Took advantage of Midway's clearances and purchased 100 230 Golden Sabers and 200 Winchester 230 JHP's. If they were not below 20 for 100 EA, I would never have done this

Loaded 1200 rounds of a new IDPA 9mm match load (minor power factor) on the RL 1050 last night.

147gr FMJ over 4.0 WSF. Federal SPP. 1.150" COAL.

Started case gauging them after running them thru a quick tumbler session to knock off the Hornady One Shot.

Will be finishing up the case gauging today.

Glad to see someone else using the same load with 147's and WSF. Yesterday I loaded 500 rounds of Zero 147's, 4.0 WSF, CCI primer and once fired speer brass. my practice session at the range got rained out. So I tumbled brass most of the afternoon. Going to try and load a quick 1000 this morning when i finish my coffee.

Loaded some more 55 VMax over Benchmark. Cant wait till June.

Dragged out all of my reloading equipment and supplies from storage, set it up, and found my old load data from several years ago.  Going to start cleaning and prepping brass.  

Once I get the rifle sighted in (installed a freefloat tube on one and changed the sights around a bit on all of them) I'll start putting loads together--I had one with 65gr GameKings over 25.5gr Varget that did really really nice in my 20"; debating whether to just start with that one or work up new loads.

Started reaming crimped primer pockets on 9MM brass... Almost doesn't seem worth it when 9MM brass is so cheap.

But free is cheaper than cheap I guess.

4 buddies and I lease some farm ground and few years back we were approved for a private WMA and now release birds to hunt privately. We typically hunt through April 1st.
This morning I loaded about 50 20ga shells and took the dogs out.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to test out some of the 158gr SWC I've been putting together, tested the traditional size & lube against several colors of PC, all cast from straight wheel weights. These loads are a standard 3.5gr Bullseye with the SWC and a Federal SPP with the only change being the actual projectile. All were sized to .3575" (actual measurement of my .358" sizing dies).

First, all of the loads were put over the chronograph to check velocity and I was surprised at the results.

Traditional - 746.2 FPS avg,  SD - 10.24
HF Red PC - 736.5 FPS avg,  SD - 11.95
HF Yellow PC - 736.7 FPS avg,  SD - 15.96
Orange PC (blend of yellow/red) -  737.7 FPS avg,  SD - 17.77
HF Black PC - 712.2 FPS avg,  SD - 15.90

No idea why the Black PC ammo was running so slow but I also didn't expect the other colors to be running slower than the traditional lube. The HF Black was a PITA to coat with (just like everyone said...but I had to try), maybe the black coating was thicker/harder...no idea. Also found it interesting that the Standard Deviation changed with the color changes as well.

Then I ran a 12 round group of each color through my 6" 586 on the Ransom Rest at 50 yards. Using a standard B-27 the traditional bullets gave group the was about 1/2 the size of the 10 ring - not bad. Yellow, Red and Orange gave me similar groups that were slightly large than the 10 ring and hit in a diagonal pattern, while the Black put 11 rounds in a group slightly smaller than Traditional with one high flyer that opened the group.

Looks like I'll have to play around a bit more with powder charges and PC bullets as I'm not ready to shoot them in competition from the 50. I do like how clean the PC bullets shoot though, hardly any smoke at all and the barrel was still clean after almost 100 rounds down range.

Today I shot some of the PC bullets through my 4" 586 from the 25 yard line and they shot lights out.  No Ransom today just shooting the regular 25 yard course of fire from competition, these PC bullets and charge of Bullseye are a great combo for 25 and in, Maybe instead of playing with the charge I'll just use the PC bullets up close and stick with the traditional bullets at the 50.

NOTHING!!   I had to rake leaves and clean up the yard!!

Lots of organization today, trying to find the little mounds of brass that seem to grow all over the house. I think I've rounded up all my 7.62x54r brass, all my 7.5 French, all my .270, and a good portion of the .223. The tumbler has been running almost non stop all weekend.

