YAGT: OMG I love guns

[phucheneh]

Oh yeah, for one of you reloader dudes...what do you make of these kits?

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-...eloading+press

http://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Chucker-S...eloading+press

Do they include enough usable stuff to be worth it to buy the package over the press itself? Which are 100 and 150 or so, by themselves...the Lee seems like the better deal either way?

Are mechanical scales popular? I assumed digital would be the norm these days.

 

[Merad]

Oh yeah, for one of you reloader dudes...what do you make of these kits?

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-...eloading+press

http://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Chucker-S...eloading+press

Do they include enough usable stuff to be worth it to buy the package over the press itself? Which are 100 and 150 or so, by themselves...the Lee seems like the better deal either way?

Are mechanical scales popular? I assumed digital would be the norm these days.

The Lee kit you linked is what I started with. Yes, you'll need essentially everything in the kit, it's a much better deal than buying it all separate.

To get started on .45 LC in addition to the kit you will need:
- Calipers of whatever kind you prefer (basic digital ones are like $25).
- .45 LC dies, I would recommend the Lee carbide 4-die set
- Optional, digital scales (recommended)
- Optional, a bullet puller; the hammer style ones are fine (highly recommended)
- Optional, the "ABCs of Reloading" book (recommended)
- Optional, a tumbler to clean your cases
- The obvious stuff like bullets and primers

If you haven't thought about it yet you might want to consider where you'll mount the press. Ideally you want it bolted to a sturdy table, but for a decent portable setup get a piece of 2x10 about 2 ft, bolt your press to it and use C-clamps to clamp it in place when you're using it.

 

[adairusmc]

You do get a better deal with the lee kit, but the rcbs kit has better stuf IMO. Especially the press, powder measure, and the hand priming tool. If it were me, I would go for this kit instead - http://www.amazon.com/Lyman-T-Mag-Ma...+reloading+kit



Fantastic press, and a digital scale. Lee will do the job, but you do get what you pay for.

 

[Kelvrick]

Just in case you still go for the lee. This is a pretty good price.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191129251975?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

There is also the option for 10% off if you buy 2 more things like another die holder turret or two (for your other calibers).

 

[veri745]

Finally purchased my first handgun today: a Smith & Wesson M&P 22

Academy actually had a 525 ct box of Winchester copper plated hollow point to sell with the gun, so I picked it up.

Took it straight from the store to the gun range (no cleaning it first). Several FTF and FTE with the Winchester ammo, I'm not sure if it's crappy ammo or if the gun was gunked up with the factory grease.

I also had some CCI ammo and had no problems with it.

Ended up firing about 150 rounds through it, 100 winchester and 50 CCI.

Gave it a good cleaning when I got home.

Any opinions of the Winchester ammo? I think it's this: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/29...-long-rifle-36-grain-plated-lead-hollow-point
but definitely a 525 round box.

 

[adairusmc]

It should get better over time as you shoot it more, but CCI is the gold standard so it is not surprising that it worked fine with that ammo.

I would just keep on shooting it, and hopefully it will get better as you break it in. It could be that it just does not like winchester ammo for some reason.

I have several bricks of that winchester stuff and my 10/22's love it, as well as my buckmark, p22, and my S&W 917 (not fair throwing that in there since it is a revolver).

 

[BladeVenom]

Federal is also another reliable choice.

 

[velillen]

Fun day today for me! Finally got to try out some "long range" shooting. Went up with a guy i met on another forum who shoots many matches at 1k range for my first time shooting past 200 yards. Set up a 66% IPSCA target at 620 yards and a 8 inch circle at 680 yards. Weather was a nice 70, bit overcast, but we had a 3-5mph breeze that kept changing around.

The guy ran all my load info and gun info into his ballistic app and we got 12.5 MOA needed. So applied that to my scope and sent the first shot and it was right drop but wide. So adjusted half an moa to the left and then aimed at the edge of the target. 2 seconds later a nice Ding Proceeded to play around on my own going probably 35/50 rounds on target for the day. The wind started being funny after about half an hour. it would blow to the left, then not at all, then to the right, the back left so most of the misses were just a bit off.

