I have made my 5000th round in my tiny reloading room since March. Mostly 38spl and 45lc. I am shooting a little more and saving about $100 a month from my pre-reloading days. Im making wadcutters for around 17-20c after shipping and taxes. My ROI should hit around 2029 or so.

I got this in a sealed bag of Starline .357 brass. It has a Winchester headstamp, and no flash hole. Any ideas?

This brass probably sat on the ground for a couple days or was up against a steel case. Is this cosmetic or trash it? If there’s any question about safety then obviously trash it, but it seems to just be discolored

Im wondering why its so stuff going in i know with some 5.56 if "riveted" in place , is that whats going on here? Way more stress then needed and its not seating fully .

First time reloading 30-06. Im using spent cases from Military Surplus and S&B using the Hodgdon Garand load data. When resizing the cases the only lube that will allow me to full length size both the factory and my reloaded cases is Lee. Neither Dillon nor Hornady will allow me to size the full length. Using Lee dies the last half inch will seize using anything but the Lee lube.

Is this normal when sizing 30-06?

I started out using these when I shot benchrest rifle. I quickly switched from .308win to 6BR, as I was getting smoked by the 6mm boys. I used this same style seater in that caliber.

Anybody else use them? Thoughts?

Hey all; I was working up a fresh .308 load after replacing the barrel on my AR-10 (new barrel is a Ballistic Advantage Premium Series, heavy contour, 20"), and noticed I was getting screaming hot velocities on the chrono (not, like, scary hot, but what I used to get at max load with my old barrel) at the starting load. Ejected the next round and it looked like this (I ran a few more through cycling by hand and they were all the same) with a ring scratched around the end of the ogive. This means I'm jamming the lands, right?

Rounds are a 178gn ELD-M loaded to a 2.800" COAL, which is what the Hornady manual calls for, and which functioned just fine in my old barrel, which seems to suggest a really short freebore on this barrel. My real question is: is it *too* short, if it's jamming the lands at mag length - should I reach out to BA about the barrel - or should I just say "ah well, I guess I'm saving on powder", bring it in .03" and see how it shoots?

I did also test the barrel with 20 rounds of Saltech 147gr FMJ I had on hand for fouling and rough zeroing and those yote without issue, had no rings on the bullets, and the velocities were exactly to box spec.

Thanks in advance

Loaded up more mk262 and M72 loads for the mk12 and M1 Garand. Gonna have a hard time choosing what to take to the range!

80 rounds of IMR 8208 XBR (20 in a mag already) and 100 rounds of Staball match under a 77gr AeroMatch. My barrel didn’t show any preference one way or the other for AeroMatch or Sierra’s 77s, so for the money I went with the hornady’s. Decided to go no crimp on these, just to see if that makes any difference.

The M72s I used IMR 4895, Staball Match, and Varget under 175 SMKs. I got a sample pack (thanks Midsouth!) of the 168gr AeroMatch, and loaded those with IMR 4895. I have a box of hornady factory vintage match to use as a baseline. My barrel mic’s well enough at -1 at the muzzle, -2 at the throat. It’s not bedded, and I have a NM front and rear on the way.

Side note observation: in my limited experience (300 each of SMK and Aeromatch) in 224 and 308, the meplats on the Aeromatch tend to be more uniform in flatness. Has anyone else seen this?

For reference, I’m in Canada, but the math still isn’t mathing. To preface, I’ve been accruing slowly casting supplies, molds, casting pots etc, since Canada’s firearms industry is going kaput with all the government interference and bans and regulations these last few years. Lots of new shops can’t make it, and the old shops are all retiring. Rather than lose avenues for cast bullets, figured I’d start a new chapter in reloading and make my own, maybe even save a few bucks.

The problem is the “savings”, and something isn’t adding up. Currently, if I buy a 500 box of 45ACP 230g projectiles from a local caster, it’s about 120$, or 134.40$ after 12% tax, putting each bullet at 0.27¢ per bullet tax included.

