| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/04/2013 : 20:27:35
I may have mentioned that my wife gave me a membership to the indoor pistol range at Bass Pro for Xmas. I think she is going nuts but I'll enjoy it until she comes to her senses. 
One thing I ran into after the first visit is that I was running short of ammo. I went to my usual haunts and found that the shelves were bare. No .22lr, .38 special, .45 acp, or any pistol calibre and very little in the way of rifle ammo. Everywhere I have been it is the same story empty shelves. I don't know if this is just a short term run on the ammo or surely not, the new normal. Faced with nothing to feed my pistols I decided to dig out my old rusty (caught in a shed fire 30 years ago) CH single stage press and churn out a few rounds . As luck would have it I had some bulk bullets, primers and powder left over from a few years back. I had forgotten how nice it is to sit down ans load up a hundred rounds.
Ready for another session at the range.
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Cvans |
Posted - 01/20/2013 : 19:04:59
If we could go out for some Southern fried Catfish and fried pickles the wife and I might enjoy your dog house.  Absolutely the best fish we have ever eaten bar none. |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/20/2013 : 10:41:22
No, Chris, if you come down here you will have to sleep in the dog house. |
| Cvans |
Posted - 01/20/2013 : 10:11:19
I'd hate to get hit by one of those wad cutters. I can just imagine what kind of wound that would make.
Actually it was your fault. If you hadn't posted pictures of that reloader this wouldn't have happened. |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/20/2013 : 01:04:31
Well, Chris, it's all your fault! You asked me why I got rid of my progressive press and that prompted me to finally put it into service for the first time for me. I have been busy ever since trying to come up with a workable combination. I want to load some more but need to visit the range first and see if I have the right load. If this works/shoots well them this could become my prime range load for .38 special. |
| Cvans |
Posted - 01/19/2013 : 23:00:00
That is cheap shooting. Enjoy yourself. Your very lucky you found the supplies to reload with.
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| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/19/2013 : 19:27:02
Finally the first rounds come off my Auto Champion progressive reloader. When I got it it was set up to shoot 148 gr bevel based wad cutters backed by 2.7 gr of Bullseye powder. It turns out that neither of those are currently available like just about anything for pistol reloading. I have cast bullets on order for .45, .38, and now 9mm. Not sure when I will get them. I found out that CH Tool still produced the powder bushings for the loader so I ordered 5 of the available 14 to widen my choice of powders. Since Red Dot powder could be used with the BBWC's I picked up a pound of it. Them I came across bulk packs of Hornady Hollow Base Wad Cutters (HBWC) so I bought them immediately. I really don't like swaged bullets or the HBWC for that matter but hey, they are at least bullets.
O
Then I discovered that the only charges of Red Dot that I could throw with the available bushings were too hot for the fragile hollow base bullets. Rats, I had 500 rounds of these bullets coming and no suitable powder to put behind them unless I loaded them with my single stage press. The only way I was interested in compromising with swaged bullets was to have something to load thru my progressive press. I had to start looking for a new recipe.
Yesterday I came across a can of IMR 700X which is a fine old school pistol powder and it just so turned out that if it bushings threw 2.4 gr of 700X as listed in the charts then it would be perfect for the HBWC.
It took me about an hour to turn out the first round. I ran a number of test cases through first to check to see if the powder measure was throwing consistent loads and then weighed each of them on my scales and determined that the measure was throwing a consistent load of 2.1 gr of 700X. To me, that was even better than 2.4 gr as it was just 0.1gr over the starting weight. As I said it took me about an hour to set up for the first live loading but the remainder of the 50 rounds took about 10 minutes to pump out despite my moving with great caution. I think everything went fine but will not know until I shoot someday this week or next. The loaded cartridges for the flush seating HBWC ( was developed for use in .38 special semi auto target pistols) is ugly in my opinion as compared with the SWC or BBWC but if loaded right should cut paper very well. 
BTW: a pound of 700X will load approximately 3400 rounds, the primers are .05 each and the bullets a dime. That means at current prices each rounds cost me less than $.16. |
| Cvans |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 23:23:04
I follow you. Less powder in the cartridge means less chance of dieseling. Your S&W .38 sounds like a nice gun. I kind of like revolvers. They are noisy though. If you don't hit them you will scare the bejeebers out of them.
