Great Reloading Weather!|Page 3|Winchester Hunting, Shooting & Reloading|Forum|Winchester Collector

Bert H. said

Chuck said
I just got back from the gun shop (auction house).  He had many pounds of powder for sale. Not sure if he just got it or he brought some from his warehouse.
I bought 4 lbs of 2400, 8 lbs of H4350, 3 lbs of 5744, 1 lb of 4198 and 1 lb of bullseye.   Charged me $420.  That’s just under $25 per pound.
This is what happens at many auction houses.  They don’t want to deal with books, loading equipment and ammo.  It costs them too much time and effort to catalog all the stuff.   I was not the first to go through the pile and there is still at least another 75 lbs.  I missed out on the IMR 4895.   There wasn’t any IMR 4060.
  

You are lucky to have that opportunity… I know I would be a regular customer at those prices!
  

There are many advantages of having a good relationship with a local gun shop.  But, one point that I hoped others would realize is that they need to think about how they or their heirs are going to get rid of the stuff.  When was the last time you saw powder, books, loading equipment, etc in an auction?   Some do put it on Gunbroker or Guns International.  Those that will sell the books put them in lots.  1 good book with a bunch of bad books.  Or a box of stuff with 1 nice piece.

I recently bought a couple lots of books.  I kept what I wanted and gave some to my friends.  Some of the ones on specific arms I give to the gun shop for his library if he needs it.  The guys that do the descriptions often refer to the library.  As do the regular customers that hang out.  We love it when he buys a collection.  We help unload the collection.  We get to see what is coming up for the next few auctions.  And if he owns the stuff he sells it as fast as possible.  Sometimes while it is still in the van. 

Brass starts work hardening the first time you size it then shoot it.  In my world you might be able to get away with annealing every other time, but I don’t.  The headspace on a rimless cartridge just won’t hold where you set it and will rebound some right after you size it.  Same with neck tension.   Besides the loss of consistency with your loads the brass will fail sooner.  I’m cheap.  Last year I shot some brass 29 times with no failures.  It was getting loose primer pockets.  But no split necks. 

I have a flame annealer and the key is to set up the flame the same way each time and test to see where to set the timer.  The blue tip of the flame should be about a 1/2″ from the brass.  Don’t get caught up with the paste.  Test in the dark and only let the flame be on the neck/shoulder area just long enough to start getting an orange glow coming off the case mouth.  Don’t let the neck turn orange. You can’t really ruin the brass but over annealing really looks ugly. 

Size some brass then measure the neck diameter and the headspace.  Let it set for a day and remeasure.  If annealed properly the dimensions should remain the same.  If the measurements aren’t holding you did not keep it in the flame long enough. A second one way or another can make a difference. 

Mike, go ahead and mess with the tempilac but when it burns you’ll see why I don’t recommend it.  Put some inside the neck and see if this works better.  What temperature tempilac are you using?  Mine is 650 F.

Mike, 

If you want to send me your 38-55 cases, I have an AMP Anneler and can knock them out and turn them around to you quickly. You’ll have reloadable cartridges while you wait on your setup.

Ron

Mike- it’s an electric machine; Mark II model.  I’ve had it for several years and have pilots for nearly every cartridge I reload for, to include the cavernous .577 Snyder. Super easy to use, a real time saver, and very consistent. The initial purchase cost was a blow, however.  Ron

rwsem said
Mike, 
If you want to send me your 38-55 cases, I have an AMP Anneler and can knock them out and turn them around to you quickly. You’ll have reloadable cartridges while you wait on your setup.
Ron
  

How many of our old calibers does AMP provide the pilot/shell holders?  

rwsem said

Chuck said

rwsem said
Mike, 
If you want to send me your 38-55 cases, I have an AMP Anneler and can knock them out and turn them around to you quickly. You’ll have reloadable cartridges while you wait on your setup.
Ron
  

How many of our old calibers does AMP provide the pilot/shell holders?  
  

I’ll have to look tonight/ tomorrow morning.  The nice thing is you can send in a case and they’ll machine a pilot.  I use RCBS shell holders. The one drawback is: you have to sacrifice a piece of brass to get the optimal setting to use- I just write the setting in my reloading notes for future use.
  

