I throw small primer 45acp in the trash if I find any on the range
Go in my scrap brass bucket.
OK so both my 45's ran the ammo I loaded just fine!! 5.5gr with the bullets I am using seems to be the most accurate and about as close to max load as I want to be at this stage of my loading. Not to mention the lee scale I have is kind of a PITA. Don't get me wrong it works exactly like it should, but the adjustment on it is made for folks with small fingers and good vision lol
What is a good quality digital scale to get? Please remember I am a cheap bastidge!
Also reading about sealing the bullet after loading if they are going to sit, max I think my bullets will set is a month. Am i good or is this something I should look into.
What is a good quality digital scale to get? Please remember I am a cheap bastidge!
Also reading about sealing the bullet after loading if they are going to sit, max I think my bullets will set is a month. Am i good or is this something I should look into.
Not sure I can be of help regarding a cheap & accurate digital scale, but I can speak to the issue of sealing a bullet / primer:
I've never bothered. Just confirmed in my records, I loaded a metric boatload of .38 Spl in 1994 and still have a few boxes left. Without benefit of sealing they work just as well now as they did back then. I have plenty of other ammunition that still goes bang every time even after years and years of storage (in a closet in the house). So I wouldn't be inclined to worry about it unless you like to store your loaded ammunition under water.
I might change my tune if I was going hunting in a monsoon or was swimming ashore with Seal Team 6.
I've never bothered. Just confirmed in my records, I loaded a metric boatload of .38 Spl in 1994 and still have a few boxes left. Without benefit of sealing they work just as well now as they did back then. I have plenty of other ammunition that still goes bang every time even after years and years of storage (in a closet in the house). So I wouldn't be inclined to worry about it unless you like to store your loaded ammunition under water.
I might change my tune if I was going hunting in a monsoon or was swimming ashore with Seal Team 6.
I have .45 ACP and other ammo that has been loaded since the 80's that has been given to me without sealing as well as some of my own that is 5 or so years old. No issues what so ever when shooting this stuff.
I think your wasting your time and money trying to seal it.
The RCBS beam scale works great. If you go digital, you still need to verify with the beam scale as a known constant.
Thanks Scott! As far as the scale goes if I need to I can spend whatever I need I just hate spending a lot of money if I can find something as good for less. Been looking at the usual online places but seems all the cheaper ones I have looked at someone always leaves some negatives on the reviews.
Reviews are useful up to a point, but it seems to me that somebody who is unhappy with a product is much more likely to leave a review than someone who is satisfied with it.
Dennis has a good recommendation, the RCBS beam scales are really nice. I rocked an RCBS 502 for years, but advancing age finally caught up with my eyeballs and I can't see the fricken divisions on the beam any more. Rather than risk setting the weight incorrectly and potentially being off by 5 or 10 grains of powder, I bought an RCBS 505 which has MUCH wider and easier to read weight markings.
Sadly RCBS has discontinued the 505, and I have no firsthand knowledge of how well their current lineup works. The 505 is still available if you look, but strike quickly if you want to go that direction since the retailers probably aren't going to get any more.
Here's one that allegedly still has a couple: https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Model-505-Reloading-Scale/dp/B001AYWXEQ
Don't know if $89 is too much for a cheap bastidge though.
Dennis has a good recommendation, the RCBS beam scales are really nice. I rocked an RCBS 502 for years, but advancing age finally caught up with my eyeballs and I can't see the fricken divisions on the beam any more. Rather than risk setting the weight incorrectly and potentially being off by 5 or 10 grains of powder, I bought an RCBS 505 which has MUCH wider and easier to read weight markings.
Sadly RCBS has discontinued the 505, and I have no firsthand knowledge of how well their current lineup works. The 505 is still available if you look, but strike quickly if you want to go that direction since the retailers probably aren't going to get any more.
Here's one that allegedly still has a couple: https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Model-505-Reloading-Scale/dp/B001AYWXEQ
Don't know if $89 is too much for a cheap bastidge though.
I've got a box of Federal #4 pheasant loads from the early '70s in my closet. They still shoot just as good as when new. Ammunition stored indoors will probably last at least 75 years. I also have some various loads that are older than that and came out of a storage in the '80s so they are of unknown history. I haven't had one fail to fire yet.
Forgot about my shotgun shells. I have a friend with 30 some rent houses that doesn't own a gun. I get the rounds he finds when cleaning out the rentals and their outbuildings.
Got some paper 16 guage shells awhile back. Shot a couple of them, and put the rest back for the ammo collection. I've got some .410 paper shotgun shells from the late 40's that has never been opened as far as I can tell that was given to me. I'm betting they would shoot too.
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