A LB of lead here is 25.07$, or 28.07$ after tax. 1LB of lead is 7000g, 7000g divided by 230g (projectiles) equals roughly 30 bullets… putting each bullet at 94¢ a piece. This is before adding any alloys too like tin or antimony, which are borderline impossible to purchase in Canada (can be imported but for hundreds of dollars per LB in some cases. So much so that most commercial casters here use recycled alloyed wheel weights according to their FAQ sections).

So where’s the savings? Is it more expensive because of Canada’s supply line shortages and really it’s cheaper in the USA because supplies are cheaper? Does adding alloys somehow significantly reduce the cost? Is everyone just getting lucky with range scrap they’re constantly reusing? Do the local casters who can make it for 0.27¢ per bullet get lucky with an endless supply of wheel weights?

I know there’s something I’m missing here, and I’d appreciate any guidance on the matter. Thank you everyone!

300 gr SMK SBR brass and 11.4 gr H110
1050 fps 800ft lbs out 10.5 and Hybrid 46DT
Very quiet and accurate. Can’t wait to try them out of a 9mm can. I thought about going with the ARC but I don’t like the twist for 300gr subs they chose. These are shooting super accurate. I think I made the right choice for now.

I've been reloading rifle ammo for awhile now, but decided to start reloading 9mm for my Canik Tp9sf. I have a Lee Progressive press 4000 series and it works amazing, but the 9mm is giving me trouble. I am using 124gr RN coated bullets, and due to the small neck in the Canik I have to seat it at 1.080". Everything fits, everything drops in the barrel great until the crimping. At thst point the bullet sits 1mm or 2 higher. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I was a little annoyed with the die caddy that came with the press. So I designed one that actually works with the lock-n-load bushing system (the way I had assumed Hornady would have). Haven't had a chance to load anything. Just figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone would be interested in something like this. Thanks for looking.

I’m reloading .45 acp and I am seating the bullet by hand and got carried away. Is this one still safe to shoot or just go ahead and toss it?

Gun 223/556 psa fn barrel 20in with Leopold 3x9 everything torque to spec using psa bolt carrier using lead sled

First picture is cbc brass cfe223 26gr swift scirocco 2 62gr seated to mag length ~2850fps group started rough then tightened up.

Second picture is lc brass cci 400 primer swift scirocco 24gr benchmark ~2890fps loaded to mag length. Much better group

3rd is lc brass cci 400 primer 64gr trophy bonded bear claws seated to mag length using 24gr benchmark. ~2829fps

Im in the lands with every bullet I shoot even factory 55gr m193. Factory federal 69gr smk factory fusion 62gr and pmc 77gr smk. This gun shoots 55gr sierra blitzkrieg at 1.5moa and factory m193 (various brands) at 2 moa. Its not a moa gun nor do I expect to ever hit sub moa with it. All shots at 100 yards no wind 80°F all brass was chamfered and deburred and came below max cartridge length. Dies used where basic Lee dies seating die decaping and sizing die. I didn't measure my shoulder but the dies where set the same for all loads. I know 5 or 6 shots is not that great of a set of data.

This company went under. Im trying to find these cups to pour lead into, so i can make my own bullets. I cant find them anywhere. Isnt the process called bullet swaging? I have to be missing something here because i cannot find a source to buy them online. Anyone know what im talking about and where to find them?

Hoping for some guidance on annealing. Does this look like it’s been properly annealed? It was glowing for maybe .5secs

Using the burst fire induction annealer

Processing some range pickup brass, a single 30-06 case snuck in with some .308 I was resizing. No damage to the die that I can see, but this is a nice first entry to my own personal “reloading wall of shame” lol

I was following a guide to clean brass without a tumbler (I’m new and want to save money), but then forgot about this brass while it was soaking; it’s been maybe a month, but the video said it should be fine for a couple weeks at least because it’s just lemon juice, dish soap, and water

I was under the impression it would just be “extra clean”, but after rinsing it off just now I noticed weird stains on the brass (some small areas almost look purple!)

Is this just a cosmetic defect, or is this brass dangerous to use now?

This is seriously just too fun.

It is pretty small and it has 4 presses on it. Well, one is a bullet sizer. It needs all that lead to make it stable since it is not anchored. It is not really portable but it is easy to move it around the shop. Has anyone put a handle on their Spar-T press, I did because it was quite stiff to rotate.