Post by: seth30 on February 29, 2012, 06:42:14 AM
Post by: Jim the Plumber on February 29, 2012, 07:40:49 AM
4024 Old Highway 99 North Rd, Burlington, WA
(360) 724-3113 ()
Post by: ghosthunter on February 29, 2012, 07:55:30 AM
Kesselrings gun shop.
4024 Old Highway 99 North Rd, Burlington, WA
(360) 724-3113 ()
:yeah:
Post by: seth30 on February 29, 2012, 08:04:10 AM
Post by: C-Money on February 29, 2012, 08:45:45 AM
Post by: seth30 on February 29, 2012, 11:14:47 AM
Post by: NRA4LIFE on February 29, 2012, 11:50:52 AM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 29, 2012, 11:51:22 AM
Post by: WSU on February 29, 2012, 11:58:34 AM
Post by: seth30 on February 29, 2012, 12:59:01 PM
How much does it cost to make a 3 inch 1 1/4 ounce steel load?I dont have that answer until I go to the store and see the prices on Kesselrings powder, primers and steel shot. But priceing on Midway USA without adding the shipping and hazmat fees it is a lot cheaper than store bought :IBCOOL:
Post by: seth30 on February 29, 2012, 12:59:26 PM
Post by: C-Money on February 29, 2012, 03:50:26 PM
Post by: marlin on February 29, 2012, 07:00:02 PM
Post by: bowNarrow on February 29, 2012, 07:41:50 PM
Post by: dannysdaddy on February 29, 2012, 09:00:16 PM
Post by: seth30 on March 01, 2012, 06:18:07 AM
Ace has a lot of stuff on the island. Kesslerings has put a REALLY bad taste in my mouth but they do have a lot of stuff there.thats the third time I have heard that about kesslerings since I posted about reloading. Going to ace will sure save some gas money :tup:
Post by: C-Money on March 01, 2012, 09:15:59 AM
I keep thinking about getting the lee shotshell press, but it seems to me you only save money when shooting buckshot and slugs.. I dont have the desire to shoot enough buckshot and slugs for this to be worthwhile. If it was considerably cheaper to load target loads then buying cheap federal shells at walmart then I would get into it.
The cheap Federals are fine target loads. I perfer the "premium" Remington STS target ammo that is $9.00 a box now. My loads are loaded with Remington fig8 wads & Clay Dot Powder, using green or gold STS hulls. I look at the savings compared to the Remington STS ammo vs the less expensive Federals/Winchesters. With the components I have now, according to the Trapshooters.com calculator, I am at $3.96 a box. I expect this number to jump next time I make a componant purchase, as lead continues to climb in price!
Post by: halflife65 on March 01, 2012, 09:22:27 AM
Really? It's been quite awhile since I've purchased a firearm from them (like 8 years or so) but I've bought a couple and they always treated me well. If something's changed, that's too bad.Ace has a lot of stuff on the island. Kesslerings has put a REALLY bad taste in my mouth but they do have a lot of stuff there.thats the third time I have heard that about kesslerings since I posted about reloading. Going to ace will sure save some gas money :tup:
Post by: Smokepole on March 01, 2012, 10:06:57 AM
Customer service first. Kesselrings can keep their guns.
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 08:36:49 AM
Post by: Encore 280 on March 06, 2012, 09:19:31 AM
Post by: bowNarrow on March 06, 2012, 09:23:58 AM
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 09:40:38 AM
Use your recipes with the powder bushing chart and you should be in business. Be sure to weigh your powder drops on a scale to make sure its throwing the amount you want. Different lots of the same kind of powder vary in weight/density, so just remember to check a charge at random. I weigh a charge every once in a while with mine just to be sure. I think you will need to weigh your steel shot out on a scale and pour it in on a seated wad, then crimp.
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 09:43:08 AM
Cabelas more than likely will only have reloading items for lead not steel. i have the same reloader and i dont use the shot or powder bushing. i wieght out all the powder with a scale then put in all the wads, then the shot then crimp them all at the end. i tryed to use the bushing but there not very accurateso you dont even use the hoppers?
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 09:46:08 AM
Shot shell powder bushings are gonna throw .5 grains either way, heavy or light, no matter what loader you have. I use mine to load trap loads, and it works great. I have no idea on loading steel. Here is the powder bushing chart on the second page. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/LA1071.pdfso steel shot will not measure right? If so will heavi shot also pour out unevenly as well? Thanks for the help :tup:
Use your recipes with the powder bushing chart and you should be in business. Be sure to weigh your powder drops on a scale to make sure its throwing the amount you want. Different lots of the same kind of powder vary in weight/density, so just remember to check a charge at random. I weigh a charge every once in a while with mine just to be sure. I think you will need to weigh your steel shot out on a scale and pour it in on a seated wad, then crimp.
