davsco

yeah just checked and my shellplate was a little loose. if i crank it down then it won't cycle. so i cranked it down and loosened it just a tad. it doesn't cycle as easy as when loose but it does cycle with a little force and seems to have lost the wobble. i am using the seating stem side that is closest to my bullet profile.

superthanks for all the input/advice! so again from the perspective of a newbie, i'm looking at a chart of powders from fast to slow, and autocomp is #41, and 3n38 is 4 spots slower at #45 and then n105 is 11 spots slower at #56. the chart goes to 163 (does include rifle), so these 3 powders are relatively close to each other. so is it really the fast/slow qualities that set these apart or is there something else going on that makes one favorable vs another?

well i ordered another seating die, redding competition, we'll see if that fixes things, at least it will make it a lot easier. maybe there's some runout in the dillon shellplate?

so i'm new to this. using a dillon 750 and their 38 super dies, what is an acceptable +/- for overall length of the cartridge? i adjust the seater die to 1.235 by trial and error with hornady hap 125g and i get a couple +/-.001 or .002 but then i start getting lengths from 1.230 to 1.242. is that in the range of acceptability or do i have a problem? i will say i hate their dies with the clips on top, what a pita vs others where you tighten down the die and then screw in the seating stem as needed. related, what is an acceptable powder measure (again the dillon 750 one) drop variation? i know powder shape/profile comes into play. so how about 3n38 which seems pretty fine-grained? thanks!

couple left...

3n38 will be the first powder i try, thanks all!

i'm new to reloading and don't know what i want! was just reading thru the powder websites and autocomp was one of the few that mentioned major power factor and gas for comps etc. i did buy some 3n38 based on some threads here on enos so will try that first. looking for n105 also or should i just try the 3n38 first? open to any and all suggestions! thanks! this is for a dvc open, no poppels.

okay thanks. just weird they hype it for uspsa open guns but then say the max load is well under major power factor.

from their website: Winchester AUTOCOMP is a ball powder designed for competition race guns. A perfect burn speed to feed the compensators with a higher volume of gas, it is a great choice for 38 Super BUT... their max load for 125gr bullets is 6.2 grains giving 1173fps for a 146 power factor, well below 165 for uspsa major. what gives? do folks just load more than 6.2 of this powder to make major or is that really the safe max and folks use other powders to get to major? i'm new to reloading so perhaps a dumb question...

nope, guess that could lead to a little variation...

so these are the first handloads i've put together, trying to work up to a major power factor uspsa load for my 5" sti edge. i shot these at 22 yds with hands braced against a doorway. all the same OAL and using blue bullets 180s. i measured powder precisely via an electronic trickler/scale and am a bit surprised by the fps variations within each powder charge. not sure how readable the pic is, i used e3 for the first 6 and then titegroup for the last 3. also surprised by the group size variations, some were pretty nice and some are huge and i felt like the shots were all good, again braced. any insight on the groups and velocities/es/sd? or anything else? thanks!

as noted above, i'm not doing any reduced-round matches. would rather do a few less matches, but i have enough ammo to not worry about that, at least for this year.

if you already have the xc, then definitely shoot it in uspsa! i started off with a steelmaster i bought as a range toy before i even knew about uspsa. ask sti/staccato if you can shoot major power factory ammo thru it and if so any recommended spring changes. atlanta arms and others sell major power factor 9mm ammo. if not just shoot regular 9mm and have fun. your scoring will be a little disadvantageous (non A-zone hits are scored less) but you can still have lots of fun.

full length bushing set vs neck bushing set vs ??

btw precision bullets said they haven't offered 180's since 1998, only 185's.

thanks yes i shaved a couple of the blue bullets then increased the flare. do you guys flare for fmj, haven't tried that in .40 yet although i loaded .223 smks (hpbt) with no flaring, though they are boattails.

so i'm starting to load up some blue bullets 180's. getting somewhat inconsistent OAL's. when loading .223 smk's the OAL's are +/- .001. but with the .40 blues it's like +/-.005 or more. certainly not noticeable to my naked eye, but maybe the coatings aren't 100% consistent and they're catching the seating die just a little differently? the bullets, again to my naked eye, seem seated true and not canted or anything. haven't shot any of these yet.

they've been outta pretty much everything for a while now. not sure if they can't get components, or are filling a big contract, or what.

yep i have a chrono. i did search back several years and didn't find much, realize 38 super is old school. i would appreciate any recipes. again have been using atlanta arms 125g jhp loads, believe they were around 172 power factor maybe 175.

indeed! blotd (best laugh of the day) in the last two months since i've been looking in earnest, i've gotten 1k at about $70 delivered, because shipping and hazmat doubled the base price since they limit to 1 box. almost had another k at basspro, all the way thru checkout and hit 'place order' and then it said OOS.

currently using atlanta arms but starting to reload. recipes "super" appreciated, 5" sti dvc open, uspsa major power factor. i do have titegroup and e3 so if anything works with that, that would be great. but if those aren't optimal i'll try and buy what works best. thanks!

+1 what guns and gear do you/your son have now?

yeah that's the nice thing about pcc! i'll wear a long sleeve shirt then a thin insulating layer over that, tuck it all in my pants and normal belt setup. leave coat etc on til it's time to shoot, put it back on afterwards.

curious why so far over minor pf? or is the bullet just hitting the ground at 10 feet at 125pf? just starting reloading so prob a dumb question...

for ammo? just be prepared to wait and wait and wait. and then wait...