So in answer to your last message, lets talk about supplies and prep....
>
You'll need your reloading notebook. (You do have a notebook, right ?) Here's how mine is setup, but you may like another system. First page is various reloading errata, like: 1 lb equals 7000gr, 1 inch equals 25.400mm, When in doubt call Armoredman, Painter will shoot my chrono, things like that. Then about 3 pages in I setup my first bullet page. Title of the page "Berry 124gr RN". Under that record the diameter, average bullet length, average bullet weight, seating anvil you intend to use with this bulllet, and any other changes needed for your press when you. Maybe even a date.
> You'll need your Berry bullets. You'll need to do the
Max OAL test on both your CZs... using the naked barrel. You'll get pretty much the same answer from both guns, but you need to
see that so that you'll
know that about your guns. That test is in the
Directory at the top of this Forum.
HERE Just follow those directions.
When you finish, write down the shortest of those 2 readings along with the other bullet data at the top of the
Berry 124gr RN page in your notebook. That info is sacred to you and
your guns only.
Last thing, we're going to write down the OAL we will
always use with these bullets. We got all this
Science, now finally comes the
Art part.
Ready ? Thou art going to use an OAL of 1.130" with these bullets, and nothing else !
It's a nice number that history has shown gives really good results. Easy to measure, easy to achieve, and works really well
for this bullet in a wide variety of pistols. Art class is now over.
> Your little tube of lube is going to be used up in no time if you dab it on, so I want you to get a "Lube Pad". These are really cheap and won't break the bank. You're going to place a small dab of lube on the pad, then roll 5 or 6 cleaned cases on the pad. This will make that tube last about 5 years. And the pad will spread the lube over a much greater area.
> Per
DMY, you'll also need a kinetic hammer (aka 'unloading hammer', 'bullet puller'). Don't buy a cheap one, get an RCBS or Lyman.
> You got your dies setup in the press ? Any questions ? Use the plain Lee Taper Crimp in the 4th position. (You can setup the FCD later on.) The setup of the TC die requires a dummy round (no primer; no powder), which we will now make. Size a case in the Sizing Die, bell or flare a case under the Powder Die just enough for a 124gr Berry RN to balance on the case mouth, seat the bullet progressively lower in the Seating Die until the setting is close to 1.130". Now we will put that round under the TC Die. This is the hardest adjustment to make because you need to go so slow. With the ram all the way
UP, run the TC
DOWN until it touches. Then keep cycling the dummy rounds through the TC Die with the op lever. Keep lowering the TC Die in 1/10th turn increments until the measurement on Taper Crimp comes out to 0.377".
All these
will need more minor adjustments when production starts, but for now you're good. Read about Taper Crimp
HERE.
> Lastly, I want you to start working with your HP38 and the powder measure. You need to get accustomed to operating it, and you need to get used to the powder.
If it's really cold where you are, you may need
anti-static clothes dryer sheets. You can wipe your powder measure (PM) down and eliminate most of the static. If your PM is sticky or doesn't move nicely, then you can get
graphite powder from the Lock section of your hardware store and squirt some graphite into the hopper. You should also have a
Powder Baffle in the bottom of your PM. That will help with consistency.
HEREPut some powder into the PM hopper.
First Rule of PM's: Always fill the PM hopper at least 1/2 full. What I want you to do is make 30 powder drops and record the weight of each. (Use the digital scale for this.) Just write down the weight, and dump the powder back into the top of the hopper. What you'll learn is that the first 10 "drops" aren't consistent worth a toot. Thus, the
Second Rule of PM's: Never load the first 10 drops !!You'll also discover that a consistent use of the PM lever gives more consistent weights. So use the "knock-knock" technique. Raise the op lever and tap it twice against the top of the throw. When you lower the op lever, knock it twice against the bottom of the throw. Do the 30 drop test again with this and see if things don't improve.
Lastly, dump all the powder in the PM back into the can. You'll need a small funnel for this job.
Third Rule of PMs: Only have one can on your bench top at a time, because you can mix up powders very easily. And it you do, it all gets thrown out !
Now you are learning that the PM should be fastened to it's own mounting board rather than fastened to the press. Because the easiest way to empty a full hopper is to simply turn it up-side-down.
> You simply need to be very familiar with your equipment before we start making any ammo. There's no way better than simply using it and taking measurements. Lots of tweaks. Lots of housekeeping to do. Lots of small bits to go get or order.
* Practice with the powder measure awhile longer and keep learning about it.
* Practice making more dummy rounds, and tweak the Die settings until the
average dimension gets much closer. (Here you will learn about
tolerances. No manufacturing is "perfect"... especially yours!
Our object is to keep it as close as possible to our goals. So our "goal" for OAL is 1.130". If you are consistently making dummy rounds 1.128 to 1.134" you're doing absolutely
great !)
* Sort through your brass and start a "Scrap Bucket" using the ideas in this thread:
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=108246.0Hope this helps with your "Social Distancing".
