My Day Today - Reloading some .45 acp

[NAPOTS]

Nothing important, I just thought I'd share a couple of pics to keep the forum alive.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j418/Napots/IMAG0251_zps73513458.jpg (http://s1084.photobucket.com/user/Napots/media/IMAG0251_zps73513458.jpg.html)
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j418/Napots/IMAG0254_zpsd104d1f4.jpg (http://s1084.photobucket.com/user/Napots/media/IMAG0254_zpsd104d1f4.jpg.html)

[Schuetzenman]

Looks like you're loading 200 gr. Semi Wadcutters, is it from a Lyman mold? Did you cast them yourself or did you buy them from a commercial caster?

[NAPOTS]

yep 200gr SWCs, I saw a recommendation by Bill Wilson and tried them out. I have loaded a couple thousand of them so far and I really like them. They seem very accurate and are reliable in my pistols. They are also pretty cheap. I did not cast them I bought them from Sportsmans Warehouse, they are made by HSM. Running these cases through 4 different dies, charging them and priming them makes me want to step up to a progressive loader.

[raxar]

I've been wanting to reload 9 for days but can't find my dies or shell holder

[Schuetzenman]

yep 200gr SWCs, I saw a recommendation by Bill Wilson and tried them out. I have loaded a couple thousand of them so far and I really like them. They seem very accurate and are reliable in my pistols. They are also pretty cheap. I did not cast them I bought them from Sportsmans Warehouse, they are made by HSM. Running these cases through 4 different dies, charging them and priming them makes me want to step up to a progressive loader.

Yep, I reloaded on a single stage RCBS Jr. press, (they don't make it anymore) from when I was 18 until I was 35. I ended up with the Dillon 550B, you can't go wrong with that press as it will load everything from .32 ACP to .458 Win Mag. If you just wanted to load handgun ammo the Dillon Square Deal press would probably do just fine.

On the 200 gr. SWC bullets, I actually have a 2 cavity Lyman mold that I purchased to cast bullets for my first 1911 back around 1975. Shot a lot of those over the decades, thousands really.

[Adog]

Looking good, that's a nice bench space you got there.
Guess I'm spoiled with a dillon, can't imagine having to use 4 different presses. My cousin just got me 200 .44 bullets to use, waiting for a rainy day to put them together.

[Schuetzenman]

Looking good, that's a nice bench space you got there.
Guess I'm spoiled with a dillon, can't imagine having to use 4 different presses. My cousin just got me 200 .44 bullets to use, waiting for a rainy day to put them together.

Not 4 presses, 4 dies. He's saying he has to change the dies 4 times in the one press shown to process the case to fully loaded ammo. I'm thinking he's got a 4 die Lee Carbide set.

[NAPOTS]

Looking good, that's a nice bench space you got there.
Guess I'm spoiled with a dillon, can't imagine having to use 4 different presses. My cousin just got me 200 .44 bullets to use, waiting for a rainy day to put them together.

Yea its pretty slow, I am not sure which is worse, reloading straight walled pistol cases or militar brass center fire rifle... With pistols its tuble brass, size and de-prime thats one time through the press, flare case another time through the press, prime, charge, seat bullet a third time through the press, and finally a trip through a LEE factory crimp die, a fourth time through the press, and then a wipe down by hand.

With rifle its, tumble brass, inspect (I find more cullable defects in my rifle brass by far), size and deprime, measure, trim (I find a lot of factory brass thats way over the max length after the first firing), screw around with the crimped primer pocket so I can get a primer to seat in it without crushing it, prime, weigh each charge because the powder I use doesn't meter accurately enough for my tastes, seat bullet, wipe down by hand.

yea, I guess a progressive would be nice, I have been wanting to change powders anyway the stuff I use is too expensive. I want to try Accurate 2230, I have heard good things about it.

[NAPOTS]

Not 4 presses, 4 dies. He's saying he has to change the dies 4 times in the one press shown to process the case to fully loaded ammo. I'm thinking he's got a 4 die Lee Carbide set.

RCBS dies but I didn't like crimping and seating in the same step so I got a Lee Factory Crimp die, I like it because it more or less does a final sizing on the finished case and will iron out any bulge you get in the side from when the bullet was seated. The one really nice thing I have found is that the Hornady press uses quick change bushings for the dies, once you have the die set up for your load you can install and remove the dies by hand and they will stay where you put them, you don't have to adjust them everytime you change dies. My old man had an RCBS press and I remember he usually had to tweak the adjustments on the dies every time he changed dies.

[Durangokid]

That looks like the 200 grs. Hensley & Gibbs bullet. I have shot that bullet for years. I push it along with WW 231 powder. I run a Dillion 450 with an up grade.

[Adog]

I'm sure you get a lot better consistency doing it step by step.
I just got back into reloaded a few months ago, and noticed that the shape of the powder will effect the consistency of the meter.

[Durangokid]

A Progressive is one operation at a time as well. Each die station is set independently as it would be on a single "C" press. The major difference is a round is completed with every stroke of the handle. The shell holders are pre-aligned with a tool. These are more critical than a weaker "C" press alignment. Competition hand gunners use progressive loaders.

[Schuetzenman]

I'm sure you get a lot better consistency doing it step by step.
I just got back into reloaded a few months ago, and noticed that the shape of the powder will effect the consistency of the meter.

Yes it does. Bigger granules generally don't meter well in all types of powder measures.

[NAPOTS]

I recently switched over to a progressive and the ammo seems to be coming out very well. The bullseye powder meters consistantly, I weighed random charges as I was going and I don't think I had a deviation of more than +/-0.1 grains on any of them.

[Schuetzenman]

I recently switched over to a progressive and the ammo seems to be coming out very well. The bullseye powder meters consistantly, I weighed random charges as I was going and I don't think I had a deviation of more than +/-0.1 grains on any of them.

I'd say that's not surprising. The flake and ball powders are very nice to meter from my experience. Stick powders like IMR types are not so good. The newer Short Cut versions of some of the older powders work a lot better. 4831 sc works a lot better than the old original version of it. Varget is a short cut powder from the get go when it was introduced. In anything over 6 mm it meters well. Not so good for smaller cases. It comes through the measure ok but jams up in the case neck.

[az_paul]

I'm using Varget in the Dillon 550B and my loads vary by up to three grains when doing .308's. Can't seem to get rid of the problem, but they do shoot well.

[NAPOTS]

Seems my thread on the new progressive setup got lost when the servers went down, oh well.

Ok, I've got a question for you more experienced guys. I have been starting to get a little light surface corrosion on some of my dies and equipment. I am worried about what products I use on them because I don't want to poison my powder or primers that come into contact with it. What are you guys using? I have seen WD40 recommended but have read it will kill primers. I have seen silicone spray recommended but have been told that it is abrasive and will wear your dies out. I am sure this is a common problem so I am interested in what your solutions are.

[Schuetzenman]

I use WD 40 on the outside of the dies only. Yes WD 40 can crawl into a primer pocket and wet out the primer killing it. Silicone isn't abrasive, it is sticky as shit and will attract grit and stick it to it. I never oil up the inside of my dies. I've got dies dating back to 1973 when I got my first centerfire rifle. Never had the insides rust. If you want to oil the dies IMO you'd need to degrease them before using. A soak in Acetone would do the trick really quick.