cl00bie

Finally all of my components arrived and are in the house. Wow, was that powder a pain. I have finally completed my first batch of 100 .38 148gr WC. I built them with CCI small pistol primers, 2.5gr of Accurate #2 powder and Hornady .358 WC bullets. (I had gotten all of my information online, and I saw somewhere that you use .358s for .38 special ammo, then I saw the powder rating was for .357).

And I am doing it all with a Classic Lee Loader and a non-marring hammer (I bought one for $12 at Sears). Also, I bought a set of the powder scoops, but the smallest was not small enough so I broke down and bought a Lee perfect powder measure.

I weighed out the charge and I weighed every 10th load. The 100, all told, probably took 3 hours.

I'll be taking them to the range on the 4th to try them out. Wish me luck. BTW, I used the smallest charge on the table, and I seated them the same as the ones my late father in law had given me, pretty much flush with the case mouth.

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-Tony

"Those who beat their guns into plowshares will plow for those who didn't." -- Thomas Jefferson

dukalmighty

Holy cwap cloobie,They should be good to go I'm showing 2.6 to 2.9 grns of aacurate #2 so your in the ball park I think you might look at getting a single stage press with a set of lee dies it will definitely speed it up a little.I hate to brag but I can crank out a hundred in about 15 minutes.but you need to start somewhere and if the reloading bug bites you can always upgrade

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I like Poetry,Long Walks On The Beach,And Poking Dead Things With A Stick

cl00bie

You're right. I figured start small and then if I find I'm shooting a lot (or want to make life a little easier) I'll go with a single stage. And that Accurate is really dense, so there'll be a lot of loads in a pound. I'm wondering if I overdid it buying that second pound to spread out the hazmat fee.

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-Tony

"Those who beat their guns into plowshares will plow for those who didn't." -- Thomas Jefferson

dukalmighty

If your loading 2.5 grns you will get approximately 2800 rounds to a pound of powder

Last time I bought powder and primers to spread out the hazmat fee I bout 16# unique 10#reloader 7 and 15,000 primers

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I like Poetry,Long Walks On The Beach,And Poking Dead Things With A Stick

msgt/ret

Welcome to the “roll your own” club. Having started with the Lee Classic loader myself I would add a Lee primer seater to the set-up, using the primer seater included with the kit I had a couple of primers go off while seating, almost caused a need for change of underwear, so a good set of safety goggles is recommended.

dukalmighty

I still have a lee hand primer and a few other manual devices I use from time to time,I have 2 progressives and a single stage,once the equipment is paid for it's hard to get rid of because you might need it.I was testing a new firing pin spring in my 1911 and before i took it to the range wanted to make sure it went bang so i stuck a new primer in a case and chambered it,and in a 45 barrel they are louder than the times i use to put a primer in a 12 gauge shell then insert a plastic wad and shoot knick knacks off the walls,til my wife walked in one day just as i shot,disclaimer do not try this at home it's a bad bad thing

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I like Poetry,Long Walks On The Beach,And Poking Dead Things With A Stick

4my son

Welcome to another addiction associated with shooting.




That's why I buy powder and primers locally, I couldn't make the hazardous materials charge work out.

__________________
"fundamental principle of American law that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen." [Warren v. District of Columbia,(D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981)]
If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand

dukalmighty

It was 20.00 hazmat and 20.00 S&H I saved about $14.00 per 1000 primers and about $10.00 per pound of powder buying locally so i saved about $420.00 by ordering from www.powdervalley.com

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I like Poetry,Long Walks On The Beach,And Poking Dead Things With A Stick

4my son

Wow, I thought my local gun shop was expensive, When I added it up buying primers from Midway with a dealer account, their price was within a dollar of the local store, I didn't even bother with the powder. after I added to that the shipping, and hazardous charge, I went to the store, plus then I get to drool all over the counter while they ring me up.

Not picking, but this link might work better

Powder Valley, Inc.
Nice place.

__________________
"fundamental principle of American law that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen." [Warren v. District of Columbia,(D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981)]
If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand

luvmyglock

Awesome! I too will soon be attempting my first reload!

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EVIL PREVAILS WHEN GOOD MEN FAIL TO ACT.