New to TGO and reloading

[eastenn]

good information, thanks to both of you. will work some more on it tomorrow evening and hopefully get the scale straightened out. when first setting it up out of the box as it was previously adjusted, the pan side wasn't heavy enough to level it. and of course i wasn't planning on using the primer tray, i was just showing that as a point of what it took to make the beam level

[Guest canebreaker]

All cases look over crimped. I could live with # 2 and #6. But still over crimped. Adjust and lighten the crimp. Look for almost a straight case after crimping. Press bullit against work bench, with thumb against case base. press hard, if bullit moves, tighten seat of bullit, adjust bullit height too. You want some crimp but not that much. I've under crimped and had bullits come out of cases. I've over crimped and I think it caused cracked cases.

Life of cases is where we are at. You have to expand the cases to seat the bullits. If bullits have lube grooves, don't let the case get passed the first groove. Let bullit enter case about 1/16 th inch.

Over expanding and over crimping cases shorten case life. I can live with a 1/4 inch cracked necked case, but that's my limit. I think that's beyond the point we have powder coming out of the case.

I've been there and done that, adjusting Lee dies from .38 spl to 357 mags. Forgotten where I was last and have seated 357's swc that look wc, and over crimped.

[gregintenn]

I'll bet you find the answer to your question about zeroing the scales here:

http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/Model505ScaleInstructions.pdf

[Guest pig832]

Also, check to see if the pistol dies you have have carbide in the sizing die, otherwise it may stick in the die, you can tell by looking at the business end of the die, kind of looks like a sleeve in a car cylinder. Also a suggestion from a red press guy, buy some of the square washers that make it rotate, they are cheap, and wear out at the worst times. I use the 4th hole in my turret for a powder check. Good luck, and welcome aboard!!

[eastenn]

greg thanks for the link to the pdf. i still have the original instruction sheet in the box which is what that pdf is of, but still a nice resource to have.

i took the scale up to my neighbor's and we tried the pan from his scale and it was too heavy on mine, and my pan was too light on his. so what we did was take the screw out of the bottom pan and we added 2 pellets of birdshot from a shot shell and wa-la, scale zeroes nicely now using my pan.

pig832, the dies i have do not have a sleeve in them, they say "pacific durachrome". they were in a rcbs tray but i don't see rcbs stamped on them. i'm not sure what square washers you are talking about. i don't see any washers around the turret. also, could you send me a pic of your setup or what you mean about your powder check in the 4th hole.

[LngRngShtr]

Hornady bought Pacific... they are a fine die ,..probably not carbide insert dies. and Hornady will be best source for die parts if needed.

As they have sat awhile I would disassemble and inspect them for any burrs or rust haze, I use FLITZ on a bore mop of appropriate size and a drill to polish my dies even the carbide dies back to a mirror shine,.. the FLITZ doesn't seem to be aggressive enough to wear the hardened steel die but gets out anything else...

Keep them clean and check a local gun store for "Imperial die wax" by REDDING I use this after the polish to preserve the dies, I have also used paste car polish wax ....

Hornady ONE SHOT spray if they resize hard ONE SHOT is excellent as it won't contaminate powder or primers and is easily applied using a freezer bag...

Step 1. place clean shells to be resized in a freezer bag

Step 2. spray a few spritzes of ONE SHOT into freezer bag

Step 3. seal bag with air so casings can move around

Step 4. roll bag around

Step 5. empty bag onto a towel or old cookie sheet

Step 6. resize

John

[eastenn]

thanks john. i did notice that on the few cases i did run through the dies it had kind of a sticky feel, i didn't think much of it though but now i will clean them out good using the tips you suggested.

I guess there are a lot of options and twice as many opinions, but i need to place an order for bullets, powder, and probably some casings to do some 38 special rounds. I'm not looking for the most accurate, or high power loads, but some cheap paper punching rounds. What have you guys found that you like, and where would you order? I was looking on midway but a lot of items are out of stock. Thanks guys.

[Guest pig832]

By the way on fee bay, there is a 3 to 4 hole conversion for the lee, last price I saw was 29.00. I use the powder check to avoid squibs or double powder loads, it goes in the third hole between the powder through die, and the bullet seater. If you are batch loading, putting the powder in each shell by its self you can't use one. That lee press rotates itself by using a square washer, if you have a problem with the turret not rotating that is usually the problem.

[Guest canebreaker]

Loading trays:

I use the white plastic 40s&w trays for my .38spl./.357s. Can charge 50 rounds in about a minute.

I use the white plastic 40s&w trays, cut about half as thick for my 9m and .380 auto's.

I trimmed a bit of the funnel end of the tube on the lee perfect measurer for this tight grouping of cases. Added 1/2"of alum. stock to meaurer mount to get center row.

[eastenn]

hey guys just letting everyone know i didn't disappear, just been busy after starting work as a letter carrier a few weeks ago. i haven't been reloading any, i'm waiting on some bullets to get here from cabelas. i started to order some powder from them until i realized there was a $20 haz mat fee so i decided to wait and try to find some elsewhere.