Ammo Reloading Thread

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Lord of the Large Pants said:
I have a completely stupid question that should not be taken seriously, especially by the glowies assigned to Kiwi Farms.

What would be the legality/effectiveness/armor penetrating power of a shot shell loaded with 304 steel or tungsten ball bearings in place of lead? I know that steel and tungsten bird shot exist, and I think they're mostly for areas with concerns about lead leeching into the water supply. But, cost aside, what about buckshot versions? Is there some size limitation of the pellets that would cause them to be illegal when smaller ones aren't? is there any practical point to it?
Click to expand...


3/32 = 308
1/32 = 223
 
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CEO of Gay said:
It has been a while since investigating reloading, but when I did, the Dillion Precision progressive presses with multiple stations caught my eye. There was something appealing about pull handle, get round, with all powder measurement, case trimming, bullet pressing, and all the rest, all happening automatically.

But, I am an ignorant retard when it comes to reloading, so I might have simply been brainwashed by fancy advertising. Are the Dillon Precision presses worth the money? Do you need to be reloading so many rounds a month for a fancy machine like that to be worth it?
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Dillon is quality and if you shoot a lot they basically pay for themselves with what you save in ammo, especially if you use more expensive rounds.
What I've saved in .338 Lapua alone is more than the cost of the equipment, and I don't often shoot long range, I've taken my Savage 110 out hunting, something I'd baulk at if I was buying .338LM factory because of the price, now add in .300BLK too which isn't cheap either, and the most common, 5.56, 9mm, .308/7.62 NATO, 12 gauge, its paid for itself in savings a hundred times over.
I'd recommend anyone who goes out more than once a month get into reloading.
If you're just getting into it maybe start with something more simple, but as long as you're not on a tight budget and its going to be used enough to make it worth your while you're better with quality.
Maybe start with something simple at first just so you're not gonna have a fortune sitting in your garage/basement thats hardly getting used, but if you find you enjoy it and you use it a lot, you can't go wrong with a mid to high end Dillion progressive.
 
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Procrastinhater said:
Dillon is quality and if you shoot a lot they basically pay for themselves with what you save in ammo, especially if you use more expensive rounds.
I'd recommend anyone who goes out more than once a month get into reloading.
If you're just getting into it maybe start with something more simple, but as long as you're not on a tight budget and its going to be used enough to make it worth your while you're better with quality.
Maybe start with something simple at first just so you're not gonna have a fortune sitting in your garage/basement thats hardly getting used, but if you find you enjoy it and you use it a lot, you can't go wrong with a mid to high end Dillion progressive.
Click to expand...

Good to know.

Looking at the retail price of Dillon's products, I flinch. So I will probably start with equipment I can find used, and get used to the basics of the reloading process before moving up to something so fancy as one of Dillon's progressive presses. As far as basic presses I'm likely to find used, are there particular brands or models I should keep an eye out for which are high quality and excellent deals, or garbage to be avoided at all costs?
 
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CEO of Gay said:
Good to know.

Looking at the retail price of Dillon's products, I flinch. So I will probably start with equipment I can find used, and get used to the basics of the reloading process before moving up to something so fancy as one of Dillon's progressive presses. As far as basic presses I'm likely to find used, are there particular brands or models I should keep an eye out for which are high quality and excellent deals, or garbage to be avoided at all costs?
Click to expand...
If you're set on a progressive something like a Lee Precision is cheaper than Dillon but still quality.
Turret presses are cheaper, they're good for beginners and they're still good for people that have been doing it a while.
I started with a Hornady.
 
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Where is the cheapest online supply of 00 buckshot or a reasonable facsimile?
Asked this on /k/, but got retail links more expensive than ebay / amazon

Maybe 1cm acorn nuts, but I'd preferer cheap lead
Sperg_rancher said:

3/32 = 308
1/32 = 223
Click to expand...
Some people do this, steel/tungsten isn't as heavy as lead, so it doesn't hold as much velocity over long range, but I'm thinking about filling shells with bullet fishing weights from Walmart for low-range home defense rounds.
 
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Sperg_rancher said:
Incorrect.
While steel is indeed lighter than lead, tungsten is nearly 50% heavier than lead.
MaterialDensity (20C) (g/cm3)
Steel- https://www.theworldmaterial.com/density-of-metals/(up to) 7.85
Lead- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead 11.348
Tungsten- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide15.6
Click to expand...
Tungsten doesn't mushroom like lead however, this and the weight makes it great for AP (L4 plates) but not much else in terms of bodily damage.
Gold would make excellent shot material due to its very high density and how soft it is. If you can afford it.
How does Copper stack up?
 
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Sobake said:
Tungsten doesn't mushroom like lead however, this and the weight makes it great for AP (L4 plates) but not much else in terms of bodily damage.
Gold would make excellent shot material due to its very high density and how soft it is. If you can afford it.
How does Copper stack up?
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Well, that's why you don't make the whole thing outta tungsten :)
Copper is less malleable than lead, so I'd imagine not as well. Aluminum is more malleable than copper, but the oxide layer will strip barrels.
Honestly? Just make it a composite IMO. nobody says you can't put lead and tungsten into the same bullet.
 
