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I'm pretty new to reloading and am using Titegroup for the first time for 38 Special. I've previously been using WST as my powder and that's all I have to compare the Titegroup to for my experience. I'm using a 130gr bullet and Federal 100 primers. I made three small batches of 3.1gr, 3.2gr, and 3.3gr of Titegroup, about 15 rounds each, and all were accurate and pretty low recoil. What I noticed that was the amount of smoke it produced got increasingly worse going from the 3.1 to the 3.3gr. It wasn't leaving unburned powder, but the indoor range I was in got really smoky by the time I finished my tests! Is this typical of Titegroup as a powder? Also, how much lower of a powder load can you go before having problems within unburned powder or accuracy issues?

What's the consensus on compression with Goex FFg? I've heard anywhere from .25" to .38". I have .030 fiber wads, and a custom mold for 255gr and 337gr big lube bullets. 1:20 tin/lead alloy.rifle is cimarron high wall, 30" barrel 1:18" twist. I can ring steel pretty good at 300 but couldn't find out where my POI was at 100yds. I'm at the point now where I'm ready to do a new batch of rounds and am curious if I should standardize any of the loading process before adjusting charge weight. Spg pan lubing and brass is starline 2.08" federal LRP 210.

I recently added the Silver Layer brass and bullet feeds to my Lee Six Pack reloading set-up. Now that I have things tuned, I think it will speed up my reloading nicely. Loading the bullets in the Lee tubes by hand in particular was a rather tedious process. I thought I’d pass a long a couple tips. The maker, Chris, is very accessible for questions, but I didn’t necessarily find the entire set-up to be super intuitive so maybe this will be of help to someone. Here’s the outfit: I’m loading .38 spc. He doesn’t have designated .38 spc components, so you use the 9mm accessories for the bullet feed and the .40 S&W for the brass. I’m using coated 125grn RNFP from Slippery Bullets and they feed just fine. Chris gives instructions to tune the feed so the bullets land in the correct orientation and it’s a little fiddly, but works well once you have it set. The bullet tube slipped right over the Lee inline bullet feed die, no modification required, just trim to the desired length. The brass feed took a little more head scratching to work out. It comes with an adapter for the Lee press attached, but it’s sized for 9mm cases only so you have to remove that (it just pulls off the other adapter). It’s this piece: That leaves you with another piece connected the brass feed tube. In my case it’s white, but that may vary. You will need to the connect it to Lee’s Handgun Case Feed Magazine (sku: 90242). Of note, I have both the 4 tube and 5 tube version. I couldn’t get the Silver Layer to feed reliably with the 5 tube base. The design is a little different and the brass kept getting ejected too forcefully and didn’t make it to the press consistently. I haven’t had that issue with the 4 tube version. To connect the Lee tube base and the Silver Layer adapter, cut a small section of tube from the Lee feed tubes and put it between the two - it fits perfectly. You can order just the feed tubes (sku: 90661) if you want extra to modify. Otherwise, you just want to trim the length of both the brass and bullet tubes so they don’t have too much curvature to facilitate smoother feeding. The bullet feed is just a tube so that’s straightforward. The brass feed tube has the adapter on the end, but the feed tube just pulls out. Once cut, you just need to wrap the end of the brass feed tube with enough electrical tape that it fits snugly back into the adapter. That’s how it comes originally anyway. I’ve only loaded 100 rounds so far so I can’t give a long term report, but that got things running smoothly for me. Bladesmith

Howdy, im new to CAS, probably going to start reloading soon, and I dont really have a area to setup in (living in an apartment) wondering if anyone has suggestions for tables/ workbenches to plop all of the press and case cleaners on? I'm not great at woodworking, so I'd be more willing to get something pre-made, since making a whole table is a bit difficult

Alright, who bothers with primer pocket cleaning? Is there any chance that a slightly dirty primer pocket could impede primer seating and potentially contribute to a light strike/failed ignition in the SASS world? I don't clean pockets. Not for regular pistol ammo, and not even for my bolt guns when I want my ammo to make teeny-tiny holes at distance, but the firing pins in those guns never have difficulty igniting the primer. For a tuned lever gun that needs to eat rounds with primers OTHER THAN Federal, would a cleaner pocket prior to seating primers reduce a potential light strike, even if the reduction in failure rate is less than 1%? Would a clean pocket have any significance on primer seating or should the force of a press or hand primer be sufficient to overcome any carbon residue/build up in the pocket? I just deprimed several hundred pieces of brass with intent to run them through the Frankford Arsenal case prep before reloading, but wondering if it will have any meaningful effect. Again, this is primarily for non Federal primers (Winchester) in .38 SPL and a tuned 1873 lever gun. Thanks

Just acquired an Austrian made hammer gun from 1910. It has 2 5/8” chambers. Is there any information available about reloading for this? It does not have a Damascus barrel. It is my first Hammer gun and I’m new to reloading and SASS though I’ve got an extensive collection of Cowboy rifles and revolvers and black powder revolvers. I’d appreciate any tips or help in getting started reloading as far as what basic equipment is needed to reload .45 Colt, 12 gauge and 44-40.

OK so I've decided it's time for me to start reloading my own shotgun shells as both the wife and I are shooting more matches every year. I've been doing some research but since I'm new to shotgun reloading I thought I would start here and get some advice from people that have been doing this for a while. I have many questions.... 1 - What press is good for reloading 12 gauge without breaking the bank? Between the two of us we probably shoot about 6 cases of shells a year. 2 - What is the best shot size for our sport? I currently use 7.5. 3 - What powder do you use? Do you load at the minimum end of the load specs? 4 - What shell cases hold up best to reloading - how many times can you reload them? 5 - Does the wad choice matter much? As long as the size is correct, is one better than the other for our sport? 6 - Does the primer brand matter or is any 209 acceptable? Finally, what are some good places to purchase the above supplies? Thanks for any input you have!! Star Shooter

https://americanreloading.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e4d9d65344704e205b9def048&id=be251d2f13&e=6bc15ce176

http://starlinebrass.com/.45cowboyspecial

I'm doing a batch of once/twice fired brass, some I fired and some I bought. Using Federal primers on a 550. About a dozen or so cases out of 500 or so would not accept the primer. I used my Lyman pocket reamer and that saved about half of the cases and they were primed. The rest just would not seat the primer. It would go in on one side and deform the cup. Not happy about trashing primers in these times. So is it the pocket in the brass case or is this an oddball bunch of primers that slipped by the quality control folks? I have never had this happen before. Puzzled that the reamer only worked on half of the cases. Just FYI, the cases are de-primed and wet tumbled without pins. Thanks, LDD Dillon's reply today, after I emailed them last night. Be sure the rod that pushes the primer slide back pivots freely in the bracket. If necessary, sand the short end of the rod where it goes into the bracket, and then grease it. Next be sure the bottom front corner of the bracket is almost touching the frame. If it has slid upward, then it changes the angle the op rod moves. Finally, be sure the bolts that attach the roller bracket to the underside of the platform are tight. If loose, this part angles down and the small roller fails to apply enough pressure to the op-rod When you clean the primer slide, use steel wool or a Scotchbrite pad to scrub the sides and bottom of the primer slide, scrub the top of the frame where the slide rides, scrub the interior of the primer feed body where it fits over the slide, then wipe these off with alcohol. We have several helpful videos on our web page. Here is a link to that page. http://www.dillonprecision.com/videos.html

All, I am considering trading my Ruger 77/357 for a SASS gun, but new SASS gun will need to pull double duty as my brush busting gun. I have a pet load I'm working on using the Lee 200 grain bullet in a .357 magnum case. crimped at the crimp groove it has the same OAL as a 360 Dan Wesson without requiring any modification to the chamber. this really ups the velocity for my bullet out of a rifle barrel. The 360 Dan Wesson has an OAL .01 shorter than a 454 Casull so the Rossi 92 action should be able to handle this OAL. My question is can it do it without modification to the carrier etc? Does anyone have a R92 357 that they could see if a 1.76 OAL cartridge will cycle on? I can send a dummy to someone if they want to try it for me. I'd rather not modify anything in the gun as I would still like to be able to run 38's for CAS. Please advise.

