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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
 Posted - 01/04/2013 : 20:27:35
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I may have mentioned that my wife gave me a membership to the indoor pistol range at Bass Pro for Xmas. I think she is going nuts but I'll enjoy it until she comes to her senses. 
One thing I ran into after the first visit is that I was running short of ammo. I went to my usual haunts and found that the shelves were bare. No .22lr, .38 special, .45 acp, or any pistol calibre and very little in the way of rifle ammo. Everywhere I have been it is the same story empty shelves. I don't know if this is just a short term run on the ammo or surely not, the new normal. Faced with nothing to feed my pistols I decided to dig out my old rusty (caught in a shed fire 30 years ago) CH single stage press and churn out a few rounds . As luck would have it I had some bulk bullets, primers and powder left over from a few years back. I had forgotten how nice it is to sit down ans load up a hundred rounds.
Ready for another session at the range.
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  Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
Edited by - skunkhome on 01/05/2013 01:17:36 |
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Cvans
USA
4405 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2013 : 22:43:22
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Feeding a .45 can get spendy in a hurry. That's why I settle for the .22 when I need to shoot spinners. Your hand and wrist joints must be in pretty good shape as the .45 imparts a pretty good jolt from the hands up through the shoulders. Nice you stumbled onto your reloading supplies. That should help a lot since I would imagine that the stuff was purchased when things were much cheaper.
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East Central South Dakota
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 00:13:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Cvans
Nice you stumbled onto your reloading supplies. That should help a lot since I would imagine that the stuff was purchased when things were much cheaper.
yes prices are different. Those .451 x 185 gr SWC still have the tag $19.35/500. 
The .45 is really tamed by my 3 gen Smith model 4567. Even my daughter who is a novice shooter likes the .45. Felt recoil is more of a push and far less than that of the polymer framed niners. The SWC's I loaded tonight are really pleasant to shoot. I like the big Smith so much I am on the hunt for a Smith 5906 9mm since that is the cheapest center fire cartridge you can shoot nowadays.
And yes I guess I an blessed to still have a lot of strength in my hands and wrists.
My biggest issue is seeing the sights. I can see the front sight only if I am wearing reading glasses which means I can barely see the target which is of course less important then the front sight. Still I would like to be able to focus down range to see where I'm grouping. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
Edited by - skunkhome on 01/05/2013 00:20:56 |
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Cvans
USA
4405 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 01:02:25
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You mentioned the shortage of ammo in the stores. Is reloading supplies still plentiful?
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East Central South Dakota
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 01:15:06
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| I have seen a few primers but bullets are pretty picked over. No pistol bullets at all. Been looking on line and can get cast bullets and some primers but I just discovered that there is now a UPS haz Mat surcharge of $27+ per package. Don't know when that went into effect but must have been recently as some suppliers only sell primers and powder to walk-in traffic. I am thinking the aftermath of Newtown shootings has lead to a demand that no one was prepared for. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
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olcowhand
USA
5115 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 08:57:05
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| I'm glad I stocked up on 22LR a while back. I have over 1500 rounds of it, and a couple hundred rounds of various sized ammo for my high powered rifles. I shoot very little, so I may be set for life. |
Daniel in Ky -- So much to do, so little time!
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olcowhand
USA
5115 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 08:59:01
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| BTW Phil....how long does it take,(once back up to speed) to reload 100rds of ammo? I know it involves more than just stuffing in the load, what with resizing the shell & all. |
Daniel in Ky -- So much to do, so little time!
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Johnb212
USA
134 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 17:24:35
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| Stopped at a popular gun shop / target range on the Wed. after the CT. murders. Could hardly get in the door. People were buying more several assult rifles at a time. I am looking to get a 380 carry hand gun but everything is getting scarce in this part of PA. Concealed Carry permits have trippled in our county, wait is now four to six weeks from two. My brother in law called me from his favorite gun shop in VA and said he tryed to order a S&W pistol but was told gun makerers have stopped shipping any guns to dealers. He didn't know if it was nationally or just to VA or just an excuse from the dealaer but he has a long history with this dealer and didn't think they were giving him a runaround. |
The best time to make friends is before you need them.
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Denny
348 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 18:29:50
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| He got the runaround by the dealer,, the fact is, the warehouses that we all rely on,,, are simply OUT OF STOCK. Most of them will not hold backorders,, you have to check inventory everyday. |
Early B10
67 Bee10
68 B16HD 112 Loader
68 B112 L112
68 B112
4041 Power Max |
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2013 : 22:05:15
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| It takes about an hour to turn out 50 rounds on a single stage press. That is on .45 auto with TC sizing dies which require no lube. With a progressive press like my old CH straight line press it is possible to load 100 rounds in about 15-20 minutes. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
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Cvans
USA
4405 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 00:24:36
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quote:
my old CH straight line press it is possible to load 100 rounds in about 15-20 minutes.
And you got rid of it why?
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East Central South Dakota
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 10:15:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Cvans
quote:
my old CH straight line press it is possible to load 100 rounds in about 15-20 minutes.
And you got rid of it why?
