Welcome to reloading and thanks for asking our advice.
In a way I was lucky, while Dad insisted I know how to operate every machine on the farm (including firearms) I had the luxury of choice. While he told me his .45 revolver was to big and heavy for me I was still allowed to train with it enough to realize he was right. As well, both my uncle and grandfather were willing to "lend" any arm in their inventory as well. Dad was a wannabe training Sgt that taught me stance and safety, my uncle who was something of a showman taught me improvisation and my Grandfather who was an infantry rifleman taught me "elevation and windage." Then I had a certain unnamed idiot that was forever telling me what I was doing wrong. I was consistently outshooting 75% of my male competitors by the time I was 15. Including one guy that took me on a "date" to a shooting range. On the way there he was talking and joking telling me not to worry about score just to have fun. On the way back he never said a word and never called me again.
But again, with reloading... I'm breaking into my brother's domain. While he would be more than happy to share his hobby with me in a teaching role I feel it would be better for me to make my own mistakes and get my own take on the craft. Like as not I'll be bugging the daylights out of you guys and taking a lot of pastries to the gunshop as an exchange of favors for advice.
On another note, the new manual claims that Unique is the better choice for pistol cartridges used in rifles. Any comments or advice?
I wonder why your Brother threw out your old manual. Even if the load recipes are out of date (a contentious conclusion), the early chapters contain descriptions of the loading process that will never lose relevance. I certainly would have retrieved it.
Bullseye is a very quick powder. (Note that "quickness" is a term of the ballistics art and has specific meaning there). If shooting in longer barrels, a slower powder is often more desirable (achieving velocity with a longer burn time). Unique is a rather quick powder, too, but not as quick as Bullseye.
I take an opposite view from rsrocket1 on the charging of cases and immediately putting the slug on the case mouth (or seating the bullet). When loading a batch, I start with 50 primed and ready cases in a loading block, case mouth down and all primers visible. I look (or feel with my finger) all the primers to ensure they are all seated just a little below flush (as they should be). Then I charge the 50 cases, placing them in a second loading block (you could use the same block, but I like to use two). When all cases are charged, I use a flashlight to see into each case that there is powder, and that the powder in all cases are to the same depth. One designs one's loading area and methods with as much care and forethought (and hindsight) as any production team designs a factory floor. For that is what it is, a factory for highly critically quality controlled product. Whichever method (rsrocket1's or mine or some other QC method) works best for your loading style will be best for you.
Tubular magazines to require extra care to avoid bullet setback. Those rounds of yours that came up short could have produced overperssures. This is what a bullet puller is for. You can take the cartridge apart and re-size, re-seat and re-crimp. (Or, you could just gently tap the bullet out to the proper length and hand-feed it into the chamber and take the cartridge apart the fun way.)
Bullets are retained in the case by two factors. The crimp that rolls the case mouth into each bullet's crimping groove and the friction between the walls of the case mouth and the side(s) of the bullet. If the case-mouth belling mandrel is too great (or your belling technique is too aggressive) the friction grip will be lessened. Your Brother is in a position to observe and advise, even if he is a bit arrogant. If you don't mind me saying, he should emulate your Dad's, Uncle's and Grandfather's attitudes and take pride in you. (Sigh) We men have such fragile egos.
What brand of dies are you using? (I ask because some people have had Lee's Factory Crimp Die (FCD), when used with cast (or swaged) lead bullets, decrease the friction part of the bullet retention (also known as "bullet pull", sometimes).
Good luck and good shooting
Congratulations on taking the plunge.
Lost Sheep
"Bribe"? How about "Inducement". Or, better yet, because of what the added inducement was, "sweetener to the deal"?
