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Thread: Jeep's loading chronicles

  1. #11
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    How to get your primer tube filler working right - for no extra dollars or work.


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  2. #12
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    https://youtu.be/_0Upz0CFSGc. For above post.



    Fruits of labor for an hour 20 minutes today - had a couple case jams in the feed mechanism from jacked up rims and one seriously torn body.

    1000 rounds of 135 grain, two powder charges. Case gauging is up next, but goes quickly with less than 3% failures.


  3. #13
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    Just sold off the XL650, and this morning ordered a Super 1050. In the future I'd like to add automation to do several thinigs in parallel, but in the mean time it will offer some nice upgrades over the 650 when being ran manually. I anticipate that next fall I'll be able to really use this machine to it's capabilities, and in the mean time I'll just take my time setting it up and tuning it.

  4. #14
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    I've ran out of Winchester 231 and am now using Prima V. I didn't get to shoot beyond 7 yards due to the rest of the range being a bog, so the groups are just 'roughing' things in so I can see if there's a drastic change in powder charge before I start to mess with OAL to dial things in.

    The chrony was being very finicky due to the bad overcast. I wanted to do ladders of 10 rounds each, but could only get strings of 5 (1 string of 4). I really like the initial results, much more consistent than Win231 with much less smoke and a smoother recoil impulse at the similar velocities. The fact that it's $13-15 for a jug, and each jug is 1.1 pounds, means that my dollar goes further with the powder too (10% volume discount off the bat basically).Attachment 25014
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  5. #15
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    You mentioned sizing cast bullets. Many who shoot cast bullets in 9mm handguns have discovered that .357/.358 bullets perform better in that there is no leading and accuracy is better. The reason is that their 9mm barrels actually measure .357/.358 and not .355 as one might assume. Coatings can increase diameter up to .002 inch. Dardas at dardascastbullets.com is a vendor who'll allow the customer to choose diameter of the bullets shipped. Also he'll shipped unsized and unlubed for experimentation.

    One point to consider when shooting cast bullets is that in some instances during the seating process, the case may size down the bullet from a desired diameter to a smaller one. I'll use 9mm bullets as an example. The expander button was likely made with the purpose of processing .355 jacketed bullets. If so, this expander, if used for .357/.358 cast bullets is too small. The case mouth will squeeze down the projectile. Using a bullet puller, you can measure pulled bullets to verify diameter. If this proves to be a problem, pm me to discuss remedies.
    Last edited by willie; 04-03-2018 at 09:07 PM.

  6. #16
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    Jeep's loading chronicles

    Willie,

    I cut out casting, as the time investment was too much for me to justify any more. It’s a hobby in itself with plenty of variables, which I did enjoy, and I used .358 when I shot a Beretta with various profiles.

    For a not much more I’ve switched to using commercial coated bullets. I use SNS 135 TC sizes to .357.

    Interesting thought on the diameter decreasing during seating. Here’s a pulled bullet:


    Diameter is still .357


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    Last edited by jeep45238; 04-04-2018 at 06:31 AM.

  7. #17
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    Jeep, the phenomenon is not universal but is not uncommon either. It's occurrence has more to do with case dimensions after cases are resized and then expanded. Bullet hardness is a significant variable. Another is case thickness. Lyman sells an M die that alleviates the problem. You might read about it. Keep in mind that traditionally handgun dies have been produced to make good ammo with jacketed bullets. When using the larger diameter cast bullets, a new variable is introduced. Should you end up using an undersized sizing die(available from vendors or special order), you may find that your current expander no longer produces desired dimensions.

    When using Lee dies to load 9mm ammo using scrap lead that was fairly soft, I experienced the swage down effect. To resolve it I replaced the regular 9mm expander with one made for the .38 S&W round. This swap allowed me to seat .358 diameter bullets without their being swaged by the case.

    You're on your way to becoming proficient and knowledgeable in producing good ammo. You picked the caliber that offers the most challenges when using lead bullets. Already you figured out that .357 diameter works better. Since the 9mm case is tapered, you may notice that the larger bullets cause a bottleneck effect. Other than looking weird it's not something to be concerned about. Don't forget to plunk test different batches using your barrel. This way you'll find out real quick whether or not the rounds fit the chamber.

    One other thing. More variation exists in 9mm cases than any other. Rim thickness, overall length, and case wall thickness are three parts of the case which can vary within brands and between brand. Military cases as a rule have thicker walls than do commercial cases. Many of these have crimped primer pockets. Perhaps the main reason for such variation is the extremely large number of 9mm ammo made per year.

    If you can get large batches of brass from the same lot, you will be most fortunate. I was able to do this once with some beautiful WCC military 9mm brass and then again with .45 brass. With great luck, I bought 1000's of once fired Speer .45 ACP cases from a law enforcement
    training range. These deals are out there. You have to look. Good luck.

  8. #18
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    Spent a few hours on Sunday picking up brass after a match at the local club. My compact Ammo-up isn’t the greatest - it’s a new tool, so I’m giving it a benefit of the doubt that it’s my lack of technique at this moment. My stand-by nutpicker worked as well as always. Not perfect, but good enough, and much faster than picking by hand. I didn’t do one bay with a bunch of brass due to the mulch, as it would require me to pick by hand, and I’d rather not do that if I don’t have to. I happily settled for 2 bays with high brass quantities, 1 with medium, and 1 with low.

    The efforts gave me 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket worth of brass for 2 hours worth of work. I’m sure there’s some .380 mixed in there, but the majority is 9mm, .38 Super/comp, .40, 5.56, steel 7.62x39, and some .45ACP. Next step is to sort it all.

    The way I go about this is the plates with slots that many folks use, successfully. I took my old vibratory tumbler, removed the bowl, and mounted a 5 gallon bucket on the threaded rod. I then put the plates on top of the bucket, and dump in the brass. The video below shows how quickly it is to sort .45ACP out of 1/4 of that bucket of brass (about 2 minutes).

    Mix and repeat for the other 2 plates, then put the .45 plate back in with the .380/9mm separator.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HIi43QK3rg0
    Last edited by jeep45238; 05-07-2018 at 11:09 AM.

  9. #19
    Im interested in any load development / testing you have done for your Sig 226. I'll be starting my own thread shortly and this will be the main gun Im loading for to start.

    I have two 226's (Legion and a SSE) both 9mm as well as a 224. In the 3 ive tested for max OAL size before hitting the rifling. In the stock barrels, all are over saami max. In my barsto barrel max oal for me is 1.15"

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by PhillySoldier View Post
    Im interested in any load development / testing you have done for your Sig 226. I'll be starting my own thread shortly and this will be the main gun Im loading for to start.

    I have two 226's (Legion and a SSE) both 9mm as well as a 224. In the 3 ive tested for max OAL size before hitting the rifling. In the stock barrels, all are over saami max. In my barsto barrel max oal for me is 1.15"
    I honestly load my length and crimp to get the longest possible while still passing my case gauge. If it fits my case gauge, it will fit all 9mm I have.

    I went with 135 after a bit of informal accuracy testing and found this weight, 124's, and 147's to be comprable, with the 135 recoil feeling like 147's, but getting me a few hundred extra bullets per case. I went with TC since it's way easier to dial in the bullet feeder with TC than RN.

    After that it was doing chrony testing with a bullseye behind the chrony to test for groups and keep an eye on velocity vs. added powder amounts to make sure I wasn't doing something stupid. This results in accuracy testing as well as power factor generation/statistics at the same time. Sure, it takes more time up front, but it saves time in the end.
    Last edited by jeep45238; 05-16-2018 at 09:59 AM.

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