njl

I think what jschweg is getting at is if it's easier to push a lead bullet down the barrel, why would you reach max pressure with lead at lower charge weights than with jacketed? Is it because lead gives you a better bullet/barrel seal? i.e. with jacketed, more gas gets past the bullet in the rifling, so you need more powder/more gas to reach the same pressure?

For their first several years each, our kids drank a lot of juice, which came in jugs probably not quite as big as these...but with much smaller mouths I used those for pistol brass, and have quite a collection on a shelf unit in the garage. They also don't stack I recently bought a bunch of those Sterlite plastic boxes with lids with the idea of migrating to them. I don't think I bought enough. I have started using the bigger ones to hold clean brass, but haven't dumped all the jugs into them yet. Dirty brass goes into used 5G buckets I got for free, one per caliber.

Which Lyman do you have? I started out with the XP1000, and bought a Dillon beam scale when I realized the Lyman was flat out inaccurate at the low end (it can't accurately measure a single pistol charge), and drifted over the course of a single reloading session. I use the Lyman to get my charges in the right ball park, and then do all the fine tuning using the Dillon scale.

Universal works well for those bullet weights. For 124gr, stay near the starting load. For 147, you'll likely need to be at max load.

You gotta feed that mouse just a few more beans.

That's either no powder charge, severely undercharged, or the powder failed to ignite. If that ammo was loaded recently, did you have any problems/stoppages that caused you to break routine on the press? i.e. dealing with a primer feed issue? Do you lube your brass before reloading? If so, what's your process for doing that and what lube?

Forgot to mention above, TJ Covevera has their own "house brand" of 9mm JHP bullets that also appear to be pretty good stuff. I've tried their 95gr JHP for .380 and 124gr JHP for 9mm. I just don't shoot that much jacketed any more due to range rules.

147s seem to be a little trickier to get running properly. If you want an easier bullet to make accurate ammo from, I'd suggest 124/125gr, and if you're new to reloading, FMJ or JHP. Precision Delta, Montana Gold, Zero all make good jacketed bullets. Any of these loaded to about 1050fps will be softer shooting than factory 115gr ammo, and should be at least as accurate unless you're doing something horribly wrong. Coated or plated are more vulnerable to damage from too much crimp. If you're crimping to smaller than .379", you probably should raise the crimp die. Pull a bullet from one of your loaded cartridges. Is there an obvious crimp ring on the bullet that wasn't there to start with?

It depends on the bullet/profile. With coated bullets, I like to minimize the amount of bearing surface above the case mouth. Some guns have a tendency to cut the coating during chambering if too much is exposed/unprotected. With Bayou's 147gr FP profile with a lube groove, I load out to around 1.14x". I just got my first batch of 147gr FP NLG bullets from H&S. To get minimal exposed bearing surface, I've been loading these to 1.005", which did seem kind of awfully short. I've only loaded a small test batch of these so far...and based on chronograph results, may drop the powder charge 0.1gr relative to what I use for the older style 147s.

This is more Dillon die-specific than press-specific. I broke one of these on my RL550B. IIRC, I bought replacement clips (a 2 or 3 pack) at Home Depot.

I got my start reloading 124gr FMJ over 4.3-4.4gr Universal. Your 4.4gr load with 115gr bullets is right at or below "starting". You're probably right around 1000fps...but a chrongraph would tell you.

To elaborate on my previous response, my concern is that whatever humidity is in the air inside the containers (whether factory sealed or not) is going to condense (and then crystalize) at such low temps. I know from prior contact that Hodgdon's support staff are responsive. Why not email them and see what they say? help@hodgdon.com

I have a tube of Lansinoh left over from when we had little kids. I put just bit on my thumb and first finger, rub them together, and (pistol) cases get lubed as I move them from the brass bin to station 1 on my RL550B. It makes a huge difference in the effort necessary to size cases. When the benefit feels like it's ceased, I rub a bit more into my fingers. I don't remove it from finished cartridges. For rifle brass processing, I use the Dillon spray on lube, and have never had any issues with tumbling it off. What sort of corn cob are you using, and how long did you give it? You shouldn't need solvent (spirits) to tumble it off.

I'd be somewhat concerned about the possibility of condensation forming inside the powder containers at such low temperatures. I'd find a safe place to store it indoors.

And for cheaper than most of the places I've seen online that specialize in dealing in used brass.

There was a decent breeze today on and off which made it hard to judge, but I think the 147gr Precisions with Longshot smoked slightly less than Promo, loaded to similar velocities. I'll likely load a larger batch of them and do more comparisons now that I know how much to use. Interestingly, the Longshot loads I tested today didn't seem to have the extra loud report I've come to expect from Longshot.

You're supposed to clean them?

I'm using a Dillon die set, so no FCD. I "crimp" 9mm to .379-.380". I backed off to that when I was trying to figure out my issues with X-Treme 147s. I did load two small test batches with Longshot. Hopefully, I can get out this weekend and see how bad they smoke.

I haven't had much luck googling for 147gr lead data for Longshot much less feedback on how smoky it is. I think I'll just give 4gr a shot and see how it does.

Didn't know there were some with lower limits...but 1500 * 230 / 7000 = 49lbs and a fraction. The box and padding can't be 10lbs. That many 200gr is only just under 43lbs.

Which makes it odd that Shooter Ready says they use flat rate boxes, but can only fit 1500 200-230gr bullets in a box. What else are they putting in the box?

There seems to be no shortage of casters who've jumped on the coated bandwagon, mostly using Hi-Tek. Some of the later ones in this thread, I'd never even heard of before, seem to be running at a lower margin than the more established places. I'm tempted to try some of H&S's 147gr 9mm and Shooter Ready's 45-200-TC.

I've never seriously looked at the 650...but don't you need a strong mount, or is it included? I agree, the low powder sensor is silly. I'd also say you could get the caliper cheaper from Harbor Frieght (digital or analog...I kind of recommend both, because eventually your battery will die, you won't have a spare, and you'll want to do some reloading at night). I'm distrustful of electronic scales, and would suggest you spend a bit less and get the Eliminator balance scale. Save some more $ and skip the high $ brass. Assuming you can't just pick up brass at the range or haven't been saving your own brass for years, shop around and get some once fired. It'll be much cheaper, and work just fine. When you buy the .45 brass, make sure you know what you're getting. It comes in SP and LP. If you're just getting started, it might make sense to buy SP, and skip large primers...one less component to stock.

After some more googling, it seems some think slower powders make less smoke with Precision. I have some Longshot that I experimented with a while back for 147gr plated bullets. 4.2gr with an X-Treme 147 worked well. I may try that with my old 147gr Precisions, backing off a tenth or two of a grain.

I'm reasonably confident that I'm not cutting the coating while loading them. I don't have any issues with the other coated bullets I load.