Don't be too comfortable with your reloading gear (story)

To learn and introduce new loaders. Tips and tricks from old timers.

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evan price
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Don't be too comfortable with your reloading gear (story)

Post by evan price »

So Saturday I was loading .45 acp trying out some new 185-rnfp.
Loaded 50 of them and they were so-so, I prefer the 230rn.

I keep two shellplate carrier assemblies for my Pro-1k: One setup with small primer & case feeder parts, one setup for large primer & case feeder parts. I also have two auto-disk deluxe powder measures, one is semi-permanantly on my .44 turret because it has the larger disc in it that only the .44's need, the other one is usually loose in the turret box because it fits most other calibers I load.

Anyway, I decided to change over to run some .44 Magnums. Swapped the shellplate and put in the turret with the .44 dies, and the measure with the larger disk in it. Took the powder measure off the .45 turret and screwed the metal funnel in the die to keep the actuator inside and put the turret and powder measure in the turret box. I ran about 150 .44 magnums. I had some lunch and then stripped the press. I took the turret off the press to put away. I had a turret for 6.5x55 now which took up more room and the loaded .44 turret wouldn't fit...so I took the powder measure off of the .44 turret and put it away in the turret box loose.

Sunday morning after church I got home and decided to run some more .45s with 230-rn's this time. I knew the 230-grain takes a lighter load than the 185's so I opened up the powder measure and changed the "A" disk over to the smaller cavity. Tightened the hopper and set it down on my desk.

Next I opened up my turret box and took out the .45 turret. Looked it over, put it in the press. But I remembered quite smugly the 185-grain RNFP took a shorter COAL than the 230's did, so I ran some brass through the press to get the 230s just right. Being safety conscious I did this with no supplies on the press.

Then, I took my powder measure from the turret box and screwed it onto the turret, and filled it with powder, loaded primers, and started loading. First case gets dumped back in the hopper, then keep on trucking.

The Pro1K worked smoothly and quite soon I had a half-dozen finished rounds in my hopper. I've been experimenting with putting a small LED flashlight over the bullet-seating station on the top mount and it never worked right, the mount isn't strong enough and I need to buy a nicer light and CNC a new billet mount one of these days. I had an instance once where I got too carried away and let the measure run out of powder. After breaking down a whole box of 9mm to make sure I had all the squibs, I decided to do something about it- but now, the measure was full. I just started out. Besides, I know my discs are accurate with the loads I use, so what's the big deal? I calibrated and marked my disks so I know which one is the most accurate.

As I am thinking this, I look in a case to see yup, there's powder there. Sheesh. Let's see if I can work it as fast as Archer...

Drop a bullet in, pull handle, rotate...Hmm... ya know, that looks like an awful lot of powder...

Turn on the light again, look inside. Case is over half full of shiny Titegroup.

Half full? Titegroup NEVER gets 1/4 full. Pull case out and do what I should have done. Scale the load!

According to my trusty Lee scale... 9.7 grains or so.. WTH??? Did I get the wrong cavity?

Take my flashlight and manually push the disc open to see what cavity is in there...WTH?? That number isn't on an "A" disc?


An astute reader will know exactly where I went wrong.

Remember I had to change the auto-disc from the 5.1 grains for the 185s to the 4.7 grains for the 230s? I set THAT powder measure on my desk beside the press.

The powder measure I actually installed on my .45 ACP turret was the one I had left in the turret box, the one set to deliver 9.7 grains for my .44 Magnums.

I was used to the loose powder measure being the one I would install on the .45 turret and the .44 measure being attached to the .44 dies 'permanantly'. When I broke my routine, I made a boo-boo.

It could've been an expensive and painful boo-boo.

As I broke down the double-charged .45's I had just made, I thanked my lucky stars I had realized what had happened.

Sometimes God does look after drunkards, fools and the blind.

For someone especially just getting into reloading, check and double check. I used to check every load. I've gotten lazy because it's just so darn easy to make ammo now.

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Post by ArcherAce »

I knew where you were going with this after the first paragraph. :)

I have an idea for a light on my press also. I plan on using an LED, but made this up as a quick fix. Not pretty, but it works great.

