WizardOI

What was your OAL for the TG? Thanks for the info yall, looks like I may try switching to TG and trying that out. Lots more info for TG than HS6 thats for sure.

Change out the batteries.. sometimes the one that comes installed runs low by the time they get delivered. Blinking and weird #'s are mostly battery-related. If a new battery doesn't fix it, then something's hosed in the calipers and don't trust them. You shouldn't have to use any pressure at all to get them to read. I've only ever used HS6 in major loads with jacketed bullets-- most people use a 'faster' powder for minor loads. I've also never had problems making rounds longer than the 'book'... until they don't work in the magazine anyway Well im a moron, I changed the batteries and now the calipers work great. Thanks. Now to get this powder figured out or find a new powder I can get my hands on. Any suggestions on a better powder for 9mm minor?

Ok well I have searched this forum over and over and over but pretty much all the info I can find for this powder is for 9mm major where as I need 9mm minor. I have a few different load books and have scoured the web looking for info but have come up short. Here are the bullets I have to test: 147gr Lead hard cast from a local supplier, J&K bullets 147gr berrys plated and I have some 124gr CMJ from MG on the way Im using federal small pistol primers and once fired brass that ive been collecting for the past year and a half. I got the HS6 on a suggestion from a fellow shooter and a few loads they use with them. Well now that ive finally started to load using my Dillon 650, that I also bought used, and I can only find one load in all of my books for 147gr lead with HS6. It says to use 4.4-5.0grs with an OAL of 1.058" first off this OAL seems really short compared to the 1.115" OAL for the TMJ 147gr loads. And my friend that gave me the load for the 147gr lead is 5.6grs of HS6. This is .6 over the max load printed in my Lyman book. I havent been able to get in touch with them to get their OAL or where they got the load data from. Next problem ive run into is I cant find any load data for the 124gr CMJ with HS6 on hodgdons website, my Lyman 49th edition book, the Hodgdons 2009 annual reloading manual, or the reloading guide I got from midways. And the majority of the 147gr data im finding is for the HDY XTP bullet and one load for 147gr TMJ is for the speer TMJ will that work for the Berrys? So far I have loaded several 5 round test batches of the 147gr lead from 4.4-5.0grs with the OAL of 1.065 cause I didnt want to go to short but stayed close to the OAL suggested in the Lyman book and havent even gone to the 5.6grs my friends are using since I havent even tested this batch I just made tonight and prob wont get a chance to test them for at least a week. Oh and another really weird problem im having is with the digital calipers I bought from here on BEs online store. When I clamp them down to check the length of a bullet the display goes all over the place even after ive zeroed out the display with them clamped flat and cinched down. I have to really cinch the clamp down so freaking hard to get it to settle down and even then I get reading of everything from a negative number to nearly 8-9" when its only slightly over 1". So im not even completely sure I have the correct OAL of the rounds ive loaded to test. Here is what the lead bullets im using look like and a messed up load I made two nights ago trying to get everything set right.

Ive been using 147gr bullets in IPSC prod in a G19 because I like the way it feels. Its a nice soft load but it still cycles my GLOCK like a champ and takes out all steel on the first hit. I was thinking of trying 124gr bullets to save some money but I havent decided yet as im still new to reloading and Im still using a friends press as I dont have my 650 set up at my new place.

I just started loading and Ive loaded up a whole 600 rounds of 9mm using 147gr FMJ Horndays over 4.8gr of HS-6 and I think the OAL = 1.120 or 1.125 IIRC (my friend loads the same load I do so I dont remember the exact OAL). I have yet to figure PF as I dont have a crono and neither do my friends who are helping me load on their dillion 550. This load runs great in my G19. It took out every piece of steel I hit the first time at the Pro-Am Champ. match this past weekend at USSA. ETA: Im also using federal small pistol primers as I got a deal on them for $100 for 5k

Well im still a D but im at 45-48% usually with the classifers and I jsut started doing this 6 months ago. Do you think that midway or maybe Lyman could send me the "nut" I need for the die?

I was sitting in the bowling alley, its the only place to eat on the Air base that I work at, and the chaplin of the church here on base walked in and we started talking about different things and I said somthing along the lines of spending all my freetime on the weekends on the range. Well it turns out that he also is an avid gun nut him self and was looking for somthing more when shooting. So I told him about the IPSC matchs I go to and now he makes it out to at elast 1 match a month. You never know who is into guns till you talk to them.

I started recording my matches as I dont get to practice shooting stages but im stuck with only being able to shoot a single stationary target. The very first match I decided to record I ended up DQing and got it all on video lol. I watched that stage over and over and over but I knew exactly what I did when I did it. I broke the 180 if your wondering what it was I did but I didnt fire the shot and the stage was a 180 trap. IIRC 3 other shooters did the same thing I did on that stage through out the day. There are a few of us at the matches I go to that are at all the same matches every weekend so we jsut recored each other and then I burn off DVDs of the stages and mail them out to them and we call, PM or at the next match we jsut relate what we saw in our own shooting and then things the others think I can do to help my self as I only started shooting IPSC last Nov.

Hey yall are commin to my neck of the woods at USSA if yall are coming to the USPSA nationals. I have no idea whos gonan take top spots this year but I will be on teh side lines watching since I didnt get my stuff in quick enough to make nationals this year.

Ok, this is my first post here but ive been lurking for a few months absorbing alot of really good info. Here are a few of the problems ive been trying to firgure out and so far one of the main things I didnt find on here is this. I just split up with my wife and I jsut moved into a new 2 bedroom duplex. I have my computer, gun safe, and my snake cage all set up in the 2nd room and this is where I plan to build my reloading bench using an 8' long kitchen counter top and some kitchen cabinets for the base. I figure as long as I secure it to the wall that should be more than sturdy enough. The main question is this, my snake is a 9' long red tail boa with an open top cage with chicken wire covering the top. If I put my reloader in this room do yall think that the residue that ends up in the air from the powder or other things will harm her? I plan to keep the tumbler and seperator in the garage so as not to get the dust from that in my house. Am I jsut over thinking this? The next question I have is this, I got a used Dillion 650 for a hella good deal and im not sure that I have everything I need to start loading. I got a set of 9mm Lyman carbide dies, the press, a new die holder still in the package and a bunch of other stuff. I honestly dont know if Im missing anything. Should I take a pic of what I have and post it up for yall to help me? I have a friend in the city a few hours drive from me who is teaching me how to load on his 650 and I bought the "ABCs of Reloading" lots of good info there, but he doesnt have time to drive all the way out to me and help me with all the stuff. And the last question I have is, The Lyman dies he gave me with this look almost new but the Decapping die is missing the decapping pin, which he told me about, so when I ordered some stuff from midway I ordered a 10 pack of the Lyman 9mm decapping pins. Now here is the problem, these pins arnt all that big and there doesnt appear to be anything in the decapping die to hold this pin. Its just an empty center that allows me to look straight through the die. Oh yeah, I also got a Dillon balance beam scale with all this but its off by a few grains. How to I claibrate a balance beam scale? Any help for a lost and confused newb? And Yes I shoot approx 800-1k rounds of 9mm a month for IPSC and Pro-Am matches and another 500-600 practice rounds between thos matches so the 650 will be heavly used. In fact the Pro-Am national champ match is tomorrow through sunday and there are alot of big names showing up at the range just a few hours from me. I will put up a link to the list of shooters and squads when I get home. ETA: If I put this in the wrong area please move it