Jon Merricks Posted June 4, 2002 Author Share Posted June 4, 2002 I just think that it is so cool that my two year old daughter would rather help me doing my reloading chors than play with the house full of toys. She helps me fish all the brass out of the tumbler then helps me sort and box all of them up. She then hands me the bullets while Im reloading and to finish it up after cleaning the loaded she wipes them all down and puts them in the boxes. Boy I hope this continues through High School. I love Daddy's little helper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbadaboom Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 My 11 year old son chamber checks out of the catch tray and my 18 month old son puts them in the boxes for me. My wife calls this my assembly line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 My 13 year old daughter bugged me to get a reloader that would make rifle bullets, unlike my Square Deal B, so that she could make her own .223 ammo like the other kids she shoots with. I bought a 650. Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing! -jhgtyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Jon, That's a cool feeling isn't it? My 2.5 year old daughter is a total Daddy's girl. She helps with the tumbling duties and she HAS TO put the loaded rounds in the boxes. When I'm reloading she'll get her dolls (she calls them her babies) and brings them into my gun room and plays with them there so she can be with me. I hope she always stays close to me. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypher Posted June 10, 2002 Share Posted June 10, 2002 My 11 year old son helps me when I reload as well. He flips primers, loads them in pick up tubes, dumps them in when my alarm goes off. Sorts brass for me. Sometimes I let him load a few rounds for me (under very careful supervision. The best was the other day though. I was doing a large reloading session (for me) I was planning on reloading about 500 rounds of .45acp. When I realized that the screw that holds in the crank arm for the powder measure on my 550 had somehow backed out. This in essence was letting the little square plastic part jump out of the powder charge bar. To make a long story short I had a bunch of squib loads mixed in with about 400 or so good loads. Anyway I'm in the process of pulling them all and he comes by and sees what I'm doing, and after a while he takes out one of the loaded rounds and shakes it next to his ear and says "squib". I look at him and laugh and explain that he can't possibly tell if that's a squib or not. Just to show him, I pull it. Sure enough, it's a squib. I ask him to try a few more... so he goes through around 20 of them and shows me 3 more that are squibs... sure enough, he was right. I pulled a few that he said were good and darned if he wasn't on the money with those too... To make a long story short (again), I made him go through all the ammo and identify all the squibs. Pulled all the ones he said (all squibs) and shot all the ones he said were OK. I paid him $5 for his assistance. Best $5 I ever spent. Homero (Edited by cypher at 4:01 pm on June 10, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted June 10, 2002 Share Posted June 10, 2002 I can hear the powder in my .223 rounds if I shake them. My shooting buddy tells me this means I haven't shot enough yet! -jhgtyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypher Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 I can hear 'em in a .223 as well. But I sure as heck can't hear 'em in a .45. I guess I've shot enough, eh? Homero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted June 12, 2002 Share Posted June 12, 2002 I don't want to be a wet blanket but your kids could get exposed to lead doing this. Get them to wash their hands after helping and don't eat while helping. It is good to get young people involved in shooting. Don't scare them, just get them to wash the "dirt" off after helping. Bill Nesbitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted June 12, 2002 Author Share Posted June 12, 2002 Well I guess that ened such a cheerfull thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 12, 2002 Share Posted June 12, 2002 BILL... I was gonna say what you said but I hoped someone else would say it so I wouldn't have to be the one to being saying it...know what I'm saying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted June 12, 2002 Share Posted June 12, 2002 Bill, Flex, Good points. Lead exposure is a constant worry for all of us. I only let my kids handle FMJ's and I run them out of the room when I am using the media seperator. Also, after your kids reload, shoot, any activity where they can get exposed, have them blow their noses in addition to the normal washup proceedures. I also mandate that they avoid touching eyes, noses, and mouths when they shoot or reload. They are also not allowed to eat or drink until they have done those steps. Your family doctor can also run a test to check for high levels of lead. It isn't perfect but it is the best I have found to date. -jhgtyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted June 13, 2002 Author Share Posted June 13, 2002 You guys are no fun! You make your kids where seatbelts and stuff like that too dont you. Just kidding. The information that I have in dealing with lead and shooting is that it mainly comes from the primers and not the bullets as one would think. If anyone has better info let me know. I mainly let my