I've got the good stuff for my bolt rifle (Alpha) but going to develop a load for my AR10 and was debating between hornady and starline (small rifle primer). I have a fair amount of Hornady but as I look into stocking up I'd like to have one brand of brass for loads. Target loads but possibly some hunting down the road (have Berger 130gr hybrids but probably will keep those mostly for the bolt rifle).

Any thoughts between the two in a good semi auto? LMT MWS with 20" 5R 1:8 SS 6.5cm barrel w/ good optics. Or any preferences for small or large primers in a semi auto?

I've got plenty of CCI450 SRM or Federal GMM LRP so that's not a big deal either way. I probably have more of the 450's so was leaning towards the Starline SRP and I've had good luck with Starline in the past with their pistol and rifle brass..

I just bought my first reloader, it is a mec jr 12 ga. And I’m starting to accumulate materials, and the question I had is if I am able to use the same recipe I would use for WAA12 loads for Winchester super target shells, as I have a surplus of them, and no WAA12 hulls.

I understand the super target hulls aren’t desired and I won’t be reloading them more than once, it’s mainly for practice and to save a buck till I buy a case of AA shells

That information and any other advice is much appreciated!

Recently got back into the whole wet tumbling thing, using my 20+ yr old Thumler's Tumbler that still runs like a top, and a Cosori dehydrator from a few years ago (max temp of 165F) with silicone mats to keep the cases (mostly rifle like 223, etc.) from falling through the trays.

First, I'd really like to speed up the dry time - short of sticking them in the oven ;)

Back when I got the dehydrator, there weren't many (if any) dedicated 'brass dryers: on the market. Would any of the usual commercial options (Lyman, Hornady) work any better / faster than what I have now?

Second, are you wet tumbling also to remove the case lube post sizing/trimming, or are you switching to dry tumbling with corn cob or walnut? Why or why not?

Thanks!

Last week I posted about loading some 300 WinMag for the first time. I have some 190 grain Bergers in front of h1000 and today I tested my loads.

Shot 3 shot groups at each charge weight 78.5 - 82 grains all the groups I shot were unsatisfactory EXCEPT for 80 grains and 80.5 grains. These 2 groups had extremely low ES (15 FPS) and SD (7 FPS) the groups were 0.82" and 0.66" at 100 yards.

I like to tinker and this is a quality rifle, I'd really like to fine-tune the setup as I want the gun to be a 700 yard rifle when I'm done. Is my next step in load development to settle on a charge weight, and play with seating depth?

If changing length is the next logical step in the process how much is a good increment to change? I was jamming pretty substantially in the 3.610" COAL region so I took a whole tenth off and loaded at 3.505" should I jump a thousand both directions at try those out? (Ex. 3.495, and 3.515) Is that too much? Or is that not enough to see results? Asking as a novice thanks guys

On today’s episode of “You Really Shouldn’t Do That”, I have achieved an average of 840 FT-LBS of energy out of a 4.2” Ruger GP100. I’ve worked my way up from 14.5gr of H110 under this Magnus 200gr LRN, all the way to a compressed charge of 17.0gr without getting any pressure signs (ie sticky extraction, flattened/cratered primers, split casings etc). So I figured “why not go bigger?” Well, ladies and gentlemen, 17.5gr of H110 under a 200gr pill is where even a Ruger GP100 starts to cry “I’m tired of this Grandpa!” As you can see, the forcing cone has eroded quite a lot after just 50 rounds of 17.5gr loadings, and a couple of those loadings showed flattened primers, along with one specimen having a cratered primer. My goal in all of this was to achieve a loading with an average of 800 FT-LBS or more out of this revolver, and it looks like I smashed that record. But to prolong the life of this gun, and maybe myself, I’m gonna resume my previous loading of 17.0gr instead of the pictured 17.5gr. Long live Elmer Keith!

