freakshow10mm
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Posts posted by freakshow10mm
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I did testing with MG bullets before and wasn't impressed. Also left a lot of flaking in the dies. That turned me off completely.
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I can get Berry's 9mm 115gr cheaper than MG. Berry's are $65/K shipped and MG would be $74/K shipped using the one case price +$5 residential. I save $9/K using Berry's or $8/K if I leave out the MG residential fee.
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#5 is a great powder for the 9/40/45 and 38 Special. Was formulated for the .45 ACP specifically. Meters like sand (good thing). Uses higher charge weights than other powders but it's fine.
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I've seen this happen with other powders. Best example is 10mm running Longshot with a 180gr bullet. 9.2gr is faster than 9.5gr. No gain in velocity, accuracy, nothing. No change other than burning more powder.
I wish I could help you explain it, but I can't. If you aren't getting faster or more accurate, why burn more powder?
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Yup. I run 5.5gr WSF with Berry's 115gr RN set to 1.15" OAL in my H&K P7. That's the only load I feed it and runs very well.
ETA: Chrono'd at 1153fps 607 ft above sea level.
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No, St Marks only sells volume to distributors and OEMs. If you have a manufacturer license and buy enough at a time, as in a few thousand pounds in one shipment, they will sell to you. Generally if you buy less than 1,000 pounds at a time small distributors are the way to go. I'm just a small one man commercial loader and get my OEM powder from Western (Ramshot/Accurate). Comes in 45 pound drums for about $12/pound delivered on truck. One drum of my pistol powder is about 52,500 rounds of ammo on average 6gr per round. I only get about 9,000 rounds per drum with my rifle powder (.223 and .308), also $12/pound delivered.
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I have been following the swaging threads over on that forum and this specific thing (9mm cased .40 bullets) intrigued me. I got a set of the dies from C4HD and have been messing around with them.
I held my tounge on this thread will everyone making fun of the guy for doing this. I think everyone needs to remember that there are different ways to look at this. We look at it as stupid because we think of shooting thousands of bullets and could never see doing this to keep us shooting. It is obvious that this guy is not a competition shooter as he doesn't even own a .40 pistol. The only pistol he owns is an original .44 Auto Mag believe it or not. For him, this seems to be more about accomplishing something rathen than producing bullets. I personally am playing with this because I see it as a way to make some nice heavy jacketed bulltes to shoot out of my 10mm's.
One last thing for those who think this guy is nuts. There are lots of people out there who think we are totally crazy for reloading ammo when you can go out and buy it. Just because you can buy great bullets from Montana Gold doesn't mean this guy is stupid for making his own.
Neal in AZ
BTSniper's a great guy. Definitely got a lot of people interested in swaging over on the CB forum. He got into swaging due to making brass out of .308 and .30-06 cases for his .44 AMP. He uses the neck section to make the bullet and the rest to make the brass. Each rifle case makes one piece of brass and one jacketed bullet.
I've been messing with 10mm bullets using the CH4D #101 dies in a RC press for about 3 years for my 10mm 1911. My bullets range from a 138gr JHP using .380 ACP brass to a monster 245gr JHP using a 9mm case. I push the 245gr 10mm bullet to about 1000fps in my 1911. Also cast my custom 225gr LSWC in 10mm and hit it with the swage die to make it a LSWC-HP (hollow point). I like to load this to 1100fps in my 10mm Commander. The animals I've killed with this bullet were DRT. Bang-flop. Dead on the ground before the gun came back on target.
Also very true about Speer and RCBS starting out like that too. I've got a set of dies to make .224 jackets out of rimfire brass. Have enough rimfire cases saved up to make over one million 55gr .224 bullets. Trying to find a used hydraulic swaging press to make the bullets. Could do it by hand but that kind of volume would get tiring real quick. Only cost really in that is the lead wire, which would run about 1.1 cents per bullet, free jackets, and just my time. If I swage my own bullets for the .223 Rem I can sell my reloads for about $160-180 retail for 1,000 rounds. I've shot this kind of bullet plenty and it stays inside 2 MOA at 100y. Makes a 50gr JHP or a 65gr JHP using the WMR cases. Cost to make bullets would be about $11 per 1,000 bullets. Not bad.
