Reloading setup

[CMV]

Re: Reloading setup

OK.....thanks for all the help so far everyone.

I finally decided on a setup & went with primarily Lee stuff. That helped keep costs down & reading reviews & asking around kind of helped steer me. I can always buy better stuff later on if it's necessary, but I think for what I'm doing it will suit me just fine & last for as long as I want to use it.

I went with the Lee classic turret press. Seems to be bigger & heavier than their deluxe, can go faster than the single stages when I'm able to, but isn't as complicated as the progressives. And from the feedback everywhere about the Lee progressives is they tend to need a lot of tinkering to run right so that's not something suited for a novice.

I chose the Lee Pacesetter dies which includes a FL resize, seating die, factory crimp, shell holder, & some misc stuff. I think I want the FL die & not just the neck one like the deluxe set comes with. Since my 1st 1,000 cases didn't come from my rifles I need to FL resize them right? Same for any range pickups?

I didn't get anything for primer pockets. Most of my brass will have crimped primers until it's reloaded once. The Dillon super swage sure looks slick, but after I get thru the initial 1,000 cases it wouldn't be used for a very long time so I don't want to spend $100 on it. Is there a Die i can put on my press to do the same thing? I like the idea of "smooshing" (I think that's the technical machinist's term) it away vs cutting/grinding it away (or however other crimp removal tools work).

And then for general primer pocket prep work aside from removing the crimp I don't know what to use. Should I get something to chuck into my drill (that was plan A)? I don't know how much work it is or how time consuming that part is. If I use the basic hand tool types with a screwdriver type handle will it take forever or have my hands/wrists hurting for 2 days? Or is it a simple insert tool, twist, next case?

This might be a really dumb question, but I'm a little confused on why you need to measure powder by weight instead of volume. Let's say I work the load up by weight and 25 gr ends up being the right amount. Couldn't I trim a case so it holds that exact amount, attach a handle, dip powder with it, & always have the same amount? I'm thinking like how you measure out sugar - you have it sort of heaped in the measuring cup & then scrape away the excess. I realize I'm not baking cookies, but if I dipped a container that held the same volume as 25 gr & scraped it with something like a credit card wouldn't I always have the exact same amount? Or is it going to compress & fill the receptacle differently every time and have wild variations? I'm thinking it would be a little imprecise but would it be any more imprecise than a digital scale with +/- .1 gr tolerance?

[Chief351]

Re: Reloading setup

Regarding your primer crimp question, RCBS makes a primer pocket swage that works similar to a regular die. A "universal" die goes into the top of the press and one of two swaging tools goes on the ram in place of the shell holder. There is one swage for small rifle and pistol primers and another for the large ones.

To use it you take the case in your left hand and sort of start it up into the die body. Then raise the ram until you can set the primer pocket on to the swage button. Now get your left hand out of the way and take the ram full stroke.

There's also a piece that fits over top of the swage that, after the swaging operation is complete for each case, "pops" the case off of the swage when the ram goes fully back down.

For all intents and purposes there's only one adjustment, and that's a rod in the die that can be adjusted up and down. The case head stops against this rod as the rod bottoms out in the case, and this determines the degree of swaging applied.

I've found that it helps to take each case and use a case mouth deburring tool on the primer pocket, as where the remains of the crimp is there's left a kind of sharp shoulder that needs to be beveled off. Otherwise primers will hang up on the shoulder.

[jefferson101]

Re: Reloading setup

This might be a really dumb question, but I'm a little confused on why you need to measure powder by weight instead of volume. Let's say I work the load up by weight and 25 gr ends up being the right amount. Couldn't I trim a case so it holds that exact amount, attach a handle, dip powder with it, & always have the same amount? I'm thinking like how you measure out sugar - you have it sort of heaped in the measuring cup & then scrape away the excess. I realize I'm not baking cookies, but if I dipped a container that held the same volume as 25 gr & scraped it with something like a credit card wouldn't I always have the exact same amount? Or is it going to compress & fill the receptacle differently every time and have wild variations? I'm thinking it would be a little imprecise but would it be any more imprecise than a digital scale with +/- .1 gr tolerance?

Depending on the type of powder you are using, that is fairly accurate, for range ammo. Most of your "bulk" reloading setups with multiple stations use a powder-charge thrower, which works by volume rather than weight.

You will get more than +/- 0.1 grain variation that way, though. Keep in mind that there are 7000 grains to a pound, so one-tenth of a grain is 1/4375th (That's one over four-thousand three hundred and seventy five) of an ounce. Rifle powders, particularly rod powders, don't come out nearly as close by volume as the finer grained pistol powders do, to my experience.

As noted, for range ammo, that's no biggie, but if you are loading for consistency? It'll add in about a MOA either way at 100 yards if you use a charge thrower. As long as that doesn't matter to you, it will work just fine.

[CMV]

Re: Reloading setup

Well, it's going.

I'm really getting frustrated by all the "you need this other thing to make this thing you bought work" and the fact that NOTHING is available locally. There is a shop nearby that has powder & primers at a fair price but none of the other little things I've needed.

Anyway, I haven't seated a primer yet because I didn't get the right shell holders for the Lee auto prime. Will get here tomorrow or Thurs. Why they couldn't just make it so it uses either the shell holder for the case trimmer or the press is beyond me. 3 different shell holders so far for the same brass. That's getting a little silly.

I have about 1/3 of my initial 1,000 pieces of brass prepped. They're clean, FL resized, trimmed, chamfered, & deburred. Prime, powder, & seat projectile & I have boolits.

I managed to tear up my FL size die. Got a case stuck. Worked on it for an hour or so & mangled it to the point it's simply not coming out. Ever. Apparently I had it set to where the rod was going too low and the neck expander was going in too deep. Was working fine - was tight on the downstroke of a couple, but nothing real bad. This one was the exception. At least I got a lot done so I can take a break from resizing & do other stuff while waiting for a replacement. The shop that has the powder & primers has a little bit of RCBS stuff so I might be able to stop in on my lunch break tomorrow & pick one up. Any reason I can't use an RCBS FL resize die in place of a Lee one? If I have to buy 16 widgets to adapt it I'll just get another Lee.

I do have my seating die & factory crimp set up. I've seated a few on empty shells & everything came out well. I think I trimmed my brass a little on the short side at 1.751. That's giving me a shorter OAL than the IMI M193 I compared it to. that might not matter. Well over minimum OAL.

I bought the Hornady powder scale/dispenser deal. I've read it can be a little slow, but I like that every charge gets measured and it will alert me to over/under. The Lee beam scale that came with my kit is absolutely useless. I think it would be safer to not weigh at all than to use it. Impossible to tell which 10th it's showing and it gets hung up as it's balancing all the time. The slide goes to below 0 and there isn't a clear zero indication that I can tell. It would be very easy to "zero" the scale at +/- 2/10 & think you were dead on. The slightest bump and its off. I can see why Lee gets such a bad rep. I think the press I have is very nice along with the other Lee stuff i bought like the case trimmer & dies & book, etc. But then to have such an utter POS with the same name on it. That's a pretty important part & to make it so junky is just a shame. I'd have rather paid $25 more for a better included scale or $10 less and not had it included.

I'm still liking the Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner. Using tap water, a little lemishine, & a few drops of Dawn followed by a tap water rinse gets the cases really clean with very little effort. I have the added step of blowing them out with the air compressor to make sure they're dry inside, but I don't have to touch the primer pockets or go back and inspect for tumbling media caught in flash holes. Plus I can do it all inside w/o making a dusty mess. I have a tumbler & might tumble finished rounds to make them super pretty but there's no need.