Need some advice on my first Reloads

[LloydXmas250]

So I bought the Lee Challenger Kit to get started in reloading. So far everything seems really good (besides the fact that I forgot to buy the case length gauge and so I really can't trim the cases yet). I'm starting with 9mm since it's the round I shoot the most. I've bought some winchester brass and primers and now I'm looking for a good powder. Any ideas?

Now, since I am new, I am not looking for the best performing, most expensive powder. Just looking for a decent powder that will get me started.

Also any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

[PoofNoEyebrows]

Powder is determined by things like caliber, weight, function, etc. Since your state your starting with 9mm what weight and type of bullet will you be using? I would suggest trying out this link:http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

[pdq_wizzard]

first I don't think I have ever trimmed pistol cases, as for powder I like HP-38 it meeters well because it's small, but you need to make sure you don't double charge.
what bullets are you going to go with? if you are going with lead keep your FPS under 1100FPS this will keep leading to a min. also I have found that with 9MM lead I like them sized to .357. (but the best way to know this is to slug your bore)

[LloydXmas250]

Sorry. I'm planning on using 115 FMJ just for plinking and targets. Nothing more serious until later.

So no need to trim brand new pistol brass? What about spent brass?

[PoofNoEyebrows]

Here are a couple off that link for 115 grain jacketed:
Bullet Weight (Gr.) Manufacturer Powder Bullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure
115 GR. FMJ Winchester WSF .355" 1.169" 4.9 1060 24,200 PSI 5.7 1195 31,900 PSI
115 GR. JHP Winchester WSF .355" 1.169" 5.2 1095 28,700 PSI 5.7 1165 32,100 PSI

I would suggest getting a couple of reloading manuals such as Lee or Lyman. To answer your other question about trimming brass, I have never trimmed any of my 9mm, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. It's going to boil down to what you feel comfortable doing, and how your gun likes to eat what your cooking.

[LloydXmas250]

Sorry for all the stupid questions. So why not so much trimming for pistol and then lots of trimming for rifle brass?

I actually thought the kit came with the Lee book but I was mistaken. I'll probably pick it up today. Thanks again.

[XDRoX]

You don't trim 9mm. And even if you did, a case gauge would not tell you if the case was too long. Calipers are used to measure cases. (Unless it's a special case length guage, but they only make those for rifle calibers).

I strongly suggest that you start off with jacketed or plated bullets. And choose a powder that has enough volume that it makes double loading hard to do or impossible.

Super fast burning powders like Bullseye and Titegroup are not newbie powders IMO.

WSF, W231, Unique are good powders. My favorite powder for 9mm is WST. It's bulky (so it'll fill more of the case), very clean, burns cooler than other powders, and accurate.

I use WST in 38spl, 45acp, and 9mm.

[XDRoX]

Sorry for all the stupid questions. So why not so much trimming for pistol and then lots of trimming for rifle brass?

I actually thought the kit came with the Lee book but I was mistaken. I'll probably pick it up today. Thanks again.

Straight walled cases and 9mm (not actaully straight walled) don't need to be trimmed because they don't stretch. Rifle calibers reach a much higher temperature, and the resizing die pulls on the neck. Pistol dies do not put this kind of stress on the case.

[LloydXmas250]

Here's another quick question. The die set I bought is a Lee 9mm 3 die set. It has the de-peimer, expander, and bullet seater. Does the bullet seater also crimp the brass down? If not do I have to get a crimping die? Thanks.

[XDRoX]

Here's another quick question. The die set I bought is a Lee 9mm 3 die set. It has the de-peimer, expander, and bullet seater. Does the bullet seater also crimp the brass down? If not do I have to get a crimping die? Thanks.

The 3-die sets from Lee come with a seating/crimping die. So you don't need to buy another die, yours will do both.

It is a little tricky to set up.

[XDRoX]

The nob on top controls the seating depth. The depth of the whole die controls the amount of crimp.

[Cowboy T]

The 3-die sets from Lee come with a seating/crimping die. So you don't need to buy another die, yours will do both.

It is a little tricky to set up.

True, it is the trickiest of the three dies. However, it's still not too bad. BTW, you actually do not need to "crimp" 9mm or any other semi-auto cartridges. All you need to do is iron out the flare that your powder-thru-expander die makes when it bells the mouth. Some will suggest a light taper crimp. You can do that if you want, but no more than a very light taper crimp. Personally, I wouldn't even bother with that. Just iron out the bell.

As for setting up the Lee 3-die and 4-die sets, there's a video for that over here.

http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/

- T

[postalpredator]

what other calibers do you plan on loading? i like to use a powder that i can use for all the calibers that i load. i like winchester 231 for .45acp/.357mag/.38spl/9mm and 10mm
i also like titegroup for 9mm but be sure not to double charge. good luck

[LloydXmas250]

Thanks for all the help guys. This stuff is a tad bit intimidating. I am going to make my first batch tonight. I'll check out the video.

As for other loads right now it's 9mm but I'll start .223 and 30-06 soon hopefully. Seems like more money is saved with rifle rounds. Thanks again.

[LloydXmas250]

So I finished my first small batch. I just did 25 rounds for now. Everything went fine for the most part.

I was having a bit of a problem with the powder dispenser and the grains. The dispenser does cc's while the scale is in grains. I couldn't find how many cc's 4.9 grains of WSF is. I found a cc/gr chart but the amount for WSF has to be way off. So I just started small, weighed it and then kept increasing it. Finally figured that .47 cc's of WSF comes out to 4.9 grains.

I'll be shooting off these rounds on Saturday so hopefully they all work well. Kinda nervous about it. Thanks again for the help.