i use blue dot for target loads in both those calibers, with this powder shortage i had to to keep shooting. it really was not bad in both calibers and should be good for you to start with because in 9mm if you had a double charge it will flow out of the case and it will almost flow out of the case in the 45, you will notice something is amiss when you try to seat the bullet. I would say that blue dot in those calibers would be your best choice to learn with. if you need load data for those calibers just send me a message and i can give you good starting points. plated bullets will be best in the 9mm as velocity is higher and will have a greater chance for leading issues. lead bullets are great in the 45 acp. if you are shooting at an indoor range i would use plated bullets for both calibers so you do not get into trouble at the range for creating "lead smoke". have fun and take your time. reloading is very rewarding.
New to reloading! Advices would be greatly appreicated.
- Thread starter tbui127
- Start date
- Status
Dudedog
Contributing Member
I really like Missouri 9mm 125 gr cones and thier SWC. The SWC cut nice clean holes. They are available coated and uncoated. Have also used thier .45 round nose and 200gr wadcutters.
MBC offers THR members a 5% discount
You could get 1000 9mm and 1000 .45 shipped for $14
(or up to 3000 9mm, A MFRB holds four of thier boxes, they will take a 3rd box and dump it into two other of like kind for you if you call, so for example you could get 1500 of two of these 3 Roundnose or Cone or SWC shipped for $14, or 1000 .45s and 1500 9mms etc) Great people to do business with
Have just tried RMR .45 gr 230gr thick plated round nose. I really like them as well. Check out BDS posts on thier new "thick plated bullets.
RMR is also great to do business with.
Powder -best place to buy, where you can find it! :banghead:
Widners, Recobs, 3rd gen shooting, Natchez
Primers, I try to orderr them when I order powder to save on hazmat charges., CCI, Winchester, Rem have all worked well for me. Tulas ok but had a couple that failed to fire first strike.= in .223. Have some S+B on order now, I have heard they work well and were $20/1000 from Widners.
I have used faster powders for 9mm, Bullseye, Promo but in general prefer medium powders for it. Universal (none to be had) , HP38/WIN231, BE86 should be in this range as well.
Green Dot should work, attaching older Alliant data (don't know how it meters but it is a larger flake powder so it might not meter as well as others HP38 or Bullseye for example)
Note OLD Data Alliant data lists max loads reduce 10% to Start.
This is old data.
Lyman lists
120 gr Lead Green Dot Start 3.5gr 966fps Max 4.4gr 1132fps
This is quite a bit less (about a grain) than the old Alliant data.
Remember Start low and work up.
Disclaimer: Following post lists loads not currently published by powder manufacturer. Use them at your own risk
MBC offers THR members a 5% discount
You could get 1000 9mm and 1000 .45 shipped for $14
(or up to 3000 9mm, A MFRB holds four of thier boxes, they will take a 3rd box and dump it into two other of like kind for you if you call, so for example you could get 1500 of two of these 3 Roundnose or Cone or SWC shipped for $14, or 1000 .45s and 1500 9mms etc) Great people to do business with
Have just tried RMR .45 gr 230gr thick plated round nose. I really like them as well. Check out BDS posts on thier new "thick plated bullets.
RMR is also great to do business with.
Powder -best place to buy, where you can find it! :banghead:
Widners, Recobs, 3rd gen shooting, Natchez
Primers, I try to orderr them when I order powder to save on hazmat charges., CCI, Winchester, Rem have all worked well for me. Tulas ok but had a couple that failed to fire first strike.= in .223. Have some S+B on order now, I have heard they work well and were $20/1000 from Widners.
I have used faster powders for 9mm, Bullseye, Promo but in general prefer medium powders for it. Universal (none to be had) , HP38/WIN231, BE86 should be in this range as well.
Green Dot should work, attaching older Alliant data (don't know how it meters but it is a larger flake powder so it might not meter as well as others HP38 or Bullseye for example)
Note OLD Data Alliant data lists max loads reduce 10% to Start.