Howdy, Pards! I just acquired a Remington Rolling Block (a beautiful New York National Guard 3-band version) chambered in .50-70. This is an unusual caliber, and I've never reloaded for it. The rifle came with a Lyman die set and 20 pieces of brass (no head stamp). Does anyone have any experience with reloading BP for this cartridge? I believe the bore should slug at .515 (haven't done it yet), so 50-70 Sharps will be a tad small (I think they're .512 dia.). Looks like I'll have to cast my own with the Lee 515-450 mold. I guess 20:1 alloy? I would love to have a conversation with someone familiar with this cartridge. I've watched a few YouTube videos on reloading for it. but I'd feel more comfortable being able to ask questions. Thanks for your help! Hiram

Got some Cheddite hulls to try out from a very generous Florida shooter. My pet 1 oz load wasn't filling the hull high enough so I added 1 dry red kidney bean after the wad & before the shot. As my submariner son says "Works fine, fails safe & drains to the bilge". The Cheddites are just about 1/16" taller than AA hulls & they hold about 1/4" more water, thus the need for different column height. Patterned them & looks pretty good at 15 yds. 3/4 oz wads may work better. YMMV

New to the sport and just searching for some information. I’ve done some reloading in the past and want to start again for some cowboy loads. I used the search but didn’t find quite what I’m looking for. Do most of you use the same load for both rifle and revolver? I was contemplating using Trail Boss and the published load data shows a load for 45 colt for pistol loads but in the rifle data section it doesn’t show 45 colt. I’m going to be buying some brass, bullets, powder and some dies and was just researching what I should get. Thanks in advance for any input Jed

Having gloriously retired recently, I now have time to load BP substitutes, it’s great fun. I have been loading APP fffg in my pistols and rifle (15gr with 200gr rnfp in 44-40) and Black MZ in my shotgun. I’ve struggled getting APP and have came into possession of a good deal of Black MZ and would like to load this for pistols and rifle. I’ve chatted with Alliant and they had no information on 44-40 loads. Where can I find loading data on Black MZ for 44-40 cartridge? Thanks, appreciate your time and thoughts.

The September issue of Adventure Sports Outdoors is available on-line. Nice article about CAS bullets on page 96. http://asomagazine.com/september-2019/

Howdy All, background: I am loading 38spl with 2.7 grains of claydot and federal primers to push a 105 grain SWC (pistol) and I am loading 38spl with 3 grains of claydot and federal primers to push a 125 grain RNFP (rifle) What, if anything, can I expect to happen if I use the same bullet, powder, and primer but load a 357 case vs a shorter 38 spl case? If you have a reference or manual I would appreciate it so I can check as well.

Howdy All, Why reload? Do you save money? Do you prefer controlling your ammo, accuracy, velocity? Is it a hobby? Do do you spend an hour making 10 perfect target rounds or an hour cranking out 1000 match rounds? Regardless, here’s my cost breakdown and I want to know yours. (This does not take into account the bullet moldes, melting pots, reloaders, sizers, and Brass tumblers I’ve invested in. Only the consumable items) bullets- I cast all my own projectiles from reclaimed range lead. Cost-$0.00 Powder- clays smokeless power 8# for $150.00 $18.75/pound $0.008 a round when loading 3 grains to push a 125 grain bullet. (Rifle) And $0.007 a round when loading 2.7 grains to push a 105 grain bullet. (Pistol) Brass- reused brass. $0.00 Primers- Federal Small Pistol Primers. box of 1000 for $32.00 $0.032 per round Bullet Lube- liquid Alox $0.01 per round brass polish- Brasso $0.0025 per case lead flux- (wax and sawdust) $0.001 per round total cost: $0.0526 per round. Now, if you’ve stuck with me this long why does it matter ?? Well, the cost of a 50 round box of LRN 38 special at Walmart is $23.50 after tax in my area and local shops (if they have it) is about $25.00 Thats $0.47 per round and you run the risk of the place not even having what you need when you go shopping. SOOOO... What’s your breakdown?? What do you use and why? Eager to learn from y’all and hear your take on it. R, Moe T Vader 104114

I need the Dillon part number for converson Kit for the XL 650 for the 38 S&W cartridge Yes I have checked the web sight and the blue press . If I had a RL 550 press I would be ok but I can't find a listing for a XL 650 or Square deal. tried to call Dillon but was only 15 th in line. I tried the 38 -357 mag shell plate but the rim is to large to fit thanks CATLOW

