newbie reloading this summer

[MIAMIbaseballer]

I'm going to start reloading this summer as soon as I get back from baseball. I've decided to go with a Dillon xl650 and all other Dillon equipment. I'm gonna start reloading 9mm and 10mm using Montana Gold bullets. Not certain on the powders yet... Any advice you have, I'd love to hear. Or anyone with this setup can give me some advice I'd appreciate it....

Thanks in advance

[morrow]

I'm going to start reloading this summer as soon as I get back from baseball. I've decided to go with a Dillon xl650 and all other Dillon equipment. I'm gonna start reloading 9mm and 10mm using Montana Gold bullets. Not certain on the powders yet... Any advice you have, I'd love to hear. Or anyone with this setup can give me some advice I'd appreciate it....

Thanks in advance

Looks like the Precision Delta bullets are cheaper for 9mm

You can't go wrong going with an xl650 and all Dillon equipment, but it may get a little pricey. You can probably substitute some Dillon things with other brands to save a little $$$, like their primer flipper tray for instance or their dies. Most people consider Dillon dies to be the best due to extreme ease of cleaning, but they are expensive. Pretty much all Dillon equipment is just sweet and well made.
I'd recommend ordering from Brian Enos or waiting for some type of group buy on here. Also do the bearing mod.

As for powder for your 9mm and 10mm there are many options and people with strong opinions. A couple good ones are HP38/W231 and Titegroup.

Welcome to the reloading club

Do you have any specific questions on components to buy for your xl650, or anything else?

[Dark Mod]

Your certainly jumping in head first, thats for sure. Thats alot of very high quality and expensive equipment for somone starting out. You definatley wouldnt be the first, but just know that starting on a progressive will add a whole new element to the learning curve.

The good news is that all of that stuff holds its value pretty well, if it turns out reloading isnt for you you can sell it on the markeplace and recoup most of the cost.

Ill second the motion for precision delta, just because they are cheaper and theyre bullets arent yellow (I kid).

Ill also second the motion for substituting some of the stuff. Dillon equipment is very high quality but some of it is an unnecessary expense in my opinion.

You might do very well with titegroup for both applications, but you should probably experiment with the 10mm a bit and see what kind of power you can get out of it. If your not pushing 10mm past 1100 fps you might as well just buy a .40

[Munk]

BlueDot does fantastic for 10mm. You can load it hot and heavy and almost never worry about an overcharge (If you're fully compressing the load from a topped off case, MAYBE, but i've seen a few that had a good "crunch" when seated and they did great).


I'm not loading 9mm right now, So I can't give good advice for it just yet.

[bassboss]

I agree on the Titegroup. You will use a smaller load to achieve equal velocities, so a little bit goes a long way. with my .40 loads, using the minimum charge, 1 lb of powder will load 1,666 rounds.

[stilly]

Are you starting with a Dillon?
O.o big spender.

Have you EVER reloaded before (no?).
Are you certain that you want to start with a progressive?
What if you do not like it?

[marklyftogt]

For my 9mm is use 4.1 grains of Accurate #2 with CCI primers and I use Berry's plated bullets 115 gr. Nice powder to work with and at this load is pretty low recoil and accurate. As always...check the book and start low and slow.

For a newb I would recommend the Lee Classis 4 die turret press.
Forget their autoprimer on the press and use the ergo prime.
Forget their autocharge powder measure on the press.

I use a RCBS chargemaster 1500 for measuring the powder.

I love the setup I have now so i don't have to cringe pulling the trigger wondering how much powder Lee put in the case this time.

Good luck.

[Cowboy T]

Well, the Dillon XL650 is a whole lot of press, no question about that. But for your safety, before you get that 650, I'd suggest learning how to reload on a single-stage first, with a hand-primer tool. Really learn each stage of the reloading process. It can save you from, say, a squib or a double-charge. Yes, seriously.

That single-stage will not go to waste after you go progressive, either, so don't worry about that. You will discover that a single-stage is *VERY* handy to have on your bench alongside your progressive. Mine, which is located in-between two progressive presses, continues to get quite the vigorous workout on a regular basis.

There's plenty of time to get that XL650 later. The vendors will be just as happy to take your money after your first 500-1,000 rounds as they would be today. :-)

[marklyftogt]

PS unless you are reloading a mountain of rounds the Dillon is overkill.
I can load around 100 per hour even with off press priming and charging with the scale/measure.

[Dark Mod]

Well, the Dillon XL650 is a whole lot of press, no question about that. But for your safety, before you get that 650, I'd suggest learning how to reload on a single-stage first, with a hand-primer tool. Really learn each stage of the reloading process. It can save you from, say, a squib or a double-charge. Yes, seriously.

That single-stage will not go to waste after you go progressive, either, so don't worry about that. You will discover that a single-stage is *VERY* handy to have on your bench alongside your progressive. Mine, which is located in-between two progressive presses, continues to get quite the vigorous workout on a regular basis.