This is old data.
Lyman lists
120 gr Lead Green Dot Start 3.5gr 966fps Max 4.4gr 1132fps
This is quite a bit less (about a grain) than the old Alliant data.
Remember Start low and work up.
Disclaimer: Following post lists loads not currently published by powder manufacturer. Use them at your own risk
Attachments
Last edited:
thanks for the information! sorry I wasn't able to respond, got caught up with work. sadly ill be off the grid for a few weeks due to SERE training so I wont be able to start reloading until after thanksgiving.
Thanks to edleit for the brass and bullets and grogetr for the brass. I really appreciate them!
also was only able to finish building the bench and did a little bit of installation with the reloader.
Thanks to edleit for the brass and bullets and grogetr for the brass. I really appreciate them!
also was only able to finish building the bench and did a little bit of installation with the reloader.
gamestalker
member
Just curious, when you say "generic scale" what exactly are you referring to?
My concern here is whether it is an electronic scale, or a beam scale. And if it is an electronic scale, do you have a way to confirm it is providing reliable weights? I also have an electronic digital scale, and when I checked it against my 5-10 beam scale, I vowed to never use it again. I just don't trust them, especially generic models.
GS
My concern here is whether it is an electronic scale, or a beam scale. And if it is an electronic scale, do you have a way to confirm it is providing reliable weights? I also have an electronic digital scale, and when I checked it against my 5-10 beam scale, I vowed to never use it again. I just don't trust them, especially generic models.
GS
Dudedog
Contributing Member
Check weights Amazon
These are Class M2 and inexpensive. The weights are ok, the tweezers are a PITA.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Weig...&qid=1415887701&sr=8-2&keywords=check+weights
$11
These are Class M2 and inexpensive. The weights are ok, the tweezers are a PITA.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Weig...&qid=1415887701&sr=8-2&keywords=check+weights
$11
Last edited:
Artofgolf
Member
I've had similar problems with my Hornady digital scale; I replaced it with the GEM20 that was previously discussed in-depth in a previous marathon post.
I've got two digital scales a Pact Digital and a Frankfort Arsenal
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/707006/pact-digital-precision-powder-scale-110-volt
http://www.amazon.com/Frankford-205205-Arsenal-Reloading-Scale/dp/B002BDOHNA
Both seem pretty accurate but that said I don't trust them as much as the old school beam style scales. I got a nice redding scale used at a gunshow for $30 and use it to verify what my digital scales are telling me, just in case.
Not sure if this has been mentioned already or not but I wanted to share a trick with you that I use for loading small charges of flake powder (like Bullseye)
I will set my powder measure to where I think it needs to be, and then throw 10 charges, and check that on the scale. So if for example I want 4.1gr of bullseye I should get 41.0gr on the scale. I do it this way because my scales seem to be more accurate when measuring a larger charge. I've had cases where I measure a single throw from the measure and the scale says 4.1gr, then I do the 10x throw and I'm really getting like 39.6 or something. I'm probably not articulating this well but I think you know what I mean.
I hope that this is helpful.
Another thing I've found helpful is to install an LED light on my press so I can look down inside the cases as I'm reloading. I use a turret press but I think this would be even more important on a progressive. I did this after I had a "squib" load and stuck a bullet in the barrel (not enough powder in the case)
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/152413/hornady-lock-n-load-led-light-strip
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/707006/pact-digital-precision-powder-scale-110-volt
http://www.amazon.com/Frankford-205205-Arsenal-Reloading-Scale/dp/B002BDOHNA
Both seem pretty accurate but that said I don't trust them as much as the old school beam style scales. I got a nice redding scale used at a gunshow for $30 and use it to verify what my digital scales are telling me, just in case.
