Just Got into reloading

[Zaadams095]

Congrats on your first rounds! Did you start on the beginning end of the charge weight for your powder? If so and they pass the plunk test, see sticky, you're going to be fine and probably find out you can up the charge a bit. I will let you know, if you post load questions, give us what powder you are using and charge you loaded, sorta helps those of us to give you a more informed response if we can.

I am using win 231 3.8-3.9gr Berry’s 124gr 9mm

 

[bbqreloader]

Just from Hodgdons online load data, you're right there at min charge. Looks good on that end. Does it pass the plunk test...https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...rel-find-a-max-o-a-l-with-your-bullet.506678/
If it does, I can only see you having a big grin as you knock out those first rounds at the range

 

[Driftertank]

Great advice from god. The only thing I would add is check the level of powder in each case at least 2 times, three is better. Check them in a well lighted area, If needed use a flashlight. The only way to blow up your gun is with a double charge of powder. Slow down, take your time and safety comes first. Well come to THR.

Slight correction: only 2 ways to blow up your gun...double charging, and getting a squib and failing to clear it before resuming fire....

 

[Zaadams095]

Just from Hodgdons online load data, you're right there at min charge. Looks good on that end. Does it pass the plunk test...https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...rel-find-a-max-o-a-l-with-your-bullet.506678/
If it does, I can only see you having a big grin as you knock out those first rounds at the range

I tested them in a Lyman round checker. They all fit.

Does anyone else load a box then think what if I have a double load even though I looked in each case.

 

[Whiterook808]

If you checked the powder level in each case then you should be fine. When I first started loading I would measure each charge on my beam scale and use a flashlight to verify that the levels were about the same in each case in the loading block. Even though I started on a Lee Turret press (back in '84) I used the batch method while learning the craft. Your load is not near max and actually should be good shooting ammo. I have used 3.8 grains of 231 behind a 124 grain cast bullet for many years.

 

[Whiterook808]

I forgot to say congratulations on loading your first box. It's a great feeling! If your gun likes that load as well as my guns do, you are going to come home from the range with a big grin on your face.

 

[RussellC]

With 9mm, it depends. Some powders, like tightgroup, it would be possible. Other powders, like Unique, it would be impossible.

After a while, with any given powder I am used to, I can usually look in the case and tell if it is off.

Russellc

 

[LiveLife]

Thank you all for your replies. What is the biggest thing I should look out for? What is the easiest mistake that can be made that could cause serious problems like my gun blowing up?

Not reloading when you are distracted.

If you are distracted (angry at something/someone, tired, hungry, etc.), you are likely to make mistakes.

 

[JimKirk]

I don't know your exact method of Reloading ... but I use the batch method. I clean all my brass ...your brass does not have to shine like a diamond to be functional... just clean. I then prime all the brass of that batch ....

I then charge the cases ... depending on what powder I am using( once I have my measure set)... I check every fifth or tenth charge .... All are placed in loading block .... I then have a swing arm desk lamp I move over the blocks with the charged cases .... the human eye will quickly pick up any difference in the level of the powder... You will be able to spot even a small differences ... make sure the light shines in at a slight angle ...

I only sort brass by brand ... don't weight each case( I will for Match ammo) ....

As far as weighing a loaded round(cartridge) to check for powder difference.... That is not good ... the brass weight differences plus the bullet weight differences "could" add up to more than the total weight of the powder ....

 

[rfwobbly]

Welcome to the world's best hobby !

• While the Berry 124gr RN is a great place to start, however you'll get slightly better accuracy from their "hollow base RN" series, loaded the same and seated to the same OALs.
• IMHO most 124gr like to be seated slightly deeper so that they engage the case by at least 0.20", maybe as much as 0.25". Make up 6-8 rounds at ~1.130" and shoot those side-by-side with what you're doing now. I think you'll see an improvement if shot off a sand bag or other rest.
• Agree with Splattergun, most of my W231 loads end up in the 4.2-4.4gr range
• Agree with the others.... you're biggest safety concern is a double charge. Luckily with W231 a double charge will over-flow the case and is easy to spot.
• W231 is also sold as Hodgdon HP-38, which is typically $2 cheaper per pound. You might make a note of that.
• I find that OAL variation is mostly a right of passage for novice reloaders. There is a knack to pulling the op lever that you will soon master as your volumes increase. The objective is to be as smooth and steady as you can with that lever. Go slow. Concentrate on, and practice, being smooth and steady. Lubrication on your brass will really help you in this regard. Try some Hornady "OneShot". Watch videos of Lee presses being properly used on: http://ultimatereloader.com/ You'll get the hang of it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Walkalong]

It is not overly easy to blow up your gun. While it can be done, you need to make a fairly gross error to do it. You can load rounds that are not good for it, that can be hard on the gun and eventually destroy it if you continue to shoot them, but to blow it up straightaway you would need a double charged case, and/or a squib in front of that one etc. Sure, it can be done, but not if you were careful and have a good safe load. With W-231 a double charge is easy to see. A double charge of W-231, 7.6+ Grs in this case, nearly fills an empty 9MM case and would be very noticeable to the naked eye when seating a bullet.

