Spokes
Member
Trimming 223/556X45 cases to load and shoot in my AR15...
What is the most unpleasant part of reloading for you?
- Thread starter GB
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4barrel
Member
Case/media separation. I really need to get one of those doohickeys that shakes it all out.
A close second is my current Lee FCD in .45 ACP -- it drags all hell on any case that isn't a Remington - Peters (RP) headstamp. Well, it doesn't drag that badly, but the little jarring bumps are annoying and gradually wear on my shoulder. My other 3 FCDs are perfectly smooth, which is weird.
So I think I might be helping myself to a new .45 taper crimp die (no FCD). Or a Redding or RCBS. Or since my birthday is advancing on me, maybe a Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension taper crimp die. Or the whole damn set.
A close second is my current Lee FCD in .45 ACP -- it drags all hell on any case that isn't a Remington - Peters (RP) headstamp. Well, it doesn't drag that badly, but the little jarring bumps are annoying and gradually wear on my shoulder. My other 3 FCDs are perfectly smooth, which is weird.
So I think I might be helping myself to a new .45 taper crimp die (no FCD). Or a Redding or RCBS. Or since my birthday is advancing on me, maybe a Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension taper crimp die. Or the whole damn set.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
46 years reloading and 45 years casting bullets. I have to say that ammo production is probably the most enjoyable part of the whole shooting thing for me. Learned a lot about metallurgy, ballistics, and other aspects of firearms usage than I could possibly have done any other way. Still spend an evening now and then re-reading older manuals and reviewing years of loading notes.
Like many others I have gone over to commercially cast bullets for most handgun calibers and uses. Most of my casting now is for obsolete calibers and antique firearms for which handloading is the only feasible option. I still enjoy it all.
Like many others I have gone over to commercially cast bullets for most handgun calibers and uses. Most of my casting now is for obsolete calibers and antique firearms for which handloading is the only feasible option. I still enjoy it all.
Mining bullets from the berm was bad, but melting the bullets down to pour ingots has got to be the worst. My little mind enjoys sizing and lubing bullets -- one of the simple joys in life.
Removing stuck cases from bottle neck sizing dies is the worst thing I really hate. The rest of the reloading steps aren't too bad. I have a small primer and large primer press to reduce change-over misery.
Removing stuck cases from bottle neck sizing dies is the worst thing I really hate. The rest of the reloading steps aren't too bad. I have a small primer and large primer press to reduce change-over misery.
Benchrest1
Member
This one is easy for me. Picking up the 200 or more pieces of brass after shooting my 1911.
hdwhit
Member
Removing the crimp from military or foreign-military-sold-as-civilian brass.
Everything else is actually relaxing for me.
Everything else is actually relaxing for me.
hdwhit
Member
The answer is simple, don't get cases stuck in the dies.
RCBS resizing lubricant and pad, Lee "toothpaste tube" lubricant, Imperial sizing wax or Hornady Unique. Never stuck a case in 40+ years of reloading although I did once get the neck inadequately lubricated using the Lee lubricant and tore the neck off a case.
Besides, the part about Hornady Unique I really like is that since it is mostly beef tallow, I could always use it in an emergency to fry a potato knowing would come out tasting like McDonald's french fries used to taste back in the 1970's.
Running my cast bullets through the sizing die. Just brain numbing.
Stu
Stu
Cleaning/separating range brass. Hoarding components for too many calibers. I keep trying to reduce calibers, they multiply overnite. .223, 308, 30-06 for rifle. 38spl, 45acp for pistol. I shoot but don't reload 20ga, 12ga, 9mm. Otherwise I like reloading
Worst part?
Reading about what is the "best" press to get and how wonderful certain methods of "cleaning" brass is.
Hands down it is case trimming(rifle brass)
next, would be doing the chicken dance picking up brass , spend more time doing that then shooting
Reading about what is the "best" press to get and how wonderful certain methods of "cleaning" brass is.
Hands down it is case trimming(rifle brass)
next, would be doing the chicken dance picking up brass , spend more time doing that then shooting
Having to purchase components at today's prices to replace the ones I bought 15 years ago for a lot less money. Remember the one cent primers, the five cent jacketed bullets and the surplus H4831 for about fifty cents per pound?
Spokes
Member
I remember buying 4831 from what looked like a fifty or hundred pound drum getting it in a paper bag or a container I brought in... It was fifty cents a pound..
Primers were a dollar box or less.
All close to sixty years ago..
Primers were a dollar box or less.
All close to sixty years ago..
Casting and lubing bullets,,I gave that up some years ago. I just by them now in that form.
I save & accumulate scrap lead (and brass) still. I sell that and figure it helps bring down the cost somewhere but I don't really worry about it.
Next is having a case stick in a FL sizing die and the rim pull off.
Just a simple mis-q by me,,not enough case lube.
It's a simple process to remove, I've done enough of them!, but it kinda spoils the reloading session. Kinda like a flat tire on that nice summer evening drive.
I don't load anywhere near the # of rds many of you do,,the many 100's or 1000's of rds in one caliber at a time.