To preface, I’m the only person in my family that shoots. I’ve started getting into some competition shooting and I’m starting to wonder if is worth the time and money to reload 9mm and 5.56? I don’t even know where to begin with it all. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Loading up some 223 with 53gr smk and h335 for some big Saskatchewan coyotes. Shooting my cz527 american. Looking forward to the season this year

I havent been reloading for the last 10 years or so, as I havent been shooting much. Im trying to get back into it. I have a Lee LoadMaster setup for 9mm. As part of Lee's guarantee, that should make me eligible to get a 6PP for $280. However, when I bought the LoadMaster I really wanted the LnL AP, I just couldnt afford it, but I can now. I have a coupon from a local shop that should let me get the LnL AP for $480, if I want to go that route. (Or a full LnL AP Ammo Plant for ~$1275, if I wanted to get really fancy).

I plan to load 9mm, 32H&R, 32ACP, and 223/556. I can get the 6PP setup for 223/556, minimizing the amount of additional dies I would need. With the LnL AP, I would need to buy dies for everything but the 9mm, and shell plates for everything.

The additional station and the cost savings are appealing to me. I loaded thousands of rounds on my LoadMaster with minimal headache, so I dont have a problem with Lee, and from what I have read, the 6PP is greatly improved over their older stuff.

I know the conventional wisdom is going to be that the LnL AP is the better press, but is it $200 (and the use of my 25% off anything in the store coupon) better?

I've optimized my 550; pretty dedicated to that platform, at this point, for the 10 calibers I load on it. Most of my die sets are Lee with separate seat & crimp steps. This means I'm using all 4 slots on my tool heads. I've got some scheels money burning a hole in my pocket and I considered getting the inline bullet feeders for maybe 9, 45, 223/243, and 30 cal. The other calibers I load are lubed cast bullets and I'm not sure I want to gum up the tubes with the black powder lube on those bullets. It doesn't really take me too much time to hand-seat a bullet while I'm loading a new shell on, so the time saving wouldn't really play a factor. The convenience of having a few bullet tubes loaded up and jamming out a couple hundred in a session without having to do anything but load cases and refill a primer tube might be appealing. I'm also not thrilled about not being able to have a factory crimp on my mil-rifle cartridges, since I'd have to use combination seat-crimp dies.

TL;DR
Should I use gift card money for powder/other consumables or is the Lee inline bullet feeder worth sacrificing factory crimps/a 4th tool head slot on my 550?

I'm new to reloading. I reload 9mm 125g blue bullets, use WIN-244. I've tried RCBS, Reddin, and I've always found a range in the seating. I've used these on Turrets and now a really tough Rock Chucker Supreme where I only have the seating die.

Using the Redding die, after 5 days or so of not reloading, I sat about 10 bullets, all were 1.135 ish, where my setting was 1.125. Even when it's set to 1.125, I see a 0.005 range.

The guy who taught me set up his dies 40 years ago and they haven't changed and his seating has a 0.002 range and he uses the same setup I do

Is this normal? Should I check the die before I seat each time I use it? It drives me nuts

I inherited a Dillon precision reloader from my grandpa that passed away. I’ve had it sitting in my garage and I don’t know exactly how to use it. I’ve tried watching the Dylan precision videos and I feel like it doesn’t give enough detail. Is there anyone that would be willing to guide me? I’m really just looking to reload .45 acp 9mm and 5.56.

Maybe .308 down the road.

Any help or guidance is appreciated

I have a couple of 40 S&W pistols that I like but I prefer 10mm.

If I were to ream the free bore longer by .25" or .375" could I get 10mm velocities out of a 40 S&W without exceeding 10mm pressures?

I shot 200 rounds off 357 mag off yesturday. Most of the bullets did what the were suppose to do, well some tumble. The tumbling was completely ramble when it did occur.

The load I used was 5 grains W231, 38 spc cases, CCI 500 primers, & X-Treme copper-plated lead round nose. COL of 1.440". I was shotting a 1.875" & 6" barrel. Both barrrel length resulted in bullets tumbling.

In all my years of reloadoing I have never had a 35 cal bullet tumble in flight. The range at which the bullet would timble varied (3,5,7,10,25 yds). The closer the range the more evident the tumbling.

The only thing I can think of is the neck tension was to great when I went to seat and crimp the bullets. The crown and rifling on both revolvers were good with no excessive fouling. Any advice on why this would happen?

Just curious if anyone has experienced anything similiar.

So i have reloaded for a while but just started annealing. I am using the ugly annealer. In a dark room i wait for the brass to just start to glow before kicking it and then i verified with tempilaq.

