First Reloads!!!

[gunslinger15]

Just got into reloading and finished my first batch today. I loaded 50 rounds of 115gr lrn with 4.3 gr of winchester 231. My oal is 1.142. CCI small pistol primers. I had a blast it was very relaxing. I stepped outside and fired one as I live in the country. Round fired ejected and next round loaded fine. Should I keep loading or wait and shoot what I have?

-Gunslinger

 

[rcmodel]

Well, if it was me I'd sure test shoot more then 1 round before I loaded up a whole bunch more.

Course if it was me, I'd have tested them before I even loaded 50.

rc

 

[gunslinger15]

Ya thats probably a good call. I feel pretty good about the loads but I would sure hate to be pulling bullets. Hopefully I can go run some more through tomorrow to get a better idea. Reloading is definately an addiction, all I want to to is hunker down at my press and start churning them out. Kind of a pain in the rear, my shop was out of the 4 die lee sets so Im running RCBS dies at the momment wiich means I cant use my Auto Disk for powder charges. Im using a perfect powder measure and hand filling cases. A little slower but probably good for me to be going slow really paying attention to detail.

 

[Mal H]

Congrats on the reloads, Gunslinger! You're hooked.

But, you should listen to what rcmodel just said. Whenever you start a new loading (and obviously your batch falls into that category), you shouldn't load up too many rounds until you know for certain it is what you want to continue with. I usually load 10 at most, and see how they work before starting in on a large batch.

I don't know how many times we have gotten questions like, "I loaded 50 (100, 200, etc.) of such-and-such and found that I did something wrong. What do I do now?" Inevitably, the answer is to pull the bullets and start again if the problem is a safety issue, or shoot 'em if not.

[Edit]
Looks like we were simulposting.

 

[rfwobbly]

Congrats and welcome to the club!

The hardest part of getting started with reloading is to resist the urge to make a bunch. What if 4.3gr hadn't worked? You'd be getting a workout with your kinetic hammer right now I suspect. Instead, try dividing the load range given in the manual up into 5 or 6 equal "increments" and load 6-10 of each of those. Then starting low, work your way up slowly through the loads. That way you'll detect a load that's just-right for your gun. THEN, you can go load 50.

 

[JLDickmon]

I'd run a couple mags through the gun before I went all hawg wild...

not sayin', just sayin'

 

[45lcshooter]

Welcome to the fascinating world of release reloading. Its always nice to deep what you sow.

 

[gunslinger15]

So I went out and shot two loadings. My first was 115gr lrn with 4.3gr of win 231 oal of 1.142. I really enjoyed these rounds they seemed to be a little less than factory power very pleasant to shoot, and fed and ejected flawlessly. The second loading was same as above but with 4.6gr of win 231. It seemed to be at about factory power levels and also fed ejected 100%. So now I have two loadings to choose from and I dont know which one to start loading up? Any thoughts?

 

[777TRUTH]

gunslinger15 Congrats and welcome to the hobby.

My first was 115gr lrn with 4.3gr of win 231 oal of 1.142. I really enjoyed these rounds they seemed to be a little less than factory power very pleasant to shoot, and fed and ejected flawlessly. The second loading was same as above but with 4.6gr of win 231.

Both loads are within Winchesters specifications for the 115 gr LRN. I personally like a little more of a stout load so 4.6 gr would be my choice.

Did you notice if one leads the barrel more than the other?

 

[Walkalong]

Congrats. I remember that feeling.

It was kind of like....

 

[gunslinger15]

I did notice a little lead in the last 1/2in of the barrel. Is that a lube problem ?

 

[Walkalong]

If it was only in the last 1/2". yes, that usually indicates a lube problem, but since it doesn't take much to get out of a pistol barrel, I would look at the type of lube or the pressure of the load. Might need a little more oomph.

 

[gunslinger15]

So im using Missouri Bullet Company .356 115gr lrn 9mm with a hardness of 18. I have not been lubing my bullets is that my issue ? Did I mess up ?!

 

[Walkalong]

They come lubed.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I did notice a little lead in the last 1/2in of the barrel. Is that a lube problem ?

So im using Missouri Bullet Company .356 115gr lrn 9mm with a hardness of 18. I have not been lubing my bullets is that my issue ? Did I mess up ?!

OK, even though you are loading the min powder charge recommended by Hodgdon of 4.3gr W231 you are actually producing much less pressure than they are. They used an OAL of 1.100" and you use 1.142". In a small case like that you are changing the pressures a lot. I'm a little surprised those rounds cycled the slide reliably. The light load is probably the reason you're leaving lead because those Missouri Bullets are top shelf.

I suggest you try that 4.6gr load again but use the recommended OAL of 1.100" and you will produce a much better shooting and cleaner load. BTW, I doubt your loads are coming anywhere near the pressures and velocity produced by factory loads even though you think they are. That doesn't really matter though as long as you're happy with what you have loaded. Congratulations on a successful first time loading ammo.

You probably only need to increase the pressure by shortening the OAL to prevent the leading. Give that 4.6gr load a second chance with the 1.100" OAL and I'm putting a small wager on no leading. Good luck and well done!

 

[gunslinger15]

Thanks ArchAngel, After I got my press dialed in lastnight I churned out about 50 of the 4.6 ers and reduced my oal to 1.11.... Its crazy that a few hundrenths of an inch can mess with pressure soo much!! I guess I was looking at it wrong I was viewing the oal of 1.10 in my load manual to mean that is was the min oal, and anything below caused unsafe pressure, and you could load above as long as it still fed in your gun. Ill try and stick closer to table oal from now on. I think it would be a big help if i wasnt seating and crimping in the same die. I definatley dont need two things to be able to go wrong all at once.

-Gunslinger

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I seat and crimp separately.

You don't have to use the shorter OAL listed in the manuals especially if the bullet you are using has a different profile and the shorter OAL will be past the ogive of the bullet. BUT, when loading longer just be aware the pressures will drop and you might have to add powder to achieve the pressure/velocities listed in the manual. When changing the OAL you might want to make a dummy round or two to be sure they feed correctly in your pistol before you make 50 live rounds.

As for small changes effecting pressure, it's the very small case that makes small changes large. If we were talking about a 38 Special or 45 Colt case a small change in OAL would probably not be noticed.