Beginner Reloading

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Sounds like you're on the right track. A couple of observations/suggestions:

  • I love light loads with small charges of fast powder. But for brand new reloaders who are still working out the process, I like powders with a little more case fill. Suggestion: get a pound of Unique. You'll find it a very useful powder for a whole lot of things, and it's a bit bulkier (and needs more weight) than things like bullseye or 231. Being able to easily see the powder in the case will give you some extra confidence in the early going.
  • Speaking of seeing the powder, think about how to get light and vision down into the case on the press. There are some inexpensive LED lights that are made to stick to the fixed part of the LCT that are good for the light... and a cheap dental mirror can help get you a clear view to the bottom of a case like .38 spl.
  • As others have said, get another manual or two. The reassurance of cross-checking data from multiple sources really helped me in the early going.
  • As you dive in, try to minimize/control variables. That way, if you are trying to troubleshoot something, you have less stuff to deal with/sort through on your way to a solution.
  • For loading on the LCT, get a digital scale. Once you've sized and primed the case, you can pull it off the press, put it on the scale, and zero the scale. Now, if you put the case back on the press and throw a load of powder through the die, you can put the charged case back on the scale and the weight will be the powder charge. No pouring back and forth. Which is nice.
  • The whole heavy-bullet-versus-light-bullet recoil discussion is in the context of achieving a certain power factor (momentum). A 115 grain bullet driven to 800fps will have less recoil in every way than a 147 grain bullet driven to 800fps. It won't feel "snappier," etc. The discussions you're seeing are typically about the choice of driving that 115 grain bullet faster - sufficiently fast to get its total momentum to equal that of the slower moving 147. That's where the interesting discussion begins. For now, no need to worry about it.

ATLDave- Unique was originally at the top of my list due to the case fill properties. However, I had read a ton of stuff about inconsistent metering. I ended up paying a bit extra for the auto drum dispenser after seeing numerous reviews that it does better with bulk powders. Maybe i'll start with that after all. I wonder if I could sneak in a purchase of a chargemaster lite for my scale as a just in case = )

Thanks for the summary of the power factor as well- I think I may have been a bit off in my interpretation of those discussions, and that does make a lot of sense. Total force is limited by mass and velocity clearly- those seem like variables to play with after I get the process down and comfortable with decent starting loads.
 
Was wondering if anyone has any experience in these arenas that would be beneficial.

A decent caliper will verify your COL once you determine what that should be. 9mm doesn't have a lot of case volume and you can get into dangerous territory quickly if you ignore COL. .38 is a bit more forgiving but still you want to start with published load data, at the minimum end, to begin with and be safe. Most manuals have a basic reloading section that should be read, and then re-read.
Your powder selection is just fine - some of us get a bit crazy searching for "the" powder but all do well. I'd recommend staying away from the uber fast powders like Titegroup until you get some experience.
Good luck and welcome to the club.
 
ATLDave- Unique was originally at the top of my list due to the case fill properties. However, I had read a ton of stuff about inconsistent metering. I ended up paying a bit extra for the auto drum dispenser after seeing numerous reviews that it does better with bulk powders. Maybe i'll start with that after all. I wonder if I could sneak in a purchase of a chargemaster lite for my scale as a just in case = )

Thanks for the summary of the power factor as well- I think I may have been a bit off in my interpretation of those discussions, and that does make a lot of sense. Total force is limited by mass and velocity clearly- those seem like variables to play with after I get the process down and comfortable with decent starting loads.

Unique meters fine for making fun, safe ammo. I have never hand-trickled a single charge of it, and I've used a few pounds. If you're chasing the lowest SD/ED, then it's not the powder to use. But if you're trying to make stuff that goes bang and works reasonably well... it meters satisfactorily for that. IME, anyway.
 
One thing I didn’t see mentioned is a log book. Either a 3 ring binder or spiral notebook. Keep good records as you go, document everything, and you won’t have to repeat past mistakes. There is no way you will remember what worked and what didn’t down the road.

Probably the easiest to start with would be a 148 wadcutter in 38 spa over 2.7 grains of bullseye. Seat it flush with the case mouth and add a slight crimp. Always verify visually the powder charge in every case, there won’t be much. Also a set of check weights for the scale is a good idea.

If you are interested, pm me and I can send you some 9 & 38 brass along with some 148wc bullets. Maybe some 124 9mm’s if I get some powder coated soon.
 