I loaded up another dozen rounds for the old Beaumont, using Federal primers. We'll see if that cures the light primer strikes. I'll test them out when the weather improves around here. It's too damn cold to shoot.

Tumbled 500 223 cases in preparation to deprime and decrimp.  Tossed about 800 357 cases into the tumbler so I can load them this week after work.

processed 1000 LC 5.56 on the XL650/RT1200

Life is Good

.

Went to do a load test with the .45 XTP's this afternoon before I commited to load the rest and left my ammo at a friend's house that I stopped by to visit.

Completed 100 rounds of match 308.
168gr Nosler Custom Comps
43.6grs of IMR 4064
50 pieces of Hornady Brass
50 Pieces of Winchester
Winchester Primers

Probably going to shoot them all tomorrow.

Inventoried bullets and put them in an Excel spreadsheet.
Found out I had more .277 of various flavors than I thought, and a lot less .308.

Last night I converted 1000 pieces of FC 223 brass to 300Blackout on the S1050, I have another 3000 to do today..

Completed a thousand 223 yesterday.  Working up a hundred 308 now and I've decided I'm going to make it easier for me by ordering the conversion kit for my 1050.  This single stage reloading and trimming 308 by hand (drill) is getting old.

I was planning on priming a batch of .308 brass I had previously processed. Unfortunately I decided to fix a couple jacked up sprinkler heads, slipped a disk while kneeling to dig out a sprinkler body. Took appropriate meds and now just resting in agony (it would be bad without a little Flexoral and Tramadol).

Gonna be a couple days before I see the loading bench.

Powder coated a bunch of 180 10MMs and 124 9MMs.

Got my 260 Remington dies and Berger 140s in, necked down 50 pieces of 308 brass to see how they fit in my new Tikka t3x ctr. Also annealed 500 LC 5.56 brass cut for 300 blk. Plan to get them sized and trimmed tomorrow if everything goes as planned.

Ahh. Tramadol... makes me sleepy :).

Loaded 1k 9mm 124's, previous batch's OAL was a tad to long for a new 9mm I picked up, so whipped up a batch just for it :).

So who remembers about a month or so ago when I loaded 3.5k rounds of 9mm and tore down the 1050 toolhead because I figured that would last me for a long time lol... Well even without the new 9mm I've gone through 1500 of those... that dang 9mm goes fast! 

Worked up some 9mm test loads with HP-38 for the new 124 gr RN Bayou Bullets I received last week.

Saturday bought some 69 grn Matchkings and loaded them

Emptied to much brass Sunday. And shot 2 OCW tests for 308. (I built the rifle 6 years ago and finally got a good day for load development).

Monday measured headspace to size some 308. Found my dies just could not bump the shoulder back enough. (Very tight chamber)

Today bought new Hornady 308 die set and was able to bump the shoulder back .002

Sized and tumbled my 308 brass.

Now time to start over on 223 and 9mm.

Tumbling some .223/5.56, .380, and 9x19 right now.

Started tuning out a new 9mm IDPA match load. Frontier 147gr CMJ's over 4.0gr of WSF. 1.100" COAL. Loaded 400 on the RL1050.

Realized I'm down to one box of Makarov food, so I ordered dies. I got them today, and started converting 9mm Luger to Mak brass. Now shopping bullets.

Processed some 9MM brass.

Got my order from midway and swapped in a .40 Lee U die and a Mr. BulletFeeder Dillon Powder Funnel in .40 cal.   Readjusted everything and loaded a few test rounds...

Ran some loaded 9mm thru the tumbler to knock off the One Shot lube.

Ran 1,000 pieces of 9mm WCC brass in the tumbler for a few hours to clean.

Loaded 100 rounds of .308 on the 550. Federal Brass. M80 pulls over 42.0gr of IMR4895.