Not sure if this has been mentioned already or not but I wanted to share a trick with you that I use for loading small charges of flake powder (like Bullseye)
I will set my powder measure to where I think it needs to be, and then throw 10 charges, and check that on the scale. So if for example I want 4.1gr of bullseye I should get 41.0gr on the scale. I do it this way because my scales seem to be more accurate when measuring a larger charge. I've had cases where I measure a single throw from the measure and the scale says 4.1gr, then I do the 10x throw and I'm really getting like 39.6 or something. I'm probably not articulating this well but I think you know what I mean.
I hope that this is helpful.
Another thing I've found helpful is to install an LED light on my press so I can look down inside the cases as I'm reloading. I use a turret press but I think this would be even more important on a progressive. I did this after I had a "squib" load and stuck a bullet in the barrel (not enough powder in the case)
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/152413/hornady-lock-n-load-led-light-strip
Artofgolf
Member
I think the GEM20 is far more accurate the the Hornady was. I used the pan that came with the Hornady & added a golf ferrule to the bottom.
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=204204&d=1413836139
The Lyman plastic pan is one of the great inventions that I find very useful.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
Scale
I have a Frankford DS750 I like it a lot, inexpensive.
I don't know about the Hornaday. Is it battery operated?
If so make sure you have fresh batteries, all the digitals that run on batteries can get strange when the batteries are really low.
I would think it should work ok. If not you might try giving them a call and see what they say. I would sugggest buying the check weight set I mentioned earlier. It has small weights that are closer to what you are weighing for pistol charges. There are nicer weight sets but that one works for my uses and is inexpensive.
DS750 scale (what I use most of the time)
.02 gram may or may not register
.05 gram checkweight measured .7gr (should be .77)
.1 gram check weight measured 1.5 gr (should be 1.54)
.2 gram Check weight measured 3.0 gr
1 gram = 15.4 gr
Gem20 (sensitive to air currents, small pan, best for small charges)
.01 gram check weight measured .16 gr (should be .154)
.02 gram check weight measured .32 gr
.05 gram check weight measured .77
.1 gram check weight measured 1.56
So unless I am trying to weigh really light charges I use my Frankford DS750 and am happy with it, it is what I use probably 95% of the time. (make sure it has good AA batteries)
I think for $28 the DS750 is a good deal. ($28 Midway $25.72 Amazon)
Any luck with powder?
Green Dot will work but I don't know how well it will meter in your press.
For a progressive I would think (don't own one so I don't know) you would want something that meters well. Bullseye, HP38/231 for example.
See BDS's post concerning Powder pictures.
While it is not a sure thing, smaller grains = better metering.
My measure has a .2 gr swing with Unique. I just load for it so I would never go close to max with that powder and my measure unless I weighed every charge. I am loading light so it is not an issue I can tolerate the swing.
Something to consider if you do have swings in charge weight using a "larger" powder.
I have a Frankford DS750 I like it a lot, inexpensive.
I don't know about the Hornaday. Is it battery operated?
If so make sure you have fresh batteries, all the digitals that run on batteries can get strange when the batteries are really low.
I would think it should work ok. If not you might try giving them a call and see what they say. I would sugggest buying the check weight set I mentioned earlier. It has small weights that are closer to what you are weighing for pistol charges. There are nicer weight sets but that one works for my uses and is inexpensive.
DS750 scale (what I use most of the time)
.02 gram may or may not register
.05 gram checkweight measured .7gr (should be .77)
.1 gram check weight measured 1.5 gr (should be 1.54)
.2 gram Check weight measured 3.0 gr
1 gram = 15.4 gr
Gem20 (sensitive to air currents, small pan, best for small charges)
.01 gram check weight measured .16 gr (should be .154)
.02 gram check weight measured .32 gr
.05 gram check weight measured .77
.1 gram check weight measured 1.56
So unless I am trying to weigh really light charges I use my Frankford DS750 and am happy with it, it is what I use probably 95% of the time. (make sure it has good AA batteries)
I think for $28 the DS750 is a good deal. ($28 Midway $25.72 Amazon)
Any luck with powder?