Good point on the logbooks. I've filled up 4 spiral steno notebooks with load data and notes. Early on, I wrote down/recorded as much as I could... I figured I could later trim back the amount of data I collected, but I wouldn't know in advance what would be useful.
 
Ben293, what part of the country are you located? Very soon I will be putting up some 9 mm brass in the pif thread but I can send you some. If you like to pm me with an address, I'll fill up flat rate shipping box and send them to you. No need to buy 9 mm brass. I could probably throw in some 38 Special brass as well.
Edit: didnt see bullseye's offer. Either way, I can still send you some if you would like.
 
So, I still do not see a SCALE; he'll also want a kinetic bullet puller for the OOPS we all have from time to time.

Bullet puller, yes. Scale... I've never used one for pistol rounds, and only rarely for rifle rounds.

Learning how to use a dipper isn't rocket surgery, and not every reload has to be weighed out on a scale.
 
Bullet puller, yes. Scale... I've never used one for pistol rounds, and only rarely for rifle rounds.

Learning how to use a dipper isn't rocket surgery, and not every reload has to be weighed out on a scale.
I'll disagree; using some fast powders, the margin of error is tiny. I have some where the difference between min and max loads is .2 grains. You can't tell that using dippers.
 
Learning how to use a dipper isn't rocket surgery, and not every reload has to be weighed out on a scale.

How the heck do you know what weight the dipper is pulling without a scale to check? Tell me you don't trust the Lee charts?! You certainly don't have to weigh every charge, but you need to weigh some to figure out what you're actually putting in the case if you're dipping.

Also, the OP says he's going to be loading on a turret. He's not going to be dipping charges... he'll be throwing them. He needs a way to check the weight of what is being thrown. The scale is not optional. I know the Kempf kits used to come with them... maybe that has changed.
 
One thing I didn’t see mentioned is a log book. Either a 3 ring binder or spiral notebook. .

I've started using the 2 pocket folders with the 3 prong fasteners to retain notebook paper and right now I have them set up with tab dividers to separate the different calibers.

So what I do is each new load gets it's own page with the Caliber, Bullet, Powder, Over-all length, and which powder measure I used to measure the powder with and if it was done with the Lee Auto Disk measure I note which cavity I used and what charge weight I was getting with that cavity. I then leave plenty of room for notes on any difficulties and then general impressions on how they performed and it any changes should be made. Then on the back side of the page I list the date I loaded it, how many I loaded and which cases I used in list form for multiple loadings.
 
Hi guys-
Sorry for the delay- yesterday was a long day and I just could not focus my eyes on a screen by the evening.

A logbook is an excellent idea. I was planning on keeping it all in a notebook- but after that suggestion, I did some googling and found a couple of good looking ones. Redding has one posted as well. I think I will go a bit anal retentive and keep track of every thing on these sheets as I journey in here- better to be able to track less later on but ensure i'm not missing any data to begin with. kmw- I really like that idea on the folders for different loads as well.

How the heck do you know what weight the dipper is pulling without a scale to check? Tell me you don't trust the Lee charts?! You certainly don't have to weigh every charge, but you need to weigh some to figure out what you're actually putting in the case if you're dipping.

Also, the OP says he's going to be loading on a turret. He's not going to be dipping charges... he'll be throwing them. He needs a way to check the weight of what is being thrown. The scale is not optional. I know the Kempf kits used to come with them... maybe that has changed.

Absolutely I will be using a scale. I've got a list of a few digital scales to look into reviews on before I pull the plug and order. The kempf kits do not come with a scale anymore (at least the particular kit i ordered). I've played with the lee safety scale at a shop before- while I think it works fine, I think some of the other options would be easier to read more reliably and figured on the scale outside of the kit.

You guys have been a tremendous help- I am glad I found this community on the web. There are very few forums I've stayed with over the years that stay civil and have people genuinely interested in helping people out- its always refreshing to find a new bastion on the web where civil discourse and genuine interest appear.
 
Paper databooks? Yuck... it’s 2019 people, you’re either on a computer or smart mobile device to read and post here, get with the times! You don’t have to go full on MS Access database, but at least go Excel!
 
Paper databooks? Yuck... it’s 2019 people, you’re either on a computer or smart mobile device to read and post here, get with the times!
I do both. My loads start in excel, but I have a paper notebook on the reloading bench to track what I do there. Using the excel workbook as a data source I can generate shot lists, targets, and shot sheet logs using word and the mail merge capability. However keeping track of what I do in the reloading area is paper based.
 
