Worst thing you have purchased for reloading

[Randy Tidwell]

I am always amazed when a company will no stand behind their product.

By not replacing a cheap part, they not only loose that customer for life, but anyone they come in contact with. With the internet today, you can distroy your company very easily.

I don't like Hornady loading equip either. Love their bullets.

 

[Camalius (Tim) Pomaville]

I called Hornady recently about their Lock N Load auto charge. I told the guy (Matt) about the problem and he had me up and running perfectly after 5 - 10 minutes. The Auto Charge must be set up correctly, and I should have read the instructions more carefully. Please check your manual, or call Hornady and you will be pleased. There are some other Hornady items that I'm not too happy with, however, Tidwell is right; a lot of the bullets are great.

 

[Calvin45]

So we have had a few threads to help out new guys over the last few weeks. Thread on best piece of equipment, thread on sharing your reloading bench setup. So how about we share what was the worst/biggest waste of money you purchased for reloading! This will take me a little bit of thinking as I have wasted a lot of money lol.

Bought one of those Lyman case length checker things…I don't use it, I have callipers for that! Not a big invenstment but nonetheless a waste of money.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Probably a reload kit. Unless you are satisfied with all the tools then it may be best to buy up, buy separate, on the scales ( in particular).

 

[Old Rooster]

Battery eating cheap calipers.I bought a Mitutoyo and replace a battery every 2 to 3 years and never looked back.

 

[RidgeTop]

Some will probably disagree but that's what makes the world go round.

Mine was to different powder auto dispensers (The RCBS Charge master) I realy thought these would improve my loading time and accuracy, They did not. I bought one and found that half the time was spent dumping error charges. So based on other peoples recommendations I bought another one to speed up the process (Some had as many as 3).

The second one was no better at dropping consistent charges than the first. and only complicated the process. so I set out on a mission to evaluate the powder charging process altogether.

I found that with a very good powder measure and beam scale, speed and accuracy was better than using the charge masters. I loaded 50 rounds with one system and 50 more with the other and it wasn't even close.

I checked each load individually and found the measure and scale came out on top with almost 100 % accuracy. the charge master was close to 20% rejected. Curious as to why, I started dumping more loads and If i waited long enough it would give me an error message and the charge had to be dumped.

Once I got the powder measure calibrated and got my rhythm down there were almost no rejects. I also checked these loads with a digital scale that measures to 0.01 g so there would be no human factor. this confirmed that the beam scale was being read correctly and accurately.

Some feel that this level of accuracy is not necessary and I don't disagree, but when I load, I don't want or need any excuses for poor accuracy and except the human factor as the problem.

So I have reverted back to a simple and time proven method that gets me the most consistent loads in less time with less problems.

I sold both of my Charge masters and have never looked back. and of all the poor choices I have made for reloading this has been the most costly one.

J E CUSTOM

I have the Gen 6 (right)and it works great. Tells you exactly what it is dispensing. Got it at Cabela's on sale. One on left is analytical balance accurate to .001gr.

 

[emp1953]

So we have had a few threads to help out new guys over the last few weeks. Thread on best piece of equipment, thread on sharing your reloading bench setup. So how about we share what was the worst/biggest waste of money you purchased for reloading! This will take me a little bit of thinking as I have wasted a lot of money lol.

I invested heavily in .30cal Speer Grand Slams (180gr) back in the EARLY 70's, I bought 800. This was for a Remington 700 in 30-06. Someone I trusted sold me on them and I constructed a really accurate load using 3031. I was at 2750fps according to the available chronographs available at the time. Went on a black bear hunt in Pennsylvania. A bear came by and I put 4 rounds in the chest resulting in the bear running down to the next hunter in our group who killed it with a depression era Winchester 30-30 using 150gr SilverTip ammo with the year 1950 stamped on the box. When we cleaned the bear we found my 4 holes, in the chest, missing ribs each round, pencil size entry wound and slightly larger exit wounds. No spent bullets to examine. I had this loading anchor deer and elk, but my bear hunt of a lifetime was a failure because of these bullets not performing on the bear. He weighed a few pounds over 480lbs so had plenty of bulk for the bullets to work on. I had over 800 Grand Slams that I just wanted to throw out. I ended up swapping them for 300 Swift A-frames(165gr) and 200 Nosler Partitions (165gr) and I have never looked back. I have hunting buddies that swear by the Grand Slams and they have the results to support that. Loss of that bear just soured me on them for 45 years.

 

[Calvin45]

I invested heavily in .30cal Speer Grand Slams (180gr) back in the EARLY 70's, I bought 800. This was for a Remington 700 in 30-06. Someone I trusted sold me on them and I constructed a really accurate load using 3031. I was at 2750fps according to the available chronographs available at the time. Went on a black bear hunt in Pennsylvania. A bear came by and I put 4 rounds in the chest resulting in the bear running down to the next hunter in our group who killed it with a depression era Winchester 30-30 using 150gr SilverTip ammo with the year 1950 stamped on the box. When we cleaned the bear we found my 4 holes, in the chest, missing ribs each round, pencil size entry wound and slightly larger exit wounds. No spent bullets to examine. I had this loading anchor deer and elk, but my bear hunt of a lifetime was a failure because of these bullets not performing on the bear. He weighed a few pounds over 480lbs so had plenty of bulk for the bullets to work on. I had over 800 Grand Slams that I just wanted to throw out. I ended up swapping them for 300 Swift A-frames(165gr) and 200 Nosler Partitions (165gr) and I have never looked back. I have hunting buddies that swear by the Grand Slams and they have the results to support that. Loss of that bear just soured me on them for 45 years.

A bad experience is tough to get past. And the nice thing is we're spoiled with so many dang options it's overwhelming so there's no reason to try to get yourself to like something you just aren't gonna like or give another chance haha.

My uncle had this happen with Remington corlokt ammo back in the day. "Deadliest mushroom in the woods" totally exploded on a deer shoulder and didn't even make it into the chest cavity. Just a defective round no doubt, it happens, still can't figure that out (.308 win, 150 grain). I know thousands of critters are reliably taken with that stuff every year but I also can't blame him for being unwilling to ever use it again.

 

[26Reload]

More rifles.........

 

[memtb]

A purchase back in the early '80's…..Sierra .375, 300 grain SBT for my old H&H. They completely disintegrated on every thing they hit! They came apart so readily, I'm surprised that I could measure the groups on the target paper. A bit of an exaggeration……but, you get the point! memtb

 

[Harry Knutz]

Bought one of those Lyman case length checker things…I don't use it, I have callipers for that! Not a big invenstment but nonetheless a waste of money.

I think everybody that's been around awhile has or has had one of these useless case length gauges, Somewhere around here I have an old aluminum one from the 60's or 70's, Thinking of why I haven't throw it away makes me LMAO!

 

[coop2564]

Ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Calvin45]

Ultrasonic cleaner.

I've considered buying one but just stick with my cheap vibratory tumbler. What didn't you like about the ultrasonic?

 

[Mark37082]

I'm thankful for getting good advice from experienced reloaders before starting my own reloading journey. I really can't think of anything I have purchased that I did not use. Over time I am finding my Lee die sets are gathering dust as they have been replaced by better quality dies. The Lee dies worked fine for starting out and were very affordable. I need to find a new reloader to help out on their journey.