Need advice on questionable 9mm recipe

[Bill Steele]

..Being new to this, I also like the fact that Unique fills the case also. I can deal with the "dirty" until I find the right seating depth to give me optimal pressure with my components...

I think picking powders that fill more that half the case at the desired load is always a good thing. Ironically, with an auto indexing progressive, it is much more difficult to double charge than the "normal" beginner setup of a single stage press and measured drops, this kind of process REALLY puts a premium on fluffy powders.

I agree with the observation that Unique will run reasonably clean as you move the pressure up. For me, I never liked the slide action with Unique. It always felt like things were running in slow motion up until you get to the knee of the curve and then it gets overly energetic, kind of a bi-polar reaction. But many will only load Unique, one of the all time favorites for a really long time.

[sargenv]

I know someone who used a Pro 1000 and double charged a full load of Bullseye and didn't notice it.. thankfully he was using a Redhawk, and while it had to be shipped to Ruger for refitting of a cylinder, it did not completely wreck said gun.. after that he stopped being cheap and bought the correct powder for the job.

[Bill Steele]

I know someone who used a Pro 1000 and double charged a full load of Bullseye and didn't notice it...

How did it happen?

[sammy]

If you are open to other powders Power Pistol is the best powder I have found for 9mm. Works awesome for 115g. up to 147g. Meters great and cycles Glocks very well. Glocks like hotter ammo so don't be afraid to work your loads up to max with standard primers only. My G26 is most accurate with 124g. FMJ 6.2g. of Power Pistol. My favorite load so far.

[offdutyalot]

I'm going to put 100 down today.

Once fired WW case, 115gn BC moly, 5.0gr Unique, WW SP mag primers, OAL 1.40.

I had only a couple issues with primer seating with thw WW SP magnums vs. mutiple with the CCI 500s. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the press, maybe it's the primers....I'm too new at this to discern.

My OAL variance was significantly better with this session...~.02, but my depriming rod/pin/tool(?) was pushed up about 3/8". I had to reset it to deprime. I don't know how or when that happened.

[Cowboy T]

How did it happen?

Happened to me once. The ram was all the way up, and I short-stroked the press halfway down and halfway back up, before the auto-index had a chance to do its magic. Double-charge. Fortunately, I caught it as I did it, so no bad news.

This can happen with any press, be it single-stage, turret, or progressive. It was totally my fault, not the press's, and I immediately thereafter modified my reloading procedure so that won't happen again (and it hasn't).

BTW, this was with Bullseye and .38 Special.

To the OP: using magnum primers won't hurt your gun. Just drop your starting charge about half a grain lower, and you should be fine. However, standard primers are your best bet for nearly every handgun powder, the exceptions being H110/W296 and Li'l Gun. Even Alliant 2400 only needs standard primers.

[Bill Steele]

Happened to me once. The ram was all the way up, and I short-stroked the press halfway down and halfway back up, before the auto-index had a chance to do its magic. Double-charge. Fortunately, I caught it as I did it, so no bad news.

This can happen with any press, be it single-stage, turret, or progressive. It was totally my fault, not the press's, and I immediately thereafter modified my reloading procedure so that won't happen again (and it hasn't).

BTW, this was with Bullseye and .38 Special.

To the OP: using magnum primers won't hurt your gun. Just drop your starting charge about half a grain lower, and you should be fine. However, standard primers are your best bet for nearly every handgun powder, the exceptions being H110/W296 and Li'l Gun. Even Alliant 2400 only needs standard primers.

Do you use the spring return on the AD? I was thinking that if you used the chain only you would have to get back down far enough on the index rod that it would index before the disk was returned to be refilled. I have never used the Pro1000, but this is what I was understanding (sounds like misunderstanding) was the safety feature of the chain return on the Pro1000.

I have heard guys say you could short stroke a Dillon 650 and cause the same thing, but looking at my Dillon powder drop and it's interlock and the return bar, I could not see how you could recharge the powder bar before the shellplate started to index.

Of course, I load on a Dillon 550B so have no such safety features. If I can't see the powder charge and know it is at safe levels, I don't set the bullet, period. On this press it is REALLY easy to double charge a powder like Titegroup or Bullseye. The funny thing is, once you get it programmed, alarm bells go off in my head when anything changes in my process, no matter how tiny.

So far, so good.

[offdutyalot]

Just ripped 50 of my loads and 50 reloads from a batch of 250 I bought at a gun show last weekend. My ammo fired without issue as did the "pro's" ammo. The difference was mine put a much tighter group on paper and no residue on the spent cases (I finally got my recipe right). The reloads I bought were 124gr plated vs my 115gr molys so I am not going to say the ammo wasn't good. I just prefered the feel and comfort in knowing where my brass came from and what's in it.

The WW SP magnum primers did wonderful while in the press and in the gun. I have 200 more CCIs so we'll see if I have issues with those.

My target recipe ended up being:

115gn BC molys
5.0gn Unique
WW case
WW SP magnum primers
1.140 OAL

I have no technical data to offer.

