Recent content by Vol46

Powder and wad company web sites also are good sources of Shotshell reloading data. Shotgunworld.com has a reloading forum that is a good info source as well.

It sounds like a magazine issue. My 709 has never had the problem that you describe, but I had very good experience with Taurus Customer Service on a failure to extract problem. Mags are difficult to find for the 709, but the first thing I would try is a different magazine. I would recommend a...

You may be right about bullet construction - I have used primarily Winchester Power Points & Hornady BTSPs over the years, but don't know anything about the PPU. I assumed that most cup & core 150 grain bullets would have similar performance. In the original question, though, the OP seemed to be...

If the Hornady's have a cannelure, load to that length & crimp into the cannelure rather than using the COAL specified for the Sierra bullet - the bullets may or may not have the same shape & length - the flat point Sierra is likely shorter & will probably require a shorter COAL to produce the...

As RC says, plated bullets like Berry's, or xtremes sometimes have velocity limitations that can be exceeded in hot calibers like .357 mag or .44 Mag when loaded to the upper limits of pressure/ velocity. Jacketed bullets are what you want to use for max velocity loads.

An exit hole is a very good thing - the ballistics of your cartridge are very similar to the 150 grain .308 that I have used successfully on whitetails for over 30 years ( along with a few mule deer and antelope). Tracking has seldom been necessary, but when it is, an exit hole provides a...

Mrs. B - I have a Sizemaster in 12 GA. & love it. The sizing operation is a bit more elegant than a 600 Jr. - Sizemaster uses a collet type sizer that squeezes the brass back to factory specs. , the 600 has a ring sizer that slides down over the brass. Otherwise, the other stations are pretty...

I agree - Mec bushings rarely throw the " published" weight, & some can be pretty far off. However, most of the ones I use are a lot more consistent than yours. The " cone shaped" cavity might be part of your inconsistency problem. Funnel or step shaped bushings will often throw more consistent...

You will need a scale - balance beam or digital - as well as some way of measuring your powder charge. I think a Lee dipper may come with your die set, but you still need a scale to check the charge, adjust your technique, etc. to be sure you are getting the correct charge. If 9 mm is your...

As far as I know, the Pico has not yet been made available, despite Beretta having announced it's introduction over a year ago. If you check out the Beretta forum, there is a VERY long thread on the Pico in the handgun section - the content of the many posts can be summarized as " when the heck...

You will also need a scale - balance beam or electronic to check the weight of charges being thrown by your powder measure ( or you can use Lee dippers instead) but still need a scale to check your powder charges. You can get loading data from powder company web sites, but a decent manual would...

I agree - Eliminator is good stuff. I have used it for several years when I have a particularly dirty bore.

Welcome to the forum. If you can find it, Win231 ( or HP38 - they are the same powder) is a good powder for light .357 loads.

Oops - RC is correct as usual - I forgot about this being a handgun round.

Screw the FL sizing die in until it touches the shell holder, then screw it in another 1/2 turn or so ( check your sizing die's instructions). This makes up for any "slack" in your press/shell holder linkage.