So I went out this afternoon and tested out the first rounds that I've ever reloaded! I was a little nervous but it went well. To start I loaded 10 9mm rounds with 800x. They fired, but was not powerful enough to cycle the action. I also loaded 10 rounds with PB. And to my surprise they had enough power, and quite accurate. So finally I had loaded a few 223 with IMR4064. And again I was shocked! They cycled well and hit the target! So far so good, mabey I'll get the hang of this after all??

Hey,Look! They sucked in another one.


We all started at the bottom of the curve. 99% of the guys here are more than willing to help a newbie.

Congratulations; you now have a new hobby. Now, shooting is just a routine exercise to make brass so you can reload it.

Yeah, now I cant wait to make more!! I just don't like how the 4064 meters through my powder measure. It gets hung up and keeps the drum from rotating. Guess I'll have to use a funnel and scale until I use it up?

Welcome my friend to the show that never ends...
Soon you'll be collecting brass of every shape and size, looking for a new assortment of dies.
When you start loading in anticipation of a new firearm chambered to receive your latest load, it will be time to seek professional help, which is conveniently available here on this forum.

Enjoy, and be safe.

Doug

Or find a better way to dispense the powder.
The extruded powders are difficult to run through some measures. One of the power dispensers work well. Otherwise you can use ball powders. Ball powders have their own problems but most do flow through a measure well.

quote:

Originally posted by Turner421:
Yeah, now I cant wait to make more!! I just don't like how the 4064 meters through my powder measure. It gets hung up and keeps the drum from rotating. Guess I'll have to use a funnel and scale until I use it up?

Just one of the experiences of loading. Lesson learned. What measure do you have? Stick powders go through Lee measures best; no cutting of sticks.

Considering that you are not loading thousands of rounds at a time and speed is not your concern try, RCBS 1500 Digital Powder Scale and Dispenser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwAAC35bSRc

One trick also is that instead of doing powder in a batch mode you can set it on auto, do a charge, pour it into a case, and then seat the bullet. By the time you are done with the seating operation a new charge can be ready to go.

Congratulations!

I have a Hornady lock n load ap, but I'm still loading 1 stage at a time.

Yah, boy!

Welcome to the club...I'm very much a novice in the reloading dept. but I can tell you that in the recent months I've gotten completely hooked. I bought a 7x57 and have been working up loads for it with amazing accuracy results.

Welcome to the wonderful world of turning money into noise!
By the way, several years ago there was a reloading article on 9mm. The writer found PB was by far the most accurate powder in that caliber. Stay with it and let us know your loading data and your results.

I will do that. I really appreciate everyones help also

So you got what, 30 rounds down the barrel and you haven't killed yourself or blowed up a gun? That's a good sign!

Don't worry about your powder measure cutting powder grains. Just shear right through them.

People love ball powders because they meter well, two points, except at long range, precisely metered charges are of little importance and ball powders have their own pathologies. They are hard to ignite and depending on the load, specifically depending on whether or not the ball powder has infiltrated the space between the primer and the cartridge case or not, you can have wild fluctuations in pressure. Generally extruded powder grains are too large to infiltrate this space so the problem never occurs.

I have a number of powder dispensers but the one I use most for ALL types of powder is the EL cheapo Lee. The angled drum is a great design. I kid you not! roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
I have a number of powder dispensers but the one I use most for ALL types of powder is the EL cheapo Lee. The angled drum is a great design. I kid you not! roger

+1 only thing I find as good is the Lee Disk on my progressive for pistols!

They looked like an antique when new, but the old Bellding&Mull powder measure, although slower will ACCURATELY meter whatever you put into it. I use lots of 4064 BTW. Take up casting your own bullets and you'll be in for another surprise, with their lower pressure the reduction in noise and recoil.

You can find a Belding&Mull on EBAY most of the time.

The addiction is strong in this one!

I too began reloading within the past week. I spent a lot of time researching presses, and procedures. I built a nice bench large enough to tumble my brass at one end and load at the other end. The first caliber I loaded was 45acp. The process went smoothly but there is a learning curve. I discovered I do not like the powder I used nor do I like the scale I settled on. I wish I had put half as much time researching the components of reloading as I did the press! The number one thing I learned is my Federal brass has small pistol primers while all the rest of my 45acp brass is large pistol primers. Lucky I didn't ignite one using my ram style primer seat on the press.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick65:
I too began reloading within the past week. I spent a lot of time researching presses, and procedures. I built a nice bench large enough to tumble my brass at one end and load at the other end. The first caliber I loaded was 45acp. The process went smoothly but there is a learning curve. I discovered I do not like the powder I used nor do I like the scale I settled on. I wish I had put half as much time researching the components of reloading as I did the press! The number one thing I learned is my Federal brass has small pistol primers while all the rest of my 45acp brass is large pistol primers. Lucky I didn't ignite one using my ram style primer seat on the press.

Rick! Welcome to the Board and welcome to reloading.

What Press, scale and powder did you use? And what didn't you like about it all?

quote:

Originally posted by Turner421:
I have a Hornady lock n load ap, but I'm still loading 1 stage at a time.

I am using the same setup. I use ball powder because it meters so well. When you can find some try Win 748 in the 223.