Image

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Post by curmudgeon3 »

evan:
I'm not a reloader, but getting interested, and I was
curious about how you "break down" a .45 cartridge.
thanks
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Post by BEAR! »

curmudgeon3 wrote:evan:
I'm not a reloader, but getting interested, and I was
curious about how you "break down" a .45 cartridge.
thanks
A kinetic bullet puller. It looks like a hammer, you put a cartridge in it and smack it on a hard suface, the inertia of the sudden stop pulls the projectile out of the case.
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Post by ArcherAce »

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Post by evan price »

Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCBS-Kinetic-Bullet ... 1055a45511

Basically, you have a chuck that holds the rim of the case, bullet pointing down into the head of the hammer. Whack it on a solid surface (the brick outside planter by my front door for example) and after a couple whacks the bullet dislodges from the case mouth and it and the powder fall down into the hammer head, leaving you an empty primed case and a re-usable bullet & powder.


Strongly advise anyone who starts reloading to get one in their very first order of equipment. You will need it.
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Post by Jake »

It would be cool, if someone made a video of how to use a kinetic bullet puller
No...what would have been cool was if my Franklin Arsenal Bullet Puller came with directions..

When I got it, I had aprox. 10 mistakes to correct from my first reloading outing.

You guys should have seen me trying to balance the 3 collet pieces on the edge of the surface, semi screwing on the top, and then poking the mistake thru the collet.

After doing 5-6 bullets that way, I had an epiphany.... :lol: hmmm little "O" rings huh?


I can see the powder in my cases when loading. I must be fortunate to have lighting from above hitting the right spot. I just need to lean in a bit to see.

I used to weigh a lot of my powder drops. I usually check the first few, then every 50 or so.

I do check COL more frequently than I probably need tho. :?
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Post by curmudgeon3 »

Cool pic's and vid's.
I don't suppose it's safe to do that with the cartridge
primer still installed, huh? The one shown in the vid had been removed.
How is that done ?
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Post by Oxmarqt »

Off topic but it does involve correcting mistakes. I just started loading .223 in a RCBS single stage and got a little caried away setting primers into empty cases. I set about 30 primers into cases I had not sized. The sizing die looks like it will only work with the deprimer pin installed.

The question, and I think I know the answer, can I push these primers out and save the cases?? I think it will cause a very loud noise but I want to save the brass if possible.

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Post by nemonis »

Oxmart:

If you don't care about saving your primers, why don't you just fire them?

Put the primed case into a firearm, put on earmuffs, point in a safe direction, pull trigger.

De-prime as usual.

God bless!
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Post by shooterwolf »

curmudgeon3 wrote:Cool pic's and vid's.
I don't suppose it's safe to do that with the cartridge
primer still installed, huh? The one shown in the vid had been removed.
How is that done ?
It's perfectly safe to pull bullets with a live primer in the cartridge. No other way to do it.

If you have a shell holder for the cartridge that you want to break down, put that in your kinetic puller instead the collet . Saves a lot of hassle.

oxmarqt, The depriming pins are made to come out of your resizing die. Sooner or later you'll snap one and will need to replace it. Just remove the deprime pin and resize your brass. Don't forget to relube your cases. :)


Evan, At least you caught your mistake before you went shooting, :shock: mistakes are part of the learning curve and I'll bet you won't repeat this one.


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Post by ArcherAce »

Jake wrote:
It would be cool, if someone made a video of how to use a kinetic bullet puller
No...what would have been cool was if my Franklin Arsenal Bullet Puller came with directions..

When I got it, I had aprox. 10 mistakes to correct from my first reloading outing.

You guys should have seen me trying to balance the 3 collet pieces on the edge of the surface, semi screwing on the top, and then poking the mistake thru the collet.

After doing 5-6 bullets that way, I had an epiphany.... :lol: hmmm little "O" rings huh?
LOL! I thought I was the only one! :lol: Yes, instructions would have been nice.
curmudgeon3 wrote:Cool pic's and vid's.
I don't suppose it's safe to do that with the cartridge
primer still installed, huh? The one shown in the vid had been removed.
How is that done ?
The .223 cartridge that I tore down was one that I used to setup my bullet seating die. It had a bullet seated, but no primer or powder. It is perfectly safe to use a kinetic puller to remove a bullet and powder. I just didn't want to tear down a good round, so I used my test cartridge as an example.
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Post by dan dan the XD40 man »

ArcherAce wrote:It would be cool, if someone made a video of how to use a kinetic bullet puller

Sounded like you forgot where you were for a moment :lol:

Nice vid Rob
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Post by ArcherAce »

dan dan the XD40 man wrote: Sounded like you forgot where you were for a moment :lol:

Nice vid Rob
Well, ya know the older I get the more I... uh... something, something.... What's on T.V.?
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Post by Jake »

As I am thinking this, I look in a case to see yup, there's powder there. Sheesh. Let's see if I can work it as fast as Archer...
Bad move...
He told me he actually sped up the video 4x. :lol:
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