9mm First Run Check

[gunhun]

OP,

I started reloading for the first time < 6 months ago, using Lee classic turret press, with ALL 4 dies, without any problems. There is no reason a newbie cannot use the turret press. You control every single step, and can examine every step, before continuing. Nevertheless, like others have said, there is definitely something wrong in the way you are doing things if you have squibs/hang fires, keyholing.

Make sure you see powder in the casing before seating the bullet. You skipped a couple, causing your squibs. Keeping things between 1.145 - 1.165 OAL is conservative and safe. Measure frequently. Clean your brass. Measure some of your brass. And yes, develop your loads. Try out a number of different grains of powder before making a big batch. Lead bullets should be loaded colder. Lead bullets with .95 OAL may be too much pressure and too fast for lead, leading to your keyholing. Good luck and don't give up, but you need to go back to the drawing board.

[smrtprts]

I appreciate all the help. I actually paid someone to teach me the proper steps, help create my loads etc. Clearly I should not have put my trust in him as he has steered me quite wrong. I will be sure to do the research on my own and ask if I have any questions prior to staring back up.

[HighLander51]

Precision (not Precision Delta) 125 grain TC moly coated lead on top of 4.0 grains of TiteGroup at 1.10" overall. Chronos at around 1,150 fps out of a G17 with BarSto barrel.

http://www.precisionbullets.com/

[emptybottle151]

Did you get the lee classic turret kit? If so read the manual. your oal should be 1.050-1.142 for the lead. Use your barrel as a case gage.

Are you using the lee auto disk? Get a digital scale and cross references the disks and powder weights. This is necessary to work up your loads from "start grains" to "never exceed"

Also clean your brass. Ether tumble it, ultra sonic, or use an old tooth brush.

Make test batches of 5 to 10 rounds and see whats the bests accuracy. Only then do you install the indexing rod to your press and crank out 400rounds.

Don't let other people shoot your ammo until you've tested thoroughly.

[Rimack]

I use the Lee 4 Hole Turret with Lee Carbide 4 Die sets for .38/.357, 9mm and .40sw. I have no issues with my reloads.

I agree with what everyone else is saying. You should find someone in your area who has good experiance reloading and learn from them. With reloading, mistakes can range from broken equipment to the loss of a hand or worse. And don't let your friends shoot reloads unless you want to be responsible for paying for their gear/medical bills.

I just started developing a load for .40, and I spent about an hour yesterday. I made 5 rounds.

I always visually check the powder in each case, squib loads will lead to you blowing up a gun at some point.

Here are some 9mm I made with 124gr home cast RN, with 4.2 gr Titegroup.



Good luck, I hope everything works out.

[Rimack]

You should also check for leading. A OAL of .95" is way to short, and 4 grains of titegroup seems light for a 122 grain bullet. Unless your lead is pretty soft, I think you'll need more powder. You do own a reloading manual that you checked, right?

[HighLander51]

You should also check for leading. A OAL of .95" is way to short, and 4 grains of titegroup seems light for a 122 grain bullet. Unless your lead is pretty soft, I think you'll need more powder. You do own a reloading manual that you checked, right?

3.6 -4.0 grains of TiteGroup is from the Hodgdon website. Lead bullets of the same weight take less powder, not more. Typically 20% less than jacketed. 3 grains will push a 125 lead to about 900 fps (doesn't make minor power floor).

[Rimack]

^ I guess I'm just using a harder lead alloy, because I need to keep my 124gr at or a little above 4.2gr titegroup. I'll have to have a buddy of mine test and see how hard they are...

[jglabe]

Rescinded

[call-in]

I appreciate all the help. I actually paid someone to teach me the proper steps, help create my loads etc. Clearly I should not have put my trust in him as he has steered me quite wrong. I will be sure to do the research on my own and ask if I have any questions prior to staring back up.

Aside from not blowing yourself up, another benefit of load development is to identify the most accurate load for your gun/s. So unless the consultant used your gun/s to test the loads out, how can he recommend those loads? I load in a classic turret and I check each case for the presence of powder and whether or not it looks like the right amount before I seat the bullet, you'll definitely notice if you double charged a case, make this a habit, it is far too easy to double charge with the Lee Auto Disk measure. Another tip, make sure you manipulate the arm through it's whole range for every step, make sure you manipulate the arm through it's whole range for every step (worth saying it again ).

I have to commend you for recognizing a squib, many have failed to recognize it with catastrophic results. Looks like so far you have been lucky but don't wait for it to run out, learn the process by heart and you'll be rewarded multiple times over for your efforts. Welcome to the club.

[HighLander51]

^ I guess I'm just using a harder lead alloy, because I need to keep my 124gr at or a little above 4.2gr titegroup. I'll have to have a buddy of mine test and see how hard they are...

what does that load chrono at out of what gun?

[Rimack]

what does that load chrono at out of what gun?

lol I wish I knew. If I had to guess I'd say between 1000 and 1100 fps out of a Glock 23 with a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion. I have yet to run them over a chrono, I don't have one but the guy I know with the hardness tester has one I need to use. I'm just doing whats giving me the best accuracy with the least leading for now.