Loading blocks

Joshua said:
I would disagree with your premise that loading blocks are a key piece of equipment.
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A loading block is a pretty useful device if you put powder in the case and then don't immediately cap the casing with a bullet.
If you put powder in multiple casings and then go back and place bullets on those casings......it's sort of important that the casings don't fall over after you put the powder in them and before you seat a bullet.

I'm getting the feeling that a lot of folks charge the case with powder and then immediately seat a bullet on that ONE case. (which is fine but not the method I chose).
 
Useful, and key piece, are not the same thing. I don’t dispute that loading blocks are useful.

A key piece, is the press, or the dies. I need those to load the round. I don’t use blocks at all.

I in fact see loading blocks as dangerous, and most likely are one of the reasons we see so many top straps blown off of revolvers/mag kabooms! Charging powder using blocks seems like a good way to double charge a round. Too much bullseye is a bad thing!!!

I’m gonna continue loading one round at a time.

Be safe out there!
 
Joshua, you do you.

I would lose what little sanity I have left if I had to complete loading each cartridge from start to finish before moving onto the next cartridge.

Assuming I'm not using a progressive press, If I'm loading a batch of say 50 handgun cartridges, I'll size & deprime all fifty. Then I'll expand the case mouth on all 50.
Then I'll prime all 50.
Then, with all 50 in a loading block, I'll pass each one under a powder measure and charge each case. I don't even bother to pull the casings out of the loading block to charge each one, I just pay attention to what I'm doing so that I DO NOT double charge a case or skip one. I then use a strong light to examine the casings in the block to confirm they all have the same amount of powder. (takes about 3 seconds under a good light)

Then I seat bullets and follow with a crimp.

I've never double charged a casing and I don't think I'm at risk of doing so.

Rifle cartidges follow roughly the same process but I weigh each charge and approach the desired weight with a powder trickler.

I don't allow distractions when reloading. I don't stop the process and pick it back up hours or days later. I pay attention to the task at hand.
 
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I do most things in batches of anywhere from 100 to 300 at a time. Decapping, sizing, priming/case flaring, and crimping.

But, I fill with powder, and seat my bullets one at a time. And, all of it from one tub to another. It really isn’t that slow of a process.

I’ll say it again. I didn’t line my toys up as a toddler. I don’t have autism, I have ADHD.

Loading blocks and the tism go hand in hand.

Getting distracted and loosing your focus isn’t a moral downfall, it’s the nature of how a brain is wired. I get distracted. Loading blocks would be dangerous for me.

But for the kid who grew up lining up their toys, loading blocks offer deep enduring comfort. Order and structure.

Years ago I read about a guy who had a phobia about touching his primers. He was worried about contamination. He only used tweezers. He thought everyone else was doing it wrong. I’ve touched every primer I’ve ever used with my bare hands, guess I’m just doing it wrong(never had a round not fire).

I own loading blocks. I dislike them. I should probably sell them. Just collecting dust.
 
I don't get distracted because I don't allow myself to get distracted; so, loading blocks are not dangerous for me.
I'm not "on the spectrum", I don't have autism or OCD and as a kid, I didn't line my toys up.
We all develop a system that works for us.
 
I'm also a batch/bowl reloader. I have some virgin green and orange loading blocks lying around here that came with reloading kits I purchased when I started fifty years ago.
 
Interesting comments but I am not seeing anyone discussing why loading in a block may lead to a more consistent process for dispensing powder directly into the pistol case. I use either the Bonanza Bullseye powder measure with fixed rotors or the RCBS Uniflow with pistol drum. I prepare brass (clean, size/deprime and flare) by container size and not by count. When I prime, I use a hand primer tool, and place the primed cases in the loading blocks.

Adding the powder is either by holding the Bonanza dispenser in my hands, placing the tool on a case, a pause after turning the rotor to fill the cavity, a pause, and then turn the rotor to empty the cavity. Move to the next case in line and repeat. This is a relatively slow count to allow sufficient time for the light powder charges to fill or drop into the case as manipulated. I seem to have accidentally developed the habit of counting the cases as I move along which should help avoid a double charge or an empty case. Most manuals will suggest that a smooth and consistent operation of the measure will result in consistent results.

My Uniflow is bench mounted so I just move the loading block from case to case repeating the slow count to try for consistent operation. With both methods, the light shined across the block of cases will allow visual inspection of each case. I also believe that this prevents powder settling in the measure which could result in super charging a case with flake powder by the vibration of operating the reloading press.

After all these years, it is a habit and old habits are hard to break. While we all have our own way of doing things. Now you know WHY I do it my way. Neither right or wrong for the rest of you.
 
It's a matter of personal preference.

ANYTHING can be dangerous if used carelessly.

Loading blocks do not imply that one necessarily dispenses powder into all cases while in the loading blocks before seating a bullet.

