Reloading metallic cartridges

[Patrick Chadwick]

Well I don't. I tried it once, as a beginner, and found it was an awful bother to set the thing up. Now I am older, and if not wiser, at least lazier, with the leading motto being KISS. I use a small dispensing "shovel" (about 10cc capacity) which I load and pour into a cartridge case that serves as a measure. The whole shovelful is poured into the case, so that it spills over, and then I scrape the excess off the mouth of the case.

That may sound simple, but it produces BP loads with a tolerance of +/- 0.2gn in weight and about 0.0 in volume. Since the case is a nitro case with a mouth in the range 6.5-8mm (I have a range of these things), the next step is to place the mouth of the BP case over the neck of the "measure" case, upend the combination, tap on table 3 times to make sure that nothing sticks, and the BP falls into the BP case.

Quick, easy, repeatable... what more do you want. I can fill about 4 cases in the time it took me to write this far. In fact, this evening I prepared loads for 4 rifles that I want to test fire tomorrow. There's a BP competition coming up, and I have to decide which rifles I am going to use.
The loading went in no time at all. What cost me half the evening was looking for the Dr Goodwin diopter for the Sharps. If you know what one of these costs, then you will understand why I was worried. I found it in the end - in a box marked "sights". Amazing how you can outsmart yourself!

It's not simply that I'm untidy - I prefer to think of it as the "geological" method of arranging things - the stuff you used most recently is at the top. Being under firm orders not to let the chaos spread outside the workshop, the arrangement inside the workshop makes a WWII submarine look like wide open spaces. But it's all in there - somewhere!

Now I am whacked. But there are 4 rifles ready to go tomorrow.

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[jmoore]

It's not simply that I'm untidy - I prefer to think of it as the "geological" method of arranging things - the stuff you used most recently is at the top. Being under firm orders not to let the chaos spread outside the workshop, the arrangement inside the workshop makes a WWII submarine look like wide open spaces. But it's all in there - somewhere!

Hmmm, I seem to have a bit of that syndrome as well...

[ogre]

Interesting. I started out by using a "shovel and pour method" similar to what you describe but my accuracy measurably improved when I switched to a drop tube. My drop tube is permanently affixed to one of my reloading benches so there is no bother in setting one up. Very simple.

Well, I have a new, untried can of powder to screen. I wish you good day.