Green Dot will work but I don't know how well it will meter in your press.
For a progressive I would think (don't own one so I don't know) you would want something that meters well. Bullseye, HP38/231 for example.
See BDS's post concerning Powder pictures.
While it is not a sure thing, smaller grains = better metering.
My measure has a .2 gr swing with Unique. I just load for it so I would never go close to max with that powder and my measure unless I weighed every charge. I am loading light so it is not an issue I can tolerate the swing.
Something to consider if you do have swings in charge weight using a "larger" powder.
One thing to consider when deciding what bullet to use is where you are going to shot. Many indoor ranges do not allow lead bullets. Many of them also consider coated bullets to be lead bullets so they don't allow them. I reload both lead and plated bullets because one of the two ranges I shoot at won't allow lead/coated bullets. If I had my choice I would only load lead bullets.
Glad to see another reloader getting started. I don't have any advice other than what has already been repeated, but I will offer my opinions. I love my LNL AP and you will too! You will soon outgrow it's speed, and start looking into case and bullet feeders. I bought the case feeder and never looked back. I did the $30 bullet feeder job, and it works great, and there is one less electric motor grinding in your ears. I use the FA digital scale as well, and it works fine for me checks out to .005 grams every time. Keep good batteries in it. Do your self a favor and send in the registration card. In a month or so, call up Hornady customer service and order some indexing pawls, and shell plate springs. Trust me on this. The last thing you want on an awesome reloading day is to get shut down for little parts. Ask me how I know.
Also, I think you said you were at Rucker? My dad went through flight school there just before getting shipped off to Vietnam. Graduated top of his class. Flew slicks on his deployment. Flew helitack for the USFS and private heli-skiing in the winters when he got out. Have fun, you are truly learning a life skill there. Be safe. Thanks for your service.
BTW CHALK22 was his call sign.
Also, I think you said you were at Rucker? My dad went through flight school there just before getting shipped off to Vietnam. Graduated top of his class. Flew slicks on his deployment. Flew helitack for the USFS and private heli-skiing in the winters when he got out. Have fun, you are truly learning a life skill there. Be safe. Thanks for your service.
BTW CHALK22 was his call sign.
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply everyone. I finally got back after three weeks of being of the grid. It was definitely some good S.E.R.E training that I will never want to do ever again lol. But i'm ready to get back to finishing my reloading setup. Will keep everyone updated.
gamestalker
member
There are actually a couple of things I wanted to add just clear up any misconceptions you may have, and to help things go smoother for ya.
You mentioned, resizing, priming, charging, and seating cartridges one at a time. This is actually the most error prone method, therefore not recommended. It's best to load in batches, do everything in batches, this allows you to closely inspect each step, leaving less room for a mistake to slip by unnoticed, especially when it comes to charging. A missed charge or double charge is much easier to catch when you inspect all the charged cases in the loading tray with a bright light at the same time, rather than risking having one or two slip by when doing them one at a time.
As for what bullets to use, this is where I noticed you mentioned that you might jump into jacketed bullets at a later date, or something to the effect of after you gain more experience. Fact is, loading jacketed bullets is the most standardized and straight forward loading one could do. The data is readily available and doesn't require any guess work. Not so with plated, as plated bullet data is more or less a guessing game of picking a charge some place between lead, and jacketed to work up from. Although plated data is available, it's still not as standardized as jacketed data and can often times require some searching and phone calls to the manufacturer's.
Also something about plated, is that not all plated bullets are created equal, not so with jacketed. Most plated bullets have velocity constraints, where as with jacketed you load all with the same or the very available data, and for the most part their are few exceptions. Some plated bullets are thick plated, those can be pushed and loaded much like jacketed bullets. However, most are not thick plated, and require some investigating to determine how and with what powders they can be loaded.
