# Handloading tips and tricks



## NFAJohn (Nov 3, 2016)

I've been handloading for 13 years and over that time period I've learned alot and had some great tips passed onto me. One of the greatest tips was to ream flasholes on match rounds to get more consistent ignition. I've been doing that for about 3 years and it's really made a difference in group size especially on bigger magnum rounds where your burning a lot of powder. I attached pics below of a flashole before and after reaming. 

Another good one I was taught was to use my pistol barrel as a GO/ NO GO gauge. I was shooting a lot of pistols at the time on a small budget and I would rather have spent my funds on components than a gauge. My sgt at the time said strip your pistol and drop the rounds into the barrel, then turn the barrel over and let the round fall to the ground. If the round doesn't drop free your crimping too tightly, if the round doesn't chamber your not crimping enough. Simple simple simple free solution. 



So what are some of the handloading tips and tricks yal have?


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

Wipe your scales with a drier sheet to remove static and make it more consistent

Also, put a drier sheet in your powder thrower to help keep the static down. Sometimes ive seen it so bad static holds powder on the sides of the tube.

Buy cheap stack it deep


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

Also, you can use a copper tubbing flare kit to pull bullets. Im useing it to pull some 50bmg rounds apart here. Just toghten on the bullet and pull down on the handle.


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## johnsons1480 (Jun 24, 2016)

Used dryer sheets in your tumbler media cuts down on dust


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## 223AI (May 7, 2012)

Buy once, Cry once. Quality matters, especially when loading for accuracy.

Bullets matter WAY more than headstamp, which is why I laugh at these folks that think that a 223 isn't enough for hunting in Texas. 

Tolerances stack, so start with good components, and buy in bulk. For run and gun ammo, it doesn't matter as much, but for precision rifle rounds, good gear makes a huge difference. When I switched from a chargemaster to a Prometheus, started using quality brass (lapua over just about anything else), good primers, and buying powder/bullets in large quantities, I watched group size and ES/SD issues all but disappear. 

A Giraud Trimmer, and a Gen 2 Prometheus have saved me hours at the reloading bench, and made my ammo significantly more consistent than anything available on the commercial market. It's pretty awesome to have the same powder charge, to the kernel, in every case.


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## NFAJohn (Nov 3, 2016)

Awesome tips and tricks. That's my favorite part about the handloading community, a lot of knowledgeable folks more than willing to share their experiences.


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

223AI said:


> Buy once, Cry once. Quality matters, especially when loading for accuracy.
> 
> Bullets matter WAY more than headstamp, which is why I laugh at these folks that think that a 223 isn't enough for hunting in Texas.
> 
> ...


At over $3,000 & you can only lease it the prometheus aint for most. Id love to shot enough to make it worth it tho.


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## johnsons1480 (Jun 24, 2016)

Oh, here's another one. If you want to be very accurate when measuring powder on a balance beam scale, trickle then tap the tip of the scale down. Scales have to overcome some friction to move, and that takes more powder than you're trying to trickle to reach. If you tap it and let it recenter, you can avoid over filling the scale and having to start over.


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## johnsons1480 (Jun 24, 2016)

johnsons1480 said:


> Oh, here's another one. If you want to be very accurate when measuring powder on a balance beam scale, trickle then tap the tip of the scale down. Scales have to overcome some friction to move, and that takes more powder than you're trying to trickle to reach. If you tap it and let it recenter, you can avoid over filling the scale and having to start over.


Accurate was a poor choice of words. "If you want to avoid over filling the scale while trickling" would be a better description.


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## 223AI (May 7, 2012)

muney pit said:


> At over $3,000 & you can only lease it the prometheus aint for most. Id love to shot enough to make it worth it tho.


25 year lease, and it was basically put in place to eliminate commercial reloaders from being able to use it, or so I'm told. It's spendy, no doubt, but what's my time worth? It makes reloading much more efficient and my ammo as consistent as is humanly possible.


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

johnsons1480 said:


> Used dryer sheets in your tumbler media cuts down on dust


And Static


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

Not sure how many have or are gonna start reloading 50bmg but when sizing lube well, size then turn 180Â° and size again. It makes it more uniformed.

I keep the primers in when clesning with walnut in vibrator cleaner. And remove them when wet tumbleing. This way the primer holes dont get clogged up with walnut.