Welcome to THR,
Lots of great people here

My 9mms seem to prefer 124/125gr bullets.
Current favorite is the RMR MPR.
In 9mm a 125 at around 1020-1050 FPS is enough softer shooting than factory ammo you can feel the difference.
Couple loads around there or a bit lower if you are not concerend with making 125 PF for matches
All S+B SP mixed range brass, charges as thrown after setting measure


5" 9mm 1911
Does not make PF but a nice soft shooting load
String: 3
Date: 10/29/2017
Time: 10:04:31 AM
Grains: 124
Hi Vel: 995
Low Vel: 962
Ave Vel: 986.2
Ext Spread: 33
Std Dev: 14
RMR 124 MPR JHP 4.0 hP38 1.08 5inch 1911
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
991 122.884 270.378
993 123.132 271.47
990 122.76 269.832
962 119.288 254.785
995 123.38 272.565

This one makes 125 PF and is also soft shooting
String: 2
Date: 8/26/2018
Time: 11:33:39 AM
Grains: 124
Hi Vel: 1040
Low Vel: 1013
Ave Vel: 1031
Ext Spread: 27
Std Dev: 10
4.7 CFE-P124 RMR MPR JHP 1.08
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
1013 125.612 282.515
1040 128.96 297.776
1038 128.712 296.632
1033 128.092 293.781
1035 128.34 294.92

This is my current favorite at make 125 PF
Name RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF
Notes N/A
Number of Shots 10
Extreme Spread 45
Average 1052
Standard Deviation 12
Power Factor Average 131
Power Factor Low 127
Power Factor High 133

Shot List Index Velocity Bullet Weight Ft/Lbs Power Factor Date
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 1 1027 124 290 127 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 2 1056 124 307 131 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 3 1054 124 306 131 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 4 1054 124 306 131 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 5 1041 124 298 129 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 6 1072 124 316 133 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 7 1062 124 311 132 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 8 1060 124 309 131 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 9 1059 124 309 131 2/11/2018 12:44
RMR 124 MPR 4.4 WSF 10 1041 124 298 129 2/11/2018 12:44

If have some chrono data for some light-med loads with147s as well if your interested PM me,.
 
Hey Everyone-

I am finally making forward progress! First off, thank you all very much for the advice, the PM's, and the PIF's, I really appreciate it and am humbled by the amount of knowledge and generosity on this site.

I finally was feeling well enough to work on getting the press mounted end of last week. Slowly, but surely, I've gotten the dies set, played around making a few dummy rounds to test, and today, I even did some loading!

I decided to start the process from the beginning- my head just tends to wrap around things better that way. Started off this past weekend tumbling brass with a HF tumbler and getting it clean.


From there, after much researching and consulting of load data, I found several sets of data that overlapped. With lots of reading on plated bullets suggesting going to the higher end of lead data or middle range for jacketed, settled on 2 loads to test and loaded up some Berry's DEWC that were very generously sent to me by a fellow member here. I loaded these on top of two test loads of Win 231. 20 rounds total, 10 of each load. I was impressed with how consistent the auto drum was- it stayed within +- .06 grain of what i was shooting for according to my scale.


I have a follow up appointment tomorrow- hoping to get cleared to go to the range and test some of these out = )

In the mean time, I have set up my set of 9mm dies and made a dummy round or two as I wanted to see how much modifying of COAL I am going to have to do with the XD. I made dummies with an ACME 115 and a MBC 125gr SWC. the SWC plunks fine at recommended COAL- the ACME will need to be shortened slightly before I start working up loads to try in it.

Tonight I spent some time doing some data analysis for the fun of it. Below is a partial screenshot of what I've been looking at to give me some ideas on where to start with OAL. This data is helping me look at loading some Berry's 124gr plated RN I picked up from Bass Pro with a gift card. Where I am getting a bit lost- in a lot of the examples I was reading through today in working on figuring COAL (obviously will need to plunk test, just looking at the math here) I saw a number of formulas that were figuring how deep into the case mouth the bullet was seated in the data and working from there. What I did in my spreadsheet was pulled length data for bullets I could find, and subtracted that from the listed COAL. If I am looking at this right, that should give me the distance from the case head to the base of the bullet (reflected in OAL-Specified column). In the adjusted OAL field, I took the distance calculated and added in the length of the bullets- in this case, after measuring 10, they are fairly right on at .588". If I am looking at this right, this should give me a good starting point to use the load data found. IE- if I went with the data from Lyman 50, I would seat to 1.045 minimum, and do a few loads within the range (in this case, I would likely do 4.0, 4.2, 4.4 to stay a touch away from min and max.). My thought process is then to find the load I like the best and do a further round of testing with +.1, -.1, and the load itself I had previously tested.


