Chills1994

Consider this an “ old school tag “ because I am thinking about getting a fo-tay.

I just heard something today at the LGS about Fiocchi building a primer facility in Missouri.

There is a huge thread over at the Shotgun World Forums on birdshot making: https://www.shotgunworld.com/threads/anyone-make-their-own-lead-shot.415048/ I got my idea for making my own birdshot maker from the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS…aka Cowboy Action Shooting) “Wire Forum” years ago. I shot three rounds of trap today. The first one was with my 686 in 12 gauge using factory Federal Top Gun loads. Then I went back to my car to get my 725 in 20 gauge. On the walk there, I could definitely feel it in my right shoulder. My hunting buddy from KC swears by 3/4 ounce loads in the 12 gauge. so that is the other advantage to reloading your own shotgun shells. You can dial down the payload’s weight. Less stress and wear and tear on you and your gun. I am thinking I have never seen factory 12 gauge shells with just 3/4 ounce of shot.

I forgot what size bolt I initially used …. That I inserted the Tweeco wired welding tips into. The OD of the tip is 0.250” . So the head of the bolt had to be thicker than a quarter inch. I am thinking now if I had to re-do it, I would try running the tips through a 1/4 X 20 die…to cut external threads. Then drilling a bunch of 1/4” holes in the “dam”. Insert threaded tip…use a (stainless???) hex nut on each side to secure the tips. One reason is that without a lathe, just a drill press, it is total PITA to drill a hole axially down the shaft of say a 1/2 inch bolt. Not that drilling the other hole radially into one of the hex head flats was a picnic either. The other reason is you could get way more dripper bolts / orifices horizontally across the “dam”. Which would mean more lead droplets …well…dropped per…say an hour. More throughput = more better’er. There are youtube videos of guys making their own dripper bolts using like some sub 1mm metric drill bit chucked in a Dremel, which is then clamped in a jig. I don’t know if they are drilling into aluminum bolts, regular carbon steel bolts, or stainless steel bolts. It looks like a tedious time consuming process that probably breaks a lot of drill bits. As far as the rusty ramp goes, there’s a velcro attachment for right angle grinders and maroon scotch bright pads. That almost polishes it. Then I switch over to a buffing wheel chucked in corded drill. It almost becomes a mirror. Then I spray it with graphite spray from a local NAPA auto parts store. And then I plug in the electric broiler element. Back on topic…. I ran my current component prices for 20 gauge through another online calculator just a couple of hours ago. That shows $7.17 per box. So that is still 4 to 5 bucks cheaper than factory 20ga AA shells from Walmart (if your Walmart still sells ammo) or Academy Sports. You could think of it like this: if your range charges $7 or $8 for each round of trap/skeet, the “savings” from the first two boxes of reloads or first two rounds, pays for the third round. EDIT: just like a lot of other “Should I start reloading?” threads when it comes to rifle or pistol reloading, ultimately the answer that everybody agrees on is “You won’t save money. But you sure will shoot more!”

One last post.. for now…I promise. my old “ladle” with the Jim Stuart’s “the better shotmaker” dripper bolts: It probably hasn’t been fired up in 10 to 15 years. Hence the rust spots on the ramp or lip. with all that said, I still bought a bag of Lawrence Magnum #8 shot last week. $55 for 25 pounds.

The stuff that was small enough to drop through this old colander was like a #9 shot size:

Then this other half gallon milk jug of homemade shot I have… I think I used Jim Stuart’s “the better shot maker” dripper bolts:

On Monday, the 4th, I went to a local range that has a voice remote for the skeet field. I was all by myself. So I went through one box of shells just on the first two stations. I ended up going through 5 boxes total, all factory stuff since I haven’t reloaded any 20 gauge yet. I stopped off at my “reloading shop” to drop off the empty hulls. While I was there, I checked out some shot I made 10 plus years ago: I think those were made with own dripper bolts using Tweeco wire welding tips.

More: Beretta Langdon model with a Steiner Light and Single Beam Aiming Laser (SBAL) DISCLAIMER: I am in NO way related to the folks at FiveO holsters. Nor am I quasi sponsored or otherwise compensated by them. Just a happy customer who lucked into finding a local company who could make stuff to fit my lights.

Yes, they do. Try this : https://five0holsters.com/ I bought 3 holsters off them . My total was $195 , so that averages out to $65 each. This was back in January (before all this inflation stuff hit us all). Here are some pics: Sig 1911 with a TLR (1 or 2 or 2HL) with both the flashlight and laser. what I can’t get to scale down small enough pic-wise is a CZ SP01 with a similar TLR light/laser combo.

Turns out a local mom and pop shop made a few of mine for me. Pop is a soon to be retired local cop. The only downside is they made them more for like CCW purposes. The grip of the gun almost feels like it is up in my armpit. But they used Tek Loks, so one of these days I will get around to fixing that with some sort of hanger or dropped and offset piece.

