Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading
Getting started loading 9mm, need some pointers
bkoenig:
I've been loading both bottleneck and straight wall rifle cartridges since I was a kid but I've never loaded pistol until now. I just bought a set of 9mm dies and a Lee Auto Disk, I'll be loading it on a Lee 4 hole turret press. I'm planning on loading mostly cast bullets to save money. Does anyone have any tips or suggested recipes? My pistol shooting will be mostly geared towards 3-gun and action style shooting, for what it's worth. I would like to find a single powder that works well with both cast and the occasional jacketed loads, if possible.
SemperFiGuy:
BKOENIG:
Perhaps the biggest difference in loading pistol bullets, including 9mm, is the addition of a third die: the belling/flaring die. This die is used after the de-capping/de-priming die and the tumbler or other case cleaning. And before re-priming.
Sometimes you can "cheat" and not use the belling die if you are loading (a) jacketed bullets with (b) a bit of a bevel on the base. In those instances, the bullet will properly enter the cartridge case under force of the bullet seating die, then be crimped (taper or roll), and go on to work OK. That's how I sometimes seat jacketed .38Special, .357Mag, 9mm, and .40S&W/10mm. Doesn't work quite so well with Berry Bullets and other bullets which are gilded, rather than jacketed.
However, cast bullets will need a cartridge case that uses the third die to create a bell/flare at the case mouth. Otherwise, there is a risk that the cartridge case will shave off part of the soft lead bullet and deposit the lead near the mouth of the case. Been there; done that. Got samples to show.
Now, for powder. I use Win231 (same as Hodgdon HP38) for just about everything in the pistol calibers listed above, including cast/lead bullets. It's a bit of a "hottie" as double-based powders go. No single manual (Hornady, Speer, Hodgdon Lyman, etc.) shows a Win231 powder load for all these calibers. So it has been necessary to go to several different manuals and find (a) my caliber of choice with (b) an appropriate Win231 powder load.
I'm not pushing Win231. I just happen to have 8 pounds of it. You will want to pick your own more-or-less universal powder, so that you don't have a variety of powder cans on your shelves. Which means that you may have to go through several reloading manuals to find the right powder. [And I'm suspicious of Speer; they show higher grain loads for the same velocities than other manuals.] Possibility of Ka-Boom Factor enters.
Many of the internet reloading forums list various bullet/powder/primer/velocity loads. Many of these folks are serious reloaders. However, they are trusted at YOUR own peril. Not quite the same as using the Old Reliable conservative Hornady manual, for example. Backed up by Hornady expertise.
I'll get outta here now and give some of the NFOA Forum reloading pros a shot at your questions.
sfg
Ronvandyn:
I have found that most of the companies that make powder will provide recipies at their online web sites. You might want to check there, and it will take a bit of a search My guess is that these are going to be more up-to-date than the books or other sources available. I dont use the recipies I find in the forums out there, I'm to new to reloading to reall feel comfortable trying a recipie that comes from who-knows-where.
Ron
DaveB:
Hogden and Alliant have their data online.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
http://www.alliantpowder.com/default.aspx
You can also go here and get some starting points.
http://www.reloadammo.com/
David Hineline:
If the hard cast is hard and not soft I load the same as jacketed. You want to crimp with a taper crimp dies in the final spot. You do not want to crimp and seat in the same step.
The Lee Factory crimp works well as it resizes those sometimes oversized lead bullets that will jam up your gun. Also buy a cartridge size guage so that every round you make will work and fit in your chamber when you need it. I use this.
http://egw-guns.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=172
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