There's plenty of time to get that XL650 later. The vendors will be just as happy to take your money after your first 500-1,000 rounds as they would be today. :-)

I couldnt agree more, You can get a Lee anniversary kit for about $80 with most of the stuff you need. I still use mine, its on permanent rifle cartridge duty. I load .300 winmag, .22-250, and 7.62x54r on it and it works great. Hell, i dont even have shellplates for those calibers on my progressive.

Not only will you learn better with a single stage, you can get started immediatly with a tiny investment, and still use the single stage later on

[morrow]

I don't really get all the discouraging going on against getting a progressive (in this case xl650) right off the bat. That's how I did it. I watched videos online, read some forums, bought it, and I found it to be really easy.
If the OP is competant enough it's really no problem to start off progressive. I don't even have a single stage, no use for one, and I load several calibers.

[Bill Steele]

BlueDot does fantastic for 10mm. You can load it hot and heavy and almost never worry about an overcharge (If you're fully compressing the load from a topped off case, MAYBE, but i've seen a few that had a good "crunch" when seated and they did great).


I'm not loading 9mm right now, So I can't give good advice for it just yet.

I agree on Blue Dot for 10mm and it also works good for 9mm, although when using a 650, as you approach max loads you will have a very full case and the indexing of the press can cause some spillage. You can minimize or completely stop the spillage with technique (see youtube video), but it will be a very full 9mm case.

Another terrific powder for 9mm and 10mm is Longshot.

Slower powders work best with both 9mm and 10mm and they fill the case which allows you to see the powder level before seating the bullet.

One other thing I thought of, there will be a temptation to get a "quick change" kit for each caliber you load. The Quick Change kit is a tool head, caliber conversion, dies, powder drop and toolhead stand. Although I really like my quick change kits, I think a better way to go is to get everything you would get for a QC kit, but don't get a powder drop for each caliber kit.

Uniquetek makes a micrometer adjustor for the Dillon Powder Bars. After I installed one on my .45ACP setup, and calibrated it for each of the powders I load, I find I move it to each setup when changing calibers. It is so precise, I can just dial to a specific number on the dial and get the exact charge I want to use, time after time. Uniquetek will send you an Excel Spreadsheet you use to calibrate your various powders you load. I litterally dial the target number on the micrometer and check the powder charge weight once to verify nothing got broken and then once when the batch is done to make sure nothing went wrong and that is it. It takes a few mintues to mount up the powder drop when changing toolheads, but is much faster than the binary search process of dialing in a powder charge each time.

Here is whatI am talking about: http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1231

[MIAMIbaseballer]

THANKS for all the feedback, I really appreciate it!

I have done my research for over a year and I want Dillon because of the warranty/customer service/reputation. Money is not really an issue, I am open to saving some money but would just prefer to spend the extra now, rather than trying to save a little here and there then then it breaks or I buy something better. I am open to other brands for a scale and misc stuff though....

I have never reloaded before but my cousin does and is gonna oversee everything. Also "Toolbox X" has a 650 and said he would show me a few things...

As for getting a single stage... I shoot way too much. I easily blow 1000rds when I go shoot up in sly park and I shoot at least once a week. Also I'm not the only one shooting. A few thousand rds each shooting session is a conservative guess. I want the 650 for that reason as well as the auto indexing and powder check system or I'd go with the 550. Another reason I'm not worried about a double charge... I am also getting the "quick change system" for each caliber.

Bullets- I like Montana Gold jacketed bullets and they seem to be the cheapest in bulk for 9. I still need to figure out what bullet I'm going to use for the 10. I don't know if I'm gonna use a 180 or 200 or 220. I'll look into precision. I'm a little iffy on lead bullets though because I have a few Glocks....

Powder- I like titegroup, bluedot, aa7, IMR700x.... I'll end up buying a few and seeing what I like best....

[CALI SHOT DOC]

I am learning on a 550 and haven't had any issues and don't regret getting the dillon compared to getting the Lee. Just do your homework and understand what each station does. Take your time, just because you can knock out a couple hundred rounds pretty quick (especially with the auto-indexer) doesn't mean you have to. I probably average 100rds/hour. Start with the minimum suggested load and work yourself up. One habit I've forced myself into is making sure there is powder in the case before placing the bullet on top. As long as you take your time and be safe you shouldn't have an issue starting with the 650.

I load 9mm and prefer 231. It seems to measure really well and be very consistent. I use berry's 124g rn @ 1.150" COL and love it.

Good Luck

[russt]

i think starting with a single stage press until you are comfortable with reloading is the best/safest way to start reloading. this is my personal opinion, but when using a progressive press things happen a lot faster and multiple things happen at once which raises the possibility for errors, and errors in reloading can have severe consequences.