Notice I said, 'we.' She insisted, so I said, "Yes, Dear." For said attendance she gave me the afternoon off - no chores or shopping or yard work. Just a nice quiet peaceful Sunday. Yes, she treats me awful on occasion but then she turns on a dime and is sweet as honey...go figure.
(Please don't tell her I said so, begging here.)
It was time to practice the slow and easy method of reloading. The weather weirdos insisted we prepare for a vast and awful flood so I thought it time to try my hand. Went out into the garage and gathered components - powder, bullets, primers, and of course, brass and case lube.
Yes, the 'ole Lee Loader is slow, but its relaxing and as I've said, fun. Take your friggin time. I screwed the pooch on the first four rounds....trust me when you flair the case mouth, tap lightly.
Not sure why I'm wasting my time here but maybe, just maybe, some young fella out there will find this roll your own ammo enjoyable some rainy afternoon this winter.
Above is the end result, a nice finished piece of .38 Special. I used very old Hougdon HD38 so only loaded an even dozen. Four minutes per round, start to finish, at a careful pace, was my best time. I'm told experienced God like creatures can beat me by three minutes.
Soon I'll take the dozen rounds to the range and put 'em thru my Model 19 Smith and we'll see if the vintage Hougdon becomes a display tin.
***
I smell porkchops. She's also whipping out peanut butter brownies.
What a nice afternoon. Rain, not yet, but my boat is tied out back.
Stephen
The brownies look & sound great - I'm allergic to chocolate, and am always on the lookout for alternatives. Good job on the ammo, too. You know what they say: slow is smooth, and smooth (eventually) is fast.
ReplyDeleteSad, allergic to chocolate...sorry. Thanks, my friend.
DeleteThere are worse ways to spend the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fact indeed. Thanks, my friend.
DeleteSo I am a little confused does it come with a hand pounding crimping die too? I always use HP38 myself except during the big ammo and powder shortage a year or so ago when I had to buy some number 5 stuff. I could see sitting around doing it slow and easy by hand rather relaxing though. I mostly prime all my cases by hand anyway as I am never very happy with the auto-prime things so it's the same principal.
ReplyDeleteJust kick back watch a movie and push in primers :)
Yes, the one die serves several functions, flip it over and it crimps too. Light tap, light crimp. Several heavy taps and it'll crimp the hell out of the casing.
DeleteTry it, Bro. It's fun.