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 09:50:18 AM
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 09:51:06 AM
Cabelas more than likely will only have reloading items for lead not steel. i have the same reloader and i dont use the shot or powder bushing. i wieght out all the powder with a scale then put in all the wads, then the shot then crimp them all at the end. i tryed to use the bushing but there not very accurateso you dont even use the hoppers?
The powder bushings are fine. Just find the right one for your recipe. You can use the powder hopper, but your gonna need to weigh out your steel shot yourself! Re size and de prime, remove re sizer and place new primer, drop your powder, place a wad, weigh out your steel shot and pour it into the wad, then hit the two crimp stations, DONE! Should be fun and easy!
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 09:54:40 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 09:58:18 AM
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 10:02:49 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 10:17:14 AM
Shell 2 3/4 Remington Plastic Shells
Shot -
Wt Shot-1 1/4
Type Velocity (fps)-1,250
Primer-CCI 209M
Powder-Blue Dot
Wad- SP 12
Grains-34
Approx. psi- 9,400
Spacers -
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 10:41:15 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 10:46:31 AM
Looks like a steel load to me. Are the spacers to mix in with the steel shot? With 34gr of blue dot, thats where the 209M's extra heat is needed to light it up! Good luck, looks like a good recipe to load! :tup:Thanks! The spacer section was blank, but now that you brought it up would it be something that I buy as well for other loads? here is the link that I used for bluedot.
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/powderlist.aspx?page=%2freloaders%2fpowderlist.aspx&type=2&powderid=10&gauge=12
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 10:50:08 AM
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 10:53:52 AM
1/8 inch felt spacer under shot
I was thinking of something mixed in with the shot. Guess not!
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 10:57:30 AM
Post by: C-Money on March 06, 2012, 11:03:35 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 11:04:29 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 05:18:53 PM
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/161681/bpi-shotshell-wads-12-gauge-125-nitro-card-bag-of-500
Post by: bowNarrow on March 06, 2012, 05:47:55 PM
and no i don't use the hoppers i tryed but the weights were not consistent enough for me to trust. so i just weigh everything myself and only use the press for deprime,prime,crimp
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 06:03:28 PM
when i first started i bought a Lyman's shotshell reloading book it has lots of recipes and tells you everything you need to know about reloading lead steel heavy shot, pretty much everything you need to know.were you loading stee shot as well? If so how important is it to match hulls, wads and primers?
and no i don't use the hoppers i tryed but the weights were not consistent enough for me to trust. so i just weigh everything myself and only use the press for deprime,prime,crimp
Post by: bowNarrow on March 06, 2012, 07:18:12 PM
Post by: seth30 on March 06, 2012, 08:22:36 PM
ya i just started reloading and I'm making loads for ducks and geese. its pretty important to follow what the recipes says. when you interchange parts in the recipe you risk damage to you or your gun. pressure is the biggest thing to worry about. if you only have a gun that shoots 3" then your max pressure is 11500 vs a 3 1/2 that will handle 14000. i have a 3 1/2 so i don't worry as much so sometimes ill add 1-2 extra grains of powder. there lots of recipes on pretty much any hull. PM me if you need any recipes for any hull, i have a few different recipe booksPM sent :tup:
Post by: seth30 on March 07, 2012, 08:03:58 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 07, 2012, 08:18:25 PM
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/powderlist.aspx?page=/reloaders/powderlist.aspx&type=2&powderid=15&gauge=12
Post by: C-Money on March 08, 2012, 08:38:56 AM
Post by: seth30 on March 08, 2012, 08:47:17 AM
Post by: sebek556 on March 08, 2012, 09:11:24 AM
Post by: wraithen on March 08, 2012, 09:26:27 AM
I will, just waiting on the tax return to get into my account :'( I will make a video, and pictures of the process and will follow up with shooting on paper to demostrate the pattern. :tup:
I'm going to have to hold you to this. Gonna start my own setup here in a few weeks. Poor wife will never see me :chuckle:
Post by: trippledigitss on March 08, 2012, 11:12:55 AM
And on the subject of primers, if you dont have it already, I HIGHLY recommend getting the optional primer feeder, it makes it SO much easier. Lee says the Fed;s work best in the feeder and it is true. I have used Fed's, Fiocchi, and Cheddites and the Fed's feed alot better BY FAR. I think the others have thinner rims and get hung up on each other and the Fed's dont. But if you dont have it, spend the $10 and get it!