The last station in my Mec 9000’s is a taper crimp. (Of course, the first station is the collet resizer and depriming) My 870 and 1100 had ZERO issues with my 12 gauge reloads. This is my one local Walmarts price per flat of 12ga AA’s:

I have only ever used Cheddite 209’s. I bought my first brick last year at the Grand from Gamaliel. That was 40 bucks. A local reloading store has them in consistently. But the price is now $60 a brick. I am saving the translucent Fiocchi’s for my hunting buddy who is thinking about reloading some buckshot rounds. It makes it real easy to identify whats inside: I have buckets and buckets of the red AA’s and the grey AA’s . FWIW, I have not seen Winchester 209’s on the shelf in 3 years. I was at the US Open about 3 weeks ago. I stopped by the Winchester booth and asked the rep “Where are the primers?” He gave this weird smirk/smile and gave me this line that sound too well practiced, “All our primers are going into fully loaded ammunition.” The dude was wearing a baseball style cap. call me a “boomer”, but his bill was entirely too flat.

I am local to the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, IL. so I went “dumpster diving” a couple of Fridays back: soooo ….come about August 5th or so this year, when the ATA is having their Grand, I’ll wind up with more and varied 12 gauge hulls than I will know what to do with. 20 gauge hulls…. Not so much. Maybe if I went over to the sporting clays or 5 stand range.

Here is the link to that reloading cost calculator: http://www.anycalculator.com/ShotgunReloading.html

I just bought a brand new Citori 725 in 20gauge. Since I am starting with brand new Winchester AA factory ammo, and saving those hulls, I am also kinda starting from scratch with 20 gauge wads and 20 gauge powder (572 or International Clays). so if I can get this screenshot to load, you will see my cost for a box of 25 is 7 dollars and some change: I had just bought my Mec 9000 GN in 20 gauge used off a guy on FB marketplace. It was $450. Factory Winchester AA’s in 20 when I can find them are $13 a box. I do have the ability to make my own birdshot which drops my per box cost for 12 gauge down to $2 and some change. which is kind of an accounting glitch. It does take electricity to melt the lead. It also takes electricity to graphite the shot in my old vibratory tumbler.

When I was an MD, I just used “hands on X’s, toes on X’s”. Or “finger tips on X’s, heels on X’s” I used blaze orange duct tape ripped into narrower strips to make the X’s for the finger tips or hands. I might have used the duct for the 2X2 wooden fault lines, but I would rather draw X’s with a sharpie marker. Every now and then I will catch a video of somebody shooting a stage. The whole “IPSC monkey” stance makes me cringe. But that’s just me and my personal opinion.

Yeah, yeah, not the normal type presses for this thread or this forum, bbbuuutttt…. I bought 3 of those tool boxes before we even heard of covid. And I bought an 8 foot long section of butcher block. This past Saturday I bought a used Mec 9000GN in 20 gauge. The 12 gauge Mec 9000GN is on the right. Sssooo…I guess I am gonna have to buy a 20 gauge shotgun now… My plan is to gang the other two boxes together, put the remaining butcher block on top of that, and then mount my two 650’s on that.

That’s a possibility, but there was a customer standing like 4 feet from me just like “window shopping” and he was nodding his head the whole time. Turns out that guy reloads and was following their facebook page when they posted about primers coming in. So he was part of the mad rush to get primers in person.

since I am close to East Alton, all the local gun stores that would normally carry reloading supplies …normally get primers direct from Winchester/Olin. One LGS got in a shipment of about 30 or 32 sleeves/cases of primers (5 bricks per sleeve) about 2 months ago. POOF! They were all gone the next day. Supposedly, that Olin guy/rep told then to NOT expect any more primer deliveries in 2022. Yeah, I am hoping Expansion Industries (of Texarkana) can bring new primers to the market. But if the old/dated internet reviews of their past ventures are to be believed, I won’t be holding my breath. The terms “vaporware” or “unobtainium” come to mind.

.38 caliber…huh? and .45???

You can use little ring type electrical connectors and a drop of super glue. It makes the brass locator pin easier to grab and if it does fall to the floor, it won’t roll.

I have been reloading on Dillon 550’s or 650’s since the early 2000’s . Every Dillon powder measure that I get receives the Dillon Powder Measure retrograde treatment. That entails drilling out the rivet for the bell crank …and some other things…and buying the two old school powder bar return springs: There might…cough…cough…MIGHT ….cough be a time in your future when you will want to run the Dillon Powder Measure in station #3 or #4 of your 750. There is obviously no attachment on the “ram” for the bottom of the failsafe rod if you do move the PM to the #3 or #4 slot. You should buy the tension springs directly from Dillon, though.

Which would take up the space or gap between the bottom of the powder bottle “cap” and the top of the charge bar :

I know this is an old thread, so pardon the necro-post. Long story short, I bought a Mec 9000G, used, off of Craig’s List about 15 years ago. It had been sitting on my reloading shop floor up until last Thursday (3-24-2022) night. Come to find out, it appears to be missing both the rubber gasket/grommet and the brass washer. There is kind of a local reloading store that I went to on Friday. The brass washers were in stock, but they had NO rubber grommets/gaskets. Sooo…via the ShotgunWorld forums, I am learning that there might be a better alternative: ….