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jason812 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 10:23 am Andy, those look good. I like the Ford blue. You need to get on the Zombie wagon and do some neon green

Dude, only girls obsess about different col... wait, did you say zombie?

flechero wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 10:12 pm

AndyC wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 8:53 pm and Ford Blue...

Run those up near max, they have a propensity to get stuck.

Thank you - here's the original attempt on the left versus these I just did:



2 differences in method to get the new results:

a. Tumbling the bullets in a case-cleaner - small plastic tubs with a little paint and bullets in each tub - vibrated for about 20 minutes (this time). Previously I'd just shaken them by hand as I'd seen other do it - I didn't get good coverage.
b. Not putting them flat on a wire cage (like you see Youtubers do it) - you can see the marks left by the wire. I'm much happier standing them up in the silicon ice-cube trays.

Miking up an uncoated vs a coated bullet, the coating is 2-thou thick.

Learned a little trick for standing long rifle bullets upright for powder-coating - silicon mini-icecube trays.

Trying it now with 2 different Eastman colors, Maroon and Ford Blue, on 220gr 30-cal bullets from an NOE mold:



Baked - not perfect, but very usable indeed:

May just be that the commercial bullet is a bevel-base and mine isn't (I had the bevel removed from my mold-cavities) - but thanks.

You need to get yourself a mold...

Nice!

Powdercoat experimentation....

I have some red and blue Eastman powders but could never get any decent results using the "Shake bullets and powder in a #5 tub" method - so, because I stumbled across a Franklin Armory vibratory case-cleaner that I thought I'd lost, I decided to try and vibrate the bullets instead.

What a difference! Unlike the old blotchy, badly-coated bullets I was getting before, these are now very usable indeed and compare very well to commercially-coated Hitek bullets that I'd bought about a year ago as an experiment. I can't get a great photo in this light, but here's powdercoat vs Hitek:

Ammo factory, here we come!

That's coming along nicely - I'm jelly

Not for a .50, but mount the press on something solid, of course - you can add a stiffener such as a steel plate (home-made or pre-made eg. Inline Fabrication) to spread the stress across the workbench.

Congrats on your upcoming toy

jason812 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 07, 2019 9:49 am Got my room skinned in plybead. Will be staining in the next week.

Man, that looks like a LOT of work but it's going to be cool as heck when you're done

bblhd672 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:03 pm Tonight my neighbor introduced me to reloading by providing the equipment and knowledge, I supplied the brass, powder, primers and bullets.
Reloaded 40 rounds of .308 with 168gr Sierra MatchKing.

Beiruty wrote: ↑Wed Feb 06, 2019 11:13 pm Reloaded those
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PtCqGpcxwZJBL8Hq8

Pretty as hell!

Breaking down the cruddy "bench" in the garage alcove to make room for my own reloading bench.

Inline Fabrication's Ultramount arrived for my LnL AP.

WildBill wrote: ↑Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:42 am It's been many years, but I always sized mine to 0.355" for the Python. I recall reading that Colts had a smaller bore that S&W and Ruger revolvers.

They do indeed - the Python bore is tapered at the very end. However:

1. A large part of accuracy is caused by how well the bullet fits the chamber-throat as it exits before entering the forcing-cone - many otherwise accurate revolvers have been ruined by a variance in the throat-diameter between the separate chambers. I've measured mine and they're fortunately all very consistent - this made choosing a size much simpler.

2. The taper only occurs at the end of the barrel. I don't want the bullet undersized while traveling down a .357" bore (for obvious reasons) - and the design of the TL fins (especially with my softer alloy) will allow the bullet to swage down to .355" muzzle-diameter with no fuss, much like a Brenneke slug's fins collapsing when exiting a full-choked shotgun.

It's a juggling act, but 1) I've had no pressure signs, 2) no leading at all and 3) the beast seems to be more accurate than I can shoot her, so no complaints here regarding accuracy :)

WildBill wrote: ↑Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:57 pm Andy - do you lube and size your bullets?

These are already sized just right (.358), but if they weren't I'd get one of the cheap Lee sizing dies and run them through that.

Lube - it's a TL (Tumble Lube) mold so they throw bullets designed to be used with Lee Alox; I've coated them in that and let them dry.

Broke out the old Lee pot...


Cast up 340 of the 158gr .38/.357 Lee TL SWCs and water-quenched them for hardness: