Deciding on a Load and components

[CALI SHOT DOC]

When starting out as a "rookie" reloader whats the best way to decide type of load you want to make and what components to start out with.

I prefer 115g 9mm fmj. How do I decide what powder to start with, what primer and bullet. I have the lyman reloading manual but i'm not quite sure what to start with and how to decide.....

[sequoia_nomad]

Start with the starting loads. As for powder, see what you can find locally that has loads listed in your book.

[bruce381]

when I started all I could find was winchster powder, then looking in there load manual I started 10% lower and was off. So i would "get a book" read and search what you can but in the end if all you can find is say winchester look up there recomend laod and start there.

Start with 1 lb of powder and try it but go by the "book".

[Chief-7700]

I have used:
Titegroup
Winchester 231
Bullseye
Unique

Current load for 124 grain hard cast lead is Winchester 231

[RaymondMillbrae]

Hate to say it,

but there's no way around it...YOU WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS LIKE EVERY ONE OF US. (At least the ones who know what they are doing).

Here's the deal. The big question is, "What are you going to be shooting for"?

Most of us that reload do so because we compete. And competing equates to many boolits downrange.

So here are the steps to boolit/powder utopia:

1) Finding the correct grain of boolit. Some shooters like them slow and heavy. Some shooters like them fast and snappy. (The latter is my personal preference). It boils down to your individual taste. What "feels" good and manageable to you when you shoot?

2) If you are competing, do you want the pistol/rifle to cycle quickly? (There are some folks out there who can actually "outshoot" their weapons cyclic rate). The boolit and powder combination will play a roll in this.

3) Another thing competitors need to deal with is "power factor". (This determines the speed our boolit needs to be traveling, based on the grain/weight it is). Once we have the minimum power factor we need to attain, we then custom tailer our loads to feel/perform the best at that specific power factor.

4) As for the powder, the main priority (in my Crayola crayon box) is reliability. The weapon must always go "BOOM" when the trigger is pulled. And equally as important, the "internals" of the pistol must also stay clean in order for the pistol to function optimally. This means the powder must burn clean. The second thing to look for, once again, is feel. Is the powder slow-burning and "pushing" the boolit out? Or is the powder fast burning and "popping" the boolit out? This, and the boolit grain, will determine your recoil and flip.

5) Recoil and flip. If you are competing, the recoil and flip will determine your shooting speed. The more it flips (up and down motion of the barrel), the longer it will take for you to reaquire your sights on the targets for the follow-up shots. Recoil (rearward movement) is also something to think about.

So as you can imagine, everyone has a different perception as to what "feels right" to them. There are thousands of opinions on this topic. But bottom line, make sure you have a clean-burning powder no matter what boolit you choose. Clean-burning powders equate to reliability.

Let "The Tao of Boolit Nirvana" begin...

In Christ: Raymond

[Oceanbob]

Good question

When starting out as a "rookie" reloader whats the best way to decide type of load you want to make and what components to start out with.

I prefer 115g 9mm fmj. How do I decide what powder to start with, what primer and bullet. I have the lyman reloading manual but i'm not quite sure what to start with and how to decide.....

I thought RaymondMillbrae explanation was on target.

I don't compete. I am getting back into reloading for the enjoyment factor.

Sure, it does save money..somewhat...I guess...maybe....hmmm..

With the price of 9MM so low these days I would never reload it. I have some dies for 9 somewhere but have never used them.

I reload .45 auto. I am just starting to reload 10MM.

10MM is big bucks and rare. But .40 boolits are plentiful; powder is cheap (if you buy it at a GUN SHOW or Store) So it makes sense to reload 10 for me.

For 9 I don't think brand of primers matter much. Whatever is cheaper; Powder would be UNIQUE....probably the most long-running-reliable-consistent powder around. (ok...Bullseye as well... )

Try this: For general 9MM.

115 grain 6.3gr Unique 1244 FPS

If you can't find Unique then try Power Pistol (another popular powder)

115 grain 6.7gr PowerPistol 1280 FPS

When you're just getting started limit your purchase of powder to one pound containers. Once you find a powder you love and a recipe that fits your shooting requirements, then buy in bulk.

