Got my reloading parts. Needs Advice

[insik]

Hello,

I finally got all my reloading parts.

Lee Classic Turret
9mm die set
CCI Small Pistol Primers
W231 powder
Berrys 115 gr plated FP
Digital Caliper
Franklin Digital Scale
Lyman 49th Edition
Bullet Puller

My reloader was already setup to de-primed, bullet set and bullet crimp. Except for the auto-disc powder load which I will setup once I determined what powder gr to use.

I have de-primed/resized about 1000 9mm brass.
I also practice to bullet set and crimp and set OAL to 1.100 (approx. 1.97 - 1.102)

This is the load data I got from Hogdon website:

115 GR. LRN Winchester 231 .356" 1.100" 4.3 1079 28,400 CUP 4.8 1135 32,000 CUP

115 GR. SPR GDHP Winchester 231 .355" 1.125" 4.7 1075 25,300 CUP 5.1 1167 28,100 CUP

This is from Lyman handbook

115gr JHP W231, OAL=1.169, min=3.5, max=4.9

Is Berrys 9mm 115 gr Plated FP similar to 115gr LRN as stated above? Should the plated FP be less OAL than LRN?

Please comment/suggest on this load:

115 gr Berrys plated FP, W231 OAL=1.100, starting load=4.3 gr.

This is my first reloading. Thanks

[scotty99]

That should be a fine place to start. The bullets you have really fall in between the lead and jacketed formulas, so you will generally always be safe starting with the lead loads for your bullet weight. I would say that 4.3gr of 231 under that bullet will be close to a minimum load.

Don't go crazy and load 1M without shooting some. Load 50 and head to the range. FYI, I have always found the Berrys bullets to shoot better at near maximum loads, but your results may differ. If you do not find this load to be accurate, try something closer to the max load listed for the LRN and see if they don't improve.

Welcome to the world of reloading!

[CGT80]

Your start load at 4.3 looks good. I ran berrys 124 9mm at 3.8 or so and I run 124 montana gold jhp at 4.2 and get 970fps out of a 4" barsto barrel. With a lighter bullet you use more powder for a similar speed. Berrys bullets are copper plated and will not load up to a max jacketed load. Use lead data or low to mid jacketed data.

To find COAL, load up a dummy round (no powder and primer) and load it into a mag and see if it cycles by hand through your gun. To carefully check chamber tolerances, take the barrel out of your gun and drop the dummy round into the chamber. It should drop in easily. Press down on the bottom of the round to seat it as far in to the chamber as possible. Now, turn the barrel over and drop the round out. If it drops easily, odds are the length is not too long. If it gets stuck, remove the round and inspect the nose of the bullet for scratches. The bullet, if the round is too long, can get stuck on the edge of the rifling. The scratches would be in a circular pattern around the bullet. Seat the bullet deeper and try dropping it in the chamber again. Check that it goes in easily and drops out easily. I load 5-10 thousandths shorter than what my mags or chamber require.

9mm max length is 1.169. Some chambers will not take a round that long. The mags will not usually take a round longer than that. I use 40 cal mags with a 9mm conversion barrel in my xd 40 service. 40 cal is 1.135" max. The throat of my barrel is reamed to allow longer than 1.135" but my mags won't feed the rounds. My preferred length is 1.125" with a 124 bullet. My mom's factory xd 9mm barrel requires the rounds to be 1.115 with 124 MG JHP. Your gun may be different as well.

Your crimp should be just enough to take the bell out of the case from seating the bullet. You do not want to crimp a copper plated bullet too much. It can cause the plating to separate. I feel the edge of the case mouth with my fingers. If you can run two fingers down the case from head to bullet and not feel a sharp edge at the case mouth, you should be good. After you seat and crimp a bullet, use your puller to take it apart. You will probably see a ring where the case mouth was crimped to the bullet. In my opinion, a slight ring is ok. You want the bullet to stay firmly in place. Deforming the bullet is not good. To test you case neck retention, push on the bottom of a dummy round while the bullet is against a hard flat vertical surface. I use the side of my bench or press. If the bullet pushes in further, either your crimp is not tight enough or the case is weak or not sized properly.

In my XD, 3.8 was my minimum load for a 124 berrys bullet with win 231. If I went lighter, the gun would not cycle when I shot weak hand. A person that limp wrists a gun, may need a hotter load. That was the case with my mom and her xd at first. Now she can run the same load I do, but just a tad shorter.

By the way, Montana Gold 9mm bullets are $325 per case of 3750 with shipping and are much better than barrys. If you order only 1000 at a time it costs way more. By the case, the price is the same as buying barrys. I use MG's for competition. barrys bullets are good, but not the best if you find one bullet and have a use for large quantities. 231 is one of my favorite powders.

I would suggest loading up 10 rounds or so of each load you think you want to try. ex. 4.3, 4.1, 4.5, 4.7. It can be a challenge to figure out what a gun likes, and it sucks to have a bunch of rounds that aren't right for your gun. Shoot the light ones first and see how it acts. Load more if you feel lucky, or can't get to the range much.