Thank you.  The new MARK II DB Annealer is the latest Model and is much more user friendly.   Maybe some of the earlier models will come up for sale.  Most serious competitors have an AMP because they anneal after ever firing and want the best results.  It isn’t perfect because the cases aren’t.  When it tests a piece of brass you are assuming every other piece is the exact metallurgy.  They aren’t but close enough to use the data.  Change lots or manufacturers you will see a difference.  How much I don’t know.  I want one of these but the price is hard to swallow.

rwsem said
Mike, 
If you want to send me your 38-55 cases, I have an AMP Anneler and can knock them out and turn them around to you quickly. You’ll have reloadable cartridges while you wait on your setup.
Ron
  

How many of our old calibers does AMP provide the pilot/shell holders?  
  

I’ll have to look tonight/ tomorrow morning.  The nice thing is you can send in a case and they’ll machine a pilot.  I use RCBS shell holders. The one drawback is: you have to sacrifice a piece of brass to get the optimal setting to use- I just write the setting in my reloading notes for future use.
  

Thank you.  The new MARK II DB Annealer is the latest Model and is much more user friendly.   Maybe some of the earlier models will come up for sale.  Most serious competitors have an AMP because they anneal after ever firing and want the best results.  It isn’t perfect because the cases aren’t.  When it tests a piece of brass you are assuming every other piece is the exact metallurgy.  They aren’t but close enough to use the data.  Change lots or manufacturers you will see a difference.  How much I don’t know.  I want one of these but the price is hard to swallow.
  

The cost is high but….  I’ve paid the same amount or more for rifles that I’ve used less frequently.  The annealer is the one piece of reloading kit that I enjoy using most.  It is ridiculously easy and quick. I used to sit in a dark garage with a cordless drill, deep well socket, and propane torch- now I stay in the man cave and am finished in no time with no fuss.
  

I went through all that too.  I have a Bench Source and I don’t have to sit in the dark. It takes me less than a minute to set it up and it does a case in under 4 seconds.  I load for almost 40 different calibers but would only use the AMP on 3.  I load every week.  What I need is a powder dispenser that is accurate to .02 grains. There are few on the market but I’ve been waiting on a certain one to become available.  I spend my most time on sizing the brass and measuring powder.  I could buy a fully loaded Dillion 750 with auto drive and get it trued up but it requires a lot of parts to change calibers.  I would still need a powder dispenser to get the accuracy I want. 

TXGunNut said
I suppose I’m thankful that I recognize my guns are not capable of an extreme level of precision and I’m also aware that the loose nut behind the butt would find a way to screw it up. Every reloader stands to benefit from the work of precision shooters and I’ve realized the process of annealing probably has benefit for casual reloaders and shooters like me. I have a good supply of brass for the cartridges I shoot and I’m not looking forward to replacing them. As I understand it annealing will postpone that. I know many collectors who seldom shoot their old Winchesters but for those of us who do the future of obtaining ammo for them in the future is not promising. 
I don’t know much about the 750 but I know my 550 has been invaluable for the mind-numbing task of producing the fodder for my social equipment (after earning its keep during my comp shooting career) to let me spend more time on the reloading projects I enjoy. I understand the 750 can produce very good ammunition but I can’t see you being satisfied with it, Chuck. I know my RCBS Chargemaster doesn’t meet your expectations but it has been a gamechanger for me. 
I enjoy reloading now and then, I think I’ll slip in there for some quality time before my 6:30.
 
Mike
  

Mike, if I was just shooting the old guns I’d be happy with the accuracy I am getting.  But I shoot the precision rifles every week so I’ve had to go with better equipment.  I use this equipment, when practical, for loading the old calibers.  Like the 40 EX I’m using a scale that weighs to .02 grains.  Overkill, yes but it is the one that is always out.  The RCBS Charge Master is a very good scale.  I have a similar one but I have to drop a smaller charge then trickle  on the better scale.  This shows me how inaccurate the dispensers are.  I’ve had a few dispensers that claim .1 gr accuracy but never could make the cut.  Occasionally some of these were .3 grs off.  .3 grs will increase your speed by around 15 fps depending on the powder.  So there goes your ES/SD.  The better accuracy is not needed in most cases when loading the old cartridges.  But annealing and neck tension is. 

rwsem said
Chuck- Here’s the list of current pilots- scroll down the page…
  

Thank you there are 15 on the list that I load.  Of course the 3 main ones I shoot are there.