Remember a pound of powder has 7014 Grains. That's a lot of Ammo...!

Have fun.!

[Chief-7700]

7,000 grains = 1 pound.

[CALI SHOT DOC]

Hate to say it,

but there's no way around it...YOU WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS LIKE EVERY ONE OF US. (At least the ones who know what they are doing).

Here's the deal. The big question is, "What are you going to be shooting for"?

Most of us that reload do so because we compete. And competing equates to many boolits downrange.

So here are the steps to boolit/powder utopia:

1) Finding the correct grain of boolit. Some shooters like them slow and heavy. Some shooters like them fast and snappy. (The latter is my personal preference). It boils down to your individual taste. What "feels" good and manageable to you when you shoot? I like them fast and snappy, I prefer the 115g

2) If you are competing, do you want the pistol/rifle to cycle quickly? (There are some folks out there who can actually "outshoot" their weapons cyclic rate). The boolit and powder combination will play a roll in this.

3) Another thing competitors need to deal with is "power factor". (This determines the speed our boolit needs to be traveling, based on the grain/weight it is). Once we have the minimum power factor we need to attain, we then custom tailer our loads to feel/perform the best at that specific power factor. I shoot an xd9 tactical in production so i just need to make minor power factor

4) As for the powder, the main priority (in my Crayola crayon box) is reliability. The weapon must always go "BOOM" when the trigger is pulled. And equally as important, the "internals" of the pistol must also stay clean in order for the pistol to function optimally. This means the powder must burn clean. The second thing to look for, once again, is feel. Is the powder slow-burning and "pushing" the boolit out? Or is the powder fast burning and "popping" the boolit out? This, and the boolit grain, will determine your recoil and flip.

5) Recoil and flip. If you are competing, the recoil and flip will determine your shooting speed. The more it flips (up and down motion of the barrel), the longer it will take for you to reaquire your sights on the targets for the follow-up shots. Recoil (rearward movement) is also something to think about.

So as you can imagine, everyone has a different perception as to what "feels right" to them. There are thousands of opinions on this topic. But bottom line, make sure you have a clean-burning powder no matter what boolit you choose. Clean-burning powders equate to reliability.

Let "The Tao of Boolit Nirvana" begin...

In Christ: Raymond

I'm thinking about starting with titegroup first and cci primers since a place not to far from me seems to have them in stock pretty regular.

Guess i'll have to get a chronograph too. Didn't think about that part

[zfields]

I have used:
Titegroup
Winchester 231
Bullseye
Unique

Current load for 124 grain hard cast lead is Winchester 231

A big +1 to winchester. I used bullseye at first, you get a touch more bang for your much ( were talking less then 1 cent per round ), but a bit dirty in my opinion.

Hate to say it,

but there's no way around it...YOU WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS LIKE EVERY ONE OF US. (At least the ones who know what they are doing).

Here's the deal. The big question is, "What are you going to be shooting for"?

Most of us that reload do so because we compete. And competing equates to many boolits downrange.

So here are the steps to boolit/powder utopia:

1) Finding the correct grain of boolit. Some shooters like them slow and heavy. Some shooters like them fast and snappy. (The latter is my personal preference). It boils down to your individual taste. What "feels" good and manageable to you when you shoot?

2) If you are competing, do you want the pistol/rifle to cycle quickly? (There are some folks out there who can actually "outshoot" their weapons cyclic rate). The boolit and powder combination will play a roll in this.

3) Another thing competitors need to deal with is "power factor". (This determines the speed our boolit needs to be traveling, based on the grain/weight it is). Once we have the minimum power factor we need to attain, we then custom tailer our loads to feel/perform the best at that specific power factor.

4) As for the powder, the main priority (in my Crayola crayon box) is reliability. The weapon must always go "BOOM" when the trigger is pulled. And equally as important, the "internals" of the pistol must also stay clean in order for the pistol to function optimally. This means the powder must burn clean. The second thing to look for, once again, is feel. Is the powder slow-burning and "pushing" the boolit out? Or is the powder fast burning and "popping" the boolit out? This, and the boolit grain, will determine your recoil and flip.

