noylj

So what? What was accuracy? Low SD is good for walking the edge of power factor, but that is about all. Then, you still have to include some room for temperature and other variables.

Let's take a very fast and hot burning powder, known for pressure spikes, and let's overload it to achieve some random velocity goal. Next, ignore about the only pressure sign you'll get before kaboom and then ask if it is safe. You move to slower powders for more velocity and to faster powders for less velocity/increased controllability.

Your bullets are seating crooked Get a seating stem that fits your bullet. All die makers will make custom seating stems and, generally, have some better stems on shelf for specific bullets. Be sure you are expanding the case so case ID is 0.001-0.002” smaller than bullet diameter and flaring case mouth enough so bullet can sit on case straight.

Plunk Testing: The solution to chambering problems is to determine the cause: Take the barrel out of the gun. Drop rounds in until you find one that won't chamber. Take that round and "paint" the bullet and case black with Magic Marker or other marker. Drop round in barrel (or gage) and rotate it back-and-forth a few times. Remove and inspect the round: 1) Scratches in the ink on bullet--COL is too long 2) Scratches in the ink on edge of the case mouth--insufficient crimp 3) Scratches in the ink just below the case mouth--too much crimp, you're crushing the case 4) Scratches in the ink on case at base of bullet--bullet seated crooked due to insufficient case expansion (not case mouth flare) 5) scratches just above extractor groove—bulge. Insufficient sizings or need to bulge bust. Sorry, but all bottleneck cases will need trimming occasionally.

Frosted bullets are still more aesthetic than a problem. Problem is opening mold too early and smearing lead across mold and sprue plate. Unless shooting pistol over 50 yards, bullets will shoot well as long as base is completely filled. Wrinkles could harm accutacy but not until about 50 yards. Sizing: don't. It harms accuracy. If mold casts bullets too large, complain to manufacturer after proving they really are too large to feed.

Take loads and go below start if you need to. e3 has loads for shotguns only, so you would need to work up your own loads. Don't know ASP. 4.7-5.0gn WST 4.0-4.3 TG Never adjusted extractor for SC cases. Not quite the same, but close to asking for minor loads for.45 Win Mag, when.45 Auto fits the role better. Darn iPad will not let me type .45, as it instantly thinks the period is the the end of a sentence. Stupid autocorrect, with autocorrect off.

The black residue in primer pocket has never been an issue, but, since you don't like it: All you want is citric acid. Buy citric acid on line or read label or Google MSDS for the product you're looking at.

Questions are: Do you have load data and does it do what you want.

You could try a better, more "friendly" powder. Don't push the powder.

TG throws off pressure spikes and I don't use it (it also hasn't been all that accurate in any of my loads). Next, you're looking at jacketed bullet data for a lead bullet. You may want to start a bit lower. My data shows 180gn lead bullets and TiteGroup starting at 3.7gn and MAX at 5.1gn. Finally, is this the only powder you have? Any powder from AA5 to AA9 would be better. Oh, sorry, forgot this was an action pistol sight. So, if looking for PF, I would still look for any other fast powder, with AA2 and 231/HP38 being my initial choice. However, with powder being unavailable, just be careful and be sure to use the right loading data.

All a taper "crimp" is really designed to do is remove the case mouth flare. It is not designed to hold the bullet. If you look at factory ammo you'll see that it frequently doesn't even TOUCH the bullet. IF you remove the carbide ring, you will have a taper crimp die as good as any other. If you leave it as is, you can remove the crimp "guts" and start to bulge bust your cases prior to loading. From your picture, you were WAY over crimping.

Back in the '70s, I ran tests with .38 Spl, .357 Mag, and .44 Mag where I loaded some where I seated and crimped in one step and some where I crimped separate from seating. I then shot them without knowing which group was which and, in all cases, the group average was smaller when seated separate. Thus, even with a single-stage press, I still always crimped separate after that series of tests.

What pizza man said. Also, both dies MIGHT be roll crimp dies for .38 Spl.