So if I do have to anneal cases or trim them it;s just a few and not a real chore.
I still use scoops for powder measuring but do check them against a scale.
On the shotgun side I use a progressive MEC in 12ga, If that decides to dump a load of shot or powder on an open station (in attention by me!),,that can usually end the night of fun.
Other than that, it's pretty smooth running hobby. Sometimes finding stuff like that set of dies you haven't used in a while or that odd size shell holder can be a challenge.
Especially if you use the 'separate stacks of stuff' arrangement like I seem to do to keep things in order.
It's all (supposed to be) fun!
I save & accumulate scrap lead (and brass) still. I sell that and figure it helps bring down the cost somewhere but I don't really worry about it.
Next is having a case stick in a FL sizing die and the rim pull off.
Just a simple mis-q by me,,not enough case lube.
It's a simple process to remove, I've done enough of them!, but it kinda spoils the reloading session. Kinda like a flat tire on that nice summer evening drive.
I don't load anywhere near the # of rds many of you do,,the many 100's or 1000's of rds in one caliber at a time.
So if I do have to anneal cases or trim them it;s just a few and not a real chore.
I still use scoops for powder measuring but do check them against a scale.
On the shotgun side I use a progressive MEC in 12ga, If that decides to dump a load of shot or powder on an open station (in attention by me!),,that can usually end the night of fun.
Other than that, it's pretty smooth running hobby. Sometimes finding stuff like that set of dies you haven't used in a while or that odd size shell holder can be a challenge.
Especially if you use the 'separate stacks of stuff' arrangement like I seem to do to keep things in order.
It's all (supposed to be) fun!
old&slow
Member
It would have to be case trimming, that's what I was doing yesterday. A couple years ago I purchased a 'Little Crow WFT' and it made the chore a whole lot easier.
I also have a Wilson trimmer which does a good job , but is slow and a pain to use when you have more than just a few to do.
I haven't cast bullets in years. I found it much easier to just order them.
I also have a Wilson trimmer which does a good job , but is slow and a pain to use when you have more than just a few to do.
I haven't cast bullets in years. I found it much easier to just order them.
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old&slow
Member
I done that a couple times. Shrinks my vocabulary to all four letter words.
I hate a 'lube pad'. Hornady One Shot is good on pistol cases, but not so good on rifle bottle necks. I few years ago, a friend got me started on Imperial Sizing Wax. Great stuff haven't got one stuck since and a tin of it lasts forever.
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otasan56
US Veteran
I use carbide dies so resizing doesn't require lubing. No part of the reloading process is difficult, for I have a Dillon 550B press.
2ffat
Member
Getting interrupted which seems to happen whenever I reload.
old&slow
Member
I have carbide dies in my 550 also. But, I spread my pistol brass flat on a cookie sheet and give them a very light spray of Hornady One Shot. It just makes it smoother.
You and I may have gotten this from the same place. I ordered mine from Walter Craig, still in business in Montgomery, Alabama though at that time I think he was in Selma. The price was $29.95 delivered for 50 pounds of H4831 in one pound paper bags! I still have a little of it and it has stored well. The year was about 1965.
Worst part?
Reading about what is the "best" press to get and how wonderful certain methods of "cleaning" brass is.
...
next, would be doing the chicken dance picking up brass , spend more time doing that then shooting
Winner, right there. Although I would also add "listening to guys that brag about how they buy the $70/500 super-duper .45 ACP bullets".
And Wise_A Sr is always dancing around picking up brass. We have perhaps 2000 .45 ACPs, and 1500 9mm (and there's always more to find). One, I'd rather do it myself, because I figure that (a) it's the least I owe, (b) I don't have 30 years of policework on my back, and (c) I figure if I hemorrhage some cases, it oughta cut down on the number that wear out.
TomkinsSP
Member
Uh, eh, no, don't think I want the accompanying demerits.
BruceM
Member
When I got my North Hollywood AutoMag, I "made" 150 .44 AutoMag cases from once fired .308 Win. brass. This included shortening and inside reaming the cases. Did it once just to know I could do it but won't be doing it a second time. Starline Brass get the nod from here on out.
Never got any bulk powder in paper bags but remember back in the day buying bulk Winchester 630 by the pound. It came in a "2 pound" clear plastic deli potato salad container which promptly began to melt and distort.
Bruce
Never got any bulk powder in paper bags but remember back in the day buying bulk Winchester 630 by the pound. It came in a "2 pound" clear plastic deli potato salad container which promptly began to melt and distort.
Bruce
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Qc Pistolero
Member
Trimming
Eddie Southgate
Member
Trimming or cleaning primer pockets . I got ol' Arthur and I get cramps in my hands and forearms on top of that .
Blue Streak
Member
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Straight wall case reloading = gravy
Bottle Neck case reloading = PITA - brass prep sucks,..and powder measuring stinks,...lots of rifle powder doesn't meter very well, IMR 4064, etc
Bottle Neck case reloading = PITA - brass prep sucks,..and powder measuring stinks,...lots of rifle powder doesn't meter very well, IMR 4064, etc