Speaking of walnut, when it gets dry you can pour in some nufinsh car wax to bring ot back to life.


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## johnsons1480 (Jun 24, 2016)

muney pit said:


> Not sure how many have or are gonna start reloading 50bmg but when sizing lube well, size then turn 180Â° and size again. It makes it more uniformed.
> 
> I keep the primers in when clesning with walnut in vibrator cleaner. And remove them when wet tumbleing. This way the primer holes dont get clogged up with walnut.
> 
> Speaking of walnut, when it gets dry you can pour in some nufinsh car wax to bring ot back to life.


I'm clearly the only person that had this problem because I see nufinish recommended everywhere. It gets media stuck all up in my cases. I've poured it in, busted up the clumps, waited 30 minutes while it's running, and I still very media lodged in my cases and my primer pockets

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## NFAJohn (Nov 3, 2016)

I never tried the nufinish but a dot a "flitz" about the size of a quarter works great. I use it to polish glock internals and clean shotgun bores after duck season. 


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## NFAJohn (Nov 3, 2016)

That's wild about sizing the 50 case twice. I'm thinking it's because the case is so large it has a lot of spring back? I wonder if you could get a small base sizing die for it


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

johnsons1480 said:


> I'm clearly the only person that had this problem because I see nufinish recommended everywhere. It gets media stuck all up in my cases. I've poured it in, busted up the clumps, waited 30 minutes while it's running, and I still very media lodged in my cases and my primer pockets
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


Not sure, i shake the bottle well and pour a single line arcoss the top of the walnut. Turn it on. Use a stick or paint brush stiring stick to mix it when it falls to the bottom. Mix while running for only a minute or two. Then let it run for about 30 min by it self. I let it sit over night and then put my brass in the next day. Never had it clump. Maybe your using to much or its not mixed good enough. It should be damp but not sticky at all. Just wet looking.


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

NFAJohn said:


> That's wild about sizing the 50 case twice. I'm thinking it's because the case is so large it has a lot of spring back? I wonder if you could get a small base sizing die for it
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Never seen a small base 50 die. The spring back is very real.


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## Stuart (May 21, 2004)

I just bought a Frankford Arsenal tumbler and it should arrive today. Any tips on drying cases after tumbling? I've read everything from putting them in a food dehydrator to putting them in the oven.


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## 223AI (May 7, 2012)

Stuart said:


> I just bought a Frankford Arsenal tumbler and it should arrive today. Any tips on drying cases after tumbling? I've read everything from putting them in a food dehydrator to putting them in the oven.


I size and decap dirty brass, followed by an hour or two in wet stainless media. After I tumble all of the pins out in a rotary media separator, I dry everything off with a towel and pop the brass into our oven at 190 for a few hours. Works great.


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## NFAJohn (Nov 3, 2016)

Well that's how we'll make our millions, the small base 50 die!

I second the drying cases in the oven. I tumble my cases with a mix of walnut and corn cob, neck size, deprime, run through the ultrasonic and finally put them in the over at 250 for 2 hours. It's over the boiling point of water but wayyyyy under annealing temps. Word of caution tho hotter isn't always better, I tried it a 400 once and the grease from the oven got on the casing. Nothing like shooting meatloaf rounds. 


