Realoading and the R&D drop in converstin

sundance44`s · February 24, 2006, 08:44:33 AM

My new R&D drop in just arrived for my 1858 remie and .. fit and function are great ... was getting my 45 colt bullets ready to go try her out ..and decided to drop a few in the cylinder holes before i left just to be sure there wasn`t any problems .. low and behold some i have won`t drop all the way in .. in fact only the newly loaded never fired cases will load ... hum been reloading these winchester brass for a long time shooting them out of my marlin rifle ..no problems... always have loaded them with eaither bp or a sub and a 200gr laser cast bullet .the problem seems to be mid way on the cases .My question is am i going to have to shoot new brass every time i use the drop in . sure hope not might make the drop in more trouble than its worth .

Oldelm · February 24, 2006, 09:35:02 AM

Sundance,........you definitely should NOT have to use new brass every time. Reloaded cases should fit the R&D.Winchester brass,..... huuum. Did you resize the cases during your reloading process? What load are you using on the ones you've fired, reloaded and can't fit back in? I wonder if you were getting excessive pressures causing the cases to expand a little more,...then combined with not resizing properly? Is this your first reload with these brass?................. Just some thoughts/questions.

Halfway Creek Charlie · February 24, 2006, 10:02:09 AM

I read on another forum that someone was having the same problem with the Winchester cases, he changed to another make and no problems. When I load my 44 rem/colt I size the bullet(after crimping) and the case as far into the sizer as I can, which is almost the whole way. but they are Black Hills Brass, or Starline.

sundance44`s · February 24, 2006, 10:39:48 AM

I just went out back and fired the 30 rounds i had that were new brass .. no problems .. and after fired they droped out with just a tap ... i would say maybe its my sizeing causeing the problem ....but i sized these new cases before i loaded them (so i`m not sure )... i`m gonna cut back on the powder a little, these i shot had 37gr of app 2f maybe i`ll cut back to 34gr or so ... these 37 gr felt like BEAR STOPPERS out of the remie . lol and i must say if anyone hasn`t tried one of these R&D drop ins ..your missing out , these things are the best invention since peanutbutter ... i`ll keep shootin it if i had to load new cases every time . can`t remember the last time i was so impressed !

sundance44`s · February 24, 2006, 12:42:28 PM

Charlie .. i reload my 45 brass with a lee hand loader .... so i doubt its sizeing pressure thats the problem .. sizeing and bullet seating are done by tapping with a plastic mallet ...humm maybe the cases are reloaded too many times or something probally 6/7 times each at least ...i`ve got 2 new bags of the winchester brass i`ll try lightening the loads a bit .. i don`t want to use fillers ... one reason i always use the APP powder now .. didn`t figure it had enough umph to buldge my brass .. most of my older cases have had real black or pyrodex in them before though .. i`ll try keeping the new brass seprate just for use with the remmie .. even buying new brass everytime would be cheaper than buying already loaded bp bullets from black dawg or something , and it is right midway where they hang up ... what got me is the ones i shot were loaded heavy and after shot they dropped right out .... didn`t hang .. i do remember reading a post too, someone else was haveing a problem with winchester brass .... i knew i used winchester brass too but never had a problem with them in my marlin lever gun ....... but they aren`t as much fun to shoot in my lever gun ..lol my rugers and smiths get ready to collect dust ! the remmies rule the roost now ! see what i grab when i hear somethin go bump in the night !

Oddman · February 24, 2006, 03:04:30 PM

I also shoot Pietta 1858's with R&D Conv. Had the very same problem with reloads. I found that when you seat the bullet it causes the brass to bell out if you seat it to far. Check the depth of the bullet,adjust and re-seat with the reseating die. I shoot many diff. brands of brass with no problems.

Lars · February 24, 2006, 03:20:32 PM

sunbdance44's

Your need to full length resize the brass for the R&D 45 Colt coversion cylinder. The chambers in the R&D are as minimum diameter as I have seen on commercial 45 Colt stuff. Your Marlin most certainly has rather generous chambers, at least in comparison.

The Lee Hand Loader doe not full lenght resize, so, is pretty much restricted to loading lower pressure loads for a single gun.

You need to get, at minimum, a Lee Hand Press and a set of 45 Colt dies (check on Lee's website). You might want to look at table-mounted, single-stage presses.

Of course, you could just get one brand of 45 Colt brass for the R&D and use it ONLY for the R&D. That should work OK, at least for a few loadings.

Lars

sundance44`s · February 24, 2006, 03:45:05 PM

I`m gonna try not driveing the cases quite bottom on the sizeing die ... i just reloaded the ones i shot earlyer today and tried them in the cylinder holes ... they fit fine .. i`ve been reloading so long with the lee hand loader like 35 years .. i move like a machine ..lol .. and i think your right about the marlins chamber being so forgiveing ... i`ll keep my remmie brass seprate from the marlins , and keep an eye on whats going on .. it could have been that the brass had been reloaded too many times .. the winchester new brass is so easy for me to obtain here , but its the only kind . cabelas sells other brands next time i order there , i`ll try something different ... any suggestions on type are welcome ...thanks ..

