Recent content by sasu

Weld on a 1" rifled barrel extension?

My wallet is not happy now. I just placed an order for the Hornady L-n-L AP progressive press with full quick change parts for four calibers: 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 ACP, 45 Colt. It will be interesting to compare its performance against the Dillon RL550B. Later this year I may invest in a Dillon...

I decided to save remaining 158 gr 0.355" bullets for the day when I get a silenced 9 mm pistol. Those bullets will make nice subsonic loads.

Made 100 44 Magnums. Now I see why some people lube pistol cases even for a carbide sizing die - 44 Magnums take some force to resize. There seems to be no burning necessity for a powder check die as it is very easy to program yourself to look into each case before adding a bullet. Why did I...

Yes, a sound warning. There is a chance to forget to turn the plate. Fortunately all my loads have so much powder that a double charge would overflow or be very close to it, impossible to miss visually. But the fear is their in the back of my mind, a healthy fear.

Third session on the Dillon RL550B resulted in a 108 rounds of 45 ACP. A lesson learned, too. I have been buying once used empty cases from a local indoor shooting range. This time most of the cases I used had crimped primers. I had to stop my progressive reloading to take care of the crimped...

They must be intended for 38 Super, being such heavy weights in 0.355". Alsa Pro also makes 357 Magnum bullets with the proper 0.357" diameter. I just happened to buy these 0.355"s in a hurry not realizing they are undersized for the 357 Magnum. For plinking and IPSC/IDPA practice they are fine...

Shot the 50 rounds of 357 Magnum today that I made on the RL550B. The bullets are Alsa Pro 158 gr FMJ but are meant for some pistol caliber as the diameter is 0.355"-0.356". There is no crimp groove. There were several instances of bullet jump blocking the cylinder from rotating and it was easy...

Another batch of ammo done on the RL550B, this time 357 Magnum. It took 21 minutes to make 50 rounds, starting from the moment when I began picking primers into the tube. No misses nor glitches this time but I took my time. A few hundred rounds per hour should be achievable once you find the...

Appetite grows while eating. Now that I have tried out the RL550B I am already looking for additional progressive presses. I am negotiating the price on a package deal of Hornady Lock-n-Load AP for several calibers. I would like to try out the Lee Load Master, to see how an economy press...

After owning a Dillon RL550B progressive press for a decade I finally installed it yesterday. Today it was time to make some ammo with it. Setting up the RL550B is very simple if you have reloaded before. You set up every die individually by putting a case in that station. This is made easy by...

The new reload table I built today. Had only time to fasten the presses, will continue with other stuff tomorrow. There are two Redding Turret presses, RCBS Rock Chucker, new Dillon RL550B partly installed. The turret presses are very convenient as you can leave the most often used dies in...

Not Black Powder weather here yet. Have to shoot Smokeless. Freezing 20 F today but sunny.

Interesting. The S&W M25 45 Colt that had the frame straightened by a gunsmith shot several under 2" groups at 21 yards today, both with factory Cowboy ammo and reloaded test ammo. I am happy the fix was a success. As an example a group with H&N 200 SWC lead bullets and N340, the bullet that...

As the loading gate is hard to open the loading gate spring might be out of place. That spring likes to go in the wrong position when assembling the gun so it is possible there has been a mistake during assembly of your gun.