Reloading updates

[Jekemi]

1.   New 1” thick bench, 80” by 26” with 5 coats of polyurethane
2.   New white melamine shelf with under the shelf light
3.   New Lee Classic Turret press. Lee Safety primer and Lee Pro case activated powder measure on order.
4.   Home built shell holders. The one on the left is oak; both are stained with 4 coats of polyurethane
5.   The small press makes a quick de-priming station, prepping the brass for cleaning in the tumbler
6.   Yes, those are Lee little Yellow dippers. After reloading 100 rounds of 40 caliber this weekend I’ve become a Lee Yellow Dipper believer; fast, easy, cheap, and accurate.

[CP]

Nice setup.  Be careful with that WD40.  You don’t want it anywhere near your powder.

[Jekemi]

Woops, two of the same picture. Here you go.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Nice setup.  Be careful with that WD40.  You don’t want it anywhere near your powder.

  And it will kill a primer real fast, too.  Get it away from your loading bench.

[carpsniperg2]

It will make you a nice setup.

[Jekemi]

CP. what does WD40 and powder do when combined?

[dontgetcrabs]

CP. what does WD40 and powder do when combined?

It will ruin the powder.

[CP]

It can increase the burn rate of the powder and cause unsafe pressure levels.

[JimmyHoffa]

I knew a guy that decided to spray all his shotgun shells (basically gave them a bath) with WD-40.  The thought was it would keep them from getting all corroded.  Somehow the WD-40 penetrated into the powder.  Duck came in and he fired and it was the primer doing all the work.  The shot was falling about 5 feet from the blind.  Tried a few more and the same results.  Got pissed, there were supposedly ducks everywhere that day.  Fire the remaining shells and in a couple cases the wad/shot-cup never left the barrel and he had shot rolling out of the barrel.  Gunsmith told him that WD-40 penetrates brass.  I'm not too sure of this, but it goes with his story....so maybe.  The only product I can really think of to keep away from reloading is the non-approved Brasso.  It contains ammonia and will somehow weaken the brass causing cracks.

[engelwood]

Pimpin setup 

[C-Money]

Very nice looking reloading area! I use the Lee dippers to speed up measuring out each charge on my scale. This is much faster for me vs a tea spoon!

[Rob]

I knew a guy that decided to spray all his shotgun shells (basically gave them a bath) with WD-40.  The thought was it would keep them from getting all corroded.  Somehow the WD-40 penetrated into the powder.  Duck came in and he fired and it was the primer doing all the work.  The shot was falling about 5 feet from the blind.  Tried a few more and the same results.  Got pissed, there were supposedly ducks everywhere that day.  Fire the remaining shells and in a couple cases the wad/shot-cup never left the barrel and he had shot rolling out of the barrel.  Gunsmith told him that WD-40 penetrates brass.  I'm not too sure of this, but it goes with his story....so maybe.  The only product I can really think of to keep away from reloading is the non-approved Brasso.  It contains ammonia and will somehow weaken the brass causing cracks.

I got a 243 Win cartridge stuck in the chamber once.  I worked it hard to try and get it out.  I removed the barrel and took it in to a smith.  They got it out and said they deactivated the powder and primer by filling both ends of the barrel with oil and allowing it to penetrate the shell.  Then the smacked the cartridge out using a 24 caliber rod inserted from the muzzle end. 

Not sure if it really deactivated the primer or powder or not, but he said they did it as a safety precaution.

[Jekemi]

I removed the WD40 from the bench area based on your advice. I also added this nicel little touch to the Turret press so I can more easily check powder level.

[Jamieb]

Nice set up. I wish I had that much bench space.

[fremont]

Very nice, clean space.  (Stuff has a way of walking up on your bench and parking itself, though!)

People who I've heard use the dipper approach seem to like it.