My reloading adventure continued

[branflakes]

To start off, I see myself shooting more now that I am loading my ammunition.  I also did not think I would want to load 7.62x39, or at least quantities of it but that is changing.  From what I have made so far, I very much enjoy single stage over the progressive.  I have loaded, 109 9mm cartridges.  (All the spp I had)  Ran my first 5 without any issues.  I still have 90 fmj and 10 hp ready to shoot.  A couple maybe cringe worthy hahaha.  I will have to get some pictures of those too.  I have loaded 50 308 rounds with different recipes and have performed much better than I was anticipating. 

I have acquired a bit more supplies.  Mostly from older gentlemen getting out of reloading.  3 manuals, bullets, powder dropper, powder dribbler(?), digital scale, new calipers, 38spl dies, 7.62x39 die set and some other odds and ends. 

The 7.62x39 die set I have is and RCBS 'ar' set.  It has a paper saying I can change the neck to load .308 caliber bullets instead of .310.  It didn't have it in the box but I have found the part number for it if I feel inclined.  Anyone run .308 bullets through their sks and ak?

On to my weird 38 and 357s!


Less than lethal?


What I think of when I actually say or see it spelled out, "hollow 'point'"


This happened on two rounds.


I decided to pull apart the others I had from this group. Tight crimp?


So, those were in aluminum cases, berdan primed, cci headstamp.  The bullets were seated too far too.  They were charged 15.1 to 15.8 gr.  The bullets were touching the powder and I wonder if they were also compressing the powder.  I was going to pull the primers and reload my nickel cases with them but again, they're berdan primed?  I did pull apart another old factory brass including getting the primer out just to experiment.  Not going to do it regularly.  Going to reload the aluminum cases to 38 spl spec and shoot if from the snub.  Hopefully without exploding the casings ahahaha.

[Rocketvapor]

Just an observation;
ahahaha and reloading don't go together well.

Were the reloaded aluminum cases fired and resized cases?
Some do it, I don't.  Case expands when fired, gets squeezed way down when sized, and expands again when fired the second time. 
It's not brass. 

15.1 to 15.8 grains of what powder?

[Filroy77]

I've reloaded a few aluminum cases (.45 acp) and they ran ok but I just toss em out now. I collect up my spent brass from new and also purchased new brass when it was available and not crazy priced like todays offerings. I also purchased some used 9mm brass from a fellow member here and use those instead of taking a chance on aluminum.

It is fun to experiment with different kinds of loads. Made some 100 grain 30.06 rounds that I haven't shot yet. They'll probably just disintegrate but it will be interesting see. I also have some 110gr fmj .30 cal that are probably more appropriate that I'll get to one day.

.310-.311 FMJ bullets would be better than .308 in 7.62 x 39. FMJ because lead or lead tip can be distorted in the semi-auto action process. If you were to slug the barrel, you would find out the caliber of your particular rifle. Bigger the bore, less accuracy with .308 projectiles obviously. Will they work? Yes but accuracy may suffer.

Enjoy the hobby and be safe! Be extra careful with your powder charges (no powder, extra powder).

[Frisco Pete]

The .308” expander ball included in your RCBS 7.62x39 die set is for people loading for the Ruger Mini-30 7.62x39 that uses a .308 diameter barrel instead of the usual .311-.312 Russian spec barrels of the SKS/AK. When that rifle was introduced, there weren’t any component .311 bullets for reloading available, so .308 was a good theory for reloaders. The bore tapered from .311 to .308 in the barrel so you could fire Com-bloc ammo too.

I’m not sure what you are doing with your .38 Special and .357 loads. Your post is very unclear. I could possibly be misinterpreting what you have done with those, but let me start out by saying a couple of things:

There is a “NR” (Non-Reloadable) head stamp on the CCI aluminum cases for a very good reason. They aren’t meant to be safely reloaded. Aluminum doesn’t have the ductile qualities of brass. It doesn’t expand under firing and contract when re-sized without destroying the strength of the aluminum. Whereas brass does. I’m not sure how you have reloaded those Berdan-primed cases, but toss them out and don’t shoot any that have been reloaded. That is the reason CCI used Berdan primers - to keep people from reloading their aluminum cases.