5) Recoil and flip. If you are competing, the recoil and flip will determine your shooting speed. The more it flips (up and down motion of the barrel), the longer it will take for you to reaquire your sights on the targets for the follow-up shots. Recoil (rearward movement) is also something to think about.

So as you can imagine, everyone has a different perception as to what "feels right" to them. There are thousands of opinions on this topic. But bottom line, make sure you have a clean-burning powder no matter what boolit you choose. Clean-burning powders equate to reliability.

Let "The Tao of Boolit Nirvana" begin...

In Christ: Raymond

Great post Raymond.

I know Ill be out today testing 4 new plinker loads, and 1 stashing load.
Just look for my dumb *** and my GF holding the AK and come say hi : )

[AJD]

As mentioned your powder choice will depend on how you want the load to peform. If you want softer recoil I would use powders like Titegroup and 231/HP38. If you're looking for more snappy recoil with the 115gr bullet, that would be similar to factory 9mm, then use something like WSF.

[GeoffLinder]

Best recommendation I can make is to hookup with someone already reloading the calibers you are going to use and do your initial learning duplicating their load recipes (always download someone elses recipe by 5% to start). Then as you get familiar with the process you can start making more informed choices based on your results.

One thing I recommend is testing reloads over a chronograph. If you don't know the velocity of your reloads, you don't really know anything about your reloads

[CALI SHOT DOC]

So I went on hodgdon's site to look at their reloading data and for titegroup 115g it only has 115g LRN and 115g SPR GDHP. I would be using 115g FMJ so could I still use the data they have for Grains of Powder and C.O.L.?

[GeoffLinder]

So I went on hodgdon's site to look at their reloading data and for titegroup 115g it only has 115g LRN and 115g SPR GDHP. I would be using 115g FMJ so could I still use the data they have for Grains of Powder and C.O.L.?

DO NOT use LRN data for jacketed bullets! LRN means Lead Round Nose and a charge weight specified for cast/swaged lead bullet will not always be similar to what a jacketed bullet of a different diameter will need.

The GDHP data is what you want to use. GDHP means Gold Dot Hollow Point and it is referring to a Speer brand jacketed hollow point. Jacketed is jacketed, so the GDHP data is fully translatable to FMJ or any other form of jacketed bullet.

COAL range for 9x19 is from 1.110" to 1.160'. For a 115 gr FMJ I would steer for the 1.120 to 1.130" OAL range.

Test the charge weight not listed as max with OAL set a little longer than specified and see if it gets anywhere near the velocity listed. If not, work it up carefully over the chronograph until you are in the range of acceptable velocity for a 115gr FMJ. 1100-1150 fps range gives you a 130ish power factor. I like to see 9mm ammo power factor out in the 140 range myself. This would translate to just about 1200fps for a 115gr.

Never estimate charge weight needed to get to a specific velocity range. Start at the minimum published data and work it up. Be generous with OAL to start with.

[AJD]

Here's some more data for you for Titegroup and a 115gr FMJ.

Sierra
115 FMJ COL 1.10 Starting load- 3.7gr velocity 1000. Max load 4.5gr velocity 1150

Speer
115gr TMJ COL 1.135 Starting load 4.1gr velocity 1061. Max load 4.5gr velocity 1121

I think Hodgdon's data shows charges higher than that. I've worked up a load of TG behind a 115gr FMJ, with a COL of 1.125, and started at 4.1 and went to 4.4gr. All of the loads were very mild.

[Gio]

Here's some more data for you for Titegroup and a 115gr FMJ.

Sierra
115 FMJ COL 1.10 Starting load- 3.7gr velocity 1000. Max load 4.5gr velocity 1150

Speer
115gr TMJ COL 1.135 Starting load 4.1gr velocity 1061. Max load 4.5gr velocity 1121

I think Hodgdon's data shows charges higher than that. I've worked up a load of TG behind a 115gr FMJ, with a COL of 1.125, and started at 4.1 and went to 4.4gr. All of the loads were very mild.

I have not chrono'd my rounds but I have been using 4.3gr of TG with Montana Gold 124gr JHP's with good results. I believe I have them set at 1.125 COL, rounds have functioned good so far in my G17C, my friends G19 and G26 along with a xDM 5" I believe it was.