Just like RN—find the COL they like and they work just as well. Never had any problem with getting any bullet to feed and chamber (JHP, FN, SWC, whatever) in any gun I have, provided I took the time to find the COL that worked. Heck, I had SWCs flying through my 1911s long with milsurp magazines. Obviously, you can't load them to the same COL as RN, as they have had part of the RN truncated.

>Noylj mostly got it right, with a caveat. The lead bullets must be perfectly formed to be more accurate than FMJs, and then mostly in 45. Sorry, but a basic assumption about all cast bullets is that the base is completely filled out. If so, I get very good accuracy even with wrinkly bullets out to 50 yards. Swaged lead bullets, like all jacketed (swaged copper/lead) bullets, have the edge for overall consistent geometry and weight. That's why, since I load for accuracy, even my HOT .38 Super loads are either JHPs or commercial swaged lead (12-13 BHN). I have never had a FMJ reach the accuracy of my own cast bullets or commercial swaged lead bullets. Again, YMMV and I can only speak from MY experience.

By the time any one online can tell you, the supply will most likely be gone. Sorry, but I find I have to search myself and talk to representatives to see what might actually be in stock that isn't listed on the web.

For inside 25 yards, accuracy is more the shooter and the gun than any special bullet. I can even get decent groups with plated bullets at 15 yards, but at 25 yards they open up quite a bit for me. Never even considered looking at 50 yards with any of them--no hope based on 25 yard group size. Out at 50 yards, bullets tend to rate: JHP L-SWC/L-WC FMJ-FN/L-FN FMJ-RN/L-RN YMMV, but that is what most folks find. Why? Have no idea. One would think that moving the center of gravity towards the rear (as a JHP) would make the bullet less stable. Continue shooting what makes you happy--being happy alone can improve accuracy

Even if they did, it would only give you an approximate idea of what you would get in your gun. Sounds like you already know what to do—just don't lose your data again.

Seems much easier to 1) reject any case with visible bulge And 2) bulge bust the rest just to be sure. Have fun

If someone believes new powder varies from old, they would use up all the old, throw out the residual, and re-work the load. I consider it as safe to blend the old with the new then to just leap into a new lot without adjusting load.

Most taper crimp shouldn't even touch the bullet. Just wondering: why are you worried about 3 mils of COL variation?

Where is the bulge? See my "Plunk" test write up below. First, would they chamber in the gun? If so, ignore the gage. Did you inspect the cases for bulges before loading? Did you gage the cases after sizing? Can you see the bulge with the "3 were bulging, some to extreme degrees?" If so, throw the cases away. A bulge that forms during reloading for pistols is usually due to seating the bullet crooked or over crimping. I never crimped rifle cartridges, but I assume over-crimping would cause the same issues. The solution to chambering problems is to determine the cause: Take the barrel out of the gun (or, open the cylinder of the revolver or try to feed dummy round into your rifle). Drop rounds in until you find one that won't chamber. Take that round and "paint" the bullet and case black with Magic Marker or other marker. Drop round in chamber (or gage or cylinder chamber) and rotate it back-and-forth a few times. Remove and inspect the round: 1) Scratches in the ink on bullet--COL is too long (not a revolver issue) 2) Scratches in the ink on edge of the case mouth--insufficient crimp 3) Scratches in the ink just below the case mouth--too much crimp, you're crushing the case 4) Scratches in the ink on case at base of bullet--bullet seated crooked due to insufficient case expansion (not case mouth flare) or improper seating stem fit 5) Scratches in the ink on case just above extractor groove--case bulge not removed during sizing. May need a bulge buster.

Bullseye/Red Dot Unique/True Blue 2400 2460 4064

Heavy vs light is dependent on what feels best and times out best for YOU. I like a fast cycling gun and the snap that lifts up the slide also snaps it back down for me. Others say they can watch the sights all through the cycle with a slow heavy bullet. There is only what works best for you.

As always, call the manufacturer. Dillon will walk you through or help you ship it back for them to adjust it. You paid for this type of service. With Dillon, you might also want to see if they have a DVD for the 750 yet and buy it. Normally, you would either have to grease the shell plate bottom so it doesn't drag and adjust the bolt tension or learn how to adjust the timing (only time I did that, it involved adjusting the pawls on the old Hornady progressive (well before the L-N-L))