1st time reloading 9mm question

[tawadc95]

1.146 seems long to me for a 115gn bullet, I would prefer to have more of the driving band in the case for more of the case to hold onto and provide better concentricity.
Not that it won't work but I think you are shorting yourself on a couple important reasons.
My 115 gn rn from blue bullet is seated with .200 in the case which is enough to prevent set back from recoil and feeding.
PS, forget all the talk you will hear or read about finished cartridge gauges, the only thing that counts is the barrel that cartridge will be going into.

[Woodythedog]

OP here....I went to the range today and sent downrange my first 50 reloads....flawless and as accurate as I can be. Great feeling.
Thanks again for all your help. Time to reload the next 1000 rounds.

[XDJYo]

OP here....I went to the range today and sent downrange my first 50 reloads....flawless and as accurate as I can be. Great feeling.
Thanks again for all your help. Time to reload the next 1000 rounds.

Congratz! It's a bit nerve wracking shooting your first batch of reloads. At least it was for me. I was constantly checking my barrel with a flashlight for evidence of a squib! Lol!

Once you get the hang of it, you'll feel more confident and know that you won't have to line up at 0400 at Sportsmans Warehouse for a measly 2 boxes of 9mm at $60/100! And, you won't have to worry about the flipping background check and additional fees etc etc etc.

[tawadc95]

Cool, reloading is a blast, it goes a long ways to help you understand your firearms and gun/ammo interact with each other.

[Cowboy T]

OP here....I went to the range today and sent downrange my first 50 reloads....flawless and as accurate as I can be. Great feeling.
Thanks again for all your help. Time to reload the next 1000 rounds.

Well done, OP. Welcome to the hobby, and keep up the good work!

[XDJYo]

[pacrat]

In familiar with the "too short" syndrome

Does the wife really believe that is 8"?

[tabascoz28]

If i was a Rockafeller I'd have an ammo plant.

I had a batch of 115 coated bullets from one manufacturer that was very rounded and would get stuck out of battery. I had to drop the charge and load down to 1.090. Never ordered from them again.
Always test new brands or batches of bullets so you don't have to pull them later. It defeats one of my purposes for reloading and that's saving money. Time is also money.

[XDJYo]

If i was a Rockafeller I'd have an ammo plant.

I had a batch of 115 coated bullets from one manufacturer that was very rounded and would get stuck out of battery. I had to drop the charge and load down to 1.090. Never ordered from them again.
Always test new brands or batches of bullets so you don't have to pull them later. It defeats one of my purposes for reloading and that's saving money. Time is also money.

Thanks for the advice! When I first started reloading, I was super paranoid about squibs and in general scared. I think I loaded either 5 or 10 rounds to test. Will probably do the same with 9 until I settle on a recipe.


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[bhilliker@comcast.net]

When I started loading 4 years ago I as well had a lot of questions and there are a lot of answer out there. Some really good some not so good but as another poster replied---I would look at the OAL in the book then I would take factory ammo that I have shot in that weapon and measure that round. That is what I set my OAL to most of the time. Hasn't failed me yet in 14 calibers. Might not be the "scientific" approach but I have really good success with my loads. Except 30-30, that kicked my butt!!!

[tabascoz28]

The safest way is to start at that 10 percent lower than max powder and load to the higher OAL, if it jams, start lowering the OAL. When it all feeds correctly then, if you want, you can start upping the charge. Since I'm on a semi automated powder drop system, I didn't want to spend the time to "maximize" my pistol loads, just had to work reliably. Unfortunately, if you change bullets because you either can't find them or you are trying to go with a cheaper source you may have to start over on your loads. Unless the bullets look very similar and you're not at your max, then it's easier to just keep going.

[the86d]

I always just use the plunk test.... NOW I test in the PC Carbine, as it has a shortest lead to the lands, to keep the ammo all the same.