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

*Reloading*

The best investment for wet tumbling is to go to the Dollar Store and buy the dish drying mats that you set dishes on to dry. I get them at Dollar Tree for you guessed it, a buck a piece. An air compressor is nice to blow the brass off before you lay them out but if you don't have one use a hair dryer or just a fan. I use a heat gun to pre-dry and then transfer them to another mat and I have a heat lamp suspended over the table. You can lay out a whole bunch and get the lamp just at the right distance and in a few minutes roll them around and in no time they are dry. If you are in the house I guess the oven would be convenient if your reloading stuff is there but I do my dirty work in my shop. For years I used a cat litter scoop to separate brass from walnut, it will work if you don't have a separator. Another tip is the walnut Iguana litter works just as good but you need to split a bag with someone or order a small bag of it. I'm set for walnut for a few years. If you are having trouble starting flat base bullets straight and don't have a universal case expanding die take a bullet that is a caliber or two larger and chuck it point down in a drill press. Stand the brass you are loading under it and using the quill of the press push the bullet into the mouth and flare it slightly. Then order a universal case expanding die. For the fans of Lee trimmers Black and Decker makes a little battery operated screwdriver that their shell holder and lock stud fits in perfectly. It has forward and reverse and enough torque to trim and chamfer brass. I bought one at Wally World and it looks just like one I saw Midway sells for about a fourth of the Midway model cost. It works great for a few pieces but not for mass production. Everybody wants clean primer pockets so go buy some of Dremel tool tiny cylindrical brushes and use them mounted in a drill press. Before you use it take a small "o" ring and roll it down the stem and place it at the base of the brush portion. This will limit the brush from flaring out and it will last longer. The RCBS brushes don't do as good a job in my opinion. Brush out the pockets then tumble and they will sparkle. I'm going to back up to the wet tumbling for a tip. More is not better when using Lemi Shine. I use a couple of Lee powder dippers per cylinder and a small squirt of Dawn concentrated. You will know when you over did the Lemi. And before you send them to the oven or however you dry don't have water sitting on the brass, it will spot it up just like your shower door does. I use the New Car Finish in my walnut for final polish and never had a problem clumping just don't take the loaded tumbler out of the air conditioning and run it outside when it's hot and humid. I guarantee you it will sweat and clump up and you will have a mess. I learned my lesson this summer. When cold brass hits warm wet air it makes water. And buy a box of nitrile gloves, that's all.


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## NFAJohn (Nov 3, 2016)

Lots of good info in the above post, thanks for contributing. 


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

I put one more of those slide on pencil erasers in my bullet puller with the opening up so it catches the bullet and the tips don't get dinged up when they come out.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Get a brass catcher for your AR rifle. Non-dinged up brass is a lot faster to process.


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## Stuart (May 21, 2004)

I cleaned some brass in my new Frankford Arsenal tumbler. I ran it for about 2 hours with the provided stainless pins on some dirty, dirty .38 special brass. Holy Moly !!!!! I will never go back to my old tumbler. 


PS, I have my old Lyman Turbo up for sale cheap !


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

Stuart said:


> I cleaned some brass in my new Frankford Arsenal tumbler. I ran it for about 2 hours with the provided stainless pins on some dirty, dirty .38 special brass. Holy Moly !!!!! I will never go back to my old tumbler.
> 
> PS, I have my old Lyman Turbo up for sale cheap !


If it still works keep it. You can still use the vibrator cleaners for knocking off lube or quick cleanings. Hell, i have both running sometimes when doing large batches.


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## Stuart (May 21, 2004)

muney pit said:


> If it still works keep it. You can still use the vibrator cleaners for knocking off lube or quick cleanings. Hell, i have both running sometimes when doing large batches.


Good advice. I couldn't get much for it anyway.


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## criswelg (May 24, 2015)

*good ideas for sure!!!!!*



muney pit said:


> Also, you can use a copper tubbing flare kit to pull bullets. Im useing it to pull some 50bmg rounds apart here. Just toghten on the bullet and pull down on the handle.


You guys sure have some good ideas! I shoulda read this section before!
THANKS!!!!!!!


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## CMT1 (May 6, 2007)

if you do not have a tumbler or media cleaning device, you can toss your brass in an old pillow case with some shredded up news paper. Run 20 minutes or so and it will be clean as new. Make sure no live primers are in cases.


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## johnsons1480 (Jun 24, 2016)

CMT1 said:


> if you do not have a tumbler or media cleaning device, you can toss your brass in an old pillow case with some shredded up news paper. Run 20 minutes or so and it will be clean as new. Make sure no live primers are in cases.


In what machine?


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## CMT1 (May 6, 2007)

Try this again,. If you do not have a tumbler or media cleaning device, you can toss your brass in an old pillow case with some shredded up newspaper. Put in *dryer *and run on low heat for 20 minutes or so and it will be clean as new. Make sure no live primers are in cases.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

CMT1 said:


> Try this again,. If you do not have a tumbler or media cleaning device, you can toss your brass in an old pillow case with some shredded up newspaper. Put in *dryer *and run on low heat for 20 minutes or so and it will be clean as new. Make sure no live primers are in cases.


When I first read your other post, I thought you meant for us to go run for 20 minutes carrying an old pillow case full of brass...:ROTFL: I'm thinking, wow, this guy is hardcore...:biggrin:


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