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Hodgdon and Winchester share the same powder from St Marks in Florida. HP38 and W231 are the exact same powder, called SMP #231. H414 is also the same exact powder as W760, called SMP #760. W296 and H110 are also the same exact powder, known as SMP #296. Winchester uses the same numerical designation in their canister powders, which are the same exact powder they use in their factory ammunition, as the St Marks Powder Company designates. There is no equivalent for Hodgdon but Winchester W748 is SMP #748. Winchester AutoComp is SMP #224. They've been using it in factory .380 ACP ammunition for decades. Winchester dropped WAP in favor of bringing out AutoComp (SMP #224) to the handloading market but Western Powder Company (ie Accurate and Ramshot) now markets that same exact powder as Ramshot Silhouette. Data from Silhouette and WAP can be interchanged as it's the same exact powder. Exact doesn't mean close enough, it's the same in every respect.
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I treat .223 like pistol. Just load it and be done with it. Lube, size, prime, charge, seat. Tumble for 10-15 minutes to get the lube off and go to the range.
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My used 1050 came without the ratchet parts. I called Dillon and they said "You don't really need that". I believe Super 1050's don't even have it.
It's supposed to make sure you fully cycle the handle every time, but is a pain if you need to fix anything.
My Super 1050 that was shipped November 2009 came with the ratchet restriction tab. I took it off after breaking 3 of them within a week and my blood pressure went down considerably.
I understand and appreciate the thought process behind the design engineer that was thinking about safety, but if you can't remember if you just charged a case, etc while loading ammunition you have no business near a reloading press. Pay attention to what you are doing. Unfortunately engineers have to compensate for idiots.
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TAC is my choice. Cheaper and gives same or faster velocity and accuracy as Varget. Meters a lot better too.
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No kidding. Hearing stuff like that makes me want to add .45 AR to my ammo catalog.
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For 10mm I love WSF, Longshot, HS6, and #9. All meter very well and perform very well.
My 10mm is my carry gun, hunting gun, woods gun, working gun, and competition gun. I carry one gun for everything and use it whenever I can to hone my skills. I only shoot IDPA with it for competition, as that's all the UP has to offer. My IDPA load is a 175gr LSWC at 1300fps (227.5PF) so I'm not shooting gamer loads. I don't think I can help you with power puff loads in the 10mm as I'm on the medium-heavy to heavy loads 100% of the time. The lightest handload I've ever shot in my 10mm, any of them, was still 195 PF or more.
For my "plinker" loads during practice, I run a 180gr plated at 1100fps or so using WSF. That's about the lightest I've gone in the 10mm, which is right around 198 PF from my commander. HP38/W231 is a decent powder but is better for the 9/40/45. The 10mm is the bastard of the service pistol calibers and just different enough that some powders for the "big 3" aforementioned cartridges won't work as well in the 10mm. Longshot, HS6, and WSF will work well in all four of them.
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I've been a commercial loader about three years now.
Start with a 550 to increase production and keep initial investment down. Doing .223 and .308 size cartridges with ball type powder, I can easily run 400rds per hour not trying hard. This is with 10 primer tubes preloaded and lubing brass in lots of about 100pcs at a time with spray lube.
Once you are running the 550 solid 6-8 hours a day, upgrade to a faster press to produce your higher volume cartridges like the 6.5 Swede, .308, .30-06, 8mm Mauser. 650 v 1050 produce about the same rate but it's the little stuff like the caliber changes and investment that's different and will ultimately be your choice.