Lars · February 24, 2006, 06:32:31 PM

I used one of the Lee Hand Loaders for maybe 20 years for a cheap 308 Winchester for hunting. After 4-6 reloads, depending on the load, I just tossed the brass and started with new cases. Used another one for 12 gauge hunting loads for almost 10 years. It sure was a cheap way to get excellent hunting ammo, especially when I downloaded to about 30-30 pressures and velocities and 1100-1150 fps for 12 gauge. The bucks and ducks and stuff never complained.

For 7X57 and 7X57R and 16 gauge I use tools that do full lenght or case head resizing because I have multiple guns in those chamberings and want to use the same loads in different guns.

Lars

sundance44`s · February 24, 2006, 08:56:25 PM

Lars i know you appreciate the art of true hand loading ...and the enjoyment of it , it seems fewer mistakes are made reloading this way if one has the time to invest . i`ve always heard that the black powder pressures wern`t high enough to do much case stretching so i`ve felt pretty comfortable reloading the 45 colts 6 or 7 times before trashing them , and have had good luck doing so for the marlin . I remember on the large cal. rifle cases i`ve loaded with modern powders about 3 times was all i could get , and that was useing norma caseings . The top edge of the R&D drop in cylinder is very tight ...thanks

Grapeshot · March 04, 2006, 09:22:19 PM

I have an R&D Conversion cylinder and it takes all my .45 Colt reloads, be they Starline, Winchester, Remington or Federal. I also use an RCBS Carbide sizing die to full length size my .45 Colt Brass.

I also decided to buy some Remington Nickled Cases that I plan to trim to Schofield length and load with .454 Speer Roundballs on top of a full case of Pinacle and a wonder wad under the ball.

Montana Slim · March 05, 2006, 04:06:19 PM

I've used my Pa's R&D conversions a bit (.38 NM Remingtons). The chambers are recessed to fit the head flush to the end of the cylinder. Most modern cowboy revolvers I've encountered have a bit of excess headspace which allows the cartridge to buldge slightly, just forward of the head, over long use. This design is what's causin' problems for ya.
It may not be possible to fully resize cartridges (fired many times in other firearms) to correct this situation. You also may be able to finger force them in (as I did with some of my ammo). My Pa only shoots .38 in his conversions, therefore his brass reloads easily (resizing may not be necessary). My brass, used for way more reloads than any reloading text will recommend, will not work with these pistols.

Slim

sundance44`s · March 05, 2006, 09:13:48 PM

Slim i figure thats my problem too .. too many times reloaded and ... i was a little agressive in my sizeing worrieing about a tight bullet fit to case because i was loading for a marlin rifle only and was afraid i might have a bullet leave the case in the magazine , probally not a problem ..... but something i just got in me head .. anyway i`m going to keep my pistol brass seperate from the rifle brass , and see what happens , as easy as my new case reloads fell empty from the R&D cylinder .. it had to be something to do with my sizeing .

Ed Clintwood · March 06, 2006, 06:22:57 AM

Sundance, I load .45 LC with a dillon and full length size with a carbide sizer and don't have any problems with the R&D in my Ruger. I shoot the same rounds in my Uberti Lightning. I don't shoot BP, but a stiff load of Unique and haven't had any problems. If I only got 3 reloads out of the cases I'd sure be disappointed. I use Starline and Winchester now, but used Remington or whatever in the past.

Williewheelgun · April 25, 2006, 08:49:34 PM

You didn't mention the bullet diameter you are loading. I have seen 45 boolits from .452 to .457.
If you try to drop a boolit through your R & D cylinder and it hit your foot, it may be too small. My R & D's like .454.

Also, I just recieved my R & D cylinders not too long back. I had purchased Kirst cylinders when I bought the Uberti's new. One cylinder did not work well. Sent it back to Walt. Same problem. Sent it to Buffalo Arms and they replaced it. New cylinder was better, but still bound up. R & D's work great.

JMHO

Willie

sundance44`s · April 26, 2006, 06:25:57 AM

I was useing oregon trail 200gr .452 `s think the problem was old brass that was not full sizeing ..been loading a new bag of winchester brass twice now and not haveing the problem yet .. if it happens too soon with the new brass i`m going to go to full sizeing ... the older brass is still shooting fine out of my marlin .. but its hard to keep the brass separate .. i think the cylinder holes in the R&D are just tight .. but i`m still enjoying it.

sundance44`s · April 26, 2006, 06:32:44 AM

I had a little problem with the bolt to lock up notch on the R&D but it wasn`t a hard fix just did a little stoneing on one side of the notches and it locks up fine on them all now .. i`m sure taylors would have fixed the problem if i had sent it back ....... but it was an easy fix , so i didn`t bother them .