 
The links you posted are to your media album and I get the following error:
The High Road - Error
You do not have permission to view media within this album.

Congrats on the initial loads, there’s something so very satisfying about creating your own ammo!

Regarding your 9mm loads at a COL of 1.045, that’s pretty short at least in my book. There’s not a lot of case volume in 9mm and you can get in to dangerous territory pretty quickly when COLs are short.
Your OP indicates to me you want to start with a low recoil/just a nice shooting load. One school of thought is to load as long as possible with the least amount of powder charge that will avoid a squib but still cycle the action. Once you get that you’ll probably find out that’s a bit dirty in that cases didn’t seal to the chamber and the powder burn was incomplete. Increasing the powder charge and decreasing the COL will yield higher velocities (and pressures) so that workup has to be done carefully. A chrono will help keep you out of trouble (and yes, a chrono just measures velocity, not pressure everyone).
A 124gr plated round nose should have a profile that will allow you to load it longer. Even in my shortest barrel I can load those Berry’s at 1.120. I’d suggest you first determine your max COL for your barrel before loading anything.
 
Hi lordpaxman-

Looks like I somehow set the album to private- should be public now, thanks for the heads up.

Thank you for the input- it is very helpful. I think with all the warnings I’ve read on making sure to have enough burn space, I was more focused on maintaining it per the load data and not even thinking about letting it go longer. Last night I made up a dummy round at 1.1 that plunks totally fine- I think today I will start a bullet high and reduce until it plunks to get the max OAL for this bullet/ chamber- I’ll post what I find when I get the chance to do it.


The links you posted are to your media album and I get the following error:
The High Road - Error
You do not have permission to view media within this album.

Congrats on the initial loads, there’s something so very satisfying about creating your own ammo!

Regarding your 9mm loads at a COL of 1.045, that’s pretty short at least in my book. There’s not a lot of case volume in 9mm and you can get in to dangerous territory pretty quickly when COLs are short.
Your OP indicates to me you want to start with a low recoil/just a nice shooting load. One school of thought is to load as long as possible with the least amount of powder charge that will avoid a squib but still cycle the action. Once you get that you’ll probably find out that’s a bit dirty in that cases didn’t seal to the chamber and the powder burn was incomplete. Increasing the powder charge and decreasing the COL will yield higher velocities (and pressures) so that workup has to be done carefully. A chrono will help keep you out of trouble (and yes, a chrono just measures velocity, not pressure everyone).
A 124gr plated round nose should have a profile that will allow you to load it longer. Even in my shortest barrel I can load those Berry’s at 1.120. I’d suggest you first determine your max COL for your barrel before loading anything.
 
Yep, even this old man has been doing an Excel spread sheet for a data log for decades.

For some reason starting out here I thought a paper log book might be easier overall- IE taking notes at the bench, etc. I quickly changed my thoughts on that and went to excel- my inner data nerd loves the ability to sort, filter, and modify as needed. My next step is to work up a book for load performance notes as well so I can have all of the info organized and accessible.
 
I can see your pics now, thanks. And I now see where you were calculating your minimum COL, based on bullet lengths and where the base of the bullet is relative to the case head. I've not done it this way, and probably wouldn't unless I had QL backing me up. My reasoning is there's rarely a case where I find "official" published load data for the specific bullet I have, so as a new reloader I would recommend taking their minimum COL as gospel. In your screenshot there's a Berry's Hollow Base Round Nose - and it's minimum COL is 1.150 - pretty long compared to 1.045. And it's got a hollow base which further increases the volume available inside the case, so how would you calculate your min based on that? And look at how all the COL's in your sheet vary. My understanding is they publish these minimums to keep us safe (and them out of legal hot water). I start my load developments at the long end of the COL and only shorten them for a specific reason.
I quickly changed my thoughts on that and went to excel- my inner data nerd loves the ability to sort, filter, and modify as needed.
Anytime you can type once and print many it's worth it just so us carbon based lifeforms don't make more mistakes. Take some time to get your worksheet organized so you'll have all the data you'll need in the future. That first row defining all the columns is very important. My 9mm worksheet's last row is 587. Best of luck!
 
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