rutilate

I'm going to pull the trigger and get one of the big dawg tumblers http://www.biggdawgtumblers.com/18801.html He's detailed his build process elsewhere, but I'd rather get back to shooting! I'll just dump the waste water on my neighbor's yard and be done with it. Just kidding.

This has been a challenge for me: how to find out how much lead is really in the water? Everyone I've spoken with has said they either pour it down the drain or the driveway. I'm on septic in a rather sensitive (or fanatic) state. I'd rather not contaminate my septic or the neighbor's yard. Has anyone tested the lead concentration in the effluvium?

Ming, that's a great idea. Do you load the tumblers outside or inside?

Thanks for the replies. I'm moving it outside today. My wife is ecstatic. i wonder if I can use this as an opportunity to convince her it is time to upgrade... What do people do with the water after wet tumbling? I've a septic system so dumping it down the drain doesn't seem like a good option. Is there a way to easily test the lead contamination in the dry tumbling media or wet tumbling waste water?

Has anyone run across any discussion or better yet, measurements of harmful airborne particulates generated during tumbling/separating brass? I'm running the tumbler in my basement (next to exercise equipment!) and cannot afford to have lead build up and seepage into the house above. I've read about people finding fine dust all over their shops/basements when using the dry media and/or open lid tumblers. I've taken some steps to ensure dust is minimized during tumbling. I need to know how big of an issue this is, what else is necessary, including the possibility of just moving everything outside or even converting to stainless steel media. There are five actions with potential for airborne contamination: Pouring soiled media into tumbler Tumbling Pouring media and brass into separator Separation Pouring media into storage (or back into tumbler for another load) 1.) Pouring soiled media into tumbler 3.) Pouring media and brass into separator 5.) Pouring media into storage (or back into tumbler for another load) Don't know how to minimize dust here, or even how big of a problem it really is. 2.) Tumbling I have a Frankford Arsenal tumbler with a solid lid (although not necessarily sealed) and am using the walnut media with a recipe of mineral spirits and NuFinish (described here). How much will this combination knock down dust? How often should the mineral spirits and NuFinish be reapplied to keep the dust down? 4.) Separation I'm pouring into the RCBS media separator. I bought it because of the lid. I've been using my wife's old colander (caught hell for that when she found it missing!) and turning them with my hands. That won't continue! What are your thoughts?

I like the idea of making my own dummies. I assume that I can use an old, fired primer. Is a new primer enough to dislodge the bullet from the casing and potentially get it stuck in the barrel?

Great advice, thanks to all for helping out a noob! I'm going to double-stuff the ears, shoot at the berm with .22 snapcaps at a rate of 2x/second. That way I'll never hear or notice people making fun of me for not shooting anything. Or when I do, for missing the target completely. Seriously though, thanks for the advice. I'll give 'em a try shortly. I'm currently recovering from knee surgery and I'd need a doctor's note to hit the range, otherwise my wife might come after me with my own pistol!

I watched a video today about watching the muzzle rise. I've never seen it do so. I'm blinking, and sometimes in anticipation of the shot! How do you go about conditioning yourself to avoid that blink?

It was my understanding that the Lee dies aren't typically long enough to have the set nuts on top. Someone suggested putting them on the bottom instead. New caliber conversion kits are the cheapest here on this site (http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.conv.550.html) There is a really, really good caliber conversion kit guide here: http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon/cal.conv.chart.html It shows you what parts are shared between your calibers so you don't have to spend full price on each caliber with overlapping parts. There are quite a number of very good youtube videos on using the 550B. Here are some:

I'm just getting started in reloading so I can afford competition shooting. Clearly I need to start throwing much more lead down range. I'm at about 3k total, including .45, 9mm, and 22LR.