As far as powder, on Red Dot & especially Unique I see a big difference in their printed bushing chart than what actually comes out so scale it for sure. I bought a cheap little digital reloading scale from Cabela for $20 and it works great. I think the .155 bushing says on the chart its good for 23gr of unique when I actually only get 20 to 20.5 out of it, Red Dot is about 1 to 2 grains different than advertised, and Clays - which I mostly use now for the 12ga trap loads is about right on, maybe .3-.5 grains difference. I have been loading Rem Gun Club hulls and have loaded some as many as 7 times and they still look fine. But I have recently started phasing them out for the Rem STS.
(and C-Money, I saw Bass Pro had the STS & Nitro 27 going for 85 a case, no tax and about $7 shipping per case. Plus they have a 6 pay option where you can make 6 equal payments, one a month, with no extra charge or interest. So I could order a lot and pay a little at a time - and you get your items right away like you paid cash in full)
And for changing your recipe and swapping components. Personally for the most part I do not think it is a big deal to swap out stuff. Of course stay in the max powder range, but I think you can basically use any primer and wads that fit your hull and you are fine. I used a recipe as a guideline and now I have swapped wads, Calybuster White 8's vs CB figure 8's and shaved a few grains of powder off and they shoot fine.
Anyway, again, good choice on the Lee. I think it loads them like a new factory shell and is very easy to use. I also enjoy loading my own shells as much as shooting them. There is something very satisfying about breaking targets with shells you made.
I checked out a couple books from the library and got good info for reloading shot shells. One was "The ABC's of Reloading" and the other was "Reloading for Shotgunners" You may want to look into a couple books and see if you find good info.
Here are a couple videos I made right after I got it.
Post by: trippledigitss on March 08, 2012, 11:13:28 AM
:tup: have fun with it seth, there is just something about doing stuff yourself. It just feels better.
:yeah:
Post by: seth30 on March 08, 2012, 08:12:22 PM
Post by: C-Money on March 09, 2012, 09:00:10 AM
Post by: trippledigitss on March 09, 2012, 09:42:40 AM
I like to sit back and load shells too, its a fun hobby and relaxing. I just sit down before or after dinner for an hour or two and start stacking them up! I can do about 100-125 an hour, so you wont break any speed records with it but it makes nice shells. My buddy has a hydraulic loader and he says he can do 100 shells in about 6 minutes! :yike: I havent seen it myself but he aint the type to BS me and he spends obscene amounts of money on his trap shooting, so I dont doubt it. I tried doing a few shells at a time on the Lee, put one in a couple stations at a time, you can do it but its not any easier or faster - but its alot easier to screw something up!
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:11:53 PM
2 3/4 Cheddite hulls (with primer)
12S4 Federal wads
36 Grains Steel powder made by alliant
9/10 Steel SHot #2 from ballistic products.com- They had or still have a sale where you buy 50lbs and the shippings was just 15 bucks :IBCOOL:
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:13:04 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:14:37 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:15:38 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:17:09 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:18:36 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:20:09 PM
Post by: h20hunter on April 06, 2012, 02:22:01 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:22:22 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 02:23:08 PM
Nice.....trying to get off the breastmilk??:chuckle: :chuckle: Those are from my kid, but they make perfect containers for shells and bullets.
Post by: C-Money on April 06, 2012, 05:53:24 PM
Post by: h20hunter on April 06, 2012, 05:57:38 PM
Post by: Biggerhammer on April 06, 2012, 07:52:41 PM
Almost makes the kid seem helpfull. Im a big fan of kitty litter tubs to store brass.
I guess I'm screwed! I don't plan on anymore children and I can't Frikn stand cats, unless they are 150lbs plus and lurk in the sagebrush.