I started on a 550 and recently got a 1050 when my production capacity needed to be increased. Caliber changes take about 20 minutes but it would be nice to get one press for each caliber I need. Currently I don't have the cash for that so I just have a small primer 1050 press and load 9mm, .40, and .223 on it. I load all the components I have on hand for one caliber, then do a caliber change to the next. I got out of the custom game for most orders and just run range FMJ ammo as production, but do load custom for local customers only not mail order on the 550 when needed. The .45 and .308 I load on the 550 currently as the primer size, shell plate, and locator buttons are the same. I only change the toolhead out and leave the rest in place. It's slow for the .45 (500/hr) but works fine for me since I sell more 9mm and .40 currently. Next 1050 I buy will be setup for the .45/.308 so I will again just swap out the toolheads and leave the rest in place. I'll deal with the caliber changes until I make enough money to buy 1050s in every caliber I load, which is ideal since I just top off components and pull the handle.
Never get rid of your 550 or kits for it. It will serve as a back up press in the event your "big" press goes down. Also never get rid of your single stage press(es) as they can be great for small jobs and odd jobs like pulling bullets, neck sizing, etc. I've got a 1050, a 550, a Rockchucker, and a Lee Classic Turret. The LCT is used exclusively for the .256 Win Mag cartridge. I have a .30 Luger FL sizer die (necks down .357 to .300 and starts a shoulder), then a .256 Win Mag FL sizer die (finish necks down to SAAMI plus sets the shoulder), then powder die, then seater die. I do about 250 per hour on it when I load using virgin .357 Mag brass. Every four pulls is a completely reformed and loaded .256 Win Mag round. A turret press is always welcome on my bench for jobs just like that.
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I use ball powder for everything I load. My 550 PM experienced creep when running W231 in .40 cal. Target was 4.8gr and it crept to 5.3gr incrementally. Figured out the screw would turn freely after a couple dozen rounds, so I drilled and tapped for a set screw in the side of the bar. Now I get my setting and tighten the set screw to secure the adjustment screw in place. Now 4.8gr stays 4.8gr forever.
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Cheaper unprocessed brass, we have 30K+ 223 with crimped primer pockets. We have tumbled and sorted most and are throwing anything that even remotely looks like crap.
We are keeping LC, CCI, FC, WCC and R_P some with crimped primers some not. ALL other is being binned.
When I get brass in I give inspection for obscene damaged cases, ie crushed necks, obvious dents, etc. I then tumble it. When it's cleaned of media I inspect it for cosmetics and visible flaws under a lighted magnifying glass. I have a "cartoon double take" policy. If you even think of looking at a case a second time, toss it. The "good" brass gets inspected once again during the lube process. After it's loaded and dumped into the bucket for collection it's inspected while moved to another bin. Finally it's inspected once again during packaging and labeling for sale. This is for both pistol and rifle.
I keep LC, FC, and Winchester brass for the .223. Now with my experience using FC stamp, I'm done with it forever. I'm boxing it up and selling it on Gunbroker.
Something else that can break the swage rod at the bottom is stress from the swage rod attempting to swage primer pockets with a primer still in the pocket.I have invoiced a replacement swage rod to go out toady via Two Day FedEx. Normally I would send via priority mail, but due to the holiday the post office is closed today.
The primers had been decapped properly. Thanks again for taking care of me. Sorry to be using up my warranty. One of these times we'll get it worked out. Maybe Dillon can hire me as a destructive tester in the future? Will work for primers.
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Oh, I'm going slow enough. It took me almost 7 hours to load 1,000 rounds of .223.
Been reloading for about 5 years, commercially for 3 of that. Most of my loading was done on a Dillon 550. That is just about flawless. The primer slide won't come forward all the time but a light push on the back of it while lowering the ram works enough for my needs. No biggie.
