New To Reloading

N

NSBRobert

Inactive
Hi all, first I have been enjoying this Forum, there is a lot of great information here and the community seems so willing to give great straight forward feedback. My wife and I shoot between 400 - 500 rounds of 9mm each weekend. We love to shoot and can literally step out on our back pouch and shoot. Our guns that we shoot mostly are a Beretta 92FS, SIG P 320, and a little with our carry guns S&W 2.0 and Beretta Nano.

I purchased a Lee Breech Lock Auto Pro with auto case feeder, bullet feeder, powder measure and Primer feeder. I do have scale and calipers. I have tons of brass mainly Remington that we saved. And Lyman reloading manual.

From my reading I plan on using 124 GR RN projectiles. Either copper plated and/or FMJ. Still trying to find them with the current shortages from the huge buy up.

I have done plenty of reloading for shot shells but never for hand gun. I am a stickler on safety and taking my time to do the job right, as to why I want to get the most info I can.

I have read so much I think I am now confused. I understand the plink test. On to my questions.

1. Do I want to make a round (no primer or powder) and find the max. Length that will work in both full size guns and best in the two carry guns? Meaning longer is better?

2. What type of powder should I start with and where should I start on load size?

3. After I see how they fire in my guns what adjustments should I make? Assuming they eject well, how should I tweak?

4. If I find projectiles is there any reason I can’t use flat nose or hollow point?

5. Finally is there anything I didn’t ask that I should have?

Again, This is only for plinking at home. Thank you for reading.
 
Welcome to the Forum. There’s a lot of information here and a lot of folk who really, actually know why this stuff works (as opposed to telling just what works). One thing you should know right off the mark is to trust anything Unclenick posts. If you can get him to put in an opinion on one of your questions, well, it’s kind of like having Albert Einstein help you with your 8th grade math homework.

You asked about what questions you hadn’t asked about. Here’s some that might qualify.
1. What about “crimped” primers?
2. Will I run across “Berdan” primed brass as opposed to “Boxer” primed brass?
3. Do I need to sort brass by headstamp?
4. How clean do I need to get my brass?
5. What is the mystique/cult following concerning the “Lee Factory Crimp Die” (FCD) and why should I avoid mentioning it in any reloading conversations? (Oops).
6. When I ask reloading questions why should I always include what I’m going to use the ammunition for, i.e. do I want the rounds for plinking, serious target shooting, hunting, self-defense etc.
7. Why do I need the “ABC’s of Reloading”?
https://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloadi...ords=abc's+of+reloading&qid=1586104361&sr=8-1

Disclaimer: I have been reloading for a lot of years but it has almost always been straight wall pistol cases which are the easiest things to reload. I know “how” to do it but I’m really short on answers as to why we do the things we do. People that know “why” have what Professor W. Edward Deming called “profound knowledge” of a topic, i.e. they really know what’s going on. That said here’ my quick and dirty answers to the above topics and I welcome anyone to correct me or expand on my answers.

1. If you buy used brass or pick up range brass you might find some with crimped primers. In my youth I just knocked out the primers, not knowing why they took more pressure to knock out and then reprimed them not knowing why this sometimes failed. You should take out the crimp after depriming but before priming. There’s various ways to do this. Search for them.
2. You might run across “Berdan” primed brass. If you do just toss it. IMhO it’s not worth messing with:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...Mtd2l6LWltZw&sclient=img#imgrc=KgdGLGXAIKsoQM
3. You do not need to sort brass. That said there’s some good reasons to do it just that I never did.
4. Shiny brass looks great. I just used a vibratory cleaner with corncob media for a couple hours and my brass was clean but not shiny and that was fine with me.
5. Let’s not talk about this. If you’re curious (and you should be) run a search on it.
6. You DID this in your post which helps everybody give you better information specific to your question. Kudos.
7. You need the “ABC’s of Reloading” because everybody will tell you to get it, also because it was my one and only reloading manual that told me how to reload and got me started. (This is not good. You should have more manuals and a “mentor” to show you how to do things. I did not. I should mention that when I actually started to reload I got a reloading manual (I think Lyman) and that’s where I got my actual “recipes” (bullet, powder primer).

Good Luck.
 
As far as cartridge length bigger is not better. Shorter is not better. Different bullets result in different length cartridges. You need to figure out which bullets you plan to use.

