I haven't bought a trickler but I've found that a .38 special case half full of powder rolled between your fingers works pretty well to get that last little bit.

I Just did my first kind of big batch of full length sizing(200 pc). I realized how nice neck sizing only is. This is the first brass that I bought that wasn't shot out of my own gun and that lubing is for the birds. So if you have the option of neck sizing or full length sizing I would go the neck sizing route. Lee's neck sizer is working really well for me.

[mrawesome22]

Don't even try it. If it has Federal, AMERC, or Fiocchi on the head, toss it or save it for scrap.

[mrawesome22]

"Don’t buy a Lyman case trimmer … unless it’s about 90% off and you intend to make your own using only the pilots and cutter head out of the box…. The rest of the thing is scrap metal,imo."

There is more than one model of a Lyman trimmer. The Lyman Universal is fantastic IMO. Dead nuts accurate.

[Irish80prf]

I've reloaded some of my federal .223 brass 6-8 times before the pockets started getting to loose. Is it just the fact that I'm using .223 brass and neck sizing the reason it is lasting me pretty well? Does federal brass in larger calibers give up quicker?

[mrawesome22]

I've dealt with Federal brass 3 time. 30-06Springfield, 243Win, and 40S&W. They've all given me trouble of some kind or another where all my other brass runs fine. The -06 was poor neck tension due to very low neck wall thickness. The pockets were also roached after the first firing with light loads. The 243 was sticky extraction and roached primer pockets after the first firing with light loads. The 40S&W was jam-o-matic with a load that functions flawlessly with Rem and Olin brass. All sized and trimmed the same. Federal:barf:.

EDIT: Every "expert" seems to agree Federal brass is way too soft.

Another tip: You think it's bad tumbling 45ACP and 9MM together? Try 40S&W and 9MM. Doh!

[animal]

sorry about not being specific on the Lyman case trimmer. I don’t remember the name of it.

The one I had problems with was the little hand cranked one. Just my experience, maybe I was just unlucky?
The thing was sloppy and out of alignment right out of the box. If I remember correctly, it had a T-6 alum base attached to a steel collar which housed the shaft on one side, and on the other side a steel screw clamp to hold the case (and appropriate shell holder). The steel parts were held to the base with screws that were a bit too small and quick to loosen because of bad threading in the holes to accept them. The cutter head was dull and would roll over brass flash into the case and behind the pilot. Since the pilots were held in by a small allen set screw and had a smooth round shaft, it had a tendency to pull the pilots out of the cutter head and stick them in the case.

A brass shim fixed the alignment. The sloppiness in the shaft didn’t really matter because of the case neck pilots(or whatever they’re called) but it was still irritating. Drilling, tapping, and larger screws held it together better. A teensy bit of sharpening on the cutter, and a little creative grinding on the pilots(to make a place to accept the tip of the set screw) fixed the pilot-pulling problem.

By the time I was finished, it worked great … but was I sick of it. So, I used some of it’s parts, cranked up the lathe, and made another one.

[benzuncle]

Used dental tools work great for scraping and poking around. I have bought them for $2 apiece.

Emory boards do a nice job of taking the occasional nick out of the bottom rim of spent casings. (Don't tell my wife )

A cheap lamp timer will prevent your tumbler from running for 24hrs.

[dlb435]

Be sure your dies and shell holders are from the same maker. I learned this one the hard way. "Universal" shell holders are not all the same.

[howlnmad]

dmazor

Thanks for that info. Funny, I'm a member of that forum as well and never read through that thread. I must edit my post some how. I think what I'll do is pick-up another set and drill them out. I guess it never occured to me because the only loads I've ever knocked apart have been magnum so they weren't able to shift. Safety is always a priority so maybe i should go pick-up some new o-rings as well.

howlnmad

[Legionnaire]

Used dental tools work great for scraping and poking around. I have bought them for $2 apiece.

Yup, great tools ... and my dentist gives me his old ones FREE! Never hurts to ask.

[Edward429451]

You know those cheap orange gun cleaning kits that show up on Birthdays and holidays by well intentioned friends and family that the only thing ever used is the juice?

Take that cheap rod out and cut off the tip where you screw in brushes, about an inch long. Now drill a hole in the front edge of your loading table that will fit the rod piece in it and epoxy it in place with the edge being flush with the table edge.

Now you have a place to screw in primer pocket or case neck brushes that will let you do other things with your other hand. SPeeds things up, like an extra hand.

[wncchester]

"Be sure your dies and shell holders are from the same maker. I learned this one the hard way. "Universal" shell holders are not all the same."

Not trying to start a fight but that's not true. All shellholders (and dies) are "universal" in the important dimensions, the internal diameter and pocket depth. Those dimensions are specified by SAAMI specifically so they will be universal. Any small variation in dies or shell holders will be because of the normal min-max tolerance range, not brand.

[RWNielsen]

3. If you're using a Chronograph, replace the metal rods that hold the screens with wooden dowels. Shoot a metal rod and you might destroy the chrono; shoot a wooden rod and it just snaps. You might need to sand the ends a bit to get them to fit, but it's well worth it.

That's ingenious