I tried 20 rounds or so on the 8" target but it just didnt work out. We hung it between two trees and once we got to our shooting spot we discovered there were to many tree branches and other stuff to see any sort of bullet impact except on the target. Really just needed a dope for 700 yards. The ballistic app was off by a bit and not seeing the slashes we couldn't adjust.

Still a fun day and enjoyable shooting out there and seeing how much harder it is! Might be time to step up to a 6.5 round too

 

[RampantAndroid]

Fun day today for me! Finally got to try out some "long range" shooting. Went up with a guy i met on another forum who shoots many matches at 1k range for my first time shooting past 200 yards. Set up a 66% IPSCA target at 620 yards and a 8 inch circle at 680 yards. Weather was a nice 70, bit overcast, but we had a 3-5mph breeze that kept changing around.

The guy ran all my load info and gun info into his ballistic app and we got 12.5 MOA needed. So applied that to my scope and sent the first shot and it was right drop but wide. So adjusted half an moa to the left and then aimed at the edge of the target. 2 seconds later a nice Ding Proceeded to play around on my own going probably 35/50 rounds on target for the day. The wind started being funny after about half an hour. it would blow to the left, then not at all, then to the right, the back left so most of the misses were just a bit off.

I tried 20 rounds or so on the 8" target but it just didnt work out. We hung it between two trees and once we got to our shooting spot we discovered there were to many tree branches and other stuff to see any sort of bullet impact except on the target. Really just needed a dope for 700 yards. The ballistic app was off by a bit and not seeing the slashes we couldn't adjust.

Still a fun day and enjoyable shooting out there and seeing how much harder it is! Might be time to step up to a 6.5 round too

Where did you get to shoot at that range in WA?

 

[velillen]

Where did you get to shoot at that range in WA?

I was sworn to secrecy. All ill say is National Forest. We shot from 620 yards and the guy showed me where to go for ~1050 yard shots on the same target. We didnt do the 1050 yard though...went exploring a bit instead

 

[OCGuy]

Where did you get to shoot at that range in WA?

I would think you could manage fairly easy outside of the cities, although I don't see much BLM land compared to other western states.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I would think you could manage fairly easy outside of the cities, although I don't see much BLM land compared to other western states.

There is TONS of good land to do it on in WA that's part of the national forest. However, it's banned through all of the I90 corridor...hence why I'm curious

 

[velillen]

There is TONS of good land to do it on in WA that's part of the national forest. However, it's banned through all of the I90 corridor...hence why I'm curious

Theres a ton of land you cant shoot on legally in Western WA >.< Then what areas you can are usually shorter distances. Finding something over 300 that is legal can be a challenge. I say legal cause its easy to find spots but they arent legal. Like shooting off a road is illegal. As is shooting towards another road. But plenty of people do that. It is kind of surprising we dont have a range anywhere that is over 600 yards in W. WA. Youd think someone would have had the land and made one back in the day.

The biggest problem is just once you start sharing your spots it seems like they slowly grow for a bit and then someone posts about it and you lose it. It happened to my last spot i liked. Rangers had to shut it down cause people trashed it. Same as when we were out just driving around we found a nice campsite and the people had left some shotguns hull and there were coke cans and shit over a bank. Took my bud and i 5 minutes to pick it all up. Then we walked down a bit and found out the people had done the "shotgun tree cutting" on some young 1.5" or so trees. Shit like that is what is losing us more and more spots ot shoot..


Either way for you RA it would probably be quicker to go north. Im on the pennisula

 

[RampantAndroid]

The pit was closed off because people would do stupid things like shoot at power lines.

I know the desert has A LOT of good spots to shoot around, and want to got here. Otherwise, it's Ft lewis for me.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[shortylickens]

The pit was closed off because people would do stupid things like shoot at power lines.