Got a 1050 as I wanted to start getting into more volume loading after losing my full time job last year. I got the 1050 instead of the 650 so I could hit the pockets on .223 brass and buy cheaper unprocessed brass to just take care of it on the press. Figure a case an hour would be a good production rate for a one man deal. Wow what a mistake that was. Loaded a case of .40 on it and it was problems from the start. Got it fixed, then had a primer detonation which wrecked the priming system so I was down for the count on that for a while. Then finished up a case of 9mm only to have the press lock up again. Sent it back to Dillon. Ran fine for a few hundred rounds then nothing but problems; press locks up, etc. Now this. This thing was the worst investment I ever made in my life. So many people swear by this as being such a great press, but after my experience I'm not convinced. Dillon doesn't take returns on used stuff even if I bought it from them, so I'm stuck with this thing. It was a bit smoother running the 9mm and .40 so maybe just trash the .223 stuff and not load it any more. Just do pistol. I've got to figure something out. Over $8,000 invested in .223 components and I can't f-ing load it to fill orders because the press won't run. Sorry, just venting frustration.
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Another nightmare on my barely 4 month old, barely 4,000 rounds loaded Dillon 1050. First the primer detonation, then the toolhead spring and auto index lockup. Sent it to Dillon and got it back and set it up for .223 running Federal brass. Nothing but problems. Called Dillon and they said it was the brass issue. OK, I'll try some MKE stamp brass. Adjusted the swage rod to accommodate the staked primer instead of the annular crimp. Got about 10-15 rounds loaded and SNAP. The swage rod done broke in half. $2,000+ invested in this thing with setups for .223, 9mm, and .40 caliber and it's cost me at least 4 times that in lost business and canceled orders. What did I ever do in a previous life to deserve this?
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Late to the party, but I load commercially as well. For oddball jobs like this I keep a Lee Classic Turret press on the bench. I load weird stuff like 256 Win Mag and oddball custom loads that I normally don't keep in catalog. A set of Lee shellholders is about $12 and I usually know someone that can borrow me the dies to crank out a couple hundred rounds.
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On the 550, the plates are the same and they split the difference in the head size it seems.
On the 1050, the plates are different. There's a bit of a side to side wobble with a 9mm on the .40 (W) plate. I have my 1050 packed up for a trip back to Dillon (with the 9mm plate on) so I can't test a .40 case on the 9mm plate right now.
I would say one can sub to save money for a short term, but long term I advise using the caliber specific plate.
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Used to use Lee dies. Now use Redding Pro Series exclusively, except for the .380 ACP which are Dillon. Get them at dealer price from Graf's which make them cheaper than Dillon at retail. I don't buy bulk equipment from Dillon so I can't get dealer discounts there. Graf's suffices for now.
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HOS sucks big time for rifle brass. I only use it on pistol to make loading smooth (I'm a commercial reloader).
Dillon lube is for rifle and works well. Tumble the ammo in a mix of 1:8 walnut to corncob with a cap of NuFinish and mineral spirits. Shines like new money.
Believe it or not, this is a remanufactured .380 ACP load. I apologize for the camera reflection in the bullet, but it's that damn shiny.
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Is there anything that contributes to lighting off the primer tube?
Don't know. Gary at Dillon has been sent the parts for inspection.
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Here's my TH after 2,000 rounds. I'll have to check the return spring.
Any one using Berrys Plated 9mm?
in 9mm/38 Caliber
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Standard dies that I've used for all commercial loading. Redding Pro Series. Nothing fancy. 500 rounds and there was jacket flakes all over the place. And no it wasn't the brass, I know better. Loaded all sorts of FMJ before, even in Lee dies, and never had that problem. It was only with the MG bullets. Same dies loaded many other bullets and I clean my dies between lots or bullet changes for custom loads, so it wasn't grime or contamination.
I realize that but when I have personal experience with something that goes against even the "experts" on here, that says something to me. I'll take my personal experience over anyone else's any day of the week. I'm sure everyone here thinks likewise.
I heard good things about MG bullets but never bought any. Guy wanted a custom load so he bought them and had them shipped to me to load. Fit and finish were not what I expected. Looked like a brass jacket like the Remington Golden Sabres, but the base of the bullet had a copper check that was pressed into the core and the brass jacket left a circle of lead. Not what I expected to see with a bullet that had high regard by competitive shooters. Don't have the invoice in front of me but I think this was back in August or September of 2009 that I ran the small custom load. That experience made me keep my wallet in my pocket.