So don’t reload aluminum cases. Just get once-fired .38 Special cases and do it right and safely. Here are some links:

https://www.capitalcartridge.com/38-special-brass-s/112.htm

https://precisionbrass.net/product/38-special/

https://nereloading.com/38%20special%20bulk%20once%20fired%20brass%20for%20reloading%20free%20shipping%20in%20stock.html

https://223firedbrass.com/38-special-once-fired-brass-74

Nickel-plated brass tends to have the nickel plating start to flake off at the case mouth after a few reloads and often starts having neck splits earlier than plain brass, so I would just stick with brass-non-nickel-plated cases when you order them. And that is cheaper as well.

Fun fact: Spell check changes Berdan to Brendan every time, so be aware…

Seating depth is critical when it comes to pressure in loading pistol rounds. Revolver bullets normally have a crimp cannelure or groove (on lead bullets) that dictates seating depth.

You don’t tell us what powder and what bullet weight you are using with the heavy 15.1-15.8 charges (.357 I assume). So I can’t comment, although it makes me wonder about that load.

Crimping is more art than science. You want enough to hold the bullet firmly, but not so much as to force the case to bulge excessively - which actually has a negative effect on bullet tension as it bends the case away from grabbing the bullet. I’d like to give you some hard and fast help here, but it’s mainly trial and error on what seems enough.

One thing I think is a must is a case gauge that you drop a re-sized case into to see if it will fit in a minimum-sized chamber. It especially lets you know if the case isn’t sized far enough down. I’ve loaded ammo that wouldn’t fit in my friend’s Rugers, but would go in my S&W. Once I got a gauge I never had problems with fit anymore. I know that both Wilson and Dillon make them. Do an internet search. 

[Rocketvapor]

I like running my progressive in single stage mode.  Not as fast but each and every single operation can be felt.  Die plates are set up for a single caliber.
Even a separate plate for my F-class loads in 22N. 

Try and keep the loading process as consistent as possible. Don't mix too many variables into one session. 
Ladder loads with one powder/projectile should be isolated from a load with a different powder/projectile combination. 
Reloading is a double check everything, avoid distractions art.  It can be fun. 

The crimping operation, when needed can be a taper crimp for bullets without a channelure, or normal crimp just enough to fit the groove when provided.
It doesn't take much to hold the bullet during recoil.  A crimp adds a little pressure to the load. 

Master standard reloading first using simple methods before experimenting.  Provide the opportunity to double check at critical points.

[branflakes]

Just an observation;
ahahaha and reloading don't go together well.

No they don't!  The laugh was a very nervous one at best.  Did it make the hairs on your neck stand up?

The 357:
I bought some ammo ftf.  Several boxes of factory ammo and the guy gave me everything else he had.  A grocery bag of around 40 rounds in it.  Some of it was the ammo in question.  I only planned on shooting it and saving the brass.  Shooting these rounds, the cases blew and the 'pow' was extremely hot charge.  I stopped after the second shot.  I saved them to get a better inspection.   I never intend or want to load aluminum, new or reloaded.   

These rounds could not have been sent from the factory this way.  I am not sure of the powder type but I do know that two of the rounds had two different types in it. 

This is inside the case

[GuitarmanNick]

Before selecting a bullet size it is a good idea to slug the bore. My SKS slugs @ .314" which is the same as my M-44. I have found 155 grain cast alloy bullets sized @ .313 give excellent results using a light charge out to 100 yards in both rifles. Hornady makes 150 grain jacketed bullets @ 312" that are extremely accurate when fired from my M-44, but the powders I have tried did not produce impressive results in the SKS.

[branflakes]

I don't plan on doing a ladder, for a while anyway.  Not really going to try 308 calibers in the sks and ak, but it is a nice thought to entertain having a solid copper bullet for them.  I have 100 Hornady SST in .310 and believe they will serve me well.  The 'experimenting' would be using what I have purchased so far and tuning what I like from that.  The charges I have done are pretty much in the middle of the load data.  Some of the 308 was and will stay at the minimum because I have seen that they already perform as well as I need them to.  (Shootin the $%!^)

I have only crimped the surplus lake city 308 that came with several different OAL.  Pulled all of them, evened powder charge, seated and crimped.  Shot them and they flew well. 

I will get a couple case gauges, thanks for the recommendation. 

