Handlaoding

2400 · May 1, 2016

Good Morning guys.

It looks like we have a new forum. How many loaders do we have on here? What types of loading do you do, rifle, pistol, shotshell, blackpowder, or?

I'm down to 4 loaders now, 2 early Dillon 1050's, one old Rockchucker and one red, white and blue Summit single stage press. I'm looking forward to casting bullets again.

PrairieGhost · May 1, 2016

Rifle and handgun only. I don't shoot enough shotgun to pay off so I sold my 12 gauge loader years ago. I cast for 9mm, 357, 44, 45, and 45/70. I don't cast that often, but when I do it's two or three days straight and I am set for a year. I suppose I loaded 5000 rounds this year on a single stage Rockchucker.

2400 · May 1, 2016

Which 45 bullet, 45 ACP or Colt? And what weight(s)?

I load almost all my rifle rounds on my Rock Chucker and almost all my pistol ammo on my Dillons.

PrairieGhost · May 1, 2016

The 45 ACP is the Lyman Devastator. With Lyman #2 Alloy it comes in at an advertised 185 gr, but I don't load it hot and keep it around 900 fps. At that speed I get by with wheel weight and 1% added tin. Darn tin was $4 a pound years ago. Now you can't buy it in one pound bars at the local plumber you have to buy lead free solder at $30 a pound. I add 2% tin and another 2% linotype to my mix for the 45/70. If memory serves me wheel weight is already 5% antimony. In the past it was also 2% tin, but you can't find those old wheel weights anymore.

2400 · May 3, 2016

How do you like the bullet? Are you using it in the 45ACP or the Colt too?

PrairieGhost · May 3, 2016

Only in my 45ACP. It has one heck of a hollow point, but still feeds perfectly. I shot a coon about 40 ft up a big cottonwood tree. It sounded like you smacked a 50lb bag with a 2X4. It sure smacked him off that branch. I have the same configuration for my 9mm. The only problem is it takes three times as long to make a hollow point bullet. I am thinking about ordering another 9mm mould with at least a double cavity. I have a half dozen each for the 44 and 357 so I think I need at least a couple more for the 9 and 45/70. I am using a 300 gr Saeco for the 45/70 and should get a traditional 405 gr.
The other day I was shooting 405 gr cast loaded way down to 1000 fps. I have a Browning copy of the 1885 Winchester. Out of the long 28 inch barrel it was sort of a puuuunnk instead of heavy muzzle blast. I was surprised that with my short Marbles tang sight I could still dial in 300 yards. It sort of violated the high ballistic coefficient concept that I always follow in my other rifles. Makes me scratch my head the way that big flat nose chunk carries. I guess it's good to have a variety of rifles so you can pick what fits your morning mood as you head out the door. Some days I grab my longbow instead of my compound, but then I worry about a bruiser showing up at 40 yards and I don't shoot it good enough to give it a try. Oh, well, would leave me with days to look forward to I guess.

Edit: Odd that you should mention if I was shooting it in 45 Colt. I don't have a 45 Colt, but I have a lot of .452 cast that I bought. My Kimber 1911 shoots ok with .451, but it shoots much better with .452 lead bullets. Needs a tighter fit I guess.

2400 · May 3, 2016

PrairieGhost said:
I am using a 300 gr Saeco for the 45/70 and should get a traditional 405 gr.
The other day I was shooting 405 gr cast loaded way down to 1000 fps. I have a Browning copy of the 1885 Winchester. Out of the long 28 inch barrel it was sort of a puuuunnk instead of heavy muzzle blast. I was surprised that with my short Marbles tang sight I could still dial in 300 yards. It sort of violated the high ballistic coefficient concept that I always follow in my other rifles. Makes me scratch my head the way that big flat nose chunk carries. I guess it's good to have a variety of rifles so you can pick what fits your morning mood as you head out the door.
Edit: Odd that you should mention if I was shooting it in 45 Colt. I don't have a 45 Colt, but I have a lot of .452 cast that I bought. My Kimber 1911 shoots ok with .451, but it shoots much better with .452 lead bullets. Needs a tighter fit I guess.

So you like the Saeco 300 for the 45/70? I've been looking for a good bullet for my Marlin 45/70.

For some reason I thought you had a 45 Colt and a 45 ACP. Hmmmm looks like you need a new gun. Damn the bad luck ;:;rofl

PrairieGhost · May 10, 2016

The Saeco cast a very uniform bullet. I push it to 2000 fps sometimes. I have been thinking about getting the heated base for my RCBS lubrisizer so I can use the hard lubes. With the soft lubes I don't like to lube until I am ready to load. I have noticed the lube sort of dries out if you lube a month or two ahead of time.
I think I still need to old traditional 405 gr bullet mould too. They sure shoot nice loaded down. I am surprised I can dial in 300 yards with my short Marbles rear sight when loaded at 1000 fps.

