9mm Reloading, Getting Started, appreciate any advise or wisdom

[robjust]

I have made the decision to start reloading my 9mm. If I understand correctly, it is not a huge savings, and I am okay with that, but the quality can be better. I love speed and accuracy, shooting a CGW Shadow 2, and have read, and read and re-read everything I can to understand my starting point and would love for y'all to review and share any wisdom or advice you might have. Looking to reload 600-1000 9mm monthly.

Starting Point
Visual Inspection
DePrime I would like to do this separately from the progressive. I am thinking the Lee Deluxe Automatic Processing Press
Clean-Stainless steel Pin Tumble. I am thinking something like a Frankford Arsenal. Warm water, little Dawn, and a lemishine. Some of what I have read said they tumble without the stainless-steel pins, figure I would use what they send in the kit and also test without pins.
Dry

Assembly
Progressive Reloader Lee Six Pack Pro Reloading Press, add the Etsy Case feed trap door.
Dial Indicator
Scale

Is there anything else I would need? Anything I should change?

I have read alot of the members recipes, ie-LotI richiecotite, NickDrak. I am open to any recipes that have worked for you in terms of accuracy and keeping the gun as flat as possible.

Thanks in advance.

[DMF13]

I have made the decision to start reloading my 9mm. If I understand correctly, it is not a huge savings, and I am okay with that, but the quality can be better.

I just started loading last June for the same reason. I quickly figured out there wasn't a real cost savings, but a local M class shooter convinced me consistency was worth the time and expense. Hopefully some.of the more experienced reloaders will.also chime in here.

DePrime I would like to do this separately from the progressive. I am thinking the Lee Deluxe Automatic Processing Press

I have considered the APP for the same reason, but I don't want to add the extra steps. I wet clean with the primers still in the case.

Clean-Stainless steel Pin Tumble. I am thinking something like a Frankford Arsenal. Warm water, little Dawn, and a lemishine. Some of what I have read said they tumble without the stainless-steel pins, figure I would use what they send in the kit and also test without pins.
Dry

Based on advice I got here, I tumble without pins. Again, based on advice here, I pre wash for 15 mins with dish soap, and citric acid (aka Lemi-shine), then do a quick rinse, and wash for 45 mins with ArmorAll Wash & Wax , and citric acid. Then thorough rinse, and dry it all. I use the Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (FART) Lite, and without pins I can do 600-700 9mm cases at a time. I load about 500 rounds per month, and if you're going to do 1000/month the large version would probably be better.

That gets the cases sparkling on the outside, and almost as clean on the inside, with the added advantage of not needing to separate out the pins.

If buying a dryer, compare the price of a food dehydrator v. the ammo branded dryers. They are the same thing, and sometimes you can get the food dehydrator much cheaper.

Progressive Reloader Lee Six Pack Pro Reloading Press, add the Etsy Case feed trap door.
Dial Indicator
Scale

I would be curious how things work out with the Six Pack for you. I was skeptical of a Lee progressive, and went with a Hornady Lock-n-Load AP, as the Six Pack was still new when I started. However, the reviews I've seen on the Six Pack, since they came out, have been positive, and the idea of having six stations is very tempting. I recently added a Lee Inline Bullet Feeder to my press, which means I had to lose the RCBS Lockout die, since I seat and crimp separately. Six stations would have allowed me to keep that.

Do you have a good loading bench? If so, is it going to be bolted to the wall? I didn't think bolting to the wall was a big deal, as my bench is VERY heavy, and I had lots of weight on the lower shelf, but there was still some minor movement when pulling on the handle. I rigged up a mount that lets me bolt it the wall, and then easily un-bolt it, if I need to move the bench. When bolted to the wall there is no movement.

If you are going to get the Lee APP, and the Six Pack, are you going to permanently mount them? If you would like to be able to quickly remove/move your press, or presses, I'm a fan of the Inline Fabrication Quick Change system: https://inlinefabrication.com/collec...tem-base-plate

I load in the garage, and store my press in the house, so that plate has made my life much easier. If I ever decide to.get the APP, I will just need the adapter for that press.

When asking about other things to get, you might want to consider a Shockbottle, or Armanov, "hundo" case gauge. Its way better loading a hundred rounds in those, than dropping each round into your pistol barrel. I got the Shockbottle brand, because I didn't know about the other brand, but others say that's good too.

[Outpost75]

With today's replacement costs for primers, powder and bullets I don't find it cost-effective to load 9mm.

I do save the my fired brass, sort by headstamp and sell!

I seek the best price for bulk range and training ammo, which I get for about $200 per thousand plus shipping. I do not skimp on carry ammo and buy only duty ammo on the FBI bid list.

At any time I keep 5000 rounds of 147 FMJ Federal American Eagle training and 500 rounds of Federal 9MS 147 JHP EDC carry ammo in stock.

If you prefer 115-grain the Magtech steel cased FMJ runsvwell as training ammo.

[mmc45414]

There are a lotta good threads here on the APP and FART.

Visual Inspection
This doesn't hurt, but if you are going to use a case gauge you can probably skip this and just catch things as they are being loaded and checked. All of my stuff that fails I just load into the mags for my Shield Plus and they all work fine.

DePrime I would like to do this separately from the progressive. I am thinking the Lee Deluxe Automatic Processing Press
Before my RL1100 I had two of them and they are great. I would recommend using a sizing die if you are going to run them through a decap process, you can use plenty of case lube and they size like a hot knife through butter, and then you can wash them without primers and they dry without a dryer overnight. Huge APP thread here with lots of good info.

