Need Help, Reloading Newbie

[jak77]

Hello calgunners,

I need some help here. I just got into reloading, figured the time was right, and bought all the equipment to start me off following randall's list. Got the Lee challenger single stage press kit, a lyman and lee reloading manual, tumbler, caliper, die set, bullet puller, etc.

So I purchased 4lb of Bullseye to mate with 200 gr LSWC that I purchased from Dardas cast bullets. Anyway, in the Lee and Lyman manuals, they say completely different things about the starting and max loads for Bullseye for this type of bullet. The Lee manual states that the starting AND max load is 4.0 grains. The Lyman manual states the starting load at 4.9 grains and max at 6.0. This is a huge discrepancy and I was wondering if you guys could help me out with whats going on here. If some of you have both these manuals, could you please help me? Maybe Im doing something completely stupid and not looking at the right bullets, but Im pretty sure Im not. Also, any input on the loads you guys use with this combination would be really helpful.

Thank you in advance for your time and responses.

[Hogxtz]

I would be interested in the answer from the experts as well. I run into this all the time. There is always a diiference between the powder manufactures specs and the bullet manufacture specs so I alsways error to the side of caution and alsways start with the lowest powder weight recommendation

[at_liberty]

Hello calgunners,

I need some help here. I just got into reloading, figured the time was right, and bought all the equipment to start me off following randall's list. Got the Lee challenger single stage press kit, a lyman and lee reloading manual, tumbler, caliper, die set, bullet puller, etc.

So I purchased 4lb of Bullseye to mate with 200 gr LSWC that I purchased from Dardas cast bullets. Anyway, in the Lee and Lyman manuals, they say completely different things about the starting and max loads for Bullseye for this type of bullet. The Lee manual states that the starting AND max load is 4.0 grains. The Lyman manual states the starting load at 4.9 grains and max at 6.0. This is a huge discrepancy and I was wondering if you guys could help me out with whats going on here. If some of you have both these manuals, could you please help me? Maybe Im doing something completely stupid and not looking at the right bullets, but Im pretty sure Im not. Also, any input on the loads you guys use with this combination would be really helpful.

Thank you in advance for your time and responses.

The Hornady book is in close agreement with your Lyman numbers, showing 4.6-6.4. Sounds like starting with 4.6 might be a good call, but others probably have a proven load to recommend.

[unobvs]

I have recently used 4.6 gr of Bullseye with a 200 gr LSWC from a different bullet manufacturer. It cycled the action of a Gold Cup well, shot with a soft recoil and was quite accurate.

For a slightly hotter load in the same gun with a 200 lead moly round nose bullet, I use 5.0 gr of Bullseye.

Of course, always work up from low to high.

[Chief-7700]

Lyman's 49th Edition
.45ACP
200 Grain LSWC
Bullseye start 3.5 Max 5.6

[tujungatoes]

4.0 should be a good starting load. just work up till you hit the sweet spot.

[Fjold]

Alliant (who makes Bullseye) recommends that with a 200 grain LSWC bullet a charge of 4.6 grains of Bullseye to get 807 fps.

They only list a recommended load, not a starting or maximum load.

[Revoman]

This is why it's usually recommended to cross reference at least three manual/manufacture/website resources.

The more information you have, the better. There have beed stories of typos in any one of the resources, so it's advisable to check as many as you can or feel comfortable with.

[uscbigdawg]

They're both valid from their own testing.

With the Lyman manual, you have good solid reloading data to work with.

The Lee manual is VERY conservative with its reloading data, so it's a great place to start with.

Hope that helps. Any other questions, just shoot a PM and if you want, depending on where you're at, can do a reloading "clinic" of sorts.

Rich

[znode]

If a powder manufacturer's numbers differ from a bullet manufacturer's numbers, always trust the powder manufacturer's numbers.

Bullet manufactures can only load them to their best efforts and fire them for testing, while powder manufactures have that and their own ballisticians and pressure testing chambers to gather more knowledge about the performance characteristics and variations of the powder. Remember, because of manufacturing differences every lot of powder is likely a slightly different formulation by the in-house ballistician! Canister-grade (consumer) powder is made by mixing in-house non-canister-grade powder.

[jak77]

Thanks guys for the responses! Looks like Ill start around 4.6 and work my way up. On another note, does anyone have the Lee safety scale? Im having real trouble zeroing it. It seems to go all the way up or all the way down, never at the stupid line. Anyone got any advice, its really pissing me off, been working at it for days.

[Sunwolf]

I have a couple of Lee scales that I have never used,I use an RCBS 10-10 to check my electronic scale.

[at_liberty]

Thanks guys for the responses! Looks like Ill start around 4.6 and work my way up. On another note, does anyone have the Lee safety scale? Im having real trouble zeroing it. It seems to go all the way up or all the way down, never at the stupid line. Anyone got any advice, its really pissing me off, been working at it for days.

That sounds like you are having trouble with drafts, probably air conditioning. It means the scale is sensitive, i.e accurate. What I do is lay something over the top of the frame above the zero to limit the beam swing and hasten the settling toward a good reading. When freeing the beam, you can tell in which direction it wants to go, needing more or less powder or being high or low in weight matching.

So far I have gotten improvement by shielding the scale with a tablet. If I had a transparent bowl or made something with a window in it, I would use it. I could also turn off the power for the ventilation.

I figure it is the pan that is acting as a sail, so that really would be the area to shield from overhead draft.

[jak77]

Ok thanks, Ill take that advice and see if it helps