There are also other things to deal with when loading plated, such as being careful not to breach the plating when seating / crimping them.
Accuracy is said to be fairly poor with plated bullets, though some folks do get decent accuracy, that is not the reported standard.
And last to mention, is the general purpose of plated bullets. Although any bullet can be effective for self defense or hunting, plated bullets are considered as very poor performers for either. They don't generally expand, can't generally be pushed at effective velocities, so they are basically considered as plinking bullets.
However, I must be honest, in that, I am a dedicated jacketed bullet reloader. But also in this respect, I choose jacketed because they are effective over a complete range uses and purposes, I can push them at any published velocity, and data is readily available, no guess work what so ever.
As for powders, I have always gone with the slower burners. Although they don't do as much for the economics of reloading, they are far more forgiving and easier to work up with IMO than fast burning powders, which can be spikey with small powder charge variations. But as long as a reloader incorporates all the necessary fail safes into their process, the likelihood of encountering a catastrophe is greatly reduced.
GS
You mentioned, resizing, priming, charging, and seating cartridges one at a time. This is actually the most error prone method, therefore not recommended. It's best to load in batches, do everything in batches, this allows you to closely inspect each step, leaving less room for a mistake to slip by unnoticed, especially when it comes to charging. A missed charge or double charge is much easier to catch when you inspect all the charged cases in the loading tray with a bright light at the same time, rather than risking having one or two slip by when doing them one at a time.
As for what bullets to use, this is where I noticed you mentioned that you might jump into jacketed bullets at a later date, or something to the effect of after you gain more experience. Fact is, loading jacketed bullets is the most standardized and straight forward loading one could do. The data is readily available and doesn't require any guess work. Not so with plated, as plated bullet data is more or less a guessing game of picking a charge some place between lead, and jacketed to work up from. Although plated data is available, it's still not as standardized as jacketed data and can often times require some searching and phone calls to the manufacturer's.
Also something about plated, is that not all plated bullets are created equal, not so with jacketed. Most plated bullets have velocity constraints, where as with jacketed you load all with the same or the very available data, and for the most part their are few exceptions. Some plated bullets are thick plated, those can be pushed and loaded much like jacketed bullets. However, most are not thick plated, and require some investigating to determine how and with what powders they can be loaded.
There are also other things to deal with when loading plated, such as being careful not to breach the plating when seating / crimping them.
Accuracy is said to be fairly poor with plated bullets, though some folks do get decent accuracy, that is not the reported standard.
And last to mention, is the general purpose of plated bullets. Although any bullet can be effective for self defense or hunting, plated bullets are considered as very poor performers for either. They don't generally expand, can't generally be pushed at effective velocities, so they are basically considered as plinking bullets.
However, I must be honest, in that, I am a dedicated jacketed bullet reloader. But also in this respect, I choose jacketed because they are effective over a complete range uses and purposes, I can push them at any published velocity, and data is readily available, no guess work what so ever.
As for powders, I have always gone with the slower burners. Although they don't do as much for the economics of reloading, they are far more forgiving and easier to work up with IMO than fast burning powders, which can be spikey with small powder charge variations. But as long as a reloader incorporates all the necessary fail safes into their process, the likelihood of encountering a catastrophe is greatly reduced.
GS
Blue68f100
Member
Glad your back....
I've had the LNL-AP since 2008 and have 50k plus through it. As far as parts the only thing you need may be the shell plate retainer spring. Want awhile and call Hornady CS soying your got kinked and the will send you some free. The current one on mine is over 2 yrs old. I finally figured out what was kinking it. I was related with the brass feeder and not full stroking the ram. I now take the spring off when not in use. It prevents you from actually doing something that will damage it. One rule "DO NOT FORCE ANY THING" when it comes to progressives. Stop and find out whats causing the problem. In most cases it's a primer that did not clear. Or you did not fully seat a primer.
