scheirere

Hey guys, I'm new to the CZ world but picked up a Shadow Target to replace my Glock 34 in production. I also like to play around in the limited division occasionally and want to build a couple high capacity mags. I'm looking for some help on building the highest capacity setup I can get away with. First off, how many rounds, in 9mm, can I expect to get in a mag and still be within the 140mm limit? 21? Any help will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance, Eric

Wait a second....... If I understand correctly, you went up to a larger size screw to save the comp. If so, then the hole in the barrel should be too small for the screw to pass. Have to you tried test fitting the comp on the barrel and running the screw in all the way to see if it protrudes into the bore? You may be OK afterall.

You mentioned big SD numbers. How did the gun feel when shooting the loads. Was every shot about the same sound and recoil? A few years back I tried to run Univ. Clays in my .40 minor load and had similar issues. Big spread of velocities but it was not the chrono. You could tell the low readings were low by the way they shot. Bottom line in my case was that I couldn't go under a particular charge weight with that powder.

Hey guys I really appreciate all the help and info. My primary reasons for switching from the 650 to the Hornady press were eliminating the entire tool head sitting on the bench and smoother indexing. I like how you can take the dies out and put them back in the die box....then put it on a shelf. I'm short on space in my reloading area and this is appealing for me. On the indexing issue, it's not a problem for most loads but it is when the case is almost full. I like how the Hornady setup has the spring band holding the case in the shell plate and it appears to index smoother. On my 650, the brass is loose and shakes a bit. Combine that with some sudden movements and you have powder everywhere. The info on the case feeder caliber conversions is kinda disappointing. I was hoping for something quicker and easier. Again guys, thanks so much for all the links and such! Eric

Hey guys, I'm thinking about getting a LNL AP press and have a few questions before I switch from my 650. I've done what I can to research these questions but haven't been able to get a good answer yet and no one close to me runs one. First off, is there any type of signal or something to tell you when you are out, or nearly out of primers? My Dillons have an audible buzzer that sounds when you get low. Is there something comparable to this on the Hornady press? Second, if you go to a powder thru expander in the powder thrower, can you move the thrower to station 2. That is, next to the sizing station? I want to put 3 dies after the powder thrower as I do on my current press and was not sure if this was possible. 3rd, what all is involved in changing the case feeder over from caliber to caliber. Like say, from .40 s&w to .223. (Two of the calibers I'll be loading on this press.) On my Dillon 650, there are a couple pieces/bushings and a feeder plate that needs swapped. I know there is are different case feeder plates for the Hornady case feeder but what about on the press side. Do you have to change anything else over? Lastly, is there a spare parts package you can purchase that contains commonly broken parts? I bought the spares kit for my 650 and it's saved my baken a couple times. I know Hornady like Dillon will replace the part, even if it's operator error but what do you do when it's 6pm the night before a match?? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Eric

3ddiver, The Beretta's barrel appears to be oversize from the .3575 measurment you listed. However, the fact that it shoots factory ammo without issues would lead me to believe that this isn't necessarily the problem. Ideally the barrel should be at or close to .355" for use with .355", 9mm bullets. You could try .38 spec/.357 mag or .38 super bullets to see if they work any better. Those bullets are typically ~.001" larger than 9mm bullets and may fit better. Regardless, I don't know if the bore size is the issue here. Can you get a box of jacketed bullets and try them out? This will let you know if it's the lead bullets or something you are doing in the reloading process. Another thing to try is a slower powder. I had a similar situation occur when I first started reloading. I was using Precision, polymer coated lead bullets in front of either Tightgroup or Univ. Clays. Like you, I was getting tumbling problems from all my pistols. Jacketed bullets were working fine though. Someone suggested I try a slower burning powder, so I switched to some HS-6 I had on the shelf. The tumbling went away, leaving nice clean cut holes in the target. The load produced about the same velocity so it wasn't a stabilization problem. I don't know if the faster powder was damaging the base of the soft lead bullet or what was going on but the powder change did the trick.