2400 · Mar 7, 2017

Am I the only one that has any pics of their loading bench?

Here's a shot of my bookcase full of loading manuals.

Tymurrey · Mar 7, 2017

My bench is tore apart right now and building a new one. Going with an inline fabrication mount and quick change plates so I only have to have one press mounted at a time. My old bench had my two ponsness Warren 375's on there, one for lead and one for steel shot, Dillon 650, and a Lee classic cast single stage. I hated having them all mounted to only use most of the presses a couple times a year. Currently loading for 300 win mag, 308, 243, 223, 45 acp, 45lc, 380, 257 wby, and have the setup for 50bmg but haven't loaded for that in awhile, doesn't take long to burn through a lot of money there at 230gr of powder. Setup with a chargemaster dispenser and scale, rcbs trim mate, rcbs electric case trimmer, and a Frankfort arsenal ss tumbler.

Kentucky Windage · Mar 7, 2017

My bench is similar in size to 2400's. I built it in college so I could move it from apartment to apartment. I run a rock chucker, prep master and chargemaster. I like my ponsness warren seating die. I am 50/50 traditional and bushing dies. Past and present load for: 380 ACP, 9mm, 223, 22BR, 22-250, 220 swift, 6BR, 243, 6.5-284, 270win, 7-08, 7mag, 30-06, 300win mag, and 338 win mag.

Norske · Mar 7, 2017

45-70? Pick a 400 gr bullet with a flat nose and push it with 38.5gr IMR 3031 for a factory equivalent load.

fj40 · Mar 7, 2017

Rock chucker and Dillon 550. Used to cast alot mostly with lyman 4 gang molds. Even got into swaging with pure lead pigs and half jackets. Still got my old Herters sizer/lube. Started reloading 6.5 jap with a lee loader, block o wood, and a hammer. Would send you a pic but my technology IQ and my bra size are about the same.

Downrigger · Mar 7, 2017

Rock chucker here as well. Loading .20 tactical, .223, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 creedmoor, 25-06, 7.7 jap, 308, 300 wsm, 9mm.

PrairieGhost · Mar 8, 2017

Right now my room is a mess. I have been reloading, but not organizing or cleaning. My wife had spinal fusion so I am busy cooking and house cleaning and reloading, but not cleaning my room.
I have a portable stand for my Rockchucker, and lubrisizer. It's sort of like sitting down in an airplane cockpit. I don't trust anything so you will see I use three scales. Two to verify every tenth or twentieth load. I have then two electronic and a new manual sitting on a 40 lb granit slab with rubber feet on my left, my press in front, and my powder measure to my right. I am mostly prepping brass right now so in the pic is 200 primed 6.5 Creedmoor, 1000 primed 9mm, 1200 primed 45 auto, 300 primed and 800 unprimed and untrimmed 308, 50 new 45/70, 400 44 mag, and some things buried. Need to start with the lead and powder one of these days.
I did pick up three new moulds since last posting. a 147 gr 9mm that I really like. A 200 gr round nose flat point in 45 acp, and a pointed 500 gr 45/70. Man do you go through the lead with that 500 gr. I swear the lead pot goes down visibly when I lift the lever. Sure nice to be throwing some 9mm and 45 auto without the hollow point, and two at a time.
I did at last buy the heater for my lubrisizer so I can use the hard lubes. Nice to cast and lube 1000 rounds and be able to pick them up without getting greasy fingers, or leave them for months before reloading.
See that RCBS trimmer in the lower right corner? I have gone through three cutter heads. Last night I ordered the carbide cutter, and the new universal head to hold the brass. I tried sharpening those cutters, but that's tough.

2400 · Apr 22, 2017

Sounds like you have a nice compact area to load in.

What kind of 45 are you shooting that 200gr bullet in and how does it work?

What about the 500gr 45/70?

Petras · Nov 5, 2017

I got into reloading a couple years ago, but have really been hitting it hard the last 6 months. I currently reload for my 7mag, 22-250, and .223. I recently purchased a 6.5 creedmoor so after my wife kills her deer with it in a week or so I will start working up my own load for it. It shoots sub-moa with hornady precision 143 eld-x and also with the hornady 129 sst. I guess I have a decent starting point to work off of. I'm still learning all of the intricacies of reloading, but I can say this, I'm fricken hooked. The desire to always improve my groups will no doubt be an obsession of mine that drives my wife nuts.
I'm currently loading on a rock chucker press.
I do have one question for you guys, are you guys just using the cheapo dies that come in the green box at scheels when your trying to get really good groups? or do you have a more precise set of dies that you can use in the rock chucker?

