gordonm1

When I got my 6" Eagle, the longest I could load for that barrel was 1.165. I had to buy a throating reamer and ream the throat myself to load ammo out to 1.2". There's lots of room to load now I might try some garand ammo.

I don't have a wet tumbler but cases I have had that were wet cleaned and squeaky clean quickly built up brass in the powder through expander die on my 550B. Lubing the cases stopped that. I'll stick with my dry tumbling with polish and odorless mineral spirits until my tumbler breaks or I run out of media. Maybe then it will be more obvious what's a better way to go next.

Bayou, Blue, Black, Missouri, SNS, lots of places to buy coated bullets. One level of saving the most is buying the most you can get the flat rate shipping for. This is usually 2-3k. I don't go above this level but there are often large quantity discounts also. I've tried plated a few times but I have always been frustrated with accuracy with them.

Tightgroup feels kind of snappy when I get it up to major power factor in 45ACP. I feel it's rattling my bones and will use other powders in 45. I have a jacketed 9mm load that is so accurate I'll live with the snappiness in 9mm. Like others have said it's not ideal but it works.

Yeah, I had issues first using the undersize U die with oversize coated bullets and then squeaky clean new brass getting brass buildup in the powder funnel. Don't touch your flared case with your seating die/only the seating stem is about the most you can do and then crimp in another step. Lubing with a run through a tumbler with media treated with car polish helps and finally, lubing the brass before loading helps with squeaky clean brass.

Zero and Nosler are the most accurate bulk bullets I have tried compared to Precision, Bayou, plated, and Missouri cast lead. I will be saving them until I can afford to shoot them and/or my skills rise again to where they will be usefull.

I've been keeping my 220X6 unfired in the chance I get my FFL and can sell it for a good price. I did not get any bargain on it though and it is hard to imagine folks bidding it up a whole bunch. Sig squeezes you pretty good on their top guns already. I'm between jobs now and looking at thinning the herd to improve cash flow and ward off the risks of the next liberal gov.

Things got better for me loading cast and coated bullets when I started using the Redding push through die instead of undersizing/oversizing the brass with the EGW die. Now I have also ponied up the dough for the Redding seating die and things are Mucho Bueno. I think the cases should last longer using the push through die over the EGW too. I'm not seeing as many split cases after firing.

I found some at a gun show but only loaded 200g lead in 45 ACP. I found a great target load. Then Pat's had solo 1000 and Scott 453 so I got a bunch. I load the scot 453 with cast 180g in .40 to 1.135 OAL. It started getting snappy and changed gears at 4.5 grains and it was still not major for me in my 4.5 inch SIG barrel(a lot like WST). Your powder is different so be careful. You might be able to get to major more safely if you can load longer OAL.

I guess if I was a caster I could melt them down and start over.

Thanks for the expert advice. I'll shoot them or sell them as is.

What will happen if you coat a cast lead bullet if it already has a wax lube in the grooves? I think I have enough bullets to use up an order of the coating but they all have wax lube already.

Two newer powders I didn't see mentioned are IMR8208 and the CFE powder(copper fouling eliminator). 8208 is slightly fast and better with 155gr bullets. 8208 is also known for temperature stability.

I had some mystery squibs with clays in 45ACP. I was leaving the powder in the measure. Clumping, bridging, of the powder left in the measure was my best theory. Squibs are scary and the closest I have come to a KABOOM.

A lot of guns have problems feeding SWC designs such as the XD45 and my Sig P220. Roundnose are their friends. However, a lot of the 200gr roundnose designs were originally for revolver use and come with a large crimping groove to prevent bullet set back in revolver use. I not sure of any negatives for semi-auto use of a bullet with a crimping groove but I migrated to the Precision 200gr RNFP because they don't have the crimp groove, the flat point is pretty small so its almost a roundnose, they are pretty soft but don't lead, and they seem very consistent and accurate when loaded by me. I shot a ton of Missouri Bullet Co.'s bare lead 200gr RNFP's too because they cost less.

