LSP972

Almost; but not quite. I am well-versed in "tinkering" with the 550 priming system. I'm looking at the SDB to avoid changing the 550 back and forth all the time; which I'm having to do to keep those two heathen grandsons of mine fed with 9mm. Now that I'm moving back to 9mm as MY cartridge of choice, it makes sense to have a dedicated machine for it. Appreciate all the replies… think I'm gonna get one. .

I have a 550B with perhaps 75K rounds loaded on it, about half .45ACP and the other half spread among .40, 9mm, and .38 Special. I'll be mainly loading 9mm in the future, doing so now, and the primer feed has begun to stick badly and generally not act right with the SP primer bar. No amount of adjustment/tweaking helps for any length of time, so I imagine I need a new SP primer bar and maybe feed tube housing, etc. I'm considering just getting a Square Deal B in 9mm and holding the 550B in reserve for when I need to crank out any of the others (which will be perhaps once a year, as I can put out enough .40 S&W in a couple of days to keep my wife supplied for a year, ditto my .45 and .38 needs). My question is this: does the auto-indexing of the SDB, along with its not-needing-any-set-up readiness, make it worthwhile so as not to keep switching the 550 around? By "worthwhile", I mean time and convenience. The added cost of the SDB isn't a factor, as I'd just spend the money on something else... .

I'll second N320. I use it for bunny fart practice loads in my S&W AirLite Ti-Scan snubby revolvers. 4.0 grains with a 125gr JHP bullet (hey, I got a deal on them) is just two steps above a wax load. I tried WST, it was rather "dirty". The N320 burns quite clean. .

I like this idea, and will try it. And I do think I'm over-lubing the ram. Appreciate the responses. .

Do any of you periodically oil your ram? I'm changing calibers, doing a routine tear-down/cleaning prior to setting her back up. I just finished loading 2K 9mm, and noted something I've never seen before in 5+ years of using this machine. I had a pretty good sludge build-up under the front part of the primer slider (where it rides on the plate on the press frame). Now I know why the slider was sticking toward the end. Every three or four hundred rounds, I raise the ram and run a bead of light machine oil where the ram comes out of the frame. I cycle the ram a few times to distribute the oil along the ram surface, then wick up the excess with Q-tips. Other than greasing the hinge pins infrequently, that's the only lubrication I do, so its bound to be where that sludge came from. My question is, do I even need to do this? .

Well, all of that makes sense. Excellent explanation, thanks. I'll kick up the charge with those and shoot 'em in the HK, just so they don't go to waste. .

Well, it turns out that 4.2 of WST under a Remington 185 jacketed SWC (the Remington target bullet, which I have a couple of thousand left over from my bullseye days) worked like a champ... which I never would have bet on. No spring change, either. I also have some Berry's 185 plated RN (with the hollow base) I tried with the same powder charge... no joy. Multiple failures to feed. I probably should investigate what is going on there; I used the same OAL as my 230 ball loads, so it SHOULD have worked. This pistol (a Dan Wesson Guardian) has a pretty neat integral feed ramp (a'la Browning Hi-power) as part of the barrel. Which explains it feeding those stubby SWCs, but not why it doesn't like the 185 RN. But I think I'll expend that effort into loading the Remington SWCs. The 200gr H&G Bayou Bullet, again over 4.2 of WST, did... meh. Feeding was "sticky"; I could feel the slide "starting and stopping" as it forced its way through the feed cycle. I have no doubt the pistol does not like the OAL of these cartridges. And those bullets are seated just under the front driving band. I could get them a couple of hundredths deeper. Lots of work to do... .

Interesting figures. I loaded some Zero 230 JHPs with 4.6/WST (Winchester brass, Federal 150 primer), and got an average of 751 fps out of an HK45C, which has a 3.9" barrel. Maybe that polygonal bore IS "faster"... :-) And they were phenomenally accurate, too. I wouldn't hesitate to use them on bipedal meat if I had to. .