Thanks everyone for your help. My next thread will be help with .223.... Of course after I search thouroughly......

[ireload]

Offduty from my experience Unique performs best when loaded mid to max level in 9mm cartridge. My practice 9mm rounds are close to max level and my shtf loads are +P. But I use plated 115 gr. bullets (Berrys or Rainer).

[offdutyalot]

Offduty from my experience Unique performs best when loaded mid to max level in 9mm cartridge. My practice 9mm rounds are close to max level and my shtf loads are +P. But I use plated 115 gr. bullets (Berrys or Rainer).

I did find that Unique cycled my Glock 26 great at 4.0-4.3gn but left quite a bit of residue on the spent case. From 4.7-4.9gr, great cycling, much less residue, and it preffered mag WW small primers vs CCI 500 (both the cartrige and the Lee Pro 1000). At 4.9-5.2gn, great cycling and ejection, virtually no residue, still a snappy, light recoil (which I prefer), and liked both WW mag primers and CCI 500s ( but my press didn't like the CCIs).

All these were with BC molys, mostly WW cases (some mixed HD), and half WW mag primers and half CCI 500s.

My issues arised with the primers (as a lot of other Lee pro 1000 owners seem to experience. WW mag primers were seated with little issue. CCIs, after I bent in the plate spring slightly to keep the case tight in the plate, went a bit more smoothly, but I did have some fly out of the press and one fed sideways and quite a few either FT seat or didn't seat at all because there was no primer in the station.

My load for plinking ended up at:
5.0-5.2gn Unique
115 gn BC Molys
Mostly WW cases (some mixed)
WW Magnum small primer.

From my first 500 rounds loaded on the Lee Pro 1000:

Pros
-Unique with 9mm=awesome because it fills the case so no double charge (hard to do with this press anyway)
-Inexpensive startup
-Great support from Calguns and YouTube
-Any problems were easily identified and corrected even to a first timer
-After familiarizing myself with the press I am putting out a decent amount of rounds fairly quickly
-I can feel when there is an issue during strokes
-easy assembly and adjustment
-Has proven (to me) that it can load quality ammo

Cons
-Unique in a 9mm case does spill a little from the charge stroke to the bullet setting (not seating) stroke
-Likes certain primers
-Ergo handle doesn't feel very ergonomic
-issues with removing primers i.e. primers not being removed or the primer removal pin/rod was pushed up once so it wasn't even touching the spent primers. That's still a occurence.
-Definantely needs blown with compressed air often because of the spilled powder.
-The last 10 or so primers need manuall assistance with a small allen, bent paperclip (can be found on You tube "tips and trick for the Lee Pro 1000")


All in all, this has been a very good press and a good learning experience. 9mm became even cheaper than they already are, and I can tailor my plimking ammo to each gun. I have an FMK 9C1 on the way.

Hopefully .223 loads as well on my (actually my dad's; he had it sent to my house because I'm the "Mad Scientist" doing all the research and T&E) second press (still unassembled on my living room floor until I build an adequate reloading bench next weekend).

You guys were right, once you start reloading, there's no looking back.

[zenmastar]

6.0 grains of Unique for 9mm is too much, imo. You will very likely be compressing the load when seating for a normal OAL. Just put 6.0 grains in an 9mm cartridge and look.

I load 4.8 of Unique with 124g FMJ round nose, seated to a OAL of 1.150.

[offdutyalot]

6.0 grains of Unique for 9mm is too much, imo. You will very likely be compressing the load when seating for a normal OAL. Just put 6.0 grains in an 9mm cartridge and look.

I load 4.8 of Unique with 124g FMJ round nose, seated to a OAL of 1.150.

Just from loading my first 500 rounds, I'd think 6.0gr of Unique would make me nervous, at this point in my experience, even with a max OAL of 1.163(max right?). Data does show loads with 6.0gr with 115gr projectiles. I won't load that for my plinkers.

^^^^^4.8gr of Unique with 124gr FMJs I'd like to try. I did buy 250 124gr plated reloads with mixed HS from the gun show and I do not like them at all. Unfortunately, I have no load data (which is less than advisable) and they feel "hot." They have the recoil of a .40 cal. That is not to say that I'm not going to experiment with some 124gr or 147gr JHP for HD/SD and maybe some lead/fmj/plated 124gr for plinking.

[zenmastar]

I saw your poll and voted 124g bullets. I've never felt much of a difference between 115g and 124g. Neither would I say these came close to 40s&w loads.

6 grains of Unique comes darn near the top of the cartridge for me. Even at 5 grains, I believe I would be compressing the powder with a 124g bullet. I

Compressing will spike the pressure up and maybe why you consider recoil to be comparative to a 40. You could be effectively shooting a +P+, but without a chrono, you will not know.

Check for signs of over-pressure. Look at the primer strikes and see if there is bulging in the outline of the strike.

BTW, I do not shoot plated, but jacketed. Pricing is too close to not buy jacketed as plated has been getting popular, imo.