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AndyC wrote:Loved watching the Hornady AP at work :) I'm really tempted by the bullet-feeding die but I use cast bullets, so...

They might work for you. Check on youtube.

Been trying my hand at powder coating bullets. I recently also started casting 223. I have cast & reloaded 9mm lead but this is just my 2nd occasion doing so with the little 22 boogers. It's also my first time reloading 223.

I'm using Harbor Freight powder in black, red and yellow in addition to Crosman .25 gram black plastic bb's and 55 grain lead projectiles from a 2-cavity Lee mold. The magic is happening in #5 polypropylene cool whip containers - one for each color so far.

Using instructions learned on another site, I swirled the lead bullets about 30 seconds clockwise / counter-clockwise followed by 30 seconds hard up & down. All the while the lid is securely snapped in place and held there as well.

EDIT: convection oven on a cookie sheet with non-stick aluminum foil at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I did 350 black at once - that was my original test case. I backed off and just did 100 at a time for red and yellow which I think turned out a bit better.


Harbor freight red by OnceFiredLakeCityBrass, on Flickr


Ready for Round 1 by OnceFiredLakeCityBrass, on Flickr


Harbor Freight yellow by OnceFiredLakeCityBrass, on Flickr


Ready for convection oven by OnceFiredLakeCityBrass, on Flickr


Harbor Freight black 2nd batch by OnceFiredLakeCityBrass, on Flickr


Finished powder coated versus original lead by OnceFiredLakeCityBrass, on Flickr

300 "The Hard Way" Saturday night on the Lee...Boy my feet hurt when I was done!
replenished 2 of my favorites
200 X .45 mixed (Berry's & XTP's) 230's over 5.7 Bullseye super accurate through my 3" Kimber Ultra Carry II
100 X 158 .357 Berry's FBRN over 7.7 Unique

@AndyC

Sorry for a slow reply - I haven't been on in a few months as work got busy.

I think the yellow had the hardest time covering thoroughly, but that color & the red seemed smoother overall than the black which covered the best but had a more rough feel to them.

I haven't shot them so I don't have an opinion on that front quite yet. I have them all sized and ready to load - finding time to do that & go shooting has been the hard part!

I ordered another 1K of Xtreme Bullet 115gr RB fully plated. This time $70 with Free shipping.

Beiruty wrote:I ordered another 1K of Xtreme Bullet 115gr RB fully plated. This time $70 with Free shipping.

Still have two bags of brass with your name on them! Will have more by the end of the month!

Bitter Clinger wrote:

Beiruty wrote:I ordered another 1K of Xtreme Bullet 115gr RB fully plated. This time $70 with Free shipping.

Still have two bags of brass with your name on them! Will have more by the end of the month!

Thank you. I need to get you introduced to reloading! Then, you need the 12 steps rehab program...

Posted this in another thread here, but ventured into the closet where all my reloading gear and supplies are kept to do an inventory of what I have on hand. Aside from the other surprises hidden away and forgotten was a box with some old cans of powder. Check out the price tag on the can in the pic for a trip back to the past...;) Also "discovered some other unopened cans of powder, a bunch of bullets and a couple K small and large pistol primers. Now to drag it out and figure out where to set it up, as I sold the old bench I used for reloading many moons ago......

Slowly drifting back into reloading after moving a few years ago.

Made up about 400 rounds of 300 Blackout plinking ammo.

I loaded 400 rds of .45acp (steel plinker load of a 200gr RNF with Bullseye) and then deprimed/wet tumbled 1000 pieces of brass... have another 1500 to go this coming week to get caught up.

Considering building a bigger wet tumble drum and roller. my current setup works great but lacks volume capacity.

I built this:


If anyone is curious, I followed this plan http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/work ... w20xl.html modified for 2x6s as the legs and top supports, and shrunk it down to 28.5" x 30"x 24" to fit in my office.

Next weekend I'm going to tackle creating a tumbler out of an old washing machine I picked up.

TexasJohnBoy wrote:I built this:
Next weekend I'm going to tackle creating a tumbler out of an old washing machine I picked up.

Nice bench- I also had to shrink down my vision to fit my office... I'll suggest that you go ahead and build a shelf on the bottom to hold your bullets and brass. You'll want the weight ESPECIALLY since you are on carpet. That will cut way down on movement.

I'm also on carpet- I put 1/2" carriage bolts upside down so that I had narrow steel feet to push to the sub floor... made a huge difference. My bench no longer moves at all, which is a big deal when feeling how the primers are seating.

I'd love to see what you do with the old washer- I'm also trying to figure out what to build for increased capacity in wet tumbling.