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Howdy my fellow reloaders in Christ.

My Nexus press from SAC is coming in two days. I'm interested in seeing how different it is from the Co-Ax I've used for years. I'm not getting rid of the Co-Ax. I'll probably use it for the non-PRC stuff. Mostly I was curious about how different the Nexus is going to be from it.

I'll let you all know if it was worth the cost.
 
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Dean Pentel said:
My Nexus press from SAC is coming in two days. I'm interested in seeing how different it is from the Co-Ax I've used for years. I'm not getting rid of the Co-Ax. I'll probably use it for the non-PRC stuff. Mostly I was curious about how different the Nexus is going to be from it.
Click to expand...

What made you want to try another press over the Co-Ax? Everything I've loaded with mine has been perfectly concentric. I could not think of a better press.

I've recently run into an odd issue with sizing 5.56 brass, going through a bucket of mixed range brass I've been getting inconsistent sizing between different brands. Prvi Partizan sizes .004" back perfectly but I've run Wolf Gold and Federal stamped brass that sizes as much as .010" back. Using the Hornady Headspace Comparator A gauge. I'm thinking the latter two are made from a softer brass whereas the PPU stuff is harder, thus more spring back and less movement of head space.
 
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for those of you reloading, how often do you practice shooting?
I like to try for every other week at minimum.
 
Not enough, amirite?
I used to practice about once a month (sometimes 6 weeks lol) but it's been a while after I moved and need to figure out a range situation.
One day I'll have that plot of land where I can just go out and shoot and not have anyone complain.
 
Lord of the Large Pants said:
I have a completely stupid question that should not be taken seriously, especially by the glowies assigned to Kiwi Farms.

What would be the legality/effectiveness/armor penetrating power of a shot shell loaded with 304 steel or tungsten ball bearings in place of lead? I know that steel and tungsten bird shot exist, and I think they're mostly for areas with concerns about lead leeching into the water supply. But, cost aside, what about buckshot versions? Is there some size limitation of the pellets that would cause them to be illegal when smaller ones aren't? is there any practical point to it?
Click to expand...
DU shotgun round would be pretty fucking cool
 
Sperg_rancher said:

3/32 = 308
1/32 = 223
Click to expand...
Don't forget the sabot. Tungsten on its own isn't going to deform to fit the grooves in a rifled barrel. Something like the 308 Accelerator may work.
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Anyone have experience reloading Arisaka 7.7? I picked up a little milsurp collection this Easter and I'd like to be able to shoot for less than $2.50 for war relic ammo.
 
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Shroom King said:
If you want to reduce recoil can you just use less gunpowder in your rounds?
Click to expand...
It depends very much on the cartridge, the gun, and what your exact goals are. Are you loading for less recoil for a semi-automatic rifle? Take into account that the less pressure your cartridges generate, the less energy the rifle will have to actually cycle the next cartridge and operate. AR15s have tons of after market gas blocks that allow you to tune how much gas is returning into the system, a much better option than intentionally down loading ammunition. AK rifles have adjustable gas pistons on the market, KNS precision is one I've used and swear by. A lot of newer rifles that aren't ARs or AKs have their own native gas tuning system installed, or some way to add one. M1 Garands come to mind with after market gas plugs existing specifically so you can tune the gun to shoot modern ammunition without dumping excessive gas back into the system and breaking something. On something manual action (bolt action, lever action, slide action) then you have a lot more options for cartridge tuning, though you also need to keep in mind how the specific powder you use will react to more air volume in the case and if you're still generating enough pressure to drive the projectile out of the gun accurately and safely. Squib rounds suck and can kill you at worst or kill your gun at best. A blown chamber risks an eye being lost. Buy a reloading manual and research using alternative powders for loading light. For my Nagants and Arisakas I've been using 5 grains of Bullseye powder over a lighter 140gr bullet to make cartridges that I can shoot groundhogs with without making horses deaf. Really look into what you're doing before attempting modern alchemy.

Dusty Old Bones said:
Anyone have experience reloading Arisaka 7.7? I picked up a little milsurp collection this Easter and I'd like to be able to shoot for less than $2.50 for war relic ammo.
Click to expand...
Very much so! Unless you happen to have a lot of 7.7x58mm brass stockpiled, or have a reliable source for it, your best bet is to reform .30-06 brass and use that. There are a lot of guides and form posts and videos on line on how to do this, I used this one https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399170 when I first started, cross referenced with a bunch of others. I highly recommend annealing the case neck before forming to make the process a little easier. Thankfully Hornady still makes .303/.311 caliber bullets, however last time I bought them they weren't cheap, so casting may be your best option for keeping rounds under the $2.50 mark unless you're open to doing crazy shit like pulling surplus 7.62x54r bullets and using those. Swedish M96 Mauser clips work for both the 7.7x58mm cartridge and 6.5x50mm of the Type 38, they're smooth and operate exactly as a Mauser clip should. I should post my Arisaka collection at some point. I love these rifles and would shoot them a lot more often if I didn't want to keep them as functional examples.
 
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