Guess I need to google 'slug the bore' too

[Frisco Pete]

I use the Lee Factory Crimp die for crimping rifle rounds. I think this one-of-a-kind die produces the best results with rifle ammo.

[cvasqu03]

Congrats on getting into reloading.  I also reload on a single stage press and I enjoy it a lot.  I actually got into this debate with some people on Florida Shooter's page.  Some guys kept arguing that you have to get a progressive and if it's too expensive you should just work extra hours to get one.  I pointed out that some of us actually enjoy the reloading process.   It's a personal thing, some people enjoy fishing, but I just don't get it.  Some guys enjoy going to baseball games, but I think it's comparable to watching grass grow.  Some of us actually enjoy the repetitive motions of reloading and find it relaxing, and when we're done, we end up with more ammo. 

I have reloaded 7.62x39 including using both .308 and .311 with a LEE kit.  I used to switch out the expander pins, but a few years ago I won a second set of LEE dies at the SKS Boards shoot and now I keep a resizing die with each size expander.  Since I had trouble finding .311 bullets at first, most of my original loads were using .308 and they functioned in both SKS and AK rifles just fine and accuracy was better than factory ammo despite using the smaller bullets.  That being said, the SKS is pretty harsh on the brass cases and AK's tend to be very dirty so I ended up using my 7.62x39 reloads mostly on my 20" Saiga which I have scoped and set up for accuracy.

Over the years I'd held on to many cases that misfed or otherwise had the bullet pushed in making them unsafe to fire so eventually I got around to pulling the bullets.  I had several hundred bullets when I was done (I'd been saving them for years) and these were all sized .310-.311 so I weighed all of them and sorted them into similar lots for loading.  I also resized the primed steel cases I'd pulled these from by cutting the decapping pin off of the expander and running the cases through (with plenty of sizing lubricant).  The only thing I didn't salvage was the powder.   I then used commercial powder to reload these into the steel cases which all fired and functioned perfectly (though I had not intention of trying to reload them after that so I didn't bother trying to collect those spent cases).

Eventually I got into trying for more accuracy, when I finally got a 308 rifle.  I also loaded a whole bunch of 223 ammo, but then later loaded some heavier 223 bullets for accuracy for use in competitions.  Overall, reloading is a blast whether you're doing it in a progressive or a single stage.  If you just want to go out and blast a bunch of ammo it might be worth getting a progressive press but it's a personal preference. 

[res45]

Before selecting a bullet size it is a good idea to slug the bore. My SKS slugs @ .314" which is the same as my M-44. I have found 155 grain cast alloy bullets sized @ .313 give excellent results using a light charge out to 100 yards in both rifles. Hornady makes 150 grain jacketed bullets @ 312" that are extremely accurate when fired from my M-44, but the powders I have tried did not produce impressive results in the SKS.

In general, about .001" to .002" over groove dia. of the rifle's bore is usually sufficient with cast lead bullets, I shoot for at least .002" when possible or as large as will easily chamber to fill the throat better.  None of my Mosins or SKS rifles bores slug as large as yours, but it's not uncommon for that to be the case.  All my cast bullets for combloc rifles get sized to .314" after powder coating, gas checks are applied either before or after coating depending on if the gas check shank will easily take the check after it's coated, sometime with some powder coats I have to apply the check first but the coating sticks to the check just fine.

I like heavy for caliber cast bullets in both the Mosin and SKS rifles, they just shoot better than the lighter offerings.  I use 160 to 185 gr. in the SKS rifle and 160 to 215 gr. cast bullets in the Mosin. Powders that give a slow gently push or launch into the leads tend to give the best results.  Powders like IMR or H-4895, Reloader #7 and Alliant 2400, For HV cast rifle loads IMR or H-4198 has come to be my powder or choice.

[cvasqu03]

BTW, if you're experimenting with loads and have some availability, it's good to look through your load books and see which powder will push the bullet weight you want with a lighter load.  Normally it won't make that big a difference but sometimes it will.  When reloading 7.62x39 I found that the loads using Reloader 7 were significantly higher than using an IMR powder.  Enough so that using the IMR powder, I'd get the same round but use less powder and get significantly more rounds per bottle of powder.  It's also an issue if you're using very long bullets.  Using the Reloader 7, with 150gr bullets in 7.62x39 I could literally feel the powder being compressed as I loaded them and ended up pulling all the rounds because I didn't want to risk firing with compressed powder. 