Howdy All, I recently posted about my personal costs for reloading. In this discussion I only accounted for the individual costs of making each round. IE how much it costs in lead, powder, brass, lube, polish, and primers. What I DID NOT account for was the initial cost of all the equipment that now occupies 35% of my garage space. The purpose of this post is to do just that. I acquired almost all of my equipment new and out of the box so keep that in mind as we go through this together. Nothing wrong with being thrifty!! 1. Reloader Dillion 650 progressive press. $1250 (with shipping) I got all the bells and whistles from the blue catalog. The "as pictured" version straight from Dillion. https://www.dillonprecision.com/xl650-reloader_8_1_23803.html?msg=Caliber+Conversion+Kit+to+be+Included+is+required. Pros- ammo production- by myself I can crank out roughly 500 rounds/hr on this machine. I stop every time I refill the primer tubes and do a powder, primer, OAL and diameter check. With a second set of hands I can get over 1000 rounds/hr no problem. With someone feeding the brass in to the case feeder, adding primers, and refiling the bullet tray all I have to do is keep an eye on powder checks and pulling that lever. In between those acts they are also doing the visual round inspections, marking brass, checking for high primers and putting rounds into ammo boxes. Team work makes the dream work. -warranty- billion has a no BS warranty. if it breaks they will work with you to get it fixed Cons- opportunity costs- the 650 with all the bells is the same price as a pair of Ruger NV, or a new 1873. It is expensive. -space- its big. mounted on my table its almost 7' tall at the top of the brass feeder. its not exactly mobile. I have mine mounted on a moving table but the loader itself isn't very easy to move once its bolted down. - location- I do not load in my house. I do it in the detached garage just in case something goes wrong and there is a fire/explosion. - initial setup- this took almost a week to get up and running fully. There's lots of trial and error, frustration of getting it exactly right, and learning from your mistakes. Lots of crushed cases, sideways primers, powder flakes, and alarms beeping at you. 2. Brass Polisher/Separator Frankford Arsenal starter kit. $85 on Amazon (with shipping) Quick-N-EZ Case Tumbler, Quick-N-EZ Rotary Media Separator, 4 oz. Brass Polish, 3 lb. Cleaning Media and a Plastic Bucket https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Quick-N-EZ-Polishing-Reloading/dp/B000TTILBC/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549569141&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=reloading+brass+polisher+kit Pros- This is a great starter kit. Comes with everything you need to get started. If you have a box of spent brass and get this you will have clean and ready to load brass in about 4 hours. - I've polished about 2500 cases without replacing/cleaning my media. Its not very loud and doesn't take up much space. - If you powder coat your cast bullets this will double as an applicator system. - fair price for all you get. Cons- The polishing compound didn't last very long. I switched to brasso (brasso goes a LONG Way. You only need about 1/3 the amount) - its messy. no matter how hard you try you are gonna get media on the floor. Once it hits the ground it shouldn't be reused on your brass. - I can only fit about 500 38spl cases in at a time. If you're going through more than that on a regular basis you might need a larger system. 3. VibraPrime Primer Loader- $50 Amazon with Shipping WORTH IT!!!! DO IT! next topic https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Universal-Automatic-Reloading/dp/B00BQ6A3Y0/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1549569877&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=vibra+prime+primer+tube+loader 4. Bullet Moldes lee 6 cavity moldes and handles x 2 - $134 with shipping on amazon https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-358-125-Rf-Cavity-Bullet/dp/B008M5TSBW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1549570011&sr=8-6&keywords=lee+6+cavity+bullet+mold+.358 https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-358-105-Swc-Cavity-Bullet/dp/B005KW5FCQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549570011&sr=8-3&keywords=lee+6+cavity+bullet+mold+.358 https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Commercial-Mold-Handles/dp/B00162RW4I/ref=pd_bxgy_200_2/142-3026109-4002846?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00162RW4I&pd_rd_r=f6cccaa4-2b13-11e9-b037-33f16b2f8627&pd_rd_w=pz1OH&pd_rd_wg=DS9eQ&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=47K4DD36BX7HBW0REMH7&psc=1&refRID=47K4DD36BX7HBW0REMH7 So if you are looking at casting your own you have to have your molds. Lee 6 cavity are the way to go. as long as you keep them well maintained they will keep dropping good consistent bullets. Pro- teaches you patience. Con- LOTS OF Patience. - you will burn yourself. it will hurt. you will learn 5. Lead Melting Pot Lee 20# lead pot $105 with shipping on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Preciesion-90948-Precision-Furnace/dp/B0091MPWVK/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1549570472&sr=8-9&keywords=lead+melting+pot+for+bullets again, if you are casting your own bullets, this little guy is a good start. Its not perfect but short of commercial production it does quite well. Pro- durable and reliable- I've dropped it, its been rained on and bounced around in the bed of the truck for hours. Its tough. Con- space- you gotta be either outside or in a VERY well ventilated area. I DO NOT recommend doing this in the house. lead drips and splatters out of the spickette and leaves these tiny little droplets all around the pot. It just happens. 6. Safety Equipment Glasses, gloves, long sleeves, respirators. $50ish wherever you so choose. These are at your discretion. Your safety is in your hands. Don't skimp, especially on the glasses. If your primer tube catches static and blows or your get moisture in your melting pot and it pops your eyes are kind of irreplaceable. 7. containers. Meal prep plastic Tupperware- $30 for 15 at Walmart you will quickly realize as you make more and more different types of ammo, cast more bullets, sort brass, etc you will need a place to put it all. medium size air tight Tupperware because I don't worry about moisture seeping in or hazmat seeping out. I started out just reusing old 50 round ammo boxes but those are neither waterproof nor designed to last very long. 8. Single Stage press and Sizing Die- $64 on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Reloading-Press-Md-90045/dp/B002SF4X5I/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1549571669&sr=1-1&keywords=lee+single+stage+press https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-90047-SIZING-357/dp/B00162NYTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1549571740&sr=1-1&keywords=sizing+die+357 for sizing cast bullets. If you cast bullets you MUST resize them. I originally took out the dies from the 650 and was sizing them there. NOT WORTH THE TIME So I got the little single stage press and it works great. Pro- you have to size and this is the best setup. You can also pop the dies out and do some individual loads. Cons- sizing takes time. its an extra pull of the lever, but you gotta do it. Conclusion. $1768. initial start up costs over the course of about 2 years. Buy quality the first time and it will be the last time you have to.

