horniday loc-n-load vs lee classic turret?

[photobiker]

Might it be a bent decapping pin?

[czkali]

Careful though ... if you get liberal main stream media it always migrates to the left side of your brass.   
 
My experience with investigating the kits was they had stuff I didn't need immediately or was only for rifle cartridges. In the end I put together my own kit, mostly if not all, from MidwayUSA - which at the time surprised me as Midway tends to be higher priced.
 
I think I decided to prime on the press so I didn't need the hand priming tool in the kit, I think the kits came with deburing and primer pocket cleaning tools, etc. By not buying a kit I got the exact pieces I wanted and only what I needed at this time in my reloading career. L.E. Willson case gauge was another part I bought that wasn't in any of the kits I looked at.

[Wobbly]

Might it be a bent decapping pin?

De-capping pins are so strong they usually punch right through corn cob. But with rifle cases, the media remains inside and can reduce the internal volume by some degree. That's not really a good thing.

[photobiker]

I have or had a 9mm that disagrees with the punch through, might have been a heavy duty kernel.  New set of pins are on the way.  Something else could have caused the pin to bend but since they seem to be readily available I assume it is a pretty common thing.   Could use the set up from my other die sets but I'll just wait.  And remember I'm new at this.

[armed hiker]

Wobbly
what is your experience with ultrasonic cleaning the brass instead of a tumbler? I tossed a bunch of brass into my ultrasonic cleaner when I first got it just to see what chemicals, strengths or time would do to brass. Mixed results but I have not tried any brand name cleaners yet, mostly experimenting and a batch of Ed's Red ( which works well on cosmoline).

Looking at the kits it appears that most items while not ideal are good starting points and inexpensive so I don't mind having duplicates. The shell holder kit sounds like it would be worth while if I find myself buying die sets from other than lee (and I probably will). Books, the more the merrier I say. Get them before they are only available on some e-reader thingy. I get where you are coming from on the scale so quality beam first , keep things consistent.

I will want to get into case trimming eventually as I see people are making brass for 9x18 and 7.62x25 but plan on walking before I run so that will be another thread for another day. I take it case trimming is not a issue on 9x19 and .45 (my starting loads) but I will be needing it when I get to rifle rounds like .308,7.62x54R etc (bottle necked rounds).

CZcali
I plan on reloading rifle as well as pistol so if it comes with tools to do both that's fine by me. I find the same with prices from midway even with the C&R discount you can often do better. I do like the service from Midway though so don't mind sending the business their way.

Painter
Make sure to remove the Gerbils from the gerbil litter before tumbling, or were those kittens?

[painter]

LOL...

[Wobbly]

I have or had a 9mm that disagrees with the punch through, might have been a heavy duty kernel.  New set of pins are on the way.  Something else could have caused the pin to bend but since they seem to be readily available I assume it is a pretty common thing.   Could use the set up from my other die sets but I'll just wait. 

? On popular cartridges, like the 9mm, it is very common to run across a Berdan primed case from Europe which cannot be decapped using standard dies found in the USA. The Berdan primer shows up as "snake eyes" on the inside of the case, and does not have the 1/16 inch hole required for the Boxer type de-capping pin.





There are also reports out of some new brands of brass using under-sized primer holes. So that although they look to be standard Boxer primers, the under-sized hole is just enough to jam the de-capping pin and not turn loose. Either one of these 2 scenarios is a excellent way to break a pin.

? Yes, you'll need to stock de-capping pins. One good thing about using only one brand of die is that the decapping pin is usually standardized among all their dies, thus saving time and trouble. De-capping pins may all look alike, but I assure you that different brands are not interchangeable.

One good thing about Hornady is that they do send a repair kit with each die set that includes a spare de-capping pin.

 

[Wobbly]

Wobbly
what is your experience with ultrasonic cleaning the brass instead of a tumbler?

Exactly zero.

[john16443]

@armed hiker

My experience with ultrasonic cleaning has been fantastic, but I have to admit that I went in a little deep.  I use a Hornady Magnum sonic cleaner exclusively for 45acp and 9mm.  The Hornady brass cleaning solution works well, especially when adding a 45 case full of Lemishine.  In all honesty though, a good shot of Dawn and Lemishine in water works just about as good. 

I don't know what brand or type of sonic cleaner you have, but if it:
- has a 480 second max cycle that has to be constantly restarted for decent results
- can't clean at least 200 45acp cases at once
- doesn't have a heating element
It isn't for me.