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| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 20:58:16
I dont think static is an issue. There is nothing that will respond negatively to static electricity but I do wash plastic bins and measures with soapy water without rinsing so the soap residue will prevent static buildup and allow the powder to flow without sticking. Biggest concern is not following closed procedures that will prevent a double load from occurring since these pistol cases will hold 2-3 times the powder charge that is considered safe. On target loads the powder used burns so rapidly (relative) to other powders that only a small amount is necessary or permissible. It may sound counterintuitive but more powerful rounds use slower burning powders in larger quantities that may in some cases actually be compressed by seating the bullet but in these target loads these high energy powders rattle around like a BB in a boxcar. |
| Cvans |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 11:25:13
That is a huge amount of ammunition for a small piece of equipment like that. I can't help but wonder what the life span of the loader would have been at that rate? Be careful with that thing. Is it a good idea to have it grounded for static? I've never used a reloader before but it seems like a good idea. |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 08:34:00
quote:
Originally posted by wlewis379
quote:
Originally posted by Cvans
First I will get the legal stuff out of the way. Tell your Wife I'm sorry! Next I'm sorry you hurt yourself but I will accept no responsibility for your injuries.
Being a mechanical freak I have to say that I really like the way that loader works. The .38 is not a bad round and if that loader were mine I would be trading guns so I could use it. While the .45 is a man stopping beast the .38 is still an effective round and more enjoyable to use for pleasure shooting. Just my opinion.
Nice you dug it out and got the bugs worked out. The surface rust on your loader is very similar to what was on the lathe I acquired. A little elbow grease, and oil and you should have it looking and working like new.
Oh yeah, tell your wife I'm sorry.
Better yet go buy a 38!
I have an old .38 spec in a S&W mod 10- 5" that was imported from Canada in the 1970's. (A refugee of gun control)
It is pristine and shoots straight and true. Reportedly this press is capable of loading 1000/ hr but I will never do that, IMO that is just too fast. And you would have to stop to reload the empty cases and primers. One danger of this press is a primer can go off in the primer feed and ignite the entire column. That is why there is a blast shield around the tube. Though it is no real danger to the operator wearing safety glasses the primer follower (a weighted rod) can be propelled through the ceiling or floor above if you are loading in the basement. I have never know anyone that that has happened to with this press but my old boss was a manufacturer and it did happen in their motor driven fully automatic re-loader. They used to turn out 10,000 in an afternoon when all was right. |
| wlewis379 |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 03:34:08
quote:
Originally posted by Cvans
First I will get the legal stuff out of the way. Tell your Wife I'm sorry! Next I'm sorry you hurt yourself but I will accept no responsibility for your injuries.
Being a mechanical freak I have to say that I really like the way that loader works. The .38 is not a bad round and if that loader were mine I would be trading guns so I could use it. While the .45 is a man stopping beast the .38 is still an effective round and more enjoyable to use for pleasure shooting. Just my opinion.
Nice you dug it out and got the bugs worked out. The surface rust on your loader is very similar to what was on the lathe I acquired. A little elbow grease, and oil and you should have it looking and working like new.
Oh yeah, tell your wife I'm sorry.
Better yet go buy a 38! |
| Cvans |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 00:55:04
First I will get the legal stuff out of the way. Tell your Wife I'm sorry! Next I'm sorry you hurt yourself but I will accept no responsibility for your injuries.
Being a mechanical freak I have to say that I really like the way that loader works. The .38 is not a bad round and if that loader were mine I would be trading guns so I could use it. While the .45 is a man stopping beast the .38 is still an effective round and more enjoyable to use for pleasure shooting. Just my opinion.
Nice you dug it out and got the bugs worked out. The surface rust on your loader is very similar to what was on the lathe I acquired. A little elbow grease, and oil and you should have it looking and working like new.
Oh yeah, tell your wife I'm sorry. |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 19:15:12
I spent the afternoon mounting the Auto Champion to the bench and tried running some once fired cases through the mechanism. I noticed that the first paw on the slide had some damage probably due to the deprimer pin hitting it. Wasn't sure why, but soon found out.