No, I have never touched it. When I worked for Norckauer Assiciates we had one in .45 auto set up for demonstrations and it was awsome. When the son of the owner started liquidating the estate he gave me one in .38/357? Since I did not have a need at that time I never looked at it to determine what it needed to start loading. If any thing is missing or if it is set up with the wrong charging bushing then I stand little chance of finding parts. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
Edited by - skunkhome on 01/06/2013 10:16:56 |
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 11:03:37
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Well, Chris, you have done it! You made me go out and dig her out. I guess it was good because the mice were chewing up the plastic parts. Nothing of consequence but they ate the bottle that caught the spent primers and the red cover on the end of the crank shaft. Also surface rust has taken its toll. Not significant but it's not as pretty as it could be. Looks like it is set up for target loads in .38 special. But will have to measure the powder drop to determine. I would imagine it is set up for Bullseye powder which was the premier target powder at the time so not sure if I will be able to use with other powders in that class like Accurate #2.
I also found a conversion kit (unopened) .38 to .44 with #11 powder bushing but don't want to open as I don't shoot .44 spec or .44 mag.
Unfortunately there are no instructions or data sheets included. I guess I need to do some more Internet searching to find more info.
I found the instruction manual on line and printed out and also the bushing chart. I have also contacted CH Tool & die to find out where I can purchase bushings and parts.
It has a #3 bushing which delivers 2.7gr or Bullseye or 3.2 gr of WW231 so it must be set up for .38 target loads.
The only place you touch the round in the process is to place the bullet in the case mouth on station #3 and each time you cycle the handle the process advances automatically to the next stage and a finished round drops into a box at the end of the line. This particular loader will turn out loaded pistol cartridges fast enough that I could manufacture target loads for profit if I had a manufacturers license and the insurance necessary. Would have to sell a lot of ammo to pay for the insurance. I think $1M is required but in today's society I would need 50-100 times that. Law says you can't sell or give away your reloads without a license.
Chris, my wife hates you!!!!!
Right now, with the hysteria, bullets and small pistol primers are scarce. With new legislation who knows revolvers may have a comeback.
Sorry, my shop is such a mess. I cleared out my truck 6 months ago and threw it all on my bench now it is all a mess. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
Edited by - skunkhome on 01/06/2013 12:47:18 |
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2013 : 19:15:12
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I spent the afternoon mounting the Auto Champion to the bench and tried running some once fired cases through the mechanism. I noticed that the first paw on the slide had some damage probably due to the deprimer pin hitting it. Wasn't sure why, but soon found out.
I ran several cases through and found the tha slide wasn't moving far enough to reliably deliver the cases to each of the four stations. Even with the adjustment all the way out it still would not work and the slide also was not returning into battery leaving the paw under the depriming pin. It wasn't long before I had a case jammed at the first station with a primer only part way punched out and deformed against the paw, bending the decapping pin. I managed to get the press handle pushed back just over center and was trying to get case pried out of the shell holder when the handle on the press fell and pinched my left index finger between the first die and the mouth of the .38 special case. Ouch! I pushed the handle back out of the way and got my finger out only to find that I had a nice gouge in my finger. I was pretty ticked and debated about just putting it back in the box. I tried to keep working on it but was bleeding too much so I decided to take a break long enough to clean and tend to my wound. That also gave me time to think about it and I decided that the heavy steel part they call the clevis had been damaged (bent) probably by someone trying to force the out of adjustment mechanism. I removed it from the press and clamped it in my bench vise and whIle holding my breath I struck it lightly a couple of timed with a drilling hammer. I figured it would either bend or break but I would b no worse off either way. As it turned out it bent a little and when I put it back on it was much improved but not quite what it needed so back to the vise. A little more tweaking with the hammer and it was in the proper range to where I could fine tune it with the adjustment screw. While I was at it I removed the slide and cleaned it up removing the rust and putting on a bit of light lube. I will have to pull it apart again and remove any excess lube before trying to load on it but I think it ought to work just fine. Since I didn't have any Ch primer pins I made one out of a 5/64" drill bit. I'll replace with the real McCoy if I can find. I made another test run (dry run) with no primers, powder or bullets and it seem to work fine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrbBvHKmYWo&feature=youtube_gdata_player |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
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Cvans
USA
4405 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 00:55:04
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First I will get the legal stuff out of the way. Tell your Wife I'm sorry! Next I'm sorry you hurt yourself but I will accept no responsibility for your injuries.
Being a mechanical freak I have to say that I really like the way that loader works. The .38 is not a bad round and if that loader were mine I would be trading guns so I could use it. While the .45 is a man stopping beast the .38 is still an effective round and more enjoyable to use for pleasure shooting. Just my opinion.
Nice you dug it out and got the bugs worked out. The surface rust on your loader is very similar to what was on the lathe I acquired. A little elbow grease, and oil and you should have it looking and working like new.
Oh yeah, tell your wife I'm sorry. |
East Central South Dakota
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
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wlewis379
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2013 : 03:34:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Cvans
First I will get the legal stuff out of the way. Tell your Wife I'm sorry! Next I'm sorry you hurt yourself but I will accept no responsibility for your injuries.
Being a mechanical freak I have to say that I really like the way that loader works. The .38 is not a bad round and if that loader were mine I would be trading guns so I could use it. While the .45 is a man stopping beast the .38 is still an effective round and more enjoyable to use for pleasure shooting. Just my opinion.
Nice you dug it out and got the bugs worked out. The surface rust on your loader is very similar to what was on the lathe I acquired. A little elbow grease, and oil and you should have it looking and working like new.
Oh yeah, tell your wife I'm sorry.
Better yet go buy a 38! |
Happy Trails Bill
Insert Image: 
People who are all wrapped up in themselves are overdressed |
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Started rolling my own again!