Yes it was over $200, but it was a reward to myself and I'll never use anything else.  The entire cleaning process takes way less time than tumbling (including stainless steel tumbling), I no longer have to worry about potentail exposure to lead laden dust from the tumbler, the cases sparkle inside and out, and the 'dreaded Titegroup stain' is a thing of the past.

[FireMoose]

The great thing about the Lee dies is the sizer/decapper has the pin held in by a collet so instead of breaking the pin just slides up a bit.

[photobiker]

Mr. Wobbly I have taken your advice and sorted all my brasses, what a pain.  I have to wear glasses to see these things.  Luckily I only have 4 stamps to choose from and a couple of trash brasses.  Could have missed one but at this point I am working with Federal once fired.  The one that bent my pin still had a piece of kernel in it, need to look first before de-priming.  I did wrestle through a couple of S&B brasses like you told me not to.  It was a project, they seem to to be seated deeper.  Been following the thread about progressive vs single stage.  When I have to handle each piece of brass 4 times I think the progressive looks pretty good, I like efficiency of effort.  I spend my life in fifth gear all the time, I'm constantly on the go just can't sit still.  But with the single stage I get to "handle" that piece of brass 4 time to give it that once over.  The key for me is that I get to look at that powder load before I place a bullet in.   
On a different thought sorta.  I'm using HP-38 powder in my 9mm.  Someone on the board had mentioned that it is a fast burning powder therefore it required more powder.  True or not I don't know since I have only used one powder.  I did a double load when I first started, like 2 weeks ago, just to see what it looked like.  I think with that powder in a 9mm case it is very obvious when you have over loaded the case.  A definite positive for single stage loaders and I would think helpful for progressive loaders as well.
I'm just beginning my journey.

[johnnyrees]

Hope all of your journey is happy trails Photo.....looks like youve allready acquired the first and most important step in reloading....common sense

[1SOW]

The great thing about the Lee dies is the sizer/decapper has the pin held in by a collet so instead of breaking the pin just slides up a bit.

AMEN brother!

Original pin in mine for over 50K cases.  Lees carbide sizer-deprimer is hard to beat.

[motosapiens]

Been following the thread about progressive vs single stage.  When I have to handle each piece of brass 4 times I think the progressive looks pretty good, I like efficiency of effort.  I spend my life in fifth gear all the time, I'm constantly on the go just can't sit still.  But with the single stage I get to "handle" that piece of brass 4 time to give it that once over.  The key for me is that I get to look at that powder load before I place a bullet in.   

I just bought a progressive after loading 10k or so  rounds on a lee single-stage the last year or two. I did it for health reasons. The tendinitis in my elbows from 4 pulls/round was just getting to be too much.

I position myself so I can see the powder in the charged case every time I pull the handle, and I specifically look at it before i place the bullet on top.

[Wobbly]

I have taken your advice and sorted all my brasses, what a pain.  I have to wear glasses to see these things. 

Sincere apologies for any misunderstanding, brother. I only sort cases when I want to chrono loads. That allows me to control every variable that I can, and therefore readings are more accurate. When I go to plink or compete I always used mixed brass. My actual shooting is so inconsistent that I don't need that extra step. Even if I followed that extra step, you'd never see my name on the leader board. My days of spraying Champlain and kissing the beauty queen are well behind me. So in most cases, the PIA way out weighs the gains.

Been following the thread about progressive vs single stage.  When I have to handle each piece of brass 4 times I think the progressive looks pretty good, I like efficiency of effort. But with the single stage I get to "handle" that piece of brass 4 time to give it that once over. The key for me is that I get to look at that powder load before I place a bullet in.   

The use of a "loading block" might be of interest to you. It doesn't cut the number of handle pulls, but it does cut case handling and improves powder inspection by leaps and bounds.

On a different thought sorta.  I'm using HP-38 powder in my 9mm.  Someone on the board had mentioned that it is a fast burning powder therefore it required more powder.  True or not I don't know since I have only used one powder.  I did a double load when I first started, like 2 weeks ago, just to see what it looked like.  I think with that powder in a 9mm case it is very obvious when you have over loaded the case.  A definite positive for single stage loaders and I would think helpful for progressive loaders as well.

The volume a powder displaces in the case is a function of it's density. The weight of powder you might dispense for a given load has only to do with the energy density. But there is no direct correlation between "powder speed" and powder volume.

It is true that "faster powders", like Tite Group, generally have more nitro added to them and therefore contain more energy per unit, but that is not true of every such powder. So it's easy to see how someone might get confused and make such a "blanket statement". But as with every blanket statement, it's fairly easy to shoot holes all through it. I mean I know of at least one biker chick with no tattoos ! 

I'm just beginning my journey.

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