Back in July, there was a brief discussion of this powder on the Wire. I don't believe anybody had tried it at that time. It is suggested to be an excellent powder for coated bullets, and is said to meter well. The velocities I have found listed for 38 Special (125 gr)put it comfortably under 1000 fps (max load). I spent some time reading threads on Brian Enos' pages about folks shooting it in semi-autos, and it seems to perform quite well. Have any SASS folks used this powder yet? Revolvers and/or rifles? Going to make a bulk powder purchase later this year, and would consider using this. Currently using up a load of Green Dot (16 lbs) that was too good to pass up. Would Sport Pistol translate well into a shotgun load? Could not find shotgun loading data on it. Thanks in advance for your input. LDD

I have another newbie thread going but I didn't want to go off-topic there, so... When I first planned to begin reloading I was going to reload for 357 Magnum. Then, here, most commenters suggested I stick with 38 Special so I changed my plans. Before posting I'd bought 1,000 Winchester Small Pistol Primers Magnum. Do I need to spend another $47 to buy WSP or can I safely use the magnums in my 38 Special loads (Trail Boss from min-max)?

I'm not an active cowboy action shooter as I don't have all the equipment but, I _do_ love shooting SAA's. I'm waiting for Midway's Camo Tuesday next week to pull the trigger on my purchase of reloading equipment to begin loading for 1974 my Blackhawk 6.5" and my Taylor Tuned Uberti Smoke Wagon. I also put on layaway a Leupold FX-II 2x20 handgun scope for the Blackhawk. I'd like to shoot targets at 50 yards and 100 yards. I've already bought 2 bottles of Trail Boss as I plan on shooting light .357 loads due to my aging wrists with carpel tunnel. I've been reading lots of posts on this and many other sites looking for answers and I'm just more confused. I hope I can get some more definitive answers here. Diverse questions are below: I'd like to use hard cast bullets and like what I read on the Oregon Trail website. I'd like to try various bullet weights (148, 158, 180) to see what will work best and is most accurate. But I can't see buying a minimum order of 500 if the bullet isn't performing. Is there any company that sells samples (on the order of 50 or so) of their various bullets before placing a larger order? Because I plan to use cast bullets I'm going to order the RCBS "cowboy dies". Can I use these dies for plated bullets, too? Is it reasonable to expect that Trail Boss will deliver accuracy to 50-100 yards or should I plan on using a different powder/bullet combination? This is a good start for my questions. I'm sure I have more. Thanks for any advice!