My Spartan is fun and accurate. I gave up trying to get it to feed anything but roundnose bullets through the unramped barrel. This from a man with no 1911 gunsmithing skills.

I've shot my comp model in Limited using Roger's magazine parts. I love my gun and get lots of compliments on it. They look sexy and the single action trigger is nice. There has been a history of extractor problems but I am over 5k rounds on my .40 and still use the original extractor. 9mm has a lot more documented extractor failures that can be found on various forums.

lasercast manual shows never exceed 4.6g WST for 180gr RNFP or truncated cone. OAL 1.135. This is for unsupported chamber service pistols. 4.6gr got 884fps in a glock M-22. They note on the bottom of the chart to use 1.125 OAL for the truncated cone. I'm loading for major in a sig 180gr cast at 4.9 gr 1.150 OAL and get 170 pf in the winter. Their book says 5.0 max loaded short in supported chambers like my sig.

My simple method is to process brass away from the progressive and run clean/un-lubed brass through the progressive when loading. I want the lube off my brass and dies and out of my case necks. This means clean, size, trim, clean again, possibly swage primer pockets, and then I can load on the 550. There are other methods.

Limited 10 was a great place to start learning the game with my first pistol, a SIG P220 in 45 ACP. This is a very nice weapon with no other division to attempt to be competitive and a lot of P220's have been manufactured in the last 30 years. There are many other weapons that make major power factor that can't compete with 2011's and glock's magazine capacity for two 8 round arrays so until they loosen up single stack restrictions there will be a place for L 10. Production, Single Stack, and Limited does not encourage the use of all guns in circulation and its good that USPSA is trying to do so now.

I've had similar issue's with the U die and lead bullets sized a thousandth over jacketed. I switched to the redding pass through die for bulge busting qualities and use my Dillon die to resize. No more problems with lead. My EGW die sits waiting for use with jacketed bullets. I originally switched from the EGW to my Dillon die ground down at the base as much as possible to size more of the case at the base. This worked for my SIG X5 with generous chamber. Then I bought the STI eagle with tighter chamber and the Dillon die did not size range pickup brass enough. So, I added the Redding push through die to the process as and extra step and my reloads fit without stressing the oversize bullets as much with undersize cases. I also thought I had more problems with leading and accuracy when I used the undersize die and lead. There are a lot of people shooting hot loads and oversize chambers based on the fired brass I pick up. The Redding sizes the whole case down but not to undersize dimensions. Some fired cases are too big for the Redding die and get deformed going through the die or just won't go through the die. I toss the brass the goes through the Redding die hard. I assume this helps me avoid case separations from overworked brass. I do miss the extra neck tension you get with the U die to avoid setback. I'll keep saving it for jacketed bullets.

I shot about 10k and felt they were too hard also. I got the leading. I now use Missouri Bullet Co. bullets because they are softer and I get less leading.

I did not see the gun mentioned. You can try a 0.469" taper crimp on my recommendation or just try more crimp. My XD45 requires the shortest OAL of the 45 ACP guns I have. 1.200" at 0.469 crimp works for it and I shot about six pounds of red dot mostly with the MBC 200 RNFP advertised as a good bullet for the XD45. Loaded so short I did not go over old published data and enjoyed it. A case gauge would help tell if your rounds are an issue or your gun is the problem.

4.3g N320 is just at major with 180's in my 5" SIG.. I get a little more velocity cushion with my 6". Loaded at 1.145 OAL. I don't think Vihtavouri lists loads for 320 and a 200g in .40. I have some to try though and will start at 4 or 3.9 some day unless I read it's going to blow up my gun.

Went back and tried 6.05 g WST and saw some primer flattening and recoil feel was stout. All my long loads that meet the chrono test for major PF recoil more than short loads used in my Sig X5. This with the Sig loads fired in the STI. I admit being an STI newb but I want to look for a shorter load that still feeds. My 6-inch eagle seems to feed short stuff with no problems so I am encouraged to try this.