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Tom S.

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Posts posted by Tom S.

  1. OK, here's the answer to my own question. Loaded up rounds using Missouri 200 grain SWC coated bullets, starting at 5.1 grains in 0.1 grain increments through 5.9 grains of Win 244.  Groups consisted of 6 shots each fired from a rest with a S&W Performance Center 1911. The group size decreased to a minimum at 5.4 gr loading, then started increasing again, dramatically the higher the loading got. At 5.8 and 5.9 I had two failures of the gun to go into battery, both caused when the round jammed about 3/8" into the barrel at an angle, both putting a mark in the brass where it jammed. Brass used was mixed head stamps. Although primers were slightly more flattened at the top end, it wasn't significant.  So I'm going ahead with 5.4 grain loads.

     

    Picture of fired brass. Case on left is 5.1 gr case on right is 5.9 gr

    i-WNjVQKD-X4.jpg 

  2. 18 hours ago, Wobber said:

    Bullet hitting the hood, hitting the feed ramp would be a close description, definitely going into battery when aligned correctly. I'm thinking the load is too hot. I got the data off the Hodgdon's web site, but others have suggested Lyman's 50th edition which states minimum load as 2.7 Gn.

    Hodgdon's minimum of 2.8gr with a 95 grain bullet while Lyman's minimum with a 90 grain bullet is far more conservative at 2.4gr and tops out at 2.7gr, .1gr below Hodgdon's starting load. Your velocity readings correlate with your belief the loads are too hot as Lyman's velocities start out 755fps and top out at 871fps, again for a lighter bullet. Try dialing it back to 2.4gr and see what the results are.

     

  3. 10 hours ago, Johnnymazz said:

    Haa  ! I stocked up from Target Sports there was no limit.

    Just jerking your chain. I had a friend who had the foresight when a local sporting goods chain went out of business, went to each store and bought all their primers at a price of about 50% retail. He had over 145,000 with a wide selection of LP, SP, LR, SR, magnum and even bench rest primers. Unfortunately, he passed away, but his son, who doesn't reload, made a tidy sum selling them at the highly inflated prices.

     

    I'm old enough to remember when primers were under $1 per 100! 

  4. 3 hours ago, Johnnymazz said:

    Mark is working on that. I sent him some pics of the connectors. Removing the shiels does nothing for the warranty. It just covers Dillons ass for a lawsuit.

    Yes, well when mfg's have to post warning labels like this:

     

    754333858_Chainsaw.jpg.cc91809203cf2a5b07707ed997b7dbca.jpg

     

    it's clear that someone, somewhere was stupid enough to try it. I don't blame Dillon one iota!

  5. I found a supply of Win 244 but reloading data seems to be non-existent other on Hodgdon's website. There, for 45 acp 200 grain cast SWC bullets, they list a starting range of 5.1 through a maximum load of 5.8 grains. Has anyone found a sweet spot within this range?

     

    Kind of odd because this powder has been in production for 4 years but I couldn't find anything about it on Handloader's Forum other than they did a Propellant Profile on it in their October 2018 issue (which I ordered).

     

    Insights are welcome! 

  6. My first step is to de-prime. I have an extra tool head with a Lee Universal de-priming die, then just run all the brass through the 650 using the correct caliber set up and case feeder. De-piming this way is very fast and after going through the other brass prep steps, it's like loading new brass. It also means you don't waste time on cleaning Berdan primed cases.

  7. On 5/12/2022 at 8:21 PM, herky said:

    Dillon requested that I return the die and they are going to recrimp.  Will see how that works out.

    Should be doable. Counterbore the carbide ring's hole a slight amount, then crimp the excess over the seated ring and you should be good to go. If they don't let it sit around, it should be almost as fast turn around as sending out a new one. 

  8. 21 hours ago, SJBriggs said:

    Haha... It was actually Gone With the Wind, but seriously, that thing is really damn loud to the point that I didn't want to even be in the garage while it was running.

    Get a large cardboard box, stick some 4" or 6" fiberglass insulation in it and put it over the tumbler when running.

  9. Mine came today. I changed my 650 XL over from .357 mag to 44 mag, which entails going from small primers to large. Doing a major change like this, I take the time to clean and put a fresh coating of grease/oil on everything that needs it. I get everything ready to go and find the primers won't seat all the way. And by all the way, they are sticking out about .020 or .025 of an inch - not remotely close and hard to get out from the shell plate. A quick look shows the primer punch is not coming up into position nearly as far as it should. Head scratching time. Removed the punch - twice - to make sure it's screwed in all the way. Checked everything for clearance. Removed and reinstalled the piece of metal the punch bottoms out on. I'm stumped. I even Googled it to see if someone else ever had this problem, which appears they haven't.

     

    I grabbed a flashlight and started looking again for anything interfering and that's when I noticed the cap for the tube of grease was stuck dead center under the press ram. The clearance between the bottom of the ram and the top of my bench compared with the thickness of the grease cap was just enough to prevent the press from bottoming out and driving the primer punch home.

     

    Duh!!!! 

     

    Removed the now slightly distorted cap, screwed it back on the grease tube and everything was right as rain.

     

    Let's hear your "Duh" story!

     

    20220507_162811WEB.thumb.jpg.25e37f1e2fb11502cc014756dab679da.jpg

  10. On 3/14/2022 at 8:55 AM, looking4reloadingdeals said:

    I spoke with Kevin on the phone last night. The issues with the dies/disks is not due to bad/weak steel but the way he explained it to me is that the offset between the gearbox and the base of the rollsizer causes extra pressure on the disk and the brass causing it to wear that grove in. He said it was not a problem with the steel and the disks are in spec. This is exactly what was copied above. I don’t have an email to copy like above however. 
     

    He also said the groove in the brass is normal, and it often happens with excessively buldged brass which mimics the the extra pressure being applied to every piece of brass with the offset base causing the groove on every piece of brass we are seeing on some of our machines. He said there should be no problem to use the brass. 
     

    Hope that helps alleviate at least some concerns

    A good portion of my life (20 years) was spent as a journeyman die maker both building and repairing dies, and I support those with the opinion that the steel is too soft, regardless of what Kevin says. A properly hardened steel would not wear like that from brass until you reached numbers in the millions, not a few hundred or thousands. If the gear box was putting too much pressure on the rollers, any manifestation of stress would appear on the brass, not the rollers. I doubt those parts will Rockwell out above 40 or 45 on the "C" scale and should be closer to 60.

  11. If you "mush" the Sharpie point and put some extra weight on it (or them) like a 3/4 nut, it works pretty well. What I don't like is the marking tend to come off on your hands when handling the ammo. Maybe because of the case lube?  Might be best to dry tumble the loaded rounds first, then run them through the marker. Otherwise, it works as advertised for me.

  12. I just swapped a guy a box of large pistol primers for some Remington small pistol primers he had just managed to find and I wanted to post that I don't like them much. I can only get 97 of them in my primer tubes and they take extra effort when seating, though they do seat flush. I guess as long as they go bang, that's what matters, but I hope this isn't an indication of how Remington's products are going to be after the bankruptcy. 

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