Reloading info

[Rustyshakelford]

Thanks for the info RS :) Man what good sharp pics your camera takes:eek:

Sony Cybershot with the Carl Zeiss Vario-tessar lens. The lens upgrade almost doubles the cost of the camera, but it is worth it.

[Diesel]

thanks man keep them coming It really clarified alot of myhtology and questions i had about reloading. Always appreciated!

[Rustyshakelford]

Tonight, when I get home, I will try to start on case preperation. I will start with the .38 special, since I could use a few hundred extras in storage.

[Rustyshakelford]

I lied. Actually I am starting out with 30 carbine because I am down to 60 rounds. Not enough if needed. Your first step is to inspect your cases and toss any aside that may be in poor shape. You need to do this prior to cleaning them.

[Rustyshakelford]

Next we clean the cases. I have a lot to say on this subject. You will note that I pulled one of my brass tumblers out. It is available from Cabela's for around $40.00. I have 8 of them and a HUGE commercial tumbler. The first subject I want to deal with is what do you put inside to clean the brass? Ground corn cob media or ground walnut media. It is available all over. I buy mine in 50 lb bags from a mill in Dallas. I had a customer who used sand. I am not going to even comment on how I think this is a bad decision. I recommend untreated media. Next add your cleaning agent at the rate of about 4 table spoons and let it tumble for 15 minutes before adding the brass. I have tried numerous medias, but the best I have found is Wrights Brass Polish. It is water based and is low in ammonia. Never, and I repeat NEVER use Brasso. It is high in ammonia, is oil based and smells bad. Ammonia will change the chemistry of your brass making it brittle, the oil will gum up your dies and the smell will almost knock you over. Made sure to run your tumbler with the lid on, as it kicks up bookoos of dust, and do not do this in the house unless you want problems. Walnut is pretty abbrasive, so I use corn cobb. Also, as tempted as you may be to not listen to me, do not remove the old primers before tumbling, or you will plug up the firing hole and will get lots of misfires.





The Wrights polish is getting hard to find, but I order it in a gallon jug from mybrands.com.

[Rustyshakelford]

Here is what the 2 cases look like after 1 hour of tumbling. (some of their friends were also in the batch)




Brass is cleaned to removed all the toxic stuff from the cases, and to get the grit off the brass so you do not screw up your dies. Plus, they look nice too.

[Rustyshakelford]

Now for the nitty gritty. Your first step is to adjust your decapping/sizing die. Since this is a (what?.....remember your lesson on cartridge types?) straight walled rimless cartridge, we are going to full length size it. That means we will be squeezing the case back to specs for the whole length, as opposed to just neck sizing which is common among bottle necked cases. You will see that you want to screw the die in, and put the arm all the way up so that the full pull will just touch the bottom of the die. Make sure that you have the shll holder in place. You will also not that there is a little pin thingy hanging out the bottom. What the heck is that, you ask? That is the depriming pin. It will pop out the old primer. Also not that there is a locking screw on the die. Once you set your dies, you can use an allen wrench to screw this down tight, and you should not have to adjust it again.









Just a note here. Shell holders are all different sizes. Make sure to use the correct one. Yes, 38's and 357's use the same shell holder. If you use the wrong one, you risk getting a case stuck in your dies. And, believe me, that sucks!! Lee dies give you a free shell holder with purchase, RCBS do not. Some consider RCBS to be better dies, but I have both brands, so am impartial. I have Lee's in 38 carbides, 762 x 54 Russian, 762 x 39 Russian, and 7.5 Swiss. I have RCBS in 30 carbine, 308 and 38/357. I will also address the carbide vs non carbide issue. Carbide (or even Titanium) dies are much harder then standard dies and were designed so you do not have to use a lubricating agent. I disagree. Yes, I have carbide dies, but I still use a lube. The lube process is only needed here when you size the case. You will find that a little lube makes the process a whole lot smoother, and pleasurable....and, not to be a pervert, the lube is basically water based KY lube in a fancy bottle that is a little on the sticky side. I suggest you not reload without it. And, as I found out just a few minutes ago while trying to dab a little bit out onto my lube tray, make sure the tip is not plugged before squeezing it to hard, or you will look like an obese woman at an all you can eat Jello and Honey bar!!! (Next post will be delayed while I take a quick shower and change cloths.)

[Rustyshakelford]

Okie dokie. I am clean. Now, this is the step where you will run the brass up into the die. This does 2 things. It sizes the brass and makes everything round again, and it decaps the old primers. Make sure to run the brass all the way up into the die, and make sure that your pin is set down low enough to push the old primer out. Dab every 3rd round or so with your case lube, but do NOT over do it or you will have to clean out the funky stuff from the inside of the dies. The case lube pad was designed to put a thin slick on the brass. In reality, for those on the cheap, a papertowel or old sock would work too. You will also notice at the front of your press is a groove. This is where the spent primer falls out and into the little plastic spent primer dish that hooks on the front of your press.







A note of caution here. No doubt you will run accross some pre primed brass at a garage sale. The brass is all ready and even has a hot primer in it!!! Woo Hoo....good find, right? Wrong. You are thinking all you need to do is pop out the live primer and reprime it correct? Weeeeellll. Let me tell you about a buddy of mine. He moved here from Southern California, so was used to doing everything in shorts, a teeshirt and sandals. I promise you, do not EVER deprime hot primers wearing sandals. He is now minus one toe. That nifty little groove in the front of the press designed for the primer to drop down into the spent primer tray, also functions pretty well to focus any explosive blasts right down onto your toes. If...and I do not recommend it, but IF you deprime live primers, I suggest wearing steel toed boots, and maybe even putting a wooden box over your feet. Have I done it....well...yes. Do I suggest doing it? Nope.


Also, some of the older (and I mean older then dino-dung) primers used mercury fulmate as a catalyst. Be aware that you may be exposed to mercury, lead, and arsenic while reloading.

[Rustyshakelford]

The final step I am going to do tonight. If you will notice, the primer pockets that you just removed the spent primer from are pretty gunky. It is best to clean them up. This is where a pocket cleaning tool comes in. It is basically a small stainless steel brush. Push it into the primer pocket and twist it lightly a couple of times. Do not over do it. You can damage the brass.

[Rustyshakelford]

Ok. Done for this evening. Tomorrow I will go over seating the primers, and adding the powder.

[Rustyshakelford]

By the time I am done, this is going to go down as the longest thread in Xcolony history!!! At least the one with the most photos.

[Rustyshakelford]

Today, we will be going over priming the cleaned and sized cases. It is an easy step and takes little time with a handy dandy auto primer. Here you will see that I am using Federal small rifle primers, and a Lee auto prime tool. You can also use the arm on your press, and it works fine. Remember, only use the primers that are called for in your manual.

[Rustyshakelford]

Make sure your primers are flush with the brass. This is especially important on revolvers.




The priming tool being put through its paces.

[Rustyshakelford]

Now, you may be wondering what those other 2 dies in the box are for, right? Well, glad you asked. You now need the one that has the little doohickie inside that looks like a ball. This process will expand out the mouth of the brass to look like a bell bottom. You need to adjust your dies so as to have a VERY minimal flaring of the brass. Run your case up into the die and adjust the ball down to where it touches the brass and then adjust it appropriatly.




Note the very minimal flaring on the left case.

[Rustyshakelford]

We now have 50 cases that are clean, inspected, sized, primed and ready for powder and a projectile. WOW!!! And it only took me a week! In reality this should take about 30 minutes. We are now ready to put in powder, and a projectile. We are almost done!!!