The reason I'm asking (and this may be just me being picky and not knowing any better) is because when I worked up a few rounds tonight for some testing I hope to do the next couple nights, I got a little bit of deviation in my base to ogive measurement. I'm using a hornady comparator to measure, and my the extreme spread of the base to ogive measurements is about .003" Is this acceptable? My last tests produce a .367" group @ 100 yards. Basically all I'm doing now is proving the group to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and then I will prove my velocity so I can make a more accurate chart to stick to my gun.

Kentucky Windage · Nov 6, 2017

Traditional dies like the RCBS ones you mentioned get accused of over working brass. Not everything needs to be resized each time you reload. Some need to FL sized to feed, after a few reloads the shoulder needs to be bumped back, necks obviously every time (some don't resize the entire neck). I've been slowly moving toward bushing dies, especially in my custom guns. The cost is higher, but quality and # of reloads should increase. Redding and Forster make great bushing dies.

- - - Updated - - -

I've experienced the seating depth case measurement at the ogive as well. I'd be interested to hear what others say might cause that.

SupressYourself · Nov 6, 2017

The variances you get in seating depth (base to ogive) are likely caused by variances between individual bullets, even when they're out of the same box. Try measuring the bullets only from base to ogive. You'll see they're not entirely consistent, at least not down to the thousandth. Some bullets types are more consistent than others. For example, I found the 139 Lapua Scenar to be so amazingly consistent (at least within the same lot), that I now only measure the first couple after setting the seater. However, the 143 ELDX can vary .006 or more from bullet to bullet. This is why it's a fools errand to try to seat "right at the lands". You'll never do it consistently.

@Petras - I think you'll want to look into a micrometer seating die. I really enjoy the Redding for my 6.5. When I'm really focusing on precision, I'll back it off a few thousandths, seat the bullet, measure it, adjust the die, and seat it again so that every one measures exactly the same. With a micrometer die, you can do that easily with a twist of the die head.

I started out using the cheap RCBS dies, and if you're reloading for plinking or standard hunting ranges, they're just fine. If you're looking to shoot to 1000 yards or more, consistency is key, in which case, I'd look into Redding or Forester.

And while I'm at it: I'm not sure what your goal is for this ammo, but small groups at 100 yards are great, but may not mean anything at 1000. Your velocity must be consistent as well. For example, you can shoot tiny groups at 100 yards even when your velocity is swinging 100 fps from shot to shot. However, at 1000, you'll only hit when the chambered round happens to line up with the velocity you used to make your dope chart.

krhuntin · Nov 6, 2017

Reloading for me is a tradition. My grandpa taught my dad at a very young age, and have been fortunate enough to be taught by the both of them at a very young age. Take my opinions, ideas etc. for what its worth as they have worked for me. They may not however, work for you. My main calibers i reload for are .223, .243, 25-06, .308, 7x57 mauser, 338 winchester and 338 lapua. I use different dies for different loads (quality). For my .223 i simply use tried and true get the job done lee full length sizers just because i have so many brass that i dont care too much about it (i do inspect them). when i get into 308 and 7x57, 338 win and 338 lapua i only use redding neck sizing bushing dies. Simply said i have done full length sizing on these rounds to see the difference in groups, and velocity. Not too much difference in velocity(obviously), however my groups especially past 500 yards, the difference is unbelievable. If all of your shots are within closer ranges, then sure any full length sizing die will work and get you accurate enough. If you are a plate shooter at long distances then i would recommend bushing dies.

Measuring bullets, there can be quite a bit of difference, i have noticed it especially box to box. If you are shooting ballistic tips or something like that i have taken some of those tips out and measured them and found that is where alot of the variance comes in, in my experience, or where the boat tail length would be measured. (using example of hornady A-max).

With any rifle if you have a starting point to work from that is great. If i find a really accurate load, i will always test others. I like to try different powders first, then as one can see there groups tightening or loosening i will work with the one that has gotten the best groups and will go up and down usually a 1.5 grains and your will see a difference. Then i usually try different primers and then bullet seating depth. Just what has worked for me but that 6.5 when you find it, will shoot like a dream. This can be time consuming(took me 8 months of straight shooting before i finally settled down with a load for my 7x57). Good luck and happy shooting. Any recommendations or anything needed there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here. Let me know if i can help (no expert by any means), but i look to resources quite a bit on different things.

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