What did you do at your reloading bench today?

[DsGrouse]

The starline 38 spl brass


My new dehydrator arrived. It is rapid drying time. The Dehydrator has 3 batches of 38 spl in it, The above image is only two batches.
The top left is a tray of 45 colt, and top right is a tray of 9mm just out of the tumbler.

The dehydrator's top warms up, which is why i put the trays on top.


I also have a Dehumidifier in the bathroom. It helps by pulling excess moister from the room. So, between the two, i should see some better and more consistent drying times.

[DsGrouse]

the 223/556 brass after drying. Big improvement over air drying for a couple of days.

[Hatchdog]

Hatch, what's the fly reel make?

The reel is marked Kalamazoo Tackle Co and also is marked Emperor No. 1684. The rod is marked Craftsman Yellowstone. It’s a bamboo fly rod with three different length tips. The tips store in the metal tube you see and the entire set up stores in the cloth bag.

According to my Dad who I got it from it used to belong to my Great Grandma on my Grandma’s side of the family. This family immigrated from Ireland and settled in Montana. I understand my GG was a passionate fisher-person and used this rod. I’ve done a little light researching on it and there’s little info out there that I have found. For me it’s just decoration in my reloading room and usually sits in the corner of the room until I get it displayed on a wall. It was on the bench as I had the bug spray people in and I didn’t want it sprayed with the chemical.

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[Rifletom]

Man, that parallels my Grandpa's fly rods. He used to import split bamboo from the Philippines and import the reels[Hardy's?] from England and custom make fly rods for doctors and such in the So-Cal area. Tie his own flies also. Like your rig, he had a metal tube for different tips and a cloth type for carrying. Sadly, I don't have one to have have as a keep sake. Did see one in a sporting goods store in the town of Bishop in the Eastern Sierra's. Display only and wasn't for sale. Beatiful work. At least you have one to admire. My Grandpa called them his "Andrew Fly Rods". Made 'em at the kitchen table.

[.45Steel]

Tonight after work I cast 100 c358-200-rf. for 35 Remington. I got them sized, checked with Sages gator checks and the first coat of Bens liquid on them.

[Vaquero]

Tonight after work I cast 100 c358-200-rf. for 35 Remington. I got them sized, checked with Sages gator checks and the first coat of Bens liquid on them.

What's your powder of choice?

RP

[Mags]

Deprimed more 45 colt cases.

[5shot]

Slugged the barrel on .45 Colt BBS. It shoots 250 XTP's very well but my accuracy with cast bullets hasn't been as good. Got a piece of 3/8" hardwood dowel and capped both the driving and driven ends with a 10mm case. Cast a few 200 gr. bullets of pure soft lead that mic'd at just over .452" and with the Ranger Point bore guide in place tapped bullet through the oiled barrel. No particular tight spots and bullet mic'd at .4515". I've been sizing at .452" which should have been working but maybe the bullets could be another thousandth fatter....back to the bench.

[DsGrouse]

Slugged the barrel on .45 Colt BBS. It shoots 250 XTP's very well but my accuracy with cast bullets hasn't been as good. Got a piece of 3/8" hardwood dowel and capped both the driving and driven ends with a 10mm case. Cast a few 200 gr. bullets of pure soft lead that mic'd at just over .452" and with the Ranger Point bore guide in place tapped bullet through the oiled barrel. No particular tight spots and bullet mic'd at .4515". I've been sizing at .452" which should have been working but maybe the bullets could be another thousandth fatter....back to the bench.

I've had similar issues with mine. Speed. make sure your super, 1200, to 1300 for that weight of bullet. Only when I get to the 265, 280, and 300 grn bullets does my accuracy get better at near sub-sonic speed.

As for the best bullets I've found. Cast performance 265, and 300.
Matts 280 grn bullets.

[5shot]

More speed? I wanted these for soft recoiling plate smackers but I'll give them a little boot in the backside and see what that does. One thing I noticed when slugging is that the beginning (leade?) of the rifling is very abrupt. When that soft slug hit the rifling it required a pretty good whack to get it started. Wondering if there was a bit more of a gradual start to the rifling it would be easier on cast bullets? Just a theory.

I'll try speeding things up with HS6 or Blue Dot or maybe a reduced load of 2400 with that 255 gr. My Ruger Bisley does very well with the Lyman 424 SWC and RCBS 270 SAA but, alas, they're too long to feed in the levergun.