Lee Loader

August question of the month; what's the question of the month?...

mikld wrote:August question of the month; what's the question of the month...

How's about "Bell and Whistles"?

Let me preface this comment by saying and admitting that I love reloading gadgets and innovative procedures that produce results on targets. Also this comment is intended for anyone starting this addiction.

Sometime I think we complicate the process and practice of handloading with all the specialized methods and gadgets I read about for producing better reloads. For the new reloader it can seem like the simple process of reloading isn't enough until they have added extra bells and whistles. It's simply not necessary to have any thing more complicated than a Lee Loader to produce loads that match most shooter's abilities on a target.  Anything more complicated is a pursuit to increase speed, quantity and minute precision. Trigger time is 100 times more important that anything we do as reloaders.  Handloading is a process learned as we respond to how our reloads perform and how to interpret the  the data and tools used to make the reload.  It is a process and a journey of time spent keeping notes, following safe practices and making component adjustments including minor adjustments in the grains of powder(s) used when compared to the target. It's not what press, or other gadget used. It is tackling the learning curve and it a life long curve..... and maybe adding those techniques and tools when we understand the need for them.

I need to add that I'm on some freaking serious pain killers due to my infliction. So if the post I submitted is screwed up please forgive me and delete or amend as appropriate. I miss being my old self.

Prayers up from Oregon for your pain. BTDT...

I think today most people tend to go more "sophisticated" rather than proven, simple, tried and true processes/equipment. In reloading, I think a lot has to do with reloading forums where a simple, basic question from a new reloader often morphs into a deep theory, advanced reloading technique discussion. And with today's "High Tech" thinking, "Old School" is often used as an insult for simplicity. (I started with a Lee Loader, a pocket knife, a mallet, a rag dampened with solvent, one pound of Bullseye, 100 CCI primers and some generic lead bullets. Nuttin' more, and I made good, safe ammo for about a year before I went "high tech" and got a Challenger and Lee dies, I still used the dipper and info from my Lee Loader).

I'm a tool nut and while I can make good reloads with my Lee Loader almost as fast as my single stage press, I like to have "nice" tools to play with. Nope, not all are necessary and most don't make my handloads any better than my basic reloading methods (when I started reloading 45 ACP, I got a case gauge and trimmer. I still have them, somewhere in the shop, but never used them. But I can say I own these exacting tools ). Some tools are often recommended that will not give a normal new reloader any better ammo, but a Gun Shop Guru said the tool will make their plinking ammo into bench rest quality handloads, so they try it...

What's the question?

I'm trying to fix my hate of Unique.

GasGuzzler wrote:......I'm trying to fix my hate of Unique.

How can anyone "hate" Unique? Is it a metering problem? Do you think it "dirty"? What up with the most uniquely versatile powder that you don't like

I might be able to meter Corn Flakes better. Dirty doesn't matter much as my favorite is 2400. Not enough of it fits in a 9mm to get where I want. I stuck three plated .38s in 3" barrel on different occasions loading down. Haven't found a caliber combo that it's accurate in. It's by far the most wildly different POA/sound/recoil powder I've tried in .38, and did I mention it meters like #*~•&"@:^*?

Since I have 2-3 pounds I'm determined to understand why anyone would use it for anything so I loaded some .32WCF light for a gen 1 SAA, used some in heavy lead .30WCF, and will try it in .45ACP some day.

I'll trade all my Unique for 2400 (I know they're not for the same use) or even Bullseye.

Most versatile? Useless to me so far. Usually when something is lauded for doing all it does all but nothing well.

Sorry to hear your "unique" problems. What powder measure are you using? Both my Lee AD and Classic as well as a Lyman 55 all work with Unique very consistently. It is one of the favorites for 38spl, 45acp cast bullet powders.

When you say "stuck three plated .38s in 3" barrel on different occasions loading down" are you talking reduced loads? (Forgive me for not understanding as I'm taking some meds that don't help reasoning. ) Or just a metering problem with your PM?

All of that. I'd have to look the loads up but they were 4.0-ish grains. I have a UniFlow (HATES Unique, feels like there's metal filings going through it) and whatever disc machine came with the LCT kit a few years ago (that feels the same <IE like nothing, no feedback> no matter what powder you use). This is how I stuck those bullets....the Lee measure was short on a few (can't feed it drop) and I missed it. I pulled 500 .38s after the third stuck bullet. I pretty much gave up on .38 anyway other than for SD in my M88 that is .38 only.

GasGuzzler wrote:What's the question?

I'm trying to fix my hate of Unique.

I understand that. I was given a couple pounds of it but it is not a powder I would ever buy. Hodgdon's Universal's specific gravity is very close (for case fill) and it will beat Unique's velocity while staying at a lower pressure. It also burns as clean as natural gas. Why put up with Unique would be a good question of the month!

When trying to decide which pistol cartridge to use up the Unique with, the question was answered as to when does it start flowing well through the Auto Disk. I found that when you got to the .71cc cavity it was dropping very nicely. That's big, so I started using it with my 45 Auto on the Load-Master. I'm dropping a 6.5-grain charge, .82 cc, and it flows well. I would get about 70 to 80 FPS more with Universal.