[Frisco Pete]

Congrats on getting into reloading.  I also reload on a single stage press and I enjoy it a lot.  I actually got into this debate with some people on Florida Shooter's page.  Some guys kept arguing that you have to get a progressive and if it's too expensive you should just work extra hours to get one.  I pointed out that some of us actually enjoy the reloading process…   

…Overall, reloading is a blast whether you're doing it in a progressive or a single stage.  If you just want to go out and blast a bunch of ammo it might be worth getting a progressive press…

While I don’t mind loading rifle rounds on a single stage press, and also like to use it to work up loads - when it comes to high volume loading, I’ll take my Dillon every time. Just because you use a progressive, doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy the reloading process.

At one time I was shooting more handgun rounds each week than I had time to reload with my busy and demanding work schedule. So I got a Dillon RL-550b and finally was able to keep supply ahead of demand. And enjoyed every minute I used that mechanical marvel. It has just the right amount of automation for speed, but has enough manual operation to keep you in control.

For me it is very enjoyable and satisfying to reload on the Dillon and see your rounds coming off of a progressive press like a miniature factory you control with your hands.
When you are loading batches of 500 or 1000, it is more than wonderful.

On mine, you still have to place the case into the re-sizing station, and a bullet over the case in the seating station, besides cranking the handle and advancing the rounds with your thumb to the next station. So you are plenty busy.
I don’t try for maximum speed, but make sure everything is just going smoothly at a comfortable pace.

So, IMO, a progressive really is a fun and wonderful tool if you really shoot a lot of handgun rounds or .223. With .223 I actually size them on my single stage usually, then remove the case lube and run them thru the Dillon without the sizer die installed in the first station.

So for me, as a guy who mostly loads handgun ammo in volume, its not an “either/or,” but a definite “both”.

Of course the drawback to getting a progressive is cost. I thought they were expensive when I got mine in the 1990s, but I feel great about what I paid when I see what a Dillon costs now. Over that time it has paid for itself and loaded countless rounds.

Anyway, that’s my experience with loading on both the single stage and the Dillon progressive.

[branflakes]

I will probably get the progressive press going at some point.  I have realized that the lee pro needs to be tuned for its accessories.  The bullet grabber/holder I have has some damage, and some of the other plastic linkages need to be replaced to run well or at least more automated. 

I have acquired a rock chucker and powder drop for an amazing steal of a deal so I will be putting other powder drop and possibly the partner press together for trade\sell.



I think it was Hodgie that made a thread about weighing powder and performance in scales.  It got me thinking about factory ammunition.  Do we need to chase the right weights?  Do we need to find the lands of the rifling?  It makes me think about a revolver and how much of a gap there is between barrel and cylinder.  It gets even longer of a distance when shooting 38 spl out of 357 mag.  Do all these factors have a dramatic affect or is it more on the shooter and the firearm? 

Anyway I pulled some bullets and reloaded with different bullets.  Yugo surplus has a sealer and it made pulling the bullets a little more difficult or rather needed more force.  I weighed the charges and returned them without  leveling out the weight between the 5 I pulled.  I shot them standing so inconsistency between the shots is more on me than the inconsistent charge. 

I took some Belom brass to shoot for my first round of actual 7.62x39 reloads.  Sks did put some slight damage from extractor on headstamps and a dent below the shoulder. 





Taking some friends and new shooters on Sunday so I will shoot the 357 aluminum ammunition that I had reduced the charge on.  Will keep you posted on those.  Also going to try some 9mm that was loaded with small rifle primers 

[burbank.jung]

Welcome to the Reloading Club. With enough supplies, your hobby shooting test loads should carry you through the Pandemic Shortage. From my experience, you'll pick up enough brass that you'll toss those aluminum cases, then mismatched headstamp cases later. I'd suggest that you keep a light over your work area so you can see inside the cases to ensure that all the cases have powder in it.

If I had my choice, I'd reload and shoot surplus factory loads than chase my reloadable cases around my shooting bench. They shoot well after you find the accuracy load for them with the given components. I like loading the heavier 150gr bullets myself because you'll have something close to a semi-auto 30/30 round.