So I am patiently awaiting for my first bullets to arrive.
Are you saying it's not at all possible to load with the gear I have from Dillon?
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It's perfectly possible to load coated bullets with a stock Dillon. I have loaded many thousands of coated bullets in 9mm and .45 of various weights and profiles on my XL650 with all Dillon dies. It may take a bit more care in seating the bullets but it is definitely doable without shaving using a full Dillon setup.
Like many things in shooting, and life in general, the upgraded powder funnel die is not needed, but is a definite improvement.
I use the factory Dillon powder funnel and I open up the case mouth such a small amount that you almost cannot tell the difference between a fired case and a flared case, zero issues with shaving lead or coating. You basically just can't run the press with the bullet sideways. Don't over think it :)
I loaded some ammo previous Thurs evening and fired it on Saturday evening. My shit didn't blow up nor were my barrels dirty or fouled with lead.
Accuracy wise, I think everything came out OK. TBH, I wasn't on top of my shooting game since I was a) distracted by the fact that I was shooting my first reloads ever, b) was kind of rusty since I hadn't been to the range in about a month. I got some nice groups when I hit my stride before the shooting fatigue set in.
So far so good. Loading 9mm ammo on a Dillon 550B is a little easier than I expected. It's also kind of fun.
I did a small write up about it, mostly to solidify concepts in my own mind. Nothing new under the sun. I've only begun to do what many have been doing for generations and thousands of rounds.
http://rojocorsa.tumblr.com/post/149...my-current-9mm
Anyone who has read my posts knows I'm a fan of coated bullets. Here recently I have been having issues with leading with both my 9mm and 40 loads, something that doesn't even come into play in my 45 and 38spl reloads. I've tried extra flair on the case mouth to prevent shaving the coating off, minimal to no crimp and changing powders and still no joy. Then my daughter bought a Beretta 92FS to train with and her gun shows leading as well.
On a whim I mic’ed the SNS bullets and both the 9mm and 40 bullets are coming in at .001 smaller than advertised. The 9mm comes in at .355 instead of .356 and the .40 at .400 instead of .401. I thought it might be my micrometer but when I mic a Berry’s plated it comes in the right size. Has anyone else noticed this issue before I go back to SNS. BTW I just Mic’ed a Bayou Bullets .40 and have the same problem so this is not just a SNS issue. As you may have recalled last year I was having issues with leading in my .40 S&W reloads using Bayou Bullets as well.
For what it’s worth I have reloaded hard lead cast bullets for 30 years and never had this leading issue and only recently (last 2 years) has it cropped up.
I've got some SNS still (shot a lot yesterday, comparing them to Leatherheads, going w/ Leatherheads), I'll check them when I get home.
Super Thanks