Then load some test rounds using a medium load to figure out if they are going to function properly and if they are going to be accurate. Don't load maximum pressure rounds using data as a starting point. Maximum loads are not typically ideal for anything other than going fastest on a chronograph.

You may find that the bullet that you selected initially is not going to be ideal long term. So plans would then have to change. One way to save that step would be to find a commercially available load that you like, then try and duplicate it as closely as possible using handloading.
 
Welcome to tfl!

And welcome to Reloading!

To answer your questions,

1. No. or at least not just yet...

2. 9mm uses a "fast" or "Medium" burn rate pistol powder. "Slow" powders don't work well. There are several in each group. We'll get into more detail, later.

3. Can't answer until you have ammo and do test firings...

4. No reason you can't use flat point or HP bullets IF THEY FEED in your guns. Buy and test a small quantity before you buy in bulk.

5. Lots of things to ask, most of which you won't know about until you get there...:D

Sorry I can't help you with your equipment, I don't use Lee presses and have no idea the correct settings and adjustments you will need to make for your system. I will tell you that starting out with a progressive press is starting on the steep part of the learning curve.

If you can, I would recommend getting a simple, single stage press (it can even bee Lee) and learning the basics on that. Won't be identical to the progressive, but the main principles carry over, and worst case, you only ruin one case at a time...:rolleyes:

The 9mm Luger has a taper to the case body, but for most things it is treated like a "straight" case. Carbide sizer die means you don't need to lube the brass for sizing. Otherwise, you do.

As to overall loaded length in 9mm Luger, the magic number is 1.169" This is the industry standard maximum length. Understand that this is not a number you need to load to, not something you need to achieve, its a number you should not exceed. Shorter COAL hurts nothing, and indeed, its truly rare to find a factory round that matches this length. They are all at least slightly shorter. Go measure some, you'll see...

Since you load for shotgun, take a look at the powders you have on hand. Some of them might be suitable for use in the 9mm.

Right now the goal should be to produce ammo that feeds and functions in your gun(s). We'll tackle the more advanced stuff as you gain experience.

DO get a bullet puller!!! You may never need one, but if you do, there's no other tool for the job. I recommend the "hammer" type kinetic puller (Lyman RCBS, etc. I use the Lyman, when needed) I've used the collet type press mounted ones, and while they work, the hammer is, I think, a better way to go.

Study the loading manuals (again Lyman is a good start) see how the brass is worked during the reloading process. What each die does, and when. You'll see some similarities with loading shotshells, and some differences.

There are NO STUPID QUESTIONS!!! Everyone of us started at zero, and old guys like me started without the support of experienced people on the internet. We learned a lot through trial and error and maybe can save you some of the errors we made. :D

I've been reloading since the early 70s and am set up to load for about 30 different rifle and handgun rounds, including 9mm Luger. Happy to help with whatever I can, ask away!
 
Thank you for the replies all, I just ordered the ABC of reloading and reviewing all that you all wrote. While I am looking for bullets to buy and getting things set up I decided I will read and continue to learn over the next couple of weeks before actually starting to reload. As I do have plenty of ammo on hand to get by the next few weeks so when I do sit down and start I at least will have not rushed.
 
Now that we have the basic stuff answered, let's dig a little deeper into details. You asked about what powder to use.

What powder do you have on hand for shotgun? As was mentioned some will work for 9mm too.
 
What powder do you have on hand for shotgun? As was mentioned some will work for 9mm too.
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I remember when I started reloading .45 ACP my father was a trap shooter and when he saw how much powder I was using he opined that he spilled more Hi-Skor 700x in one reloading session than I would use in a month. (That's a bit of an exaggeration.) Anyway I got access to his reloading bench and free powder for loading up a case of his trap loads on his MEC 650 every month or so. Life was good.
 
I don’t have any now, when I moved from Florida I stopped duck hunting and gave all my powder and etc away as I didn’t want to move it with me knowing it would be a while before I started again.
 
I have a question. In my search for projectiles since I cant find Hornady or any other of what I am told top manufacturers. If I find a FMJ or copper coated .355 124gr RN going through this learning curve, does it matter who it’s made by? And should I buy either smaller or larger in addition to the 124? Everything I have been buying has been 115 GR RN Remington as far as not reloaded, With the occasional federal and Winchester. All guns have been shooting fine. But one of the reasons I want to reload is for accuracy and cost due to the 2000 rounds a month we shoot at Min.
 
