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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 9:28:13 GMT -6
I have collected a nice bunch of equipment for reloading, now one of my shooting buddies is suddenly very interested in starting. So I've got the Lee progressive loader that I got years ago, bought the RCBS 1500 digital scale last week, my buddy has a single-stage press and a large vibratory tumbler and some walnut shells and polished up a bunch of .44 brass the other night. He texted me, "Help! How many CCs is 28gr. of powder? Help!" I can already tell that this is going to be tedious with me working precisely and my buddy working for speed with no accuracy. I simply cannot recommend measuring powder in an animal syringe. My little manual scale that came with my press is at his house! He just doesn't know how to use it and doesn't seem to know the difference between weight and volume. This is the same shooting buddy that wanted the huge scope for his .500 S&W revolver, by the way. He is more concerned with how everything looks than how it is in practice, which worries me with reloading. Anyway, we now have a basket of shiny, shiny brass that's ready, so I will be embarking on the reloading facet of this hobby soon. Maybe I'll have more stories to tell! Haha.
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Post by shooteruk on Mar 20, 2017 10:10:35 GMT -6
Hmmm. One always wants to help a fellow shooter.....however.... Sometimes its better if they figure it out themselves.
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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 10:51:40 GMT -6
I'm a bit concerned, he mentioned whipping out bullets, lightning fast. I don't work lightning fast when I want to do something right, so it will be too bad for him. I don't want to make mistakes. I'm having trouble being thrilled about my digital scale purchase, which I got for a song on sale.
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Post by shooteruk on Mar 20, 2017 11:05:48 GMT -6
As you know, you cant work 'lightning fast' when reloading. Perhaps you should explain the dangers of a double charge going into the same case. The pressure is not twice as much but many times the power, enough to burst a chamber. Or a missing charge or short charge, the primer pushing a bullet into the barrel only to meet the next one and burst the barrel. Or bullets seated too low in the case, compressing the powder and increasing the pressures again to dangerous levels. Careful reloading means safety and accuracy.
I started with a Lee Loader. Slow yes, but taught care and how it all works and best of all, patience. I still have several and use them from time to time.
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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 11:26:30 GMT -6
There's no way I'm going to be reloading fast, it's just not happening; I have only assisted once with the process. I may not even be around when he shoots what he reloads. Funny, he has expressed a healthy amount of fear when talking about accidents with his revolver. He also bought dies for the .500 S&W! Ugh.
I have dies for .45LC, .45ACP, .40S&W, .357Magnum, and I plan to eventually get .223Rem dies. I figured I should start out with pistol shells.
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Beginning
Mar 20, 2017 12:48:08 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Alpo on Mar 20, 2017 12:48:08 GMT -6
Maybe he's got the Lee dippers. They are measured in CCs. So if X grains of powder equals Y CCs, you use thr #6 dipper, which holds Y CCs.
If that's the reason for his question, he's missing some info.
But he's not as bad as the guy I used to know, who used a triple-beam gram scale (because triple-beams are the most accurate) and then convert his gram weight to grains.
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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 13:42:32 GMT -6
I will soon find out. I wanted the digital scale because I'm fancy that way, so I waited until I could get one for a reasonable price.
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Post by armedandsafe on Mar 20, 2017 13:55:31 GMT -6
Ah, the joys of teaching a newbie. Reloading is a very fussy-fussy process, requiring careful attention to very precise measurements. It is a separate hobby process from shooting. The only relationship it has to shooting is the final result. Most people start reloading to save money. They soon find out that they don't save a dime. They just shoot MORE! Pops
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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 14:14:22 GMT -6
Not only are the components expensive, but they are in short supply around here because all the reloaders think they are saving money and buy all the bullets and primers. I can always find things online I think.
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Post by armedandsafe on Mar 20, 2017 15:11:36 GMT -6
When buying on line, watch for sales on the hazmat charges for powder and primers. The larger companies will occasionally offer reduced or free hazmat charges and that can save you money.
Pops
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Post by Alpo on Mar 20, 2017 15:59:02 GMT -6
My go-to place is grafs.com. They have a "handling fee", but no shipping charge. I bought 12 thousand 230 grain 45 bullets from 'em once. That's right at 400 pounds. All I paid was the $7.95 handling fee. And that handling fee is on the order, not what's shipped. If you order, say, four things, and one is back ordered, you pay for the three that ship, plus the handling fee. When the BO one shows up, they ship it and charge for the item. No additional fee - you've already paid it.
Midway don't do that. Sucks to have a $3 item on back order and when it comes in you get charged the 3 plus 10 shipping. Sucks even more when several BO things come in separately. They ship the day the thing arrives. So if one comes in today it gets shipped today. Second one comes in tomorrow and it ships tomorrow. Had three cheap items on BO. They showed up at Midway a day apart, so shipped a day apart. Three shipments. Two or three dollar item plus ten dollars shipping. Ended up with eight dollars worth of stuff and 30 dollars shipping fees.
I think it was about six years before I bought ANYTHING ELSE from Midway.
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Post by shooteruk on Mar 20, 2017 16:29:37 GMT -6
Ah shipping charges. On more than one occasion I have cancelled an order when the shipping cost became clear. I get that powders and primers cant just be mailed, but there is a limit. I try to pick up as much powder and primers as I can when at gun shops. bullets and brass (when I have to) I can order online.
I recently bought, for the second time some 'cowboy shooting' .357 mags. I was warned on this forum they would be mild and sure enough they were. But they are ok for plinking and the brass will be reloaded to higher pressures.
Pops your right that most start reloading to save money, and that they just end up shooting more. But I and many others actually grew to enjoy it, and take extra pleasure getting good results from home grown loads. And I started when ALL the brass had to be lubed....rolled on little sponges..Those were the days. Oh right.
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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 16:52:22 GMT -6
The shortage of primers and bullets has eased up around here, I can find those, and thankfully I started harvesting brass at my range about ten years ago and have piles of it; new brass is what's overpriced or out of stock locally (Cabela's is ridiculous). I don't really know if that stuff I collected had been reloaded before, though I am sure I have some Starline cases in the buckets, I assume those had been reloaded and got away from the shooter. Most of what I have are .45ACP and .223Rem for later. I shoot a lot of those.
I think it will be fun to reload for the learning as well as the hobby. I have another shooting buddy that sits alone in his apartment and reloads 9mm almost daily, but hopefully it doesn't make me a hermit. Haha.
Shipping. The FedEx driver is still afraid of me for ordering a great deal of 7.62x54R. Heh.
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Post by armedandsafe on Mar 20, 2017 17:16:37 GMT -6
{SNIP} Shipping. The FedEx driver is still afraid of me for ordering a great deal of 7.62x54R. Heh. HEH. My UPS guy keeps asking me when he can help me reduce my stock. Pops
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Post by piney on Mar 20, 2017 17:50:55 GMT -6
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