Clean-Stainless steel Pin Tumble. I am thinking something like a Frankford Arsenal. Warm water, little Dawn, and a lemishine.
On my last batch I have been skipping the Lemishine (citric acid) because they have been sizing a little easier. But none of this matters if you size them in the APP.

Some of what I have read said they tumble without the stainless-steel pins, figure I would use what they send in the kit and also test without pins.
I would suggest you flip the script on your test and try them without the pins, if you do not think they are clean enough you can run the again with the pins.
I have used my pins one time, after I bought some bargain brass that was so nasty when it arrived I considered scrapping it without even trying to load it, and the pins made it clean enough that even the writing in the headstamp looked like it was new brass. But typically the juice is just not worth the squeeze on the pins, they are a ginormous PITA. I used them one time several years ago and I still occasionally find one where it shouldn't be.

Dry
I have dried many without a dryer, I used to just lay them out on the sides on a towel before I left for a routine business trip and when I got home a few days later they were ready to load (I would pop a primer out to check). But if you are going to decap/size prior to final wash a dryer would probably be a hassle and waste of money. Lay them out before you go to bed and they will be ready to load the next day. I have a dryer now, but I quit the preprocessing when I got the RL1100 (that swages).

Loading 9mm is not a huge savings (but if you manage to buy primers right it is still a savings) but reloading is fun, if you like to tinker.

[nate89]

I've been loading 9mm for about 10-15 years (it was more of a cost savings back when primers were under $20/k and bulk powder was $15/lb!). Even though I do buy more ammo for practice than I used to, I still load plenty and find it is a useful skill, and with a stock of primers and powder you can often keep shooting when factory ammo gets scarce or prohibitively expensive. A few things that might help:

I started loading on a single stage, then a 3 station Lee pro 1000. The first time I used the Dillon 650 I bought, the cost was irrelevant and I have never regretted buying it (same for my 1050). Buy a press that will last a lifetime and be a free from issues as possible: nothing is more frustrating that being set to load up a lot of ammo, and having timing issues, priming issues, etc.

I also do pistol ammo in two processes, but I decap and resize on the progressive press, then wet tumble (no pins needed in my experience), and then back on the press with a second toolhead for loading. Yes it takes a bit longer, but really the decap/resize can be done pretty quick (when I'm really going my rate is well over 1,000 an hour). I also find that helps you weed out any other calibers like 40 or 380 that sneak in, as well as 9mm cases with issues. When you factor in how many potential stoppages you are avoiding by culling the unwanted brass in this step, it's well worth the time for me, and is another check against missing powder in a case or some other issue that comes about because of a problem while loading.

While I don't shoot a Shadow 2, a buddy of mine had about a half dozen of them, and competes seriously in USPSA. He's gone primarily to 115 grain bullets as he finds the gun gets back on target faster than the more sluggish cycling 147s. We both buy bulk 115s from american reloading, which are a pretty good price when they get them in.

Hope this helps, best of luck getting started and if you have any issues I'm happy to try and help!

[David S.]

New at reloading 9mm. My observations so far align with Mason’s comments.

Ammo reliability is my biggest challenge. I get a lot more FTFires than expected.

[mmc45414]

New at reloading 9mm. My observations so far align with Mason’s comments.

His advice is solid, a couple points I would make:

Consistently having the same stuff available. If all you want it is to load the cheapest 115gn ammo you can, buying a bunch of the same stuff works.
I load 147gn, mainly because since I am going to bother reloading it, I can load 147gn for just a few pennies more.

As far as availability, buying primers ahead is a key factor. They are about 40% of my cost, so I can get 2.5x as many primers as I could if I was just buying ammo. If, as he says, if you are the guy who buys one case and buys the next case when it is gone, that will be difficult to duplicate when reloading. I buy primers when I can get them for (currently) $70, when I need powder I buy eight pounds (enough for 12k+) when I run out, and bullets (readily available) as I need them. This also helps spread out the spending.

Ammo reliability is my biggest challenge. I get a lot more FTFires than expected.

It is probably almost always going to be how the primers are seated.

Also, the financial aspect of all of this only relates to 9mm, reloading is still like printing money if you shoot anything else.

[Jim Watson]

I don't do nearly the amount of double handling I see here. I have quit tumbling at all unless the cases are really nasty, I don't mind visual defects like a bit of tarnish. If they gauge, they shoot.

I can still save money by reloading, even with the 147 gr bullets I like, but I do not have an unlimited supply of brass. I am too arthritic to grovel in the gravel after a match to pick up empties, my only recovery is sweepings at the indoor ranges. So when my stock of free brass runs out, it will be Econoball for me.

[Trooper224]

My cost for reloading 9mm is still a 25-30 percent savings over factory ball. One or two more price increases and that will disappear. One reason to continue is, at this point I trust my handloads more than I do factory ball.

OP, if you haven't bought that press yet, you may want to reexamine your choice. Lee makes some great stuff, most of my equipment is Lee. But, once you get above the complexity of a turret press their stuff is junk. If you need a progressive press I'd look elsewhere.

I don't mess with the complicated case cleaning methods described herein. That all seems like a lot of effort for little return. An hour in a tumbler with some corn cob media has been fine for decades.

[mmc45414]

Also, I do not want to rain on the parade, but any discussion here regarding saving money should not be construed to mean that you will be able to retire early or pay off your house, it just means that between now and the time you eventually die you will contribute more lead to excavate out of the backstop. Not sure anybody has ever actually saved money doing this, I know I have not...