Loaded up some 357 bunny fart pin loads.  Started Processing the first batch of 500  LC cases

A buddy went shooting up in Vegas this past weekend and called to send me a few large flat rates full of brass. He doesn't reload but knows I do and said he spent two hours picking it all up from Lovell Canyon.

Just when I finally sorted and processed everything that the hometown crew gave to me from our shoot, I get more coming in

Loaded 200 rounds of 6.5 Creedmoor using 143 ELD-X and 41.8 gr H4350. My 26" Criterion loves it

Finally relented and ordered a LabRadar - had been holding off hoping for a deal or coupon but the reality is only a few places even sell them so deals are pretty much non-existent on these :(.  Anyway should be here tomorrow, so hope to try it out this weekend.

Also ordered a few of those click-adjustable PM knobs from DAA.

Bought a 650 after I noticed how much my reconstructed shoulder is complaining about running my 550.

Had my shoulder reconstructed in 2004 and still somewhat feel it after a long session on the 650, just kind of achy. A long afternoon on the single stage will have my shoulder talking to me the following day. You're not alone.

Now that my back seems to be getting better, no Flexoral or Tramadol at all yesterday and only minor twinges of pain today, I think I will try priming that .308 brass later this afternoon. Without the muscle relaxers and pain killers my head is nice and clear so I think I'll be safe to prime.

Cranked out 50 !40 ELD-m for this weekend.. Stretching the legs to 1500 yards this weekend. CAN"T WAIT!!

Load.
140gr ELDM
41.9 Gr of H4350
CCI BR2
Horandy Brass.

Vel. 2735fps. Seems slow, but was a good accuracy node at 300 yards

42.5 Got me up to 2775 fps with great accuracy, but was getting some ejector marks and slight cratering.

I loaded 300 9mm on my new (to me) dillon 550.

I stared really hard at the other 550 I got and thought about getting it mounted... maybe tomorrow.  It's set up for large primers... 45 ACP time is near.

Primed 750 cases of 45 ACP.

Formed about 150 cases of 9mm Mak from 9mm Luger. From my reading I thought that I needed to bell the cases before running them into the Mak die, but it turns out that was not necessary. I could just run normal 9mm Luger cases into the Mak sizing die, then trim with the Lee drill trimmer, and voila. I have more food for my Mak.

Did even more organization on my work bench. In a few weeks it may look fit for civilized use!

That's neat.  I'll have to try doing that sometime so I can actually shoot my Maks more often.  I've got buckets of 9mm brass that I have zero plans to reload since I stocked up on a good deal on factory ammo.  

I bought a RCBS universal hand priming tool for $51, and with their $10 off $50 purchase promotion it'll be ~$42 total.  I'm planning on using it to prime brass at work.  

Same here! I don't reload for 9x19, it's just not cost effective. Once I start casting, I may get into it. I really don't shoot 9x19 much.

I fired my second batch of 11mm Beaumont reloads, using Federal Large Primers. This cured the duds that I was experiencing with the last batch. I can now load this caliber for 45 cents, which I would call a significant savings over the cheapest I can find online: $4 per!

I trimmed about 250 pieces of .270 winchester to length last night, and resized about 50 pieces of 7.62x54R

I was feeling good today but didn't feel like sitting at the Rock Chucker priming .308 so instead I stood at the 650 and cranked out more .38 SWC for about 2 hours.  Finished up all of the traditional lube cast SWC I had available and started loading a bunch of PC cast bullets for the Service gun matches.

Looks like I have about 500ish PC bullets waiting to be loaded, so it looks like maybe two more short sessions at the 650 before I swap over to the 9mm tool head.

Felt good to be making ammo again.

Primed 300 .380 with CCI SPP,waiting on UPS for my projectile order from Midway, and about to start tumbling some .380, 9x19, and .223/5.56 soon.

More organization and planning for my score of reloading items.

Taught a junior troop of mine some information about reloading. Emphasis on research, going slow, working up from minimum and not going outside of published data.

Put together a start up kit for my other friend to start loading 308 win.