Sorted some brass today

[TDIfan]

From the last 5 years target shooting in Potter county. I wanted to go through it all to find some 45 Colt brass to reload, since I can't find any ammo at a reasonable price. Had about 3/4 of a 5 gal bucket of mixed. Took about 3 hrs total. I ended up with maybe 25 pieces of Colt brass. Added to what I already had, I think I have 100 now. Threw them in the tumbler after depriming. Tomorrow I'll start setting up the press as I've never loaded 45 Colt before.

[Walleye Hunter]

From the last 5 years target shooting in Potter county. I wanted to go through it all to find some 45 Colt brass to reload, since I can't find any ammo at a reasonable price. Had about 3/4 of a 5 gal bucket of mixed. Took about 3 hrs total. I ended up with maybe 25 pieces of Colt brass. Added to what I already had, I think I have 100 now. Threw them in the tumbler after depriming. Tomorrow I'll start setting up the press as I've never loaded 45 Colt before.

You deprime then tumble? What do you use for a tumbler and media? I ran some deprimed .338 in
mine and one of them had a chunk of media in the pocket. I didn't think much of that and thought about how it would go with large numbers of brass in there and having to look into every one.

[Delkal]

From the last 5 years target shooting in Potter county. I wanted to go through it all to find some 45 Colt brass to reload, since I can't find any ammo at a reasonable price. Had about 3/4 of a 5 gal bucket of mixed. Took about 3 hrs total. I ended up with maybe 25 pieces of Colt brass. Added to what I already had, I think I have 100 now. Threw them in the tumbler after depriming. Tomorrow I'll start setting up the press as I've never loaded 45 Colt before.

I have had my head in just about every trash can at every range I went to for the last 30 years......And I NEVER found one 45 colt!

Depending on what you shoot .45 colt is as easy as loading a .38. Throw a 250 grain (230 works) lead bullet over a light charge and it is very accurate and fun to shoot. If you have a blackhawk and want to shoot hots load it that can be done too but I wouldn't recommend mismatched range scrap for those loads.

[TDIfan]

Yes I deprime and tumble before running through my Dillon 650. It keeps everything nice and clean like reloading new brass. Our range brass still gets a little grass and mud mixed in, always rains those weekends. Sometimes an errant steel case finds it's way into the batch. Rusts up and tarnishes a few that touch it.

I'm using the Frankford arsenal tumbler with ss pins. I have not had any pins stick in any flash holes yet. When done tumbling, I use a Dillon media separator and tumble vigorously for a few minutes until all the pins come out.

The range brass I'm using is from either me or other family members, not just pickups from the local range. I also rarely ever see revolver brass at ranges! I knew there were some in the bucket, which is why I started sorting. I really need to get those screen sorters with the different size holes. Once you get down to the 9mm, 40 s&w, and 380, it becomes tedious.

I'm going to be loading some 200 grain RNFP bullets I got from Steel Valley Casting, owned by a member here. Load data is slim for the powders I have on hand, namely Titegroup, Unique,.Win 231/Hp 38 or CFE Pistol. I haven't decided which to use yet. Have to research that some more. Loading for an older model ss Vaquero I bought last year.

[JDA58]

I was told its best to tumble before depriming if using dry media like corncob or walnut as to not clog the flash hole.. some do before some after...

I just loaded a bunch of 9mm & 380 from Steel Valley Casting, I like Ron's bullets a lot & they shoot really well

[flygrimm]

Yes I deprime and tumble before running through my Dillon 650. It keeps everything nice and clean like reloading new brass. Our range brass still gets a little grass and mud mixed in, always rains those weekends. Sometimes an errant steel case finds it's way into the batch. Rusts up and tarnishes a few that touch it.

I'm using the Frankford arsenal tumbler with ss pins. I have not had any pins stick in any flash holes yet. When done tumbling, I use a Dillon media separator and tumble vigorously for a few minutes until all the pins come out.

The range brass I'm using is from either me or other family members, not just pickups from the local range. I also rarely ever see revolver brass at ranges! I knew there were some in the bucket, which is why I started sorting. I really need to get those screen sorters with the different size holes. Once you get down to the 9mm, 40 s&w, and 380, it becomes tedious.

I'm going to be loading some 200 grain RNFP bullets I got from Steel Valley Casting, owned by a member here. Load data is slim for the powders I have on hand, namely Titegroup, Unique,.Win 231/Hp 38 or CFE Pistol. I haven't decided which to use yet. Have to research that some more. Loading for an older model ss Vaquero I bought last year.

I'm using the same bullet from Missouri Bullet. Been using 8.5 - 9.0 grains of unique in my wife's Henry Big Boy. I'm thinking of upping the charge a bit as I keep getting flakes of unburnt powder even with a pretty heavy crimp.

My neighbor has a ton of Vihtavuori N320 that he got with another guy. He's willing to sell me a 4# jug for $200. Not a great price but probably acceptable for the current situation. Thought I would give it a try as I'm about halfway done with my 1# of Unique.

Stuart

[Brick]

Curious. Have you ever measured the throats of the chambers in the cylinder. In my understanding prior to WW II .45 Colt barrels and bullets were sized .454" and changed to .452" after WW II. Oddly enough some revolvers continued with over-sized throats, my S&W 25-2 .45 ACP has .454" throats so I get bullets sized to that diameter to get the best performance.

[Brick]

I'm using the same bullet from Missouri Bullet. Been using 8.5 - 9.0 grains of unique in my wife's Henry Big Boy. I'm thinking of upping the charge a bit as I keep getting flakes of unburnt powder even with a pretty heavy crimp.

My neighbor has a ton of Vihtavuori N320 that he got with another guy. He's willing to sell me a 4# jug for $200. Not a great price but probably acceptable for the current situation. Thought I would give it a try as I'm about halfway done with my 1# of Unique.

Stuart

Missouri Bullets make a good product and VV N320 is a very good powder! You won't be disappointed with its performance.

[JoshIronshaft]

I love sorting containers of mixed brass people give me. The last one almost killed the fun though. It was a larger plastic storage tote weighing well over 100 lbs and was a two person lift.

I’ve never deprimed before tumbling with fine walnut media or wet with stainless pins. Never an issue. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to do it either, just adds another step to the process.

[DukeConnor]

45 colt brass is hard to find lately.
I got lucky and found some starline on Midway a couple months ago.

I mainly use red dot and trailboss but the powders you have will work fine.

I have had some luck backordering brass directly from starline .

Last time it was a 6-8 week wait but I got it.