Time to make the donuts....

[Leon Noel]

Starting on a new lot of J-4 30 cal 1 inch jackets, I put .3 grain less per thousand than my usual amount of lube to start with in and tumbled them. I then stuffed cores in 200 of them and started to seat them, It looks like this is a bit too much lube and those great Hood cores that I like are a little larger in diameter than I prefer are snug enough that they will not just fall out- so what is the best way to remove or reduce the lube on them. Never did this before but remember hearing that hand tumbling back and forth in a towel being a solution.

Anyone do this before, thanks?

I have used the towel to remove lube after final point up, but not prior to core seating. I think I would go back to full clean with acetone and re lube. Not sure I could control the amount of lube or would not want to introduce lint or other contaminants to the process.

 

[AlNyhus]

Starting on a new lot of J-4 30 cal 1 inch jackets, I put .3 grain less per thousand than my usual amount of lube to start with in and tumbled them. I then stuffed cores in 200 of them and started to seat them, It looks like this is a bit too much lube and those great Hood cores that I like are a little larger in diameter than I prefer are snug enough that they will not just fall out- so what is the best way to remove or reduce the lube on them. Never did this before but remember hearing that hand tumbling back and forth in a towel being a solution.

Anyone do this before, thanks?

Wayne, I've had to do this a couple times....here's what worked for me.

Pushed the cores as far into the jackets (so the cores were below the mouth of the jackets). Then set them mouth down on a thin micro fiber towel....about 25 at a time. Misted them with acetone from a hand sprayer bottle with an adjustable nozzle (spray or mist). Then retumbled with the new lube amount.

Hope this helps. -Al

 

[jimmymac]

I read all 49 pages of this thread over the last couple days. Yeah, I know...get a life you bullet geek! I purposely waited to read it all until I had a basic understanding of the process and the interplay of the pieces and parts. There is great stuff buried here and there in this thread that was selflessly shared by some very knowledgeable guys. I say thank you all for sharing!

After spending many hours on this over the last month, my tiny brain hurts but I have come to some conclusions. The chief one is that I do not know what I am looking at when I study my core seated jackets. I understand the terms, the meanings and explanations guys give, but when I study the inside of that jacket I really do not know what I am looking at because I do not have an experienced guy at my side confirming or denying what I think I see. I have worn out 4 sets of batteries on this 10x LED loupe and I still don't really know what I am looking at so core seat punch selection and core seat pressure are still ancient Chinese secret.

I could go on and on with the beginners struggles, but this is long winded enough. The good news is that I have made a half dozen small batches that are all a little different from each other. I have a good buddy with a rail gun and the desire to help, so hopefully one of the blind squirrels can find a nut. With any luck, these detailed notes I took will come in handy if he tells me to duplicate Pea Brain #3 lot.

 

[AlNyhus]

Jim, the 10" Teslong handgun borescope works good for looking inside the jackets and pondering bleed by. I'd take a pic of mine but right now, the snow shovel is calling my name and there's a new LED headlight on the snowblower to try out.

Don't want to be the last guy in the neighborhood to have the snow cleared.

 

[D Coots]

I told the Wife to get out there and shovel ours......................






In a dream......long ago.....

5 inches so far. 12-18 predicted. It's winter.

 

[D Coots]

Wayne, I've washed the lube off in acetone like Leon mentioned.

 

[jimmymac]

Stole this mount design from @ridgeway. Have not mounted these presses yet. Still thinking on where I want them. Thank you sir.

 

[jimmymac]

This is my highly engineered seated core and finished bullet catcher. The bonus is that the dog treats are always close by for my best buddies.

 

[tom]

Jim,

I prefer my cheap little otoscope that plugs into my phone over some more expensive options actually. If they had one that had the ability to adjust the light brightness it would be even better. Borescope is also good for the task, but I prefer the little cheap thing still.


Assuming this is one of my 6s I've been fighting with, since it's recent. Next time I make some that "actually work" I will try to remember to snap a picture.

Tom

 

[AlNyhus]

10" Teslong bore scope. It plugs into a USB or your phone/tablet device.

 

[jimmymac]

Jim,

I prefer my cheap little otoscope that plugs into my phone over some more expensive options actually. If they had one that had the ability to adjust the light brightness it would be even better. Borescope is also good for the task, but I prefer the little cheap thing still.

View attachment 1716450
Assuming this is one of my 6s I've been fighting with, since it's recent. Next time I make some that "actually work" I will try to remember to snap a picture.

Tom

Thanks Tom. Yesterday I ordered cheapo microscope that can capture images. Hopefully that will be helpful. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G4Y6C65?tag=accuratescom-20

I am at a place where I am fussing with punch size a lot. Maybe too much... The setup I got came with 6 punches. The box is labeled .2105, .2110, .2115, .2120, 212225, .2125. When I measure them I get .2103, .2110, .2114, .2118, .2122 and .2123. I think my measurements are better than what is listed on the box, but I could be all wet. Either way, I believe I may benefit from buying sizes in between the sizes that I have, especially on the low end where it jumps from .2103 to .2110. That jump looks like there is room for two punch diameters. The other thing I am dealing with is that not all my punches are the same length, so jumping between the diameters also presents die adjustment problems. My work around for this utilizes die shims because the math is easy. It would be nice to get someone to uniform my current punch stock to match the shortest one I have, then have the new in between sizes made to match that length so there will be harmony here in the valley.

Someone pass me another extension cord for my light. I still haven't made it to the bottom of this rabbit hole.

 

[Mulligan]

Thanks Tom. Yesterday I ordered cheapo microscope that can capture images. Hopefully that will be helpful. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G4Y6C65?tag=accuratescom-20

I am at a place where I am fussing with punch size a lot. Maybe too much... The setup I got came with 6 punches. The box is labeled .2105, .2110, .2115, .2120, 212225, .2125. When I measure them I get .2103, .2110, .2114, .2118, .2122 and .2123. I think my measurements are better than what is listed on the box, but I could be all wet. Either way, I believe I may benefit from buying sizes in between the sizes that I have, especially on the low end where it jumps from .2103 to .2110. That jump looks like there is room for two punch diameters. The other thing I am dealing with is that not all my punches are the same length, so jumping between the diameters also presents die adjustment problems. My work around for this utilizes die shims because the math is easy. It would be nice to get someone to uniform my current punch stock to match the shortest one I have, then have the new in between sizes made to match that length so there will be harmony here in the valley.

Someone pass me another extension cord for my light. I still haven't made it to the bottom of this rabbit hole.

That’s like the microscope I use.
For me, it’s perfect for the task at hand.
CW