I bought every berry's bullet for 40 s&w when I got my xd and then picked the 135 as my favorite. I did the same when I converted to 9mm and decided to run 124. 115 didn't seem as good as 124 and 147 cycled the slide too slowly. I was looking for the lightest recoil and fastest cycle time, that would get me back on target quickly. I started reloading in 1992 or so. In 2005 I bought my XD and loaded 40 cal on a single stage hollywood press. It was my first personally owned pistol. Now I load 9mm for the same gun on a 1050 dillon and have 30k rounds through the gun. I also load for my family members. Welcome to the sickness.

[dbbspider]

4.3 of 231 was not enough to cycle my old 9mm 1911, but if ur pistol shoots it w no problems, then ur good. I prefer my OAL at 1.125

[insik]

Thank you guys. I'll keep your suggestions in my notes.

[JNunez23]

Sounds good to me.. I just began reloading 2 weeks ago and am pretty much using the same recipe you are.

Win 231- 4.4 grains- 115 grain- 1.140 OAL

Works well so far.

[03fatboy]

Thanks CGT80, very informative!

[roc_my_tims]

More good info thanks

[insik]

I set the COAL to 1.100 then did the following:

1. Took out the barrel from my PX4 Storm and drop the dummy cartridge. It drops in easily. Turn it over and the cartridge falls.

2. Took out the barrel from my CZ75B and drop the dummy round. It drops in easily. But when I turn over the barrel, the cartridge does not fall. The same when I used other dummy cartridge with the same COAL.

I then built another dummy round with 1.090 COAL and now it drops freely when I turn over the barrel of my CZ75B.

Thanks CGT80. That really helps.

To find COAL, load up a dummy round (no powder and primer) and load it into a mag and see if it cycles by hand through your gun. To carefully check chamber tolerances, take the barrel out of your gun and drop the dummy round into the chamber. It should drop in easily. Press down on the bottom of the round to seat it as far in to the chamber as possible. Now, turn the barrel over and drop the round out. If it drops easily, odds are the length is not too long. If it gets stuck, remove the round and inspect the nose of the bullet for scratches. The bullet, if the round is too long, can get stuck on the edge of the rifling. The scratches would be in a circular pattern around the bullet. Seat the bullet deeper and try dropping it in the chamber again. Check that it goes in easily and drops out easily. I load 5-10 thousandths shorter than what my mags or chamber require.

[CGT80]

I am glad I could save you some frustration. I have been there and done that. I had a few competitions where my ammo was a bit off, and it really took the fun out of it. That is why I do small test runs first. Even though I have reloaded since I was a teen, I have learned a great deal in the last few years. This forum has been a great help, and I try to add to it.

If you guys have any other questions, post them here or PM me if needed. There are a number of us who like to help out. Have fun, and stay safe.

[Munk]

With berrys and other plated bullets, I run at the medium-to-hot range of lead loads or at the bottom of jacketed loads.

From what I can see, you're right in that range. Just make sure your powder measure is very precisely set for the weight you want and tightened down to avoid drift.

I'd also suggest you get a balance beam for doing very low weight charges. I've heard bad things about digital reloading scales being very temperamental with small charge weights.

[insik]

I finally got my first reloads.

10 rounds for 115gr/4.3 using W231
10 rounds for 115/4.6 using W231

I used 5 ammo (4.3) and 5 (4.6) on CZ75. And 5 each on PX4-Storm.
All ammo cycle loads and extracted. Though, I was not paying attention how far the case falls.

I cannot get a good grouping. I was very nervous and my hand is shaking.
I am going to be reloading more using the 4.6 recipe.

thanks a lot guys for the recommendations.

[stand125]

I load a 115gr Plated Extreme bullet with 4.5gr of W231 and magnum primers. I have serral buddies that really like this same load. I only use the Magnum primers because that is what was available and really liked how they performed. I now use magnum primers for all my hand gun loads. My COL is 1.20.

[tangocharlie7]

Thx CGT80
Tons of helpful hints. I am shamed to say I loaded 1k when I started loading a year ago and discovered I used the wrong powder weight. Easy to just shoot through em but I pulled every one and started over. Then got a new G21 and loaded 500 rds while the gun was in jail and had the oal to long. Talk about frustrating. Key is to do small batches of 20-30 lbs on new recipes as you stated. Take a few hundred rounds of other reliable rounds so the day is not wasted and I often bring a small notepad and take notes. Thx again

[stilly]

I dunno about Berry's but one thing that I learned was that when it comes to pistol rounds, PLATED bullets are pretty much the same as jacketed bullets is the same as lead bullets. Keep the WEIGHT together and you should have very similar results. When I look at loads now I ignore plated/lead/jacketed. I have made prolly about 20+ different loads with the 240gr 44 mag and I have been happy with just about all of it, more some than others.

BUT, one thing that I DID do was get rid of that Lee powder measure for that Hornady lock n load powder measure. WOW. I realized last night that my FAVORITE part (aside from being able to twist/adjust the amount of powder) is that I NO LONGER HEAR POWDER DROPPING ALL OVER THE PLACE like my Lee would do from time to time. BUT if you insist on keeping that Lee then get that Lee adjustable charge bar for it because THAT was one thing that I was VERY happy for when I set mine up. VERY happy for it. BEST $10 I ever spent on the hopper...

BTW, midway usa has the lock n load and the case activated linkage on sale for about $130 ISH right now. (gotta buy two different pieces).