A few tips to make things easier. Tie some thread to the primer sled spring. This gives you something to grab when you need to change sleds. I use a rod with a spent primer attached as weight for the primers. It's also used to confirm the alignment is right. For best performance you want the upper part (ram up) true vertical. This governs the dwell time for primers to drop into the sled. So if this is true you have a long time for the primer to fall. It will actually feed the last primer without any push weight if correct. I had to straighten my rod years ago to fix this. Mine is the older system which is one piece, not the break away there using now. I ran the base low as I could to get max time.
Sounds like you have your dies setup and ready to roll. Just take it slow when you start. Speed will come once your comfortable that every thing is adj properly. Expect to tweak your seating die once all stations are full and being used in full AP. The is std with most all AP when you have multiple stations full.
Pistol powders are slowly showing up. So hopefully you want have to wait long.
Enjoy your new press.
I've had the LNL-AP since 2008 and have 50k plus through it. As far as parts the only thing you need may be the shell plate retainer spring. Want awhile and call Hornady CS soying your got kinked and the will send you some free. The current one on mine is over 2 yrs old. I finally figured out what was kinking it. I was related with the brass feeder and not full stroking the ram. I now take the spring off when not in use. It prevents you from actually doing something that will damage it. One rule "DO NOT FORCE ANY THING" when it comes to progressives. Stop and find out whats causing the problem. In most cases it's a primer that did not clear. Or you did not fully seat a primer.
A few tips to make things easier. Tie some thread to the primer sled spring. This gives you something to grab when you need to change sleds. I use a rod with a spent primer attached as weight for the primers. It's also used to confirm the alignment is right. For best performance you want the upper part (ram up) true vertical. This governs the dwell time for primers to drop into the sled. So if this is true you have a long time for the primer to fall. It will actually feed the last primer without any push weight if correct. I had to straighten my rod years ago to fix this. Mine is the older system which is one piece, not the break away there using now. I ran the base low as I could to get max time.
Sounds like you have your dies setup and ready to roll. Just take it slow when you start. Speed will come once your comfortable that every thing is adj properly. Expect to tweak your seating die once all stations are full and being used in full AP. The is std with most all AP when you have multiple stations full.
Pistol powders are slowly showing up. So hopefully you want have to wait long.
Enjoy your new press.
tbui127 this is probably a little too late for help but I have been experiencing the same problem with good handgun powder. That is until I located Vihtavuori. A little more expensive, readily available, burns clean.
Go to www.loaddata.com. It has lots of loading info for this powder. Some of the data is free and some requires a membership fee. I paid the fee and haven't had any problems with getting loading info on lots of calibers. I also get all the free loading info from different powder manufacturers on-line and print it all off. I have 3 full manuals which I always go to first.
Mother Rucker is a great place. First 14 years all rotary wing, last 10 F/W & R/W. Best move I ever made. 6 1/2 years overseas incl RVN, all flying. Good luck, and enjoy!! MapMan
Go to www.loaddata.com. It has lots of loading info for this powder. Some of the data is free and some requires a membership fee. I paid the fee and haven't had any problems with getting loading info on lots of calibers. I also get all the free loading info from different powder manufacturers on-line and print it all off. I have 3 full manuals which I always go to first.
Mother Rucker is a great place. First 14 years all rotary wing, last 10 F/W & R/W. Best move I ever made. 6 1/2 years overseas incl RVN, all flying. Good luck, and enjoy!! MapMan
Thanks everyone, Just waiting on some 45 bullets from rmr so i can load my next round of around 100-150. My buddy is letting me use his chronograph next time so I will play with each charges again. Will report back
@mapman, Im loving fort rucker so far! It will get very busy for me soon so I want to get as much reloading in as possible so i can enjoy shooting on the weekends
@mapman, Im loving fort rucker so far! It will get very busy for me soon so I want to get as much reloading in as possible so i can enjoy shooting on the weekends
- Status