Right now we are in crazy times so there may be few choices that are available. First you need to decide what you are wanting to shoot. If it were me I would say 115 grain round nose copper plated bullets. Like these: https://www.berrysmfg.com/product/bp-9mm-356-115gr-rn

Next look at loading data to determine what powder to use. There are likely several that will work, what you should be after is one that fills the case the most with the bullet that you want to use. Once you narrow the choices down then you can figure out where to buy and what to buy.
 
Get what you can find for bullets and try them out. Some guns love some bullets and not others. Don't rule out lead cast bullets. You won't know what works until you try it.

For powder you can search in the powder manufacturer websites for load data. I use this to determine if I can use a certain powder before I spend the money. I use Tite Group for my 9mm loads. Many others will work, but this is what works for several of my cartridges.

The Hodgdon load data website can show you all powders that they sell that are compatible. Just enter the cartridge and bullet weight. Then open the tab with powder options. All that are listed will work. Not all are optimal.
 
Look to places like RMR, Missouri Bullet, Montana Gold, and Everglades for bullets. 9mm, like 38Spl, can be loaded with a large number of different brands of powders making it fairly easily when it comes to getting components.
 
NSBRobert said:
I have a question. In my search for projectiles since I cant find Hornady or any other of what I am told top manufacturers. If I find a FMJ or copper coated .355 124gr RN going through this learning curve, does it matter who it’s made by? And should I buy either smaller or larger in addition to the 124? Everything I have been buying has been 115 GR RN Remington as far as not reloaded, With the occasional federal and Winchester. All guns have been shooting fine.
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The 9mm cartridge has never enjoyed a stellar reputation for accuracy anyway, so your quest for accuracy needs to keep that in mind. What's your idea of accuracy? Do you and your wife compete against each other for score, bullseye type, or are we talking "minute of soda can" accuracy?

When I started loading for .45 ACP I was in the same place you are. I had been shooting a lot of Winchester USA ("white box") ammo. Cartridge lengths I found in various reloading manuals were all over the map, so I opened a box of Winchester, measured five rounds, and used the average as my length for loading. That has been working fine for fifteen years or more.

124-grain is a good weight for 9mm. I stopped loading 115-grain in 9mm and switched to 124-grain awhile back. For your purposes, I don't see any reason to look at other weights. (124-grain also happens to be what 9mm was originally loaded for.)

With rare exception, for specialized purposes, for handguns I only load plated (not FMJ) bullets. They work well. I get mine from Berry's Manufacturing directly, and some of the big places like Midway I think also carry Berry's. There are other manufacturers of plated bullets, but I haven't tried them. Didn't have any reason to. I think any of them will do well for you.

The press you have chosen is a good starter press for handguns. To begin, you don't have to use it as a progressive. You can use it with only one case at a time and run that one case through the four stations. That allows you to see what's happening and make adjustments. For the amount you shoot, you'll definitely want a progressive ... you won't be happy trying to load 2,000 rounds per week on a single stage press. If I didn't already have four presses, I would give that press a serious look.

[Edit to add] There is a web forum dedicated to discussion of Lee loading gear. It's independent, not maintained or supported by Lee. There are some very knowledgeable people on that site. They added a discussion area for your press shortly after it was introduced by Lee. Not much traffic, because most of the people already had other Lee presses, but still a good resource IMHO.

http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/index.php
 
I can’t continue to thank everyone enough for the info, and the suggestion of running one round at a time to get my adjustments down is a great idea. Hopefully I can find some projectiles this week and start working on getting the press set up next weekend. When I do find projectiles I will post for suggested powder, I will also review my manuals to see how I compare to suggestions. Thank you all again.
 
I've used Berry's plated rounds for years with pretty good results. In the last 5 batches I've only has two or three rounds that were too off to load properly resulting in the plating being scraped off by the brass - but that's out of some 2000 to 3000 projectiles. I've also used a lot of Frontier CMJ projectiles which are typically inexpensive and come in a wide variety of form factors.
 
NSBRobert said:
I found some Berrys 124gr .356 (not .355) plated RN on gun broker. Decent price for 2000. Works?
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Excellent choice.

Heck, at your rate of consumption, if you don't like 'em you'll be shopping again in a month anyway. :)
 
Ok I purchased them, thank you for info. Berrys .124 GR .356 RN plated. Now what is suggested for powder so I can pick up this week.
 
My current load with plated 124 gr is with Tite Group. But Titewad, 700x, and 800x are options. So are many other powders. See what's available.
 
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