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reloading advice desperately needed


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Hi all.

 

I have just purchased and bowman reloading press. which im sure you Know is old.

It came with all the bits as far as i know. So here's the problem. the bushings for the shot range from 7/8 to 1 1/4 ounces

as lead is lead im going to assume this is going to be fairly accurate. the powder bushings are in the range 24 to 28 grains. doing a conversion and using maxam load data sheet. to load 12g 76mm hulls with 32grams of shot and using cx1000 primers i need 24 - 25 grains of powder. all is good so far until you factor in that the bushing measures volume not weight so if there is a difference in old powders and modern powders im stuck.

 

so does anybody know the answer. will the bowman bushes be ok or will it overload powder resulting in breech over pressure ?

 

Youre advice will be appreciated.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you are unsure then you need to do a powder and shot drop chart to get the average. Set it up to load powder and drop about 20 charges, weighing them each time. Change the bush and repeat. Do this for each bush you have. This will give you an average load. Do the same thing with the lead or steel, whatever. I know this is time consuming but it will be the only way you will be able to make sure you are loading safe cartridges. If the drops vary greatly them try to establish a system. Eventuall they should settle down.

 

Each time you reload, you need to repeat this for a smaller number of drops as powder will settle differently. Best of luck and welcome to the hobbits in their man caves.

Make sure you keep supplies out of the way of small kids and nosey visitors.

Edited by Uncle Albert
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Hi all.

 

I have just purchased and bowman reloading press. which im sure you Know is old.

It came with all the bits as far as i know. So here's the problem. the bushings for the shot range from 7/8 to 1 1/4 ounces

as lead is lead im going to assume this is going to be fairly accurate. the powder bushings are in the range 24 to 28 grains. doing a conversion and using maxam load data sheet. to load 12g 76mm hulls with 32grams of shot and using cx1000 primers i need 24 - 25 grains of powder. all is good so far until you factor in that the bushing measures volume not weight so if there is a difference in old powders and modern powders im stuck.

 

so does anybody know the answer. will the bowman bushes be ok or will it overload powder

resulting in breech over pressure ?

 

Youre advice will be appreciated.

 

I've got a couple of Bowman's and if the powder bushes are the original bowman ones they will have a flat down the side of the bushing tube. The load of powder will be stamped on that flat. It will be something like xyz grains 80 or 82. This is back to when Nobel 80 &"82 series powders were available.

If they are different then most likely someone has machined up new bushings from aluminium bar. Normally the powder charge would have been stamped on the side or end of the bush because the loader needs to know what is going on with any loading. This is what I have done on the bushes that I have made for modern type powders. If you can't see anything on the bush you need to get a powder scale and measure what each bush throws with any given powder. Failiure to sort this out will result in a very serious situation of overpressure spike with the possible risk of a barrel burst possibly causing injury or worse. The Bowman is a good solid loader and will turn out good reloads the same as when it was new. But powders have changed. Even if you find out what the the bushes are supposed to throw I would still check this with the powder scale and rule any possible issue out. The main problem is matching the case contents to the case length and getting it all in to achieve a decent crimp. I also have a MEC 9000 in 12 & a Sizemaster in 28 that I use adjustable charge bars for. I have never tried to use one of these on a bowman but there is a possibility that it would fit straight in.

Edited by fortune
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I use a set of MTM scales. Get them from the usual Internet sites. Whatever you get, make sure they measure in grains or at least grms. These are the easiest to use as you can tare a plastic cup and get a weight of powder or shot. Always check what you are dropping before you start loading.

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thanks all

 

I have a question for fortune

 

It appears that the bushes are the original Bowman bushes, the smallest one i have is 24 1/2 grns of N260 i think its 260 the stamp is a little worn.

 

i will be getting some scales, my question is, is this in the right ball park is is it to large for loading 32gr of 6 shot with cheddite primers in a 2 3/4 hull ?

 

many thanks


forgot to mention maxam csb5

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Jon you need to put the bushing in and make about 10 drops of powder when your scales arrive.

 

Weight each one and divide by 10. This will give you the average powder drop from your bushing.

 

You then need to get some ratified data for csb5, I'm sure if you ask kindly on here someone will have that and then load when you have safe tested loads.

 

Please be careful when your staring out! Is there anyone local that can help?

 

Regards,

L

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hi iksopener

 

I dont know is there anybody in telford that reloads carts that i could watch for a while

 

Many thanks

Youtube is your friend. >>

Do not assume anything when loading, check and make sure.

It doesn’t matter what is stamped on the bush >> Weigh the charge to make sure that whatever bush you use actually throws a known weight of the chosen powder that is correct.

Although the bushes that you have are marked in old Nobel you might find that they are still ok with a modern powder but this must be checked with an accurate scale and re marked what weight is thrown with what powder.

Before you start try to work out the length of the components = powder and wad that will go into the case. If the wad column is too long the crimp will not close and if too short the crimp will be too low / deep and inverted. This vid gives an idea of the operations. BUT, There is a fair amount of leverage and force involved so the unit really has to be firmly bolted down to something of weight and strength. Be careful when putting the case up onto the fingers. They are easy to damage and bits are not available. When transferring to the fixed crimp station be careful not to tip the shot out all over the place and try to align up the crimp folds with the die. If you don’t do this it is easy for the crimper to try to start another set of fold lines. You have to do various adjustments on the crimper position or else the crimp won’t be formed or the case will get buckled and bulged. It all sounds very complicated but it is relatively straightforward and once it is set up you can start to make cartridges. Try to use all the same type / length of case in any batch or else it will have all sorts of fun with the variables and a lot of rejects. Then you can start to look for the next more advanced reloader.

Like this. >>

Edited by fortune
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