Reloading..

[Brett_Henderson]

We had hijacked the other thread enough

[BFMF]

Hi Brett,

That was the exact press I was talking about, but I could definetely start out on a single stage press.

I had seen that breach lock press before, and it seems to come in a couple different kits. Would either of the two kits be something you would recommend?

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog ... tml#breech

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog ... ivers.html

[Al_Fallujah]

Yeah, we kinda hijacked that one...

You made a comment regarding caliber choice on the other one.

I agree. As my father always said, when you are punching holes in people, bigger is better.

As for implying that practicing da and sa shooting is taking away from accuracy training....

Like you said, I do modify my range time to address it.  I would do so with any weapon. Accuracy is important, but there are other things that contribute to accuracy in various situations.

So do you practice with your "off hand". I do.  Its extra range time, but I feel in is a contigency I must be prepared for. Only 50% of corners in the world favor the right hand.

What about magazine changes? Do you practice a smooth transition?  Its not accuracy work, but it contributes directly to where and how soon your next round goes down range (and on target).

My point is, working on accuracy is key, but practicing both da and sa does contribute to accuracy. I have a pistol I am comfortable with, and feel safe to have on my hip walking around with a round in the chamber.

[Al_Fallujah]

In regards to getting to accuracy, I am curious as to others' methods.

I use a combination of two things.

A "General site picture" across the top of the pistol, looking over the slide at my target.

Looking at the target I use the "Aim small, miss small" concept.

Between the two, I can keep groups in the torso area of a target consistently.

As for re-loading, I have never messed with it. I don't have that much time. Hitting the range, and cleaning after is all the time I have to do.
My father has taken a recent interest in it though.

[Brett_Henderson]

Yeah.. those are good kits..

Aside from the press and dies.. you want a good powder measure. It has to have an easily referenced adjustment. This is probably the most crutial step. When you're pushing the limit, and extra fraction of a grain (the weight unit, not an actual grain of power) can be a disaster.

Luxuries start withy a priming tool (looks like those have one). Most presses will allow you to seat a primer on an upstroke.. but it's tedious. A priming tool lets you run through several re-sized cases quickly.. getting that step out of the way.

I see these have some sort of case-trimming deals.. but a simple, cheap lathe is the way to go.. like this:

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/case ... rimmer.php

And of course you'll need a good set of calipers.

I've been helping a friend in Michigan get into this too (it's becoming a very popular hobby

[Brett_Henderson]

[quote]Yeah, we kinda hijacked that one...

You made a comment regarding caliber choice on the other one.

I agree. As my father always said, when you are punching holes in people, bigger is better.

As for implying that practicing da and sa shooting is taking away from accuracy training....

Like you said, I do modify my range time to address it.

[Brett_Henderson]

In regards to getting to accuracy, I am curious as to others' methods.

I use a combination of two things.

A "General site picture" across the top of the pistol, looking over the slide at my target.

Looking at the target I use the "Aim small, miss small" concept.

Between the two, I can keep groups in the torso area of a target consistently.

As for re-loading, I have never messed with it. I don't have that much time. Hitting the range, and cleaning after is all the time I have to do.
My father has taken a recent interest in it though.

Sight pictures are pretty straight forward.. consistency is the key. Point shooting is important too..

This is my favorite combat excersize..

[BFMF]

Yeah.. those are good kits..

Aside from the press and dies.. you want a good powder measure. It has to have an easily referenced adjustment. This is probably the most crutial step. When you're pushing the limit, and extra fraction of a grain (the weight unit, not an actual grain of power) can be a disaster.

The kits I mentioned above have powder measure kits, but I'm not too familiar with them. Do you have to carefully measure out the powder for every round, or does it automatically measure the powder and load it into the case? If you were going for perfect charge, you would want it as precise as you could. But if you were reloading cheap, practice plinking ammo, spending a couple minutes carefully measuring the powder for every single round would quickly become very tedious and time consuming.


[quote]bulk, bullets. Which opens up a whole different aspect to this..

[Brett_Henderson]

If you're loading match ammo (or rifle for hunting).. you'll not only WEIGH each powder charge on the scale.. you'll actually weigh your bullets, to get a set of the EXACT weight. Even brand name, jacketed bullets can vary by a few grains..  pure lead bullets can vary a lot.

For normal use, the powder measure is fine. Just check every 20th load or so, on the scale (especially if they're self-defense loads that might be on the hot side ).

As for setting the powder measure.. it's just like you'd imagine. Fill the reservoir (and never let it get lower than 75% full, because powder charges start to get lighter, as there is less weight "pushing" the powder into the dumping cylinder)..  dump a charge into a case.. then dump that onto the scale.. check the weight and adjust the measure accordingly. Most of the measures have markings, so that you can get close for each load you do, and only need to make a couple of adjustments to fine tune it before commencing to load a big batch.

As for bullet casting.. that leads to a lot of lead exposure, and I'm not comfy with it.

[BFMF]

ok, that makes sense.

out of those two kits, which one would you recommend getting?


THe only thing in my way is that I don't have a table or bench to mount it to... :-/

[Brett_Henderson]

The 'Breech Lock Challenger'

[BFMF]

That looks like a great workbench, and all I would have to do is drill the holes for the reloading press. I like it...

I'll have to look to see if anyone has that reloading kit in stock. Besides the dies for the individual calibers, is there anything else I need?

[Brett_Henderson]

Just the raw components.. (brass, primers, powder, bullets), and a lotta patience..   read read read.. ask ask ask.. don't be in a hurry  8-)