I ran several cases through and found the tha slide wasn't moving far enough to reliably deliver the cases to each of the four stations. Even with the adjustment all the way out it still would not work and the slide also was not returning into battery leaving the paw under the depriming pin. It wasn't long before I had a case jammed at the first station with a primer only part way punched out and deformed against the paw, bending the decapping pin. I managed to get the press handle pushed back just over center and was trying to get case pried out of the shell holder when the handle on the press fell and pinched my left index finger between the first die and the mouth of the .38 special case. Ouch! I pushed the handle back out of the way and got my finger out only to find that I had a nice gouge in my finger. I was pretty ticked and debated about just putting it back in the box. I tried to keep working on it but was bleeding too much so I decided to take a break long enough to clean and tend to my wound. That also gave me time to think about it and I decided that the heavy steel part they call the clevis had been damaged (bent) probably by someone trying to force the out of adjustment mechanism. I removed it from the press and clamped it in my bench vise and whIle holding my breath I struck it lightly a couple of timed with a drilling hammer. I figured it would either bend or break but I would b no worse off either way. As it turned out it bent a little and when I put it back on it was much improved but not quite what it needed so back to the vise. A little more tweaking with the hammer and it was in the proper range to where I could fine tune it with the adjustment screw. While I was at it I removed the slide and cleaned it up removing the rust and putting on a bit of light lube. I will have to pull it apart again and remove any excess lube before trying to load on it but I think it ought to work just fine. Since I didn't have any Ch primer pins I made one out of a 5/64" drill bit. I'll replace with the real McCoy if I can find. I made another test run (dry run) with no primers, powder or bullets and it seem to work fine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrbBvHKmYWo&feature=youtube_gdata_player |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 11:03:37
Well, Chris, you have done it! You made me go out and dig her out. I guess it was good because the mice were chewing up the plastic parts. Nothing of consequence but they ate the bottle that caught the spent primers and the red cover on the end of the crank shaft. Also surface rust has taken its toll. Not significant but it's not as pretty as it could be. Looks like it is set up for target loads in .38 special. But will have to measure the powder drop to determine. I would imagine it is set up for Bullseye powder which was the premier target powder at the time so not sure if I will be able to use with other powders in that class like Accurate #2.
I also found a conversion kit (unopened) .38 to .44 with #11 powder bushing but don't want to open as I don't shoot .44 spec or .44 mag.
Unfortunately there are no instructions or data sheets included. I guess I need to do some more Internet searching to find more info.
I found the instruction manual on line and printed out and also the bushing chart. I have also contacted CH Tool & die to find out where I can purchase bushings and parts.
It has a #3 bushing which delivers 2.7gr or Bullseye or 3.2 gr of WW231 so it must be set up for .38 target loads.
The only place you touch the round in the process is to place the bullet in the case mouth on station #3 and each time you cycle the handle the process advances automatically to the next stage and a finished round drops into a box at the end of the line. This particular loader will turn out loaded pistol cartridges fast enough that I could manufacture target loads for profit if I had a manufacturers license and the insurance necessary. Would have to sell a lot of ammo to pay for the insurance. I think $1M is required but in today's society I would need 50-100 times that. Law says you can't sell or give away your reloads without a license.
Chris, my wife hates you!!!!!
Right now, with the hysteria, bullets and small pistol primers are scarce. With new legislation who knows revolvers may have a comeback.
Sorry, my shop is such a mess. I cleared out my truck 6 months ago and threw it all on my bench now it is all a mess. |
| skunkhome |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 10:15:43
quote:
Originally posted by Cvans
quote:
my old CH straight line press it is possible to load 100 rounds in about 15-20 minutes.
And you got rid of it why?
No, I have never touched it. When I worked for Norckauer Assiciates we had one in .45 auto set up for demonstrations and it was awsome. When the son of the owner started liquidating the estate he gave me one in .38/357? Since I did not have a need at that time I never looked at it to determine what it needed to start loading. If any thing is missing or if it is set up with the wrong charging bushing then I stand little chance of finding parts. |
