a little help

I need a little help on the whole reloading thing.My first bullets are 200 jhp xtp if anyone could tell me what is the best powder i just bought the lee annivers kit. if any one could tell what else i needed that would be appreciated so i could go down my checklist.

Well, there's no best powder. Everyone you ask will swear by something different.

I use 7 gr Unique for 200gr plated bullets. OAL in the neighborhood of 1.23" for a hollowpoint. That should be a pretty good load for a 200 gr XTP, too. You ought to work up from about 6.7 grains, though.

BTW, one heaping fired & unsized .380 case will be around 7.0 grains of Unique, depending on the gun is was fired out of. :) You should obviously verify with a scale.

The anniversary kit comes with most what you need, except the dies & shell holder*, a bullet puller, and calipers. I would consider a tumbler and a media separator, too.

*Lee die sets come with a shellholder. (The shell holders that come with the kit are for the Auto Prime, only!)

W-231 is hard to beat for a "first" powder to handload pistol calibers with. Unique is another good one.

You will need the Lyman Reloading Manual #49. In my opinion it is the most comprehensive document published that contains a multitude of reloading data and information for almost every common cartridge. They can be had for about $17 on Amazon.

By the sound of your first post read the Lee manual that came with the kit from cover to cover and pour over the recipes regarding the caliber you wish to reload. If possible buy another manual and read it also, check out the library.

thank you vary much this why i joined this forum so i could get some wisdom plus iam just a
gun nut.Looks like all i need is a bullet puller

one more Q,for why start at 6.7 safer? or just finding the right one.I know i still have a lot of studying i got lee second edition.

one more Q,for why start at 6.7 safer?

Its a rule of reloading to start low and work up from there. Most work up to the most accurate load or the load most comfortable for them. But you always work up.

If you want to duplicate factory ammo, 231/Unique are hard to beat. Hodgdon Universal is right up there as well.

thanks

my whole has not got to my house yet so trying to get more knowledge in my head about it

my whole has not got to my house yet so trying to get more knowledge in my head about it

I may be old, but for crying out loud use proper english, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Just what ARE you trying to say with that last post.

one more Q,for why start at 6.7 safer? or just finding the right one.I know i still have a lot of studying i got lee second edition.

Alliant lists 7.3 gr Unique as the maximum for a 200 grain Gold Dot. Because of unforeseen variables, you shouldn't normally jump right to a max load. Usually a manual lists a starting load. If a starting load isn't listed, then the rule of thumb is to take 10% off the max load. So in this case, I said 6.7 because that's about 10% less than the max load listed. (Actually, it would be 6.6gr, oops).

Unforeseen variables include things like using a different bullet. Or you might be a real dummy and use your scale without calibrating it, the first time... as did someone I know, real well. I, er I mean he was dropping almost 4% more powder than he thought he was. :)

I load exclusively with Longshot for a couple of good reasons that meet my purpose. Longshot provides a high velocity accurate load. It also provides a good load density that makes it almost imposssible to accidentally double charge the case. Although it has a higher working pressure that operates in the upper end of recomended SAMMI pressures, those pressures are consistent and well within stated maximums. I is also a good powder for the 9mm and produces like results with that cartridge.

well i got my kit, i went to get powder and all they had was hogden tite group so now i am not sure about how much should use with the 200 jhp xtp.what i am thinking is that 6.7 still might be the right weight.

Just what ARE you trying to say with that last post.
Amen

what i am thinking is that 6.7 still might be the right weight. You are thinking wrong. You must use Titegroup data, not W-231 data. All powders have their own data. You need some serious time with a reloading manual.

okay not 6.7 it is 4.7,WOW that could been bad.

ya i know that is what iam trying to do is study all of this before i touch anything.Does 4.7 sound right for the min,walkalong?

there is just not a lot of load data for the 200 jhp xtp with hogden.I looked on there website they dont have hornadys 200 jhp xtp load on there.

there is just not a lot of load data for the 200 jhp xtp with hogden.I looked on there website they dont have hornadys 200 jhp xtp load on there.
I would not have any problem using 200 gr JHP Speer bullet load data for XTP JHP bullets.

There's plenty of load data for 200 gr Speer JHP bullet on Hodgdon's website (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp):
200 GR. SPR JHP Hodgdon Longshot .451" 1.155" Start 7.0 918 13,300 CUP - Max 7.8 1013 16,900 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP IMR 800-X .451" 1.155" Start 6.8 877 13,600 CUP - Max 7.4 954 16,600 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP IMR SR 4756 .451" 1.155" Start 7.0 842 11,100 CUP - Max 7.6 941 14,200 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Hodgdon HS-6 .451" 1.155" Start 8.2 868 14,000 CUP - Max 9.0 948 16,400 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Winchester AutoComp .451" 1.155" Start 6.4 856 12,600 CUP - Max 7.0 930 16,000 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Hodgdon Universal .451" 1.155" Start 5.8 889 15,100 CUP - Max 6.2 949 17,200 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Winchester WSF .451" 1.155" Start 6.1 807 12,500 CUP - Max 6.8 929 16,700 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Winchester 231 .451" 1.155" Start 5.2 794 12,700 CUP - Max 5.9 906 16,700 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Hodgdon HP-38 .451" 1.155" Start 5.2 794 12,700 CUP - Max 5.9 906 16,700 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP IMR SR 7625 .451" 1.155" Start 6.0 861 13,600 CUP - Max 6.6 941 17,100 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP IMR PB .451" 1.155" Start 5.0 798 12,800 CUP - Max 5.5 873 16,100 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Winchester WST .451" 1.155" Start 4.6 789 15,900 CUP - Max 5.1 898 17,500 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Hodgdon Titegroup .451" 1.155" Start 4.7 812 13,700 CUP - Max 5.2 884 16,900 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP IMR 700-X .451" 1.155" Start 4.8 844 14,400 CUP - Max 5.3 911 16,700 CUP

200 GR. SPR JHP Hodgdon Clays .451" 1.155" Start 3.9 714 15,200 CUP - Max 4.3 785 17,700 CUP