girl handle clean brass after it has been washed and tumbled. If anybody knows how to do some test let me know. I know there are test for paint and stuff like that but dont know how they will work for what we want to know. Also has anyone hear tested high for lead levels that could have only come from shooting and reloading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted June 13, 2002 Share Posted June 13, 2002 Somewhat off topic, but I came home one day and found the dog gnawing on a loaded round on the bed. I'm much more careful now...I'm not sure if it could have gone off or not, saliva on primer and all, but it was still scary. It's easy to forget what we're working with. SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Jon, I recently went to my doctor for a lead test, boy did he think I was nuts. Anyway, my memory is hazy, but I think he said normal was 0 to 20, and my blood levels were at 13. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypher Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I am paranoid about lead, and thanks to me so is my son. If he handles a single round he goes and washes his hands thoroughly with soap and water. When we go to the range sometimes water is not readily available to do this. So we keep an abundant supply of "Wet Ones" to clean our hands arms and faces and mucho paper towels to dry off and blow our noses with. Sorry I didn't mention that before... I am not overly concerned that he or myself will have any unhealthy effects from reloading or shooting because of lead exposure because we are sure we take the proper precautions. And Bill don't worry about being a wet blanket. Your concern is very much appreciated. 'Sides... Flex was going to mention it any day now... Right Flex? Homero (Edited by cypher at 2:11 pm on June 15, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 16, 2002 Share Posted June 16, 2002 I was gettin' itchy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Pinto Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Imagine you have a gun which holds 14 rounds (13+1) and the stage requires 14 rounds. Do you: A) Plan and execute a reload, just in case? Take your chances, run the gun dry and only reload if necessary? I prefer (1), because I think it's better to force a reload for better rhythm, but some top shooters have told me that Plan B is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 I plan to run the gun dry with a contingency back up plan of reloading if I screw up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 if the stage is all paper the i go for the no reload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Vince, I plan an "if necessary" reload and either execute it or not as needed. Seems to be the best of both worlds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dame Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 It all depends on how confident you are in your abilities which the stage requires, and in the reliability of your blaster. Also if there is a few steps between arrays and you would feel more comfortable having the extra rounds for the last set of targets, then why not change your mag. If you practice it enough then you won't loose anytime and you don't run the chance of having to do a static reload. Or you could just get bigger mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 If there is movement I just plan on doing the reload while moving. If there is movement but there are targets that can or should be engaged while moving I try to go without the reload but plan a spot where I will do the reload if I have to. If there is no movement I follow the same plan to reload if I have to at a specific time. It is a little bit of a thrill to finish the course at slide lock. Conversly it definitely sucks to run dry on the second to the last shot.... -jhgtyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 No reload and I'll shoot the stage conservatively to make sure I don't need one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 For me, it depends on the stage. I will try to shoot it without the reload if at all possible. I feel that I lose up to half a second reloading on the move. It also depends on where the tough targets are (and how I choose to engae them). I wouldn't want to finish on a tough bank of steel when I am running close to dry. If the tough bank of steel was in the middle of the stage, I would know if I had a miss and would need the reload sometime after that array. Knowing that every bullet has to hit can sometimes help me get really dialed-in and focused. The big danger in this kind of shooting is trying to shove that one extra round into your mag. You know the one. It's that extra bullet that you try to get lucky loading every once in a while. Sometimes the gun jams from the extra mag spring pressure slowing the slide...sometimes it works fine. (Edited by Flexmoney at 6:45 pm on July 30, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Vince, What kind of gun are we talking about? That also depends. If you're dealing with a gun like the P7M13 which hold 13+1 I would run it dry before I reload, because there's no difference in speed. I ask you this because I know you like production class and there are only a few guns allowed that hold 13 rounds (and the P7 is one of them). If you have a gun with a conventional slide stop, ditto on what Flexmoney says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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