Went to the range this morning to see how my recent reloading work has gone. Getting back into 'rolling my own' as ammo prices are getting silly/stupid. So I've spent this weekend loading four boxes of .38 Special, two boxes of .357 Magnum and two boxes of .45 ACP. I shot the .38 Special loads with a 125 grain JHP over 3.7grains of Red Dot, my old 'standby' load - they did fairly well, though definitely milder than factory .38s. Shot a bit low. Shot another load using the same bullet over 5 grains of Unique - also a bit too mild and shot low. Both grouped pretty well, except for a few that were very light - don't know what happened.... Had one bullet lodged in the muzzle of my Ruger Security Six - actually sticking out the end! Gunny Don got a good laugh out of that one. I caught one squib during loading - put a bullet over an empty case! Apparently I had TWO of them. Gunny Don suggested using 7 grains of Unique, but he loads 158 grain in .38. It should perk things up. One Red Dot group showed five within an inch and a half at 15 yards! The sixth was high. One of my best groups EVER, minus the flyer! Tried some .38 Super (loaded by Georgia Arms - I like their ammo) in my Star Super pistol - it's actually a 9mm Largo, but a lot of guys make the minor mod to shoot .38 Super. Had some feeding problems, but it grouped very nicely - a bit HOT too! Gonna need a stiffer recoil spring. The Star bit my right hand too. 'Hammer bite'. This is a common problem with the old Stars - need to trim the hammer spur a bit. Shot the .44 cap&ball 1860 Army, and first two cylinders ran well - third cylinder, got four 'no fires' - DANG! Gonna have to strip it and punch them out. This hawgleg has always been cantankerous - my new 1851 Navy is much more reliable, but I didn't bring it. I shot the little singleshot .36 Boot Pistol. Had some misfires - bad caps maybe? Remington caps work better than CCI. Couldn't see any holes at 15 yards - my buddy Keith was right! It's not a target pistol..... Hehehe! (NO sights - the hammer is too high!). Fun though. I made a ramrod with a wooden dowel, and M1 Carbine brass ends JB Welded onto it - works great! I do need to trim the TC-lubed patches down - the ones I have are for the .50 caliber ML rifle - leaves too much fabric in front of the .36 ball. I used a 15 grain load of Triple Seven powder - might bump that up a bit - seems light. All my BP shooting now is with the Hodgdon's Triple Seven powder - great stuff! One range comedian said it smells like "dirty old socks"! Couldn't try my .45 reloads - I forgot the danged pistol! "DOH!" It was busy out there this morning! The pistol side was packed, Don (old Marine), Steve (SIG guy) and another regular were there, and a bunch of younger folks! I packed up and motored out about 9:30 - I was on the KLR motorbike. Not a bad day, if a bit disappointing. But, it gives me an excuse to improve my loads!
Any day at the range is a good one! You got some good data to improve your home-rolls. Good luck with them,/ I am looking forward to getting my Dillon progressive on-line in a week or two.
That would have been a cool picture to have... I'll bet you didn't try shooting it out like some local guy here did (ok -- probably 30 years ago :^). The poor guy lost his thumb and ruined the antique rifle he borrowed. I, too, hope to start reloading before the end of Summer; need to pick up a .223-type rifle pretty soon...
i have a 5.56 rifle and about 600 rounds of once fired mil-spec ammo and no idea as to what reloading equipment to buy, dies, powder or bullets. help???
Go to our friends at the Handloaders Bench. Pretty good bunch, they'll point you in the right direction. Click on the link on the main menu here.
Still having fun with it. I have begun loading the .22 Hornet - funn little cartridge! My first attempt has done very well - half-inch groups a 50 yards. I was shocked at doing so good on the first try! My old vendor-supplied VMax loads did that well at 100 yards, so I have a benchmark to try for. I'm using the same brass - already fire-formed to my rifle's chamber, and the 45 grain Hornady softpoint. I also have the same .40 grain VMAX bullets that the vendor used - but I don't know what powder and primer he used. My .45ACP loads are working well - been doing some 200 grain lead flat-nose bullets. The lighter 4-grains of Red Dot load seems more accurate, but the faster 6.3 grains of Unique load is good for defensive use. My .38 loads are doing okay - haven't hit the 'magic bullet' yet for really tight groups - but that's always a good excuse to keep on with it! Hehehe. My .357 Magnums are doing well - although I did have a couple that popped the primer but didn't detonate the powder! Messy..... My buddy had the same problem with his.... But we are using different powders. I hope it isn't the Winchester primers - they have been doing great otherwise! Might be the Florida humidity getting to the powder. We just got a "Sportsman's Warehouse" store in town. That'll save me lots of money not having to pay shipping and hazmat fees - even with a bit more cost per item, it'll be cheaper over all. More 'bang for the bucks'!
