What are your reloading quirks.

[Sixgun]

So I notice sometimes that I make the same errors over an over again in the reloading room. Well, not really errors, but quirks that make me roll my eyes.

What are some of your oddball quirks? I'll go first.

• I have been known to anneal brass even though I'm 90% sure it has already been annealed. I keep pretty good notes on my reloads. But I'm not good at note taking during the process of making loads. So I will often prep brass and then life stuff happens. I'll come back 15-30 days later and forget if I had annealed. Then that little seed of doubt will plant in my brain, and I'll second guess results.

Or another one:

• At the end of seating the bullets of a given batch of loads. I intentionally mess up my die settings so I wont forget to purposefully set the seating length. Too many times before I have thought my die was set correctly only to forget I last seated a completely different bullet and seating length.

So what are some of your quirks in the reloading room, cleaning the bore, at the range or in the shop?

I hear you ya Brother sir. I would lose track in my seating process and second guess myself until I just zero'ed my die on the seating depth I want. If I make any changes I can always just back to zero.

 

[Sixgun]

Boots Obermeyer used to have section on his company’s website that had notes about various things related to barrels and such. One thing that I do after the final tumbling (walnut shell blasting media) is to use compressed air and blow out the dust still in the brass case. He said that the dust residue caused excessive wear on the barrel. And recommend blowing out the brass. It’s not really a pain to do, it goes quite quickly. That’s my quirk and sticking with it for the last 25

I do the same thing.

 

[Sixgun]

My bubble level must be EXACTLY center of the ring on my fx120.

 

[varget204]

Have Never used Drop tubes when loading Bulking type Powders, I use a Cheap Electric Toothbrush Under 10 bucks, w/ the Bristles cut off, one that the battery can be replaced, Fast,Easy,Highly recommended

 

[JFrank]

Cleaning primer pockets may not make a difference or be popular, regardless of popularity I clean them lightly.

Call me crazy I suppose.

 

[TTE]

I don't HAVE quirks! Everyone else does! My processes are totally logical and well thought out. Hah. Right.

Probably my biggest OCD-like quirk is record keeping. I have three ring binders that document every handload I've created since I started in the mid-80's. 1980's guys, not 1880's.

Next up is inventory control. A spreadsheet shows current stash of powder, primers, bullets and cases. Every lot of cases has a number and a log sheet. I can tell you how many times the lot was loaded, trimmed, annealed etc. Bullet inventory drove me nuts until I set up a bunch of numbered 50 call ammo cans. My inventory spreadsheet shows what bullets are in which can. It used to be that I'd buy more of what I didn't need and forget to buy what I needed.

I may be obsessive, but am I obsessive enough???

Can you come to my reloading room for a few days ?

 

[bobcat93]

Only on a full moon..then I know everything is perfect...hahaha...

 

[Mark W]

Procrastination.....

That’s me. I’m usually up late loading the night before I plan to go shooting.

 

[ShaunW]

Am I the only one that listens to books while I reload???
I too have marked brass and then by time I shoot then I have no clue what they mean. Now I write exactly the problem on the brass.
Otherwise I’m ocd in my process however it seems like the more I learn the more simple the reloading process becomes.

 

[Precisionhunter417]

I never reload after 1 am any more. Ask me why…

seriously though, I start to process only the ammount of brass i can complete in that sitting. Then box them up and move on. I used to have batches of brass in various stages and the process left me with shit everywhere. Now i do 1-200 pieces at a time, always the same steps.

Decap, anneal, size, wipe excess sizing lube, chamfer, expand, prime, charge, seat.

 

[Dimner]

Am I the only one that listens to books while I reload???
I too have marked brass and then by time I shoot then I have no clue what they mean. Now I write exactly the problem on the brass.
Otherwise I’m ocd in my process however it seems like the more I learn the more simple the reloading process becomes.

I listen to audio books all the time when reloading or casting bullets. It's a great way to enjoy both a book and a hobby.

 

[Codyway]

I've been trying to convince the guys in our f-class group that weight sorting primers and cases as well as bullet sorting and tipping is a total waste of time. After all, what's a half moa give or take worth at 1000?

 

[Rocketvapor]

Depends on bullet diameter.
Big bullet and it could be a 10.

 

[Fclassfool]

I've been trying to convince the guys in our f-class group that weight sorting primers and cases as well as bullet sorting and tipping is a total waste of time. After all, what's a half moa give or take worth at 1000?

10 or an X or a 9