As others have posted and you proved to yourself, you cannot weigh the loaded rounds after the fact and gather any useful information on loaded 9MM round. You have to set everything up carefully, double check it all, and then load your rounds, eyeballing every powder charge you sat a bullet over. After that you just have to trust yourself.

Did you do those/these things?

Carefully select a safe starting charge weight? Check.
Lock the powder measure down on the setting that throws the charge weight you wanted and verified numerous times?
Eyeball each charge you seated a bullet over so anything too low or too high would be noticed and remedied?
Picked an OAL that will not only function, but will not be a lot shorter (For 9MM that isn't much) than the data you are using? (For those bullets I would suggest an OAL that falls between 1.160 & 1.165. (A .005 spread is pretty typical in 9MM by the way))
Adjust the taper "crimp" so that it completely removes the bell on the shortest cases, but puts no more than .001 inward "crimp" on the longest cases?
Were you focused on the task at hand during the entire reloading process?

If you do all of these things all you can do after that is trust yourself and go shoot them.

Being a little bit nervous about one's first reloads is quite normal, I know I was, but that changes very rapidly when they all go bang and hit where they should. Any previous trepidation is replaced by a big grin and the desire to run home and do it again.

Welcome to THR.

 

[sbwaters]

If you are interrupted for any reason, dump the powder in any cases back into the bottle and start over.

 

[Axis II]

I tested them in a Lyman round checker. They all fit.

Does anyone else load a box then think what if I have a double load even though I looked in each case.

The plunk test is also to make sure you OAL is not too long that when the round is chambered it is jammed into the lands/rifling of the barrel. Take your barrel off the gun, find the longest round and drop it into the barrel and you should hear a plunk noise. The Lyman checker only checks to make sure the case is sized right.

As for powder charges i have a small goose neck flashlight mounted to the press that shines into the case on the shell holder. I can see every case is charged correctly and i weigh every 10th one just to be on the safe side. At that low of a charge i wouldn't go rapid firing the gun. I shoot 124gr with HP38 which is the same powder as 231 and i have no issues with a heavier slide gun. Just make sure everyone of them leaves the barrel. I would actually pick 4.0gr and be done.

I too was a basket case when i first started reloading and that was 223rem. Pistol actually scared me and i put it off for along time. If your using a progressive press i would assume your using an automatic powder drop. If it makes you feel better weigh every single one, I did for my first few hundred rounds but now i do every 10th just to make sure something didn't get knocked out of whack. Get a little light to shine in the case and look at every case, it only takes a half second to ensure its charge, possible double charge or not. If it looks funny dump it and try again.

Congrats on the first reloads. I still have a big grin on my face when my reloads perform better then factory and ive been at it 2yrs.

 

[Doublehelix]

As others have said, congratulations on your first set of handloads!!!

I am going to differ from the rest of the crowd on the removal of live primers and say DON'T DO IT!!!

I used to decap live primers, slowly and very carefully. Then I realized that it was not worth the effort, stress or possible danger. How much does a single primer cost? Is it worth it? How about 100 primers? Somewhere between $2-$3 probably. So even if you save 100 primers or even 200 primers over many years, you saved maybe $6. Some cases are more valuable than others, but 9mm cases are like grains of sand.

My advice is to NOT DECAP, and just properly dispose of the case and primer combo (which is a topic in of itself for another day).

Can you do it? Absolutely! Will you have any issues? Probably not. I have done it many, many times without a single kaboom as have many others on here.

But how can it be possibly be worth the possible downsides??? For me at least, it is not. I stopped doing this, and feel much better!

Welcome to the obsession hobby!!!

 

[thomas15]

Does anyone else load a box then think what if I have a double load even though I looked in each case.

I load a lot of 9mm ammo and a small session for me is 400 rounds. I've gotten into the habit of keeping my handloads in piles of 100 rounds. If my gut tells me something isn't right I do what I have to do to make my gut feel better. It's easier to pull 100 rounds than to pull 500 rounds. Anyway, in 40K plus handloads of 9mm I have had 1 squib and that was when I first started handloading and using a single stage press.

On my progressive press if I have any kind of interruption or stoppage I clear the shell plate and start from scratch. I also position myself so that I can see inside each pc of brass to check visually the powder level and I use a lock out die as a second line of defense against high or low powder charges.

One comment about your cartridge length, I use sometimes EXTREME plated RN which is basically the same as the Berrys you are using but I use Titegroup not W231/HP-38. As other have said I think your load is at the low end of the spectrum so you should have room to move up a notch. For 147g plated RN bullets I run with a shorter COL, usually about 1.130 for my Glocks. Anything longer than 1.150 and I have feeding problems. Go slow take your time and pay attention. After that keep an eye on your wallet it is going to get thinner and lighter. Probably should look into getting a third eye.