I know the desert has A LOT of good spots to shoot around, and want to got here. Otherwise, it's Ft lewis for me.

Thanks for the reply.

Inyokern had a huge strip mine. Somebody bought it, turned it into a gun club, and charged a very reasonable price for membership.

It was the bomb.

 

[Tiamat]

Finally purchased my first handgun today: a Smith & Wesson M&P 22

Academy actually had a 525 ct box of Winchester copper plated hollow point to sell with the gun, so I picked it up.

Took it straight from the store to the gun range (no cleaning it first). Several FTF and FTE with the Winchester ammo, I'm not sure if it's crappy ammo or if the gun was gunked up with the factory grease.

I also had some CCI ammo and had no problems with it.

Ended up firing about 150 rounds through it, 100 winchester and 50 CCI.

Gave it a good cleaning when I got home.

Any opinions of the Winchester ammo? I think it's this: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/29...-long-rifle-36-grain-plated-lead-hollow-point
but definitely a 525 round box.

My 22s do not like winchester superX. CCI minimags almost always work in every 22. Federal autotarget is also very good although not as dependable as CCI. I've had 3 failures in 1000 federal auto target, 0 with CCI after the same amount, ~100 failures with winchester, and ~20 failures with Remington bulk.

 

[phucheneh]

Okay, I gotta make a decision here. Here's what I got: I like .45 Colt as a round. It's neat. But I'm also lazy, and though reloading makes sense to me...well, I'm lazy. So my second proposed SSA is no longer limited to .45 Colt.

Also of note- I figured out the problem with my Uberti. The 'bolt' a.k.a. the lock the engages the rectangular detents in the cylinder is broken. Surely I did this through my own idiocy, so I just need the replacement Uberti part, I think. About $30. Or you can get a total 'action rebuild kit' for like 90.

But then I get stuck and dunno who to do...should I just go ahead and buy upgraded parts? How about Bud's selling me a '90-100%' gun that broke in the first box of ammo? Even if I caused the part failure, it was while trying to relieve a dangerous situation that came about from a worn breech and firing pin. They're the 'pros' in this situation, and IMO should be looking guns over better before reselling.

I'm not terribly mad about it...I like the gun, I can fix the gun. I just wonder if anyone else thinks I should try and get them to pay for some parts or throw me a gift certificate or something. IMO, I'm being nice by not demanding a return at their expense; they should be nice by giving me a few bucks for the trouble.

But anyway, then...what to buy....no interest in .44mag. Definitely thinking Ruger SA. If I buy something cheap enough, I may throw in one of those $200 RIA snubnoses, too, LOL.

 

[BladeVenom]

.357 is the way to go. .38 is cheap to shoot, and you can use .357 when you want the power.

 

[phucheneh]

That was my thought. But it's worth noting two things regarding which model I pick. One, the convertibles are all in stock, you can buy a .357/9mm or a 45LC/45ACP for the same price. Assuming you want the basic model (ugly bluing, plastic grips).

The stainless model .357 is only like 30 bucks more. Think that comes with wood grips, too...although the Uberti grips are good (I don't think I ever posted a pic after I stripped and refinished them), if I have two SAA's, one is gonna wear some 'Hand of God' grips, dammit.

edit: Or I could just go back to the gun that sparked my interest- the EAA Bounty Hunter. About the same cost as my Uberti, and I'm curious to check one out. Then probably sell what I like less and just buy a damn Blackhawk in a still-undetermined caliber.

Jesus. It's like women buying shoes. Only the application of logic with this gun stuff makes decisions so much harder.

 

[velillen]

i would contact Uberti about the damaged gun part. If they are like a lot of other companies they will help you out and good chance just send ya the part (the 30 one). I know other companies have done that. CZ being the latest....dad dropped his 455 and broke the safety switch (just the switch not the actual safety) and contacted CZ. They sent him a new one for free and the swivel stud he wanted. So you might have some luck doing that at least.

