Okay... ready to start reloading for the Hornady 250 FTX

[Texas Sheepdawg]

I built an great little powder trickler out of a small section of a Easton XX75 1713 arrow and two 35mm film canisters. Works great.

[Hoot]

I built an great little powder trickler out of a small section of a Easton XX75 1713 arrow and two 35mm film canisters. Works great.

I remember making arrows from XX75 shafts way back in the 70's. I was really into tournament archery in High School. I'm talking static recurve days. Had my own fletch jig too. With everything being outdated a year after they're the hottest sensation, I'm surprised to see XX75s still around almost 40 years later.

Hoot

[Jim in Houston]

Hoot,

I will take you up on your offer. Sorry I didn't read your post in time to be ahead of your trip to Harbor Freight, but since I will be ordering the Lee Classic Press over the net from Midway, I can do the same for the caliper.

Will use the sites Members function to send you an email with my address for shipping - and no problem reimbursing you for that.

Many thanks in advance.

[FirstNation]

I'm with Hoot on this one, based on my own personal experience- I'd stay away from a progressive, unless you have a need to reload a really large volume of cartridges. I have an RCBS progressive, it sits tucked away somewhere in a corner of my reloading room, it was nothing but trouble. I really gave it a good try over a two year period. I should have sent it back to RCBS and told them where to put it. I bought it from a guy in almost new condition, didn't take me long to find out why. It was like a one man band with every station taking a turn being off key. I wasted more time on that unit than I care to remember. I went back to my ol' standby, an RCBS basic single stage press. The other reason I prefer a single stage is because it allows me to keep a close eye on each individual cartridge as I load it, start to finish, for the best results. That can easily get lost on a progressive where multiple operations are happening at the same time to several rounds. Unless you need to crank out hundreds of rounds a day, I'd say a single stage is your best bet, especially when reloading the .450, where you wouldn't be going out and shooting several hundred rounds at a time anyway. I've loaded thousands and thousands of rounds over the years on a single stage and don't regret a minute of the time spent.

[Jim in Houston]

For those of you (like me) getting started in reloading, Cabelas is currently having free shipping on orders over $150 through the first of March. Also, Hornady has a Lock-n-Load promotion of up to 500 "free" bullets, depending on what Hornady reloading equipment (including dies) you purchase.

The link to Cabelas is here - http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/search.c ... s&x=4&y=11

A link to the information on the Hornady offer is in the Add to Cart box, when you select a Hornady product on the Cabelas page. Note that the Bushmaster 450 .452 45 cal bullet is not listed on the redemption form. I contacted Hornady, and on a discretionary basis (which I interpret to mean you have to ask first), they will include the Bushmaster 450 bullet for $5 per box (MSRP about $35 for a box of 50 from Hornady) plus the S&H charges that apply to the redemption offer. If you are interested in this, I suggest calling Hornady or using the "Contact Us" email form on their website (select Product Availability Inquiries for the subject). Kelsey at Hornady provided me with this information, and she is probably the one to whom you should direct your inquiry (or reference her in your email).

[Hoot]

Good footwork Jim. I recently bought a set of their new dimension dies for the .300 OSSM and it qualifies for the free bullets. I may just take the government cheese now.

Hoot

[Jim in Houston]

A question about reloading conditions - environmental that is.

I have gotten all my equipment together and build a sturdy, but portable reloading bench. However, the only practical place for me to reload is in my garage. Right now, the Houston weather is warm and relatively dry, but as the summer progresses (like May) the temp and humidiy are going to sky rocket and my garage has no AC. I can stand the heat, but will the humidity impact the reloading process - for example, will the powder absorb enough moisture during the brief period it is exposed to degrade it or will my digital electronic scale be affected adversely.

Thanks for any advice, even if not supported by scientific studies.

[BD1]

You're a good man Hoot! I'll second the imperial sizing wax. No need for a digital scale. I don't know how the Classic cast press primes, but maybe you don't need a seperate primer set up either. For the .450B using Hornady brass you'll have no need for a case trimmer either.

The problem with reloading is that it's addictive. After a bit you'll discover all kinds of things you'll want, but what you really need is pretty basic.

BD

[Hoot]

You're a good man Hoot! I'll second the imperial sizing wax. No need for a digital scale. I don't know how the Classic cast press primes, but maybe you don't need a seperate primer set up either. For the .450B using Hornady brass you'll have no need for a case trimmer either.

The problem with reloading is that it's addictive. After a bit you'll discover all kinds of things you'll want, but what you really need is pretty basic.

BD

The Classic Cast press does a good job priming but it is way slower than a Lee Autoprime, which you can sit in front of the big screen TV while using.

Hoot

[Jim in Houston]

Now that I have all my reloading equipment ready to go and have collected my brass from the last range session, all I need are bullets. I have an order in with Hornady (part of their current promotion), which they expect to ship in June!!!!!. Midway was listing them on backorder with expected availability 3/31/11 - until I checked today and they have revised that date to 5/22/11.

Anyone know of a source for the Hornady OEM bullets?