Did you try any light loads? I've got some of these bullets, and want to load some bunny farts for practice use in an alloy Commander. I'm getting old and can't handle an extended session of recoil any more: I'll pay for it for days afterward. I normally use WST, but if I go below 4.0 grains the burn becomes erratic and case obturation is spotty (lots of black soot along the case). This is with 230 FMJ in an HK45C, which is my EDC/shoot-a-lot piece. 4.2 of WST under the 230 ball bullet is perfect in it, but I doubt this Commander will attenuate recoil as well as the HK does. I'm willing to change powders, but don't have the time right now for an exhaustive "test"; just looking to see if anyone has stumbled upon a good, light-recoiling load. I realize I'll probably have to go to a lighter spring, but that's okay too. Bottom line here, I haven't fooled with a 1911-style pistol, shooting or reloading, in a very long time. I've also got some 200gr Bayou Bullets SWCs. Any suggestions appreciated... .

Already got that covered. I have an old pair of Pachmyar Compacs, and another set of Goodyears, a copy of the old S&W "banana grip" but which covers the back strap, for her to try. Don't recall who made those; I've had 'em forever. But she has delicate, VEREY long fingers, so she needs the back strap/recoil shoulder covered/extended. Fortunately she will be keeping the thing in her purse, so these larger stocks don't compromise the gun's concealability. Normal "concealment stocks" would eat her up, pronto. As for the tipping up the barrel thing... I understand what you are talking about. When we half-load rifle rounds in the lab, to get a pristine bullet out of the water tank for comparative purposes, we use a bit of toilet paper to keep the powder charge against the flash hole. But it doesn't take much imagination to see where the habit of tipping up the barrel prior to shooting could cause some...other problems. An incomplete burn is what was giving me fits before. But the really small-volume loads I tamped, as described above. Both her husband and I use a lot of WST, so that will definitely be one of the "test powders". .

Ya think??? Her husband is taking care of that, with dummy rounds that can be dry-fired, etc. We will cover it again on the line. I was referring to the easier "feeding", etc., of a RN projectile not being needed at this point, for speed loading purposes. .

I'm looking for less recoil than that. I've got a ton of wadcutters left over from my PPC days. We'll get to those eventually. .

A friend's wife finally has realized she needs a gun, thanks to the soaring crime rate here. So she scored a M-642 J frame snubby. I need a good bunny fart load to start her off with. I have some Remington 110gr JHPs, and would like to use those up, but am not adverse to a different bullet weight. Bullet style is irrelevant; we won't be doing any speed reloading work until she has "moved up" to standard pressure ammunition. I'm going to let her use my heavier M-640 initially, but she's got to shoot hers at some point. We're talking TOTAL neophyte here... I played around with this a few years back, for my AirLite J frames, but never could find a powder that would burn consistently and clean at these much-reduced charge weights. I think maybe I was going TOO low. It has been quite some time since I loaded any .38s. I'm looking to go as low as I can, without having incomplete obturation issues or lots of unburned powder getting spewed into the works. Mixed brass, Federal, CCI, and Winchester primers will be used. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. .

Anyone else loading for this pistol? My goal is bunny farts for extended practice without aggravating my wrist/elbow problems. My old stand-by of 4.2 WST under a 230gr PD ball bullet functions fine, but ejection is straight back into my face. Going up to 4.6 has alleviated it somewhat, but not totally. Here's my problem. My eventual plan is have a RDS inlet into the slide where the rear sight is, for carry purposes. But any brass striking the face of that optic is bad juju. Going up more on the powder charge will work, but 4.6 is right at the edge of my 'comfort level'; I don't want to go up any more. FWIW, ejection pattern is "normal" with factory ball and self-defense (i.e., full power) ammunition. I have also tried five other bullets; Remington 185gr target JSWC: Hornady 230gr FP jacketed: H&G #68 cast with proprietary external lube: 230 cast RN with same lube: 230gr cast RN conventionally lubed. Also experimented with different seating depths. No change in the problem until I got up to 4.6 grains of WST. Any ideas? . P.S.: I want to stay with WST if at all possible, since I have a bunch of it. But if I have to change, I will. .

What's the going rate, per fired case, for once-fired .45ACP commercial brass... specifically, Winchester yellow brass? Not much info out there... or else I've been looking in the wrong places. I have a large surplus that a local fellow wants to trade me; I need a reasonable figure to compute the trade value of this stuff. TIA... .