Praxis: Reloading and Packaging

Meet the mule I went to see.

Some years ago I bought half-interest in a Dillon RL1050. Recently we moved it to a new location where we could get some more use out of it. We have been gathering components for some months to run .45 ACPs. With the help of a few readers who contributed some of those components that they had extra, we have made two runs now in the past couple of weeks. Today we ran 500 Hornady 200 grain XTPs, 500 230 grain lead round nose and 500 225 grain lead truncated cones. We could have run more, but we ran out of projectiles. The next run will happen after we cast more. We began a little after ten in the morning and were finished shortly after two in the afternoon. Here's what they looked like and how I packaged mine.

First we ran the 200 Grain Hornady XTPs. We used a 5.7 grain charge of HP-38. You will note that they are packed in used boxes scrounged from range trash cans. Acquistion cost: zero.

We ran labels to remark them. Each indicates the caliber, bullet type, powder type and powder charge with the date of packaging. They are also marked "Coosa Mountain Ordnance" and "III". The labels are placed on both ends of the boxes so there can be no mistake about the caliber or provenance. It is convenient that most ammo manufacturers use the same size boxes for .45, 10mm and .40 (there are even some who use the same for 9mm), so there is no shortage of packaging available.

Above are some of the 230 grain lead round nose reloads.

Here are the 225 grain truncated cone bevel base reloads.

Now, once they are in the can, we mark each M19A1 "thirty cal." can plainly with the contents. Here is the front of the can with the XTPs:

Here is the top of the can with the XTPs:

"CMO" of course stands for Coosa Mountain Ordnance, a shorthand way of reminding us that they are reloads. Here is the front of the can of 230 grain LRNs:

And here is the can of 225 rain LTCs:

Normally, I like to put the cans up in ComBloc pattern wooden crates for ease of moving, storing and stacking. Also, I don't really like to mix and match two types of ammo in the same crate, but since both of these were lead reloads, I made one crate out of them.

Note the cans nestle nicely in the crate. In this case it is a crate that formerly held 8mm Mauser (probably Yugoslavian).

The crate must be boldly remarked so that no one can mistake what the contents are in a hurry, at night, by the light of a flashlight. This is the crate top cover:

"CMO" again is Coosa mountain Ordnance" and BXD" indicates "boxed." Ammunition that is packed in bandoleers and stripper clips is abbreviated "B/SC." Here is a close-up of the front of the crate (it is marked identically on the back):

And, because these crates are most often stacked side view out, we mark the handles on each end:

"LD" of course is abbreviation for "Lead."

So, that is how I took my mule for a ride. Any questions?