Simple Sunday

Today was what I call a simple Sunday; you know, one of those Sundays in which nothing of any great import occurs. It was cold outside, by September's standards here in my part of Australia, and it rained hard over the day with brief moments of clear skies as the storms rolled in from the west.

Inside it was nice though, quiet other than the music I had on for most of the day, cosy and warm. I stayed off my computer as much as possible also which was nice as I spend far too much time in front of my laptop most days.

I decided to get onto some menial tasks I've been avoiding for a few weeks, namely de-priming and re-priming a pile of ammunition I've recently fired. After gathering the things I'd need from my workshop came inside to get to work.

In the image below you'll see a couple of spent cases of 6.5mm Creedmoor ammunition. That round silver thing in the base is the primer and the dent in it is where the firing pin has struck it after I've pulled the trigger.

The primer-accelerant explodes into the case-proper and ignites the gunpowder which also then explodes the resulting gases taking the path of least resistance out of the chamber, meaning, down the barrel. Of course, it has to push the bullet out in front of it and there you have it, a bullet sent down range. Sorry if you already know that.

Anyway, I was de-priming the cases and whilst that can be done during the resizing process on my press, I don't do it that way. I take the primer out manually using the hand tool in the image below which takes time but means when I clean the brass the primer pocket also gets a nice clean.

There's no real science behind it really, I just prefer doing it this way. One by one the used primers are removed; I did four hundred rounds today.

Those cases are now ready to go into my Rebel 17 wet tumbler for cleaning which I'll do during the week I guess. After I finished I packed that lot away and began priming cases I have sitting ready for the reloading process i.e. Cleaned, de-primed, resized, measured and batched, trimmed (if required), de-burred and neck-chamfered ready for priming.

Once again I do this manually rather than on my press. It allows for a more precise adjustment and means my primers are all evenly inserted as far as depth goes. These 6.5mm CM rounds are for long range shooting, over a mile, so I'm looking for a very precise round; I take great care in their construction.

The image above shows part of the tool and you can see where a primer is inserted to the die upside down prior to the case being locked onto the tool with the retaining ring. One works the lever and the press raises to insert the primer into the pocket - Some small force is required. That's it - good to go. Primed. It's actually quite a quick process when I get going so I ripped through a few hundred cases in no time.

Just a word on the primers. They're explosive and care must be taken. I always wear safety glasses when I'm priming - One can't be too careful. They are constructed to explode evenly into the flash-hole in the base of the case hence that gold tri-shape in the primer to direct the explosion evenly. They don't go off when dropped but if hit with something they do, and so I'm a little careful. Also, putting them in backwards is not advisable however it happens from time to time, annoyingly. Those are removed carefully and reused.

Once I'd primed the three hundred cases it was time to get packed up and to move onto my next simple Sunday task which was cuddling with Cleo on the couch and watching a movie. Oh, hang on, back that chuck wagon up a little...I should say, preparing coffee and snacks then cuddling with Cleo on the couch and watching a movie, with aforementioned snacks.

Ok, hang on...Let me get it straight. I wrote this post then prepared coffee and snacks then went cuddling with Cleo on the couch and watching a movie. So technically I'm still writing this right now, but when you're reading it I'll not be. Makes perfect sense right?

I've had a reasonable Sunday so far, quiet, but I'm ok with that. I don't need to be out somewhere or doing something amazing to enjoy life. Sometimes the small moments I live are the most valuable. A cuddle with Cleo, my cute little cat, some music and snacks, a movie maybe...Simple, but a nice way to spend some time.

I hope y'all are having a great day no matter what you're doing; life is far too short to allow yourself to not live your moments to the best of your ability.