A lot of gun stores wont be much help from what ive seen/experienced. Once the gun is sold if something breaks all they will say to do it ship it back to the factory. They might have a gunsmith who can figure out what is wrong but not going through the factory usually voids warranties and crap they dont want to deal with on new guns.

 

[veri745]

My 22s do not like winchester superX. CCI minimags almost always work in every 22. Federal autotarget is also very good although not as dependable as CCI. I've had 3 failures in 1000 federal auto target, 0 with CCI after the same amount, ~100 failures with winchester, and ~20 failures with Remington bulk.

Thanks for the tip.

After cleaning and oiling the M&P (I used Ballistol), my second trip to the range was much better.

I went through around 200 rnds of the Winchester white box and another 50rnd of CCI standard velocity.

No issues with the CCI, and a few FTF (but no FTE). I'm starting to wonder if it might be something to do with the magazine, because it seemed to be the second shot of almost every clip was a FTF, so I started loading 11 instead of 12 of the Winchester.

I would really like to buy a bunch of Federal, but it's still out of stock everywhere I've looked.

 

[Tiamat]

Thanks for the tip.

After cleaning and oiling the M&P (I used Ballistol), my second trip to the range was much better.

I went through around 200 rnds of the Winchester white box and another 50rnd of CCI standard velocity.

No issues with the CCI, and a few FTF (but no FTE). I'm starting to wonder if it might be something to do with the magazine, because it seemed to be the second shot of almost every clip was a FTF, so I started loading 11 instead of 12 of the Winchester.

I would really like to buy a bunch of Federal, but it's still out of stock everywhere I've looked.

Yeah I bought the federal years ago when it was 2.5 cents per shot and CCI minimag when it was 4.2 cents. I found winchester to be slightly oversize than CCI and federal. Its fit was very tight in a ruger superten revolver making it a pain to extract. I dunno if it was my box only, but it turned me away from winchester for bulk ammo.

On the ftf, did u notice if the hammer struck the primer just too lightly? Or was the cartridge jammed not entering the chamber properly?

 

[veri745]

Yeah I bought the federal years ago when it was 2.5 cents per shot and CCI minimag when it was 4.2 cents. I found winchester to be slightly oversize than CCI and federal. Its fit was very tight in a ruger superten revolver making it a pain to extract. I dunno if it was my box only, but it turned me away from winchester for bulk ammo.

On the ftf, did u notice if the hammer struck the primer just too lightly? Or was the cartridge jammed not entering the chamber properly?

By FTF, I meant failure to feed. The slide must have come back far enough to eject the round and cock the hammer, but not load the next round. I haven't observed any rounds that didn't fire after loading.

There were two instances where the next round jammed up entering the chamber; it caught the top edge of the chamber and jammed instead of sliding in cleanly.

 

[phucheneh]

What a confused soul I am. I was looking for a revolver and I accidentally bought a pistol-gripped machete.

God I am pleased with it. Immediately put about 80 rounds through it. Dear god, I'm gonna have to start reloading.

I didn't want to buy a .44. I'm not a .44 guy. But sweet christ, it can shoot these:
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=54

I think I'm gonna become a range troll.

 

[RampantAndroid]

What a confused soul I am. I was looking for a revolver and I accidentally bought a pistol-gripped machete.

God I am pleased with it. Immediately put about 80 rounds through it. Dear god, I'm gonna have to start reloading.

I didn't want to buy a .44. I'm not a .44 guy. But sweet christ, it can shoot these:
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=54

I think I'm gonna become a range troll.

Range troll is me...walking into the members bay at my range nearby. Myself in one lane, 3 people on another lane. They had an M&P or something in 22. I have my Garand, Lee Enfield and 41 mag. I warned them it was going to be getting loud, but they still missed their target when I fired my first 303 round. My 41 and 44 are similarly loud given they're both hand canons.

As for that buffalo bore stuff, don't run it too often. The Rugers CAN run it, with the extra metal....but it's still not advised too often IMO.