 

[ATLDave]

Sounds like you are off to a good start and have gotten lots of good advice.

If you intend to weigh finished rounds as a QC measure (something I do, but lots of reloaders do not), this will only work if you have sorted your brass headstamps. You will find wide variances between different brass headstamps - and, of course, some individual piece variability within a particular headstamp. These variances will totally swamp any actual variance in charge weights (even the double or zero charge, which is really all I'm trying to detect with the weight QC) for anything short of magnum pistol loads with large powder charges.

Once you sort and load by headstamp, you will start to notice some other traits of particular brands of brass - your observations may come in handy as your progress further down the reloading path!

 

[bbqreloader]

I tested them in a Lyman round checker. They all fit.

Does anyone else load a box then think what if I have a double load even though I looked in each case.

Ok, but did you try them in barrel, via the plunk test....case in point...
Some noob loading 45 ACP with 200 gr FP plated also checked his loads in a Lyman and they fit, but when going to the range could not get the slide to close on most of the rounds (thankfully he only loaded 20).
Comes to find out, after posting problem, he failed to check round in barrel, had he plunked a dummy round, he would have seen the OAL was to long.
That noob...me. So when new load is developed, as part of my new load routine...always plunk a dummy..before i get plunked

 

[Iroquois]

Slight correction: only 2 ways to blow up your gun...double charging, and getting a squib and failing to clear it before resuming fire....

Driftertank,

Great observation, I stand corrected.

 

[Zendude]

As others have said, look in the case before you put the bullet on to see if the powder level looks right. The good news is that a double powder charge is less likely on your Lee 1000 unless you really start getting out of sequence. It is more likely that you can end up with no powder in the case because of a powder clog or if you forget to turn the powder hopper to the "on" position.

 

[TheDomFather]

Hi there, I just got into reloading. I have a Lee Pro 1000 and I’m reloading 9mm. I’m using Berry’s round nose bullets. I am loading 124gr and I am using 3.7-3.9 grains of 231 powder. A couple of questions.

1. I got my bullet setting die dialed in close the 1.15 coal I am aiming for. However while I am loading I am getting anywhere between 1.145 and 1.155. Is this too much of a varieance? I don’t want to build up too much pressure and blow up my gun DD: This is normal, I load ranier plated bullets and will notice a variation of around +/- .010 and this is due to bullet irregularities. If you have a way to measure off of the ogive which is where the seating stem seats the bullet you will find a much less variation. Hornady makes a kit for this but not sure if they make it for pistol calibers.
2. Is it safe to use the decapping die to remove primers that haven been fired yet? DD: yes just go slowly and wear your safety glasses, I have to do this on occasion of a primer not being seated properly you should be fine. Use a universal decapping die.
3. The Lee Pro 1000 works great when I run one piece of brass at a time, when I start H aging every station full, the flaring of the brass starts to not be as great, how can I fix this? Welcome to using a progressive press, I use a Hornady lock and load. It tends to be more consistent when I am operating all stations at the same time. I would try the following run your press only to do sizing (remove the other dies) and then run the press with everything but sizing to see if this works better for you. I am not familiar with the Lee press so this is the only pointer I can give you.

Dom

 

[bullseye308]

Another thing to consider. If you have multiple 9’s, like I do, find the one with the tightest chamber and use that to plunk your rounds in. I have 2 Springfield Range officers in 9mm(4” & 5”) and 2 Glock 17’s(17 & 17L) and the Glocks will feed anything. The Springfields have a much tighter throat and locked on their first few rounds. Lesson learned.

 

[vaalpens]

As far as weighing a loaded round(cartridge) to check for powder difference.... That is not good ... the brass weight differences plus the bullet weight differences "could" add up to more than the total weight of the powder

++1

Being a new reloader, I would have started at Hodgdon published data of 3.9gr (not 3.7gr or 3.8gr), and then loaded maybe 5 at this weight. I would have also loaded another 5 at 4.0gr, 4.1gr and 4.2gr. This would have given you 20 instead of 50, but you would have started to learn how to evaluate different loads. If you now test your 50 loads and have issues, then you wouldn't know if the issue is due to the powder charge, or your load process. Having different loads to evaluate will give you additional information to help identify any possible issues.

How did you crimp your loads? For 9mm you should only remove the flare and do a light taper crimp.

When I started reloading the most difficult step to overcome mentally were; The first primer I seated, The first bullet I seated, and then the first time I pulled the trigger on one of my reloads. After one of these reloading cycles, things will get easier.

 

[wrench459]

..I guess I’m asking how easy is it to blow up a gun.

A modern 9mm is hard to blow-up compared to a older semi.

 

[Walkalong]

But please don't try .

 

[z7]

Pay attention to your process and actions while loading, attention to detail is key

When shooting, pay attention to the gun and your ammo, if something seems
Wrong or weird, stop and investigate, take your time and enjoy. I started this addiction three years ago, now I reload for four calibers and shoot 3500 rds a year in various guns, which is a lot for me, but is nothing compared to others here