Never reloaded 9mm w/115s before but I did run 147's from various manufactures at 1.080" OAL, with Univ. Clays. 3.6-3.7 gr. would give me low 900 fps out of my Glock 34 with no signs of excessive pressure. My guess is that they will be OK but I'd follow the advice that another guy posted. Load up 3-5 rounds at a couple of lower powder charges. Say 3.8 and 4.0gr. Shoot them first and see what the spent shell tells you. If everything looks good, try some of the 4.25gr stuff.

I ran in to this situation once when I came across some wierd headstamped brass in a batch of once fired stuff. The primers were WAY deep. Like 1/32" below the base. Just Like you, the firing pin wouldn't reach out far enough to ignite the round. It was something in the brass and I just didn't use the cases of that paticular headstamp. If you only have it happen a handfull of times on one brand of brass, then it's probably the brass. Beyond that, I doubt you are setting the primers to deep. Can you measure how far below level they are?

Any of you guys have trouble seating the CCI primers? I'm having a bear of a time getting them to seat flush in the case with either my 650 or 550. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The only positive thing I can add about the dryfire kit is that there is a positive breaking point and reset point. Something you don't get with the cardboard trick. (At least I don't.) As stated in the last post, it doesn't feel anything like the trigger in my gun. Still it helped and held up for quite a bit longer than I expected based on what I read on the net.

As some others have suggested, try a different powder. I had similar problems a couple years ago with masterblaster poly coated lead bullets. Tumbled wtih fast powders like clays and tightgroup. Switched to HS6 and they shot straight and true. BTW, same primers, crimp and OAL. Only thing I changed was the powder charge.

CocoBolo, can you elaborate a little more on using the LNL powder measure with a Dillon press? I don't quite understand the part about needing an expander die. Doesn't the LNL powdermeasure expand the case as it charges it? Also, how hard is it to change powders in the LNL measure? With my Dillon, I just remove the two screws holding it to the powder die to pull the measure and dump it's contents. Is it similar on the Hornady system?

I've also shot a lot of 200 gr. .40s loaded standard length. 200gr. Precision bullets (polymer coated lead) @ 1.125" OAL, in front of 3.9 grs. of Univ. Clays. Ran about a 170 pf from my Glock 35. Another load I've used extensively was: Precision Delta 200 gr. FMJ at 1.125", ahead of 5.0 gr. of IMR 4756. Right around a 170 PF. I recently ran 200gr. Montana Gold Bullet (CMJ) at 1.125" OAL, in front of 4.9 gr. of Solo 1000. Ran about 172 pf from my Glock 24 and about a 168pf from the Glock 35. Just a note on the Solo 1000 load; this is an old batch of powder that doesn't seem as potent as more recent stuff. So start a bit lower (-10%) than what I listed an work up.

As G-ManBart mentioned, your barrel/gun may be on the slow side and even with a 3.3 gr. charge, may not be making the listed pressure and velocity. The other variable is the bullet seating depth/overall length. That can have a noticable impact on pressures and thus velocities. Couple things to try here. First, get a chrono or get with someone who has one. Load up some shells at 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7grains. Starting with the 3.3 grain loads, see what velocity you get. Go up the line until your velocity is at or near the 870 fps the manufacturer lists. All things equal, if your around 870 fps, your around the pressures listed. Most modern firearms will take more than standard 9x19 pressures but don't get carried away. I've run 10's of thousands of 9x19 rounds from my Glock 34 that pushed a 147 gr. bullet to about 905 fps. And Univerals Clays was the driving force behind the vast majority of them. My most recent load was a Montana Gold Bullet, 147 gr. CMJ at 1.100" ahead of 3.6 gr. of Univ. Clays, lit by Win. small pistol primers. Again, typical velocity was ~905-910 fps. One thing I did notice about Univ. Clays is that it doesn't like a really light powder charge. I couldn't get it to work for .40 minor loads with a 155 gr. bullet. Anywhere near a 135 pf load with and I'd get similar problems to what you described. Dump in more powder and things came around.

Haven't tried Federal Small Pistol vs. Small Pistol Magnums but I didn't notice any real difference with Winchester or CCI in terms of velocity. Maybe 10 fps increase. But I've seen more difference than that with different headstamps of brass. Anymore with the primer shortage I interchange them without worrying about anything.