Just a few equipment questions about Reloading

[Kaiser7 33]

I've got almost everything, apart from a powder measure, but I'm doign my final check-list, and I was wondering. Do the shell holders taht come with Lee dies fit into the Lee hand priming tool? I wasn't sure if they used to different types of shell holders or not, just figured I'd ask now so I could order it now.

 

Also, taking some advice I read online, I bought corncob hamster bedding to tumble my cases in, it's polished them quite well, but the problem is that it has gotten stuck inside the cases. I imagine I can get it out easy enough, but is this a huge issue? or is there anyway I can avoid this in the future? I'm tumbling .223 brass.

[henrym 19]

The shell holders do not work. The shell holders that ork in the priming tool are much thinner and are a different profile.

 

As far as corn cob stuck in the case, I cant help. I tumble in walnut and dont have that issue.

[Kaiser7 33]

I just manually got them all out. It took forever.

[hobobluz 0]

How are you getting the corn/litter out now? I don't know what your setup is but you can get one of those cheap plastic rotary jobs that you stick on top of a 5 gallon bucket. You drop the brass and litter into the rotary cage, close it, and spin the handle. All the litter/corn/walnut drops into the bucket. Works very well.

There is also a plastic thing that looks like a prospector's gold pan that has holes in the bottom. Same principle; drop the litter and brass into the pan and shake.

The rotary gizmo works better and is easier to use.

[hobobluz 0]

Whoops! I was too quick to post, sorry. I see you are reloading rifle brass. I don't reload for rifle and so I don't really know how the rotary or pan would work for you. I differ to the more knowledable members on this one.

[Jon 264]

Whoops! I was too quick to post, sorry. I see you are reloading rifle brass. I don't reload for rifle and so I don't really know how the rotary or pan would work for you. I differ to the more knowledable members on this one.

 

I've done that with rifle brass, and it works great.

[Melgamatic 66]

I tumble in walnut, then dump into that rotary round basket thing and rotate over a 5-gallon bucket. I've never had it take more than 10 revolutions in each direction to get 100% of the media out of the brass, rifle or pistol.

 

-DAve

[Kaiser7 33]

I just used a paperclip and poked at the stuff to get it out. Apparently this happens a bit with "cheap media" (read: corn cob hamster bedding) as the size of it is only slightly smaller than .223 brass. Not matter, I got it all out, even if it took a while.

 

I'm going to see if I can't find some finer media later today.

[PeteF 1,044]

I just used a paperclip and poked at the stuff to get it out. Apparently this happens a bit with "cheap media" (read: corn cob hamster bedding) as the size of it is only slightly smaller than .223 brass. Not matter, I got it all out, even if it took a while.

 

I'm going to see if I can't find some finer media later today.

 

Lizard Bedding (ie Ground Walnut) pours out very easily and gets brass pretty clean.

[gimmemym1 34]

+100 on lizard bedding. I've been using it for years and it works great.

[Kaiser7 33]

Lizard Bedding (ie Ground Walnut) pours out very easily and gets brass pretty clean.

 

I went to 4 pet stores, and no one had it.

 

I did realize just how much of a dumbass I am though. the guy who I bought the tumbler off of had media inside of it. It was red, so I did not think it was walnut....

 

...Until I found, online, pictures of walnut mixed with "red rouge" polish. That's why my walnut didn't look like walnut media... Fortunately, I saved it, and used it to tumble my brass, it came out nice, and I noticed a small crack in one shell I had not noticed before, so I clamped the mouth shut, and threw it into a bucket I have for unusable brass.

 

Speaking of which, how can I identify which defects are too serious? Obviously any cracks make shells unusable, but i'm curious about dents in the case body. There are quite a few shells with minor dents in the body.

[Jon 264]

The majority of the minor dents will be taken out once you resize the case.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I wouldn't worry about small dents, look for signs of cracking, and over pressure or case bulging. most of my range pick ups have dents from the extractor that are removed during sizing...

[PeteF 1,044]

I went to 4 pet stores, and no one had it.

 

I did realize just how much of a dumbass I am though. the guy who I bought the tumbler off of had media inside of it. It was red, so I did not think it was walnut....

 

...Until I found, online, pictures of walnut mixed with "red rouge" polish. That's why my walnut didn't look like walnut media... Fortunately, I saved it, and used it to tumble my brass, it came out nice, and I noticed a small crack in one shell I had not noticed before, so I clamped the mouth shut, and threw it into a bucket I have for unusable brass.

 

Speaking of which, how can I identify which defects are too serious? Obviously any cracks make shells unusable, but i'm curious about dents in the case body. There are quite a few shells with minor dents in the body.

 

Cracks, splits, and creases are bad. Bulges are not good, they can usually be taken out, but the brass may get "overworked" leading to an early failure.

 

If after sizing you don't like the looks of a case, ditch it! No sense taking a chance.

[gimmemym1 34]

And beings that you are new to reloading, when you over lube your rifle cases and resize them your gonna see a bunch of dimples around the bottle neck. It doesn't hurt nothing it just looks ugly and after a couple rounds you will figure out how lightly you need to lube them. I dont live far from you, if you need help PM me.

[Kaiser7 33]

Actually, the cases were given to me dented. I've also noticed a good number of them seem to be "flattened" at the case mouth. that is, instead of being a circle, they're round with a little flat area.

 

I was given the cases by a member from the forum who reloads and wanted to give me something to start with, I trust him 100%, I just want to make sure I don't screw anything up. It's lake city brass by the way.

[Rob0115 1,105]

Actually, the cases were given to me dented. I've also noticed a good number of them seem to be "flattened" at the case mouth. that is, instead of being a circle, they're round with a little flat area.

 

I was given the cases by a member from the forum who reloads and wanted to give me something to start with, I trust him 100%, I just want to make sure I don't screw anything up. It's lake city brass by the way.

 

Make sure you take the crimp out of the primer pocket for LC brass or you will struggle to seat the primers. Also, CCI makes a good primer for .223 which is CCI41 primers.

[Kaiser7 33]

Make sure you take the crimp out of the primer pocket for LC brass or you will struggle to seat the primers. Also, CCI makes a good primer for .223 which is CCI41 primers.

 

That's what I just bought. So how do I know if I've decrimped them? I used a primer pocket cleaner, and scraped out the primer pocket.

[Rob0115 1,105]

They make decrimpers. Or you can ream it out.