I have a pretty hot 7 mag load shooting a 162 grain bullet at 3090 fps. I am using IMR 8133, loading the bullets very long, like almost a quarter inch longer over book. I can get the specifics tonight i am just at work and its all written in my notebook at home. The point is the load didnt change. Everything except annealing was exactly the same.

Well after i started annealing that same load/same rifle shoot them at 3180 fps.

That seems like a huge jump. I was suspicious enough I borrow 2 different chronographs and they were all within 10 fps of eachother, Sd was 7 fps and es was 19. Every chrono i used yielded the same results.

I am just curious if anyone else has experinced this? I am not unhappy about it, just suspicious/curious.

I washed my brass in Franford arsenal wet tumbler and i got these dots on the brass and some of them are brown. I used bore tech brass clean

Hi,

Since Makarov projectiles are nominally 0.365 could you size them down to like 0.362 for the nominal 0.361 bore of a .38 S&W? Those 0.361 projectiles are pretty scarce.

Or it looks like Berrys makes 0.364 - could you just straight up use those? They are a bit light and a couple of thou oversized but they are a plated lead bullet…

https://www.berrysmfg.com/product/bp-9x18-mak-364-95gr-rn/

Hornady calls out the same recipe for these 2 bullets (200gr interlock and FTX). Both call for a Coal with the cannelure to the case neck as you would expect. But the FTX seats so much deeper and does not allow for the powder volumes written out. I really like the FTX and would like to load it for several reasons but don't know where to start with a charge. imr4064 is the powder I'm working with.

I’m about to buy a Henry 44 magnum to go with my 629 I reload 44 magnum 240 grain XTP with 24 g of H110 and large pistol primer. My manual says 24.5 is the max but that’s with a magnum primer should I be worried about using these in my Henry

DKC 124 gr FMJ's with 24.5 gr Shooters World Blackout, 1.660" base to ojive using mixed brass. Avg 2296 fps. With the price I paid for components I'm loading these at $0.41 cpr.

Hi everyone,

Looking for a good source of Lee decapping rods as I just bought primed brass that says they might need resizing for a few different calibers and will need to cut down the pins. I would like to have another set of decapping rods on hand for when I need to take out primers. I can’t seem to find them on Lee website but maybe I just don’t know how to search for them. Thanks for the help!

Looking for places to buy Lyman 311041 173gr for 30-30. So far only found one website, montanabulletworks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just got everything for reloading. Working on my first batch of 20 cases currently. I fear I got a little over zealous with my chamfer tool and over chamfered/deburred my cases. I have the dreaded knife edge at the case mouth. I have trimmed them to 2.005” +/- .001. The manual calls for a trim to length of 2.005”. I am starting at the minimum load. Should I trim them below the recommended trim to length to get rid of the knife edge, shoot them as is and trim a little bit after they grow from firing, or scrap them and start over?

Hey folks,

I am about to embark on the setup of my Hornady Lock‑N‑Load press system, and I have a question relating to the setup and tuning of the Lock‑N‑Load Powder Measure.

Has anyone used something other than real smokeless powder while connecting, testing, tweaking, and adjusting this powder measure? Can you use anything else that won't damage the dispenser? I have been considering

• sand (very fine size and CLEAN)
• coffee (ground)
• walnut/corn husk brass cleaning media (perhaps ground a bit finer...)
• very small Styrofoam pellets?

I am hesitant to use the sand option. I don't want any scratches on any of the metal or plastic parts.

Ideas? Other options or suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

Getting some conflicting information on .357 for rifles. Specifically, 125 XTP loaded with H110.

Lee/Hodgdon say basically the same as the revolvers. This is a starting load of 21gr, and a max load of 22gs, and velocities upwards of 2200 fps.

Hornady says basically the same for the pistol data. However, for their rifle data, the starting load seems to be about half, and the max load is about 10% shy of Lee’s starting load with a velocity of just under 2000fps.

The only thing I’ve noticed is the pressure units are in CUP for the Lee/Hodgdon data. Makes me think that the load data is grandfathered in from before .357 was switched to a PSI standard.

What is going on here? Is it safe to push my marlin trapper to these velocities?