I am planning on taking a woodworking router and round nose bit:

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To basically machine a gutter around the bench top.

EDIt:  that’s a lot of shells.  I’m actually kinda surprised that the handles didn’t pull through the plastic.  

Spolar, ponsness, and Hornady powder bushings are all interchangeable.  I prefer the hornady bushing myself - the bushing number is the id of the bushing.  

Nice loader.  I doubt you can wear one out.

Thank you sir!

I ordered some Hornady bushings today, yes, for the Spolar both powder and lead shot.

While I am waiting on them to get here, I worked some more on the bench top:

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^^^ Plowing the gutter.

To keep 12 gauge hulls and wads and shot from just rolling off the bench top:

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Before:

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After first coat of polyurethane:

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Now I am going to flush up the plywood spacers.

There was a thread somewhere where they were talking about how lucky they were because they found two boxes of 410 at Walmart. For nearly .68 cents each

Felt like I got kicked in the balls just reading it,

Made me want to load up some for the week.

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Yeah, I saw that thread in GD.

I don’t have a .410 shotgun….yet…

But I do keep tabs on shotgun shell prices.

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That was at the Bass Pro that is in south St. Louis county.  There is a Cabela’s up north kinda by St. Charles, MO.

They charge almost 12% sales tax.

ASSuming a 9% sales tax, that’s $21.79 out the door.

Or 87 cents per round.

Cha ching!

I got some shot bushings in today,  They are Hornady brand but they fit the bar in the Spolar.

So I tried cranking out some 3/4 ounce 20 gauge loads earlier tonight.

THEEE weak link of every progressive shotgun reloading press is going to be the primer feed mechanism.  Yep, even with a Spolar.  You gotta keep an eye on the “primer drop”.

I made some adjustments, and I think that helped.

I’ll post ics tomorrow.

Here is a zoomed in screen shot from a bing image search:

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The primers drop from the tray into that vertical channel/track.

It has a gradual, quasi-circular 90* bend in that channel or track, such that the channel/track is about level or parallel to the floor.

So, the “on deck” primer has to rely on the weight of the primers behind it to push that “on deck” primer into the primer feed or “primer shuttle”.  

Once you run low enough on primers, there is not enough weight on the “on deck” primer to reliably feed it into the “primer shuttle”.

But, with Cheddite primers having that red sealant on them, it makes it much easier to see that a primer has dropped into the primer cup.

WOOT!  WOOT!

A little cleaning, some gun oil here and there, and some grease does wonders!



Here is a Cheddite primer sitting in the primer cup:

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The other night I was using the silver colored Winchester 209’s that were still left in the press.  The silver color made them[ hard to see.  The red Cheddites are so much easier to spot.

The Spolar has a little electric motor with an off centered weight on it….. yes, a vibrator.  So as the handle is all the way down  / the platform is up, the press closes the switch, and the thing vibrates.  It settles powder, the shot, and mainly the primers.

The other thing I did tonight was clean the primer tray with 90% rubbing alcohol and Q-tips.  Once all the alcohol had flashed off, I gave the primer tray a spray or three of Pledge furniture polish.  After about 5 minutes, I buffed that off with a paper towel.  Those primers skated right down into the track.  

Shot some trap and some skeet.  Trap with the 12 gauge and the 20 gauge (3/4 ounce reloads).  Skeet with just the 20 gauge.

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HOLY COW!

Talk about hardly any recoil with the  3/4 ouncers in the 20!

I had a few shells where I set the primers a little too deep and the headstamp was concave enough where the bottom barrel’s firing pin wouldn’t set them off.  But I moved them to the top barrel and they went BANG!  And broke birds.  

I made an adjustment to the primer seater on the Spolar, so it stopped dishing the few headstamps.

EDIT:  I might make a slight adjustment to the crimp to close up this teeny tiny hole:

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I have a one pounder of Green Dot.

I’ll have to call my LRS to see what the availability is like on Alliant’s 20/28 powder.

My plan is to switch the Spolar over to 12 gauge now that I cranked out enough of the 20 gauge 3/4 ouncers.

Green Dot is basically UNobtanium.

Quarter rounds….that’s a helluva an idea!

My first reloading session with the Spolar, I did spill some shot and powder.  I used an el cheapo paint brush to sweep it all to my bench’s “gutters”.

Has anybody figured out a good way to separate shot from powder?

@WeimaranerDad

I use a screen type strainer for that purpose, like these.

Thank you sir!

I’ll have to see what Target or Wally World has in their kitchen aisles.