Post by: seth30 on April 06, 2012, 09:29:20 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 08, 2012, 02:21:21 PM
:tup: Nice set up! Looks like the loads pattern well! Sure will be great for you to see those green heads fold from your own creation! :tup:Waterfowl Season is such a long way off too :yike:
Post by: trippledigitss on April 09, 2012, 09:04:04 AM
(btw - I have reloaded and fired alot of my gun club hulls as many as 8 times and they are fine. They look the same as ones fired 2-3 times)
Post by: C-Money on April 09, 2012, 04:25:18 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 10, 2012, 06:31:51 AM
Post by: trippledigitss on April 10, 2012, 08:44:37 AM
Post by: seth30 on April 25, 2012, 06:28:09 PM
Post by: uplandhunter870 on April 25, 2012, 06:45:04 PM
So the instructions on my Lee loader say you can skip the brass re-size if you are loading them for the same gun they were fired from. I have been re-sizing my clay loads anyway since I was shooting them out of 2-3 different guns but just recently stopped since I am shooting them all out of my Cynergy now. It saves a little bit of time and I've read its less stress on the casing so they will last longer. Do any of you have an opinion on that? Do you think it matters any way? One of the guys at the range said he sizes them no matter what. What do y'all think? :dunno:
(btw - I have reloaded and fired alot of my gun club hulls as many as 8 times and they are fine. They look the same as ones fired 2-3 times)
ive loaded a lot of shotshells and i mean a lot, was shooting 2000-3000 shells a week through high school and first few years of college and my advice is resize everything, doesnt matter if you only have one shotgun of twelve, resize every shell you load. resizing wont affect hull life, the crimp petals or the hull itself will wear out before the brass does
case in point, i have an 870 in .410 and have a mec jr. to load them with, no resizer on it, after about 2 or 3 loads the shells were not going into the chamber. my 410 shells are only fired through the 870. bought a mec hand resizer for the 410 and everything works flawlessly now. ive seen guys not resize 12ga hulls at the trap club and the hull will get stuck in the chamber. it only takes a second to resize so why not.
Seth it looks like your finish crimp is not set deep enough, assuming you have two crimp stages (ive never used a lee) try adjusting the finish crimp down an 1/8 to 1/4 turn that should fix the problem, if you only have one crimp stage adjust that down the amount i suggested and see how it works. if adjusting the crimp down doesnt fix the problem try dropping your wad setter down a bit, just a tad.
almost every loader ive used or help set up takes some fine tuning to get it working butter smooth and once you get it there dont touch it.
Post by: seth30 on April 25, 2012, 07:00:38 PM
Post by: seth30 on April 25, 2012, 07:02:12 PM
Post by: BullMagnet76 on April 25, 2012, 11:50:29 PM
Kesselrings gun shop.
4024 Old Highway 99 North Rd, Burlington, WA
(360) 724-3113 ()
:yeah: Absolute greatest gun store I have ever seen!!!!
Post by: trippledigitss on April 26, 2012, 09:00:23 AM
Post by: trippledigitss on April 26, 2012, 09:04:43 AM
Post by: uplandhunter870 on April 26, 2012, 08:46:44 PM
what i was getting at though was to adjust the machine itself and not just how much muscle you put into the handle. like i said ive never used or messed with a lee, but on the mec's and poness/warrens ive used you can physically adjust the crimp collar lower. the same with the wad setter, usually the shot tube sets the wad before the shot is dropped and it can be adjusted higher or lower to set the wad deeper/higher. if you mess with the wad setter do it in small increments, the deeper the wad is set the more compact the powder is, more compact powder will result in higher pressures
Post by: seth30 on April 27, 2012, 06:31:33 AM
Post by: trippledigitss on April 27, 2012, 09:16:41 AM
no worries trippledigitss
what i was getting at though was to adjust the machine itself and not just how much muscle you put into the handle. like i said ive never used or messed with a lee, but on the mec's and poness/warrens ive used you can physically adjust the crimp collar lower. the same with the wad setter, usually the shot tube sets the wad before the shot is dropped and it can be adjusted higher or lower to set the wad deeper/higher. if you mess with the wad setter do it in small increments, the deeper the wad is set the more compact the powder is, more compact powder will result in higher pressures
No, I knew what you meant, I've seen a few of the MEC's and others where you can adjust them but I dont think these Lee Load All's will do it. They are all one molded piece so if you can move one part down you'd have move the whole deal. I havent looked at the machine that close (sounds funny since I've loaded approx 5k rds but never looked at it!? :chuckle:) but I dont think there was anything in the manual talking about adjustments. Final suggestion if nothing else worked would be change wads and/or hulls? :dunno: Anyway.... :twocents:
Post by: uplandhunter870 on April 27, 2012, 01:01:44 PM
ive never used cheddite hulls but have heard good and bad
Post by: seth30 on April 27, 2012, 01:25:03 PM
ok i see now. yeah final suggestion would be just pull the crimp open dump the shot back in the shot bin, cut the hull down the side save the wad and powder and just chuck the hullI will give that a try.
ive never used cheddite hulls but have heard good and bad
Post by: seth30 on April 28, 2012, 07:08:10 PM
feature=youtu.be
Post by: huntingfool7 on July 03, 2013, 08:48:45 PM