If loading blocks DO indicate some manner of OCD - nothing wrong with that. We all have our personal voodoo, which may or may or may not make our ammunition any better or more accurate, but it makes us feel better and induces confidence.

I've not used my bench-mounted press in some time now, so I've used the bins a bit less lately. I do the batch thing with brass, up until I charge the cases/seat the bullet. Whether using the bins or the blocks, I charge a case, seat a bullet, place the cartridge in a bin, or block, depending on what it came out of.

When I am doing ten or twenty rounds with the Hand-Press or 310 tool (my new favorite way), I prime a case, set it into a block, primer up. When it's time to charge the cases, I remove the upside-down empty from the block, charge the case, return it to the block, right-side-up. THEN, I check all ten or twenty with a light and set to seating bullets.

Using the blocks for small quantities provides a means for me to keep track of what I've loaded, because I may do ten with 4.0 grains of Unique and then ten with 4.5 grains of Unique, or a different powder or bullet. I number/letter-stamped the rows of five holes and I record what is in each row on a load sheet I developed in an open-source spreadsheet program.

I don't get significant blocks of time to isolate myself and engage in this endeavor, so these are things that help me keep track of things between (short) sessions. This is also where the hot-plate and PID come in handy while casting. IT would be nice to have longer blocks of time or to never be interrupted, but as a 24/7 care-giver, that's impossible and I am not sooner going to just give on one than the other, but if I had to give up one, it wouldn't be care-giving.
 
A lot of the techniques listed by Jeff H match the methods I use. Including the technique of pulling a casing out of the loading block in one orientation (case head up or case mouth up) and returning it to the block in the opposition orientation to indicate some operation on that casing has been completed. That works well if I only have one loading block for that type of cartridge, otherwise a second block is just as good to keep track of what is going on. I wouldn’t label that as OCD behavior but rather just an accounting technique. Sort of like counting currency by peeling bills off of a stack held in one hand and transferring the bills to your other hand as you count. It’s simply a method to reinforce where you are in the process.

I wouldn’t need a loading block at all if I immediately seated a bullet after charging each case with powder, but I prefer to charge all the casings in one batch as a group, not individually coupled with bullet seating. I don’t think it matters at all how that task is accomplished but if you have more than one casing with powder in it, the casings need to remain vertical and that’s where a loading block becomes important.

As Jeff H points out, the use of a loading block allows for very quick accounting of numbers during the operations. Again, not the end of the world if you choose to use a different sequence of operations or combine some operations.

Frankly, I prefer to use a progressive press if I’m loading more than 50 handgun cartridges in a session. I use a single stage for rifle cartridges and small batches of handgun rounds when I either don’t have the means to load them on the progressive press or I don’t want to re-configure the progressive press for a small batch.
 
Here's what I tell every new hire .
" There's the company book. There's the contract book . There's what we actually do somewhere in the middle. Further there's the way I do it , I'm very mechanical. There's the way the Boss does it with a more artistic flow. We are going have you read both books and teach you how WE do it. When you take the post it's your post to run the way that works for you ."

In my case with my powder choices it would be pretty hard , in the .850-1.285" cases , to have an unseen over or serious under charge .

I run as many as I have or until I get tired .
Per session , each step .
Sizing and decapping as needed per cartridge.
Flare as needed per cartridge.
Prime , powder , bullet .

I use trays as much for count as storage. When I either replace the computer and spring for 3D printing or have a pile of 1×6×10.5" materials the loading trays will be as much for loading as storage in cans . Of course that will include getting the set up and drill jigs right .
 
Seeing as this post has went in a completely different direction than I saw it going,

I don’t have to use a loading block, but I do, instead of a bowl or container. I use the blocks because they are small and hold a specific number of pieces. I do my brass in 50 or 100 round batches depending on the box they reside in. I too have ADD and I can’t keep up with my head most days. So the block allows me to progress in a singular fashion. I start at the bottom left corner,(closest to me) and progress left to right front to back. I charge one case and move my funnel to the next, the. Pick up that piece of brass and press a bullet into it and transfer it to its MTM box, and done. This is one of those to each their own deals. Loading blocks are an integral part of my loading process and I don’t load without them.

Progressives are a different process, loading blocks are mostly for rifle cartridges that I weigh out my RCBS auto charge. I will do pistol cartridges this way if I am doing a load work up.
 
I've made several loading blocks with 1.5" Cherry or Walnut, but this one is the one I'm getting ready (once I decide which CNC router to buy) to make from 1.25" Aluminum. I bought this one from a fella on Ebay and I imagine he used a Mill to carve out this one.
 

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I use mine to put the clean brass in. I get another chance to check the brass (in cowboy shooting, we can use them till they split--low powder loads).

Also being OCD, I like to do them in batches of 100, 200, etc, and I get to see how the reloading is coming along.

Since I wet tumble, I can spray them with One-Shot to help the resizing process--they do get sticky from this, but life is a trade-off

walt
 
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