alternative:
bullet gets seated directly after powder is put in, which results in never having a case with powder on the loading tray: they are either empty and primed, or with a bullet seated.
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When fluxing with saw dust, when it starts to smoke on top of the melt, light the saw dust with a grill lighter with a long extention just like you used to do when using bullet lube for flux. This will eliminate most of the smoke. When the flame goes out you can stir in the carbon ash as normal. This has worked very well for me.
Ken
look both ways before you cross the street
Never fry bacon without a shirt on
Please stay on topic.
[smilie=b:
Mixed up some Alox & Jhonson paste wax for tumble lube but can't see in those little bottles how much is left, so got a glass soap dispenser with the plunger on top and pored in the mix with a little extra mineral spirits to keep it liquid and just squirt the top a few times when needed and take maybe a extra day to dry after tumble.
G. Poing NE Ohio - Damn rain!
For those of you that use RED DOT. Use PROMO it is cheaper and has the same burn rate as RED DOT
When you're done sizing and lubing, leave a bullet all the way down. Stops lube from weeping out from residual pressure. Best way I know. Even reversing the ratchet a few turns won't always prevent weeping and a mess. Leaving a bullet down forms a perfect seal.
Rick's tips:
1. Have a well-lit loading bench.
2. Keep your bench clean.
3. Do not cast or reload with distractions.
4. Do not cast or reload when you are tired.
5. Check the charge weight twice. Preferrably in two different manuals.
6. Write everything down.
7. Wear safety glasses when seating primers.
8. Wear a full-face shield when casting.
9. Cast bullets with good ventilation.
10. Wash your hands after handling lead. Then, wash them again. I use the mechanics' soap with the pumice in it, works well. The bottle also has a brush for cleaning under your fingernails.
Don't buy used molds off of ebay unless you know how to fix someones MESS.
I now know what they mean when they say "May show signs of cosmetic wear".
If you use Gorilla glue to re-attach your mold handles back on, only use a very little bit. It expands. A lot. I almost glued a set of Lee handles permanently to my bench.
Not my most brilliant moment.
lol, epoxy works well for that.
If you remove the little nail in the mold handles at that time, it won't get hot and burn you anymore.
When swaping or putting a pair of handles on your mold, its best to do it over a counter so I does not fall on the concrete floor, doh!
An old omelette maker makes an excellent mold for rendered lead.
A goldenrod works good for keeping condensation out of the mold cabinet.
Lable your ingots with their content, you will eventually forget.
Get a light set of safety glasses so that you will be more tempted to use them. Are you really wearing a full face mask? Really? Really, really? Color me careless then.
Use a router speed control unit on your lube heater.
RTV on those broken or loose mold handles.
Filing cabinets make for much needed drawer space in the garage. This makes dandy storage for your lava collecting suit when not casting, lol.
Save your pennies for a year and GET that hardness tester.
If you put more money into a hobby than it returns, keep up the good work!
slightly OT, but the file cabinets reminded me.
Use file cabinet and file folders to organize and sort your sandpaper.
While using my Lee turret press I had too many necks split while belling them. I was working with old 45 acp brass. At the cost of primers today 1 out of 100 is too many. I went to priming after belling rather than after de-priming and sizing.
MTG, if you use the aforementioned full-face shield you should have no problem gently decapping those good live ones and reusing them. I do it frequently when I have faux pas on the progressives.
Gear
Gear I can't keep a face shield clean enough to see through for 5 minutes. Steam over or a few hours in the shop and they are too scratched to view through. I'll have to try again.
When you get a supply of misc lead & wheelweights that is too large to melt into one batch, heres how you can still have a perfectly uniform alloy over the entire supply of lead.
Best to do this outdoors. Melt enough to fill your pot, fluxing and cleaning off tire clips as you go. Also remove any wheelweight that doesn't have a clip (stick-on's) or doesn't want to melt into the rest easily (probably zinc). When the pot is full, pour it off into ingots of whatever size you find convenient, and get started on another pot. While the next pot is melting, take a hammer and punch, and put a prominent punch mark on every ingot you just cast.
Then put two punch marks on the next set of ingots, three punch marks on the next set of ingots, and so on.
When you're ready to cast bullets, put one ingot in the pot from each set. IE, an ingot with one punch mark, an ingot with two punch marks, an ingot with three punch marks, and so on. This will let you keep a uniform alloy composition over a very large volume of castings.
If you're smart and have a computer (that's ALL of us!) and have a small weight scale (if you don't, GET one!), you can weigh what's going into the current batch and keep a record of what is in it. For example;
The batch with one, two and three punch marks are all unmodified clip-on wheelweights.
The four punch batch has 2.75 pounds of linotype from Sam, and 7.25 pounds of clip-on wheelweights.
The five punch batch is 6 pounds of sheet lead and four pounds of linotype ... (And so on.)
You will find this record very valuable for calculating the composition of your alloy, or identifying batches for special use.