dave33

Unless you are trying to make major PF titegroup works well with pretty much all things 9mm, is cheap, usually available, and uses low charge weights. It easily down loads for super bunny fart loads but works well for decent velocity too. As a bonus, I usually get good accuracy with light loads as well as higher power loads.

I found a lb of clays 4 days ago and shot a few rounds with it this morning. I now understand what Steve RA has been talking about in the what's your favorite powder threads now. Super soft and very accurate. Wish I would of bought the other two lbs they had also. Clay dot and e3 have a very similar feel.

Give them a quick bath in very hot citric acid. Doesnt need to be a super high concentrate, a couple teaspoons in a quart of water. Only need to be in there a couple minutes, then a quick rinse in fresh water should keep them shiney for a long time. Citric acid passivates or protects the brass, so if you store them for a real long time that is good. You can get citric acid from a number of places, I get mine at Walmart in the canning section.

I have a FF3 on a Springer precision mount on my .40 cal CZ P-09 and its been perfect for several thousand rounds, including a lot of "spicy" loads. Would be my choice again.

Dump the disks and get the new Lee Auto Drum. Dial in what ever charge you want to the exact tenth of a grain. Huge improvement over the disks and pretty cheap, around $35 online.

Mike, for reference, my plated or jacketed loads usually measure out to .377-.378, coated lead bullets up to .356 usually measure .3785-.3795, and coated lead bullets up to .358 usually measure .3795-.3805. I use mixed head stamp brass, lots of random range pickup stuff, and there is most certainly going to be some variation due to that. I also use the FCD, properly adjusted it works as good as any thing else and wont harm the lead. What die are you using to seat your bullets? If using the Lee seater die you may have it screwed in enough to be taking out the flair and passing the case gage.

SNS makes a coated 147gr flat point, I just got a sample pack of them today as it turns out, and they look real good. Im pretty sure there are some others as well.

+1. If you understand how it works and how to use it it really churns out good ammo at a great value. That being said I would like to have a S1050, xl650, or some other premium press for those long ammo runs.

You will probably find somewhere in the 3.6 to 3.8gr range to work well.

Some of the hi-tek coated lead bullets can have a little bit of a burned wire smell to them but it shouldnt be overwhelming. Be careful not to damage the coating when loading, either by overcrimping or by seating the bullet slightly sideways, that will cause one to stink in a hurry. Hot burning powders like titegroup cant melt the coating so any leading is happening a different way, most likely shaving the coating during loading.

It goes by weight, up to 15 lbs is about $8, up to 70lbs is $15, mix and match is ok. This is from memory, double check their website to be sure. The weight is listed for each bullet option.

Im not trying to schill for SNS but if fast shipping means anything to you I would try them. I took advantage of this offer and placed an order late this morning for 9 different bullet sample packages and got a shipping confirmation about two hours later complete with tracking number. Somebody over there is on the ball.

I run a 100gr SWC from Ibejiheads in steel challenge. I have used light charges of titegroup, e3, n320, bullseye, 7625, and a few others and they all can be described as a little dirty. At about a 109 or so power factor I dont think there is enough pressure built up for a clean burn of any powder, but they sure do shoot soft, almost like a .22 out of my XDM 5.25. The bonus is its still a pretty accurate load.

I ran some 165 xtreme's just a couple days ago. Tried them over bullseye and e3. The bullseye load was 2.88gr at 1.16 OAL and averaged 815 FPS. Had two different e3 loads, one at 2.6gr, 1.16 OAL averaged 795 FPS, and one at 2.9gr, 1.16 OAL and averaged 840 FPS. I went with those two loads for e3 as I had tried 2.8gr some months ago when I first got them in and wanted to see what going slightly up and down would do. For what its worth the 2.9gr load of e3 was the most accurate of the three loads with the bullseye load not much worse, but none of the loads was as good as I get with 147gr ammo so far.

They claim to change the world of reloading as we know it in a few days, 10-27-2015. Anybody have any inside info you want to share? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n233sHgQeeI

In 9mm the best accuracy I have ever gotten is with AA #2, closely behind that is 7625 and titegroup with n320 not far behind those.

3.8gr of titegroup under a 124gr Xtreme HP makes low 130's PF out of my XDM 5.25, and pretty small groups on paper.

Never used one and have never seen where it would be of benefit for me. I use a Lee decap/resize die, mixed range pickup brass, and mostly shoot coated lead bullets, though Ive never had a problem with jacketed or plated either.

People either love or hate the FCD, I believe if it is setup correctly it works just fine. I use the FCD in 9, 40, and 45, with oversize coated lead bullets and have never had a problem. Either people are not setting it up correctly or the inner diameter varies from die to die. The proper way to set up the FCD is as follows. Raise the ram of your press to the top of the stroke and screw the FCD down until it just touches the shell plate and tighten down the lock nut. Unscrew the top adjusting knob almost all the way out. Run a seated round at your desired OAL all the way into the FCD, when the handle has bottomed out hold it there and screw the top adjusting screw down until it makes contact with the round, lower the handle and scew the adjusting screw about a half turn down for a light crimp, a full turn down for a heavier crimp. I find my rounds work best at just slightly past halfway on the adjustment knob, maybe 55-60% of a turn. Raise the round back up into the FCD and check the crimp, and make slight adjustments from there. If you setup your FCD that way I just dont see how it can swage down a bullet, I have measured the case mouth before and after going into my FCD, but before screwing down the adjustment screw, and I get, in 9mm about .3805-.381. I usually have my rounds "crimped" to .378-.379 depending. I have run .358 diameter 9mm bullets through the die and never had any leading or swaging problems. Either the dies are not consistent from the factory or they are not being set up correctly by the end user, my money is on the latter.

I have shot thousands of them through my XDM 5.25. Great little bullet, I use it as a soft shooting steel challenge load. Very accurate even at lower power factor loads.

If you are ok with a lube groove try ibejiheads 147gr FP. I have used several styles over three different calibers from them and never had a batch that wasn't coated perfectly.

I have gone up to 3.4gr e3 under a 147gr coated lead bullet, got low 140's power factor out of my XDM 5.25 and was a pretty accurate load. Most people refer to very flattened primers, or primers that the firing pin indention is starting to push back out, or is poking out like a reverse indentation as signs of over pressure. By that time you are probably way over pressure anyway, I've heard from old wise reloaders that by the time you can see bad things happening with the primer its already too late. Of course this is all internet stuff so keep in mind the source. Have you tried the Bayou 105 FP? I got a couple sample packs of those the other day and was very pleased with the results accuracy wise. They may take the place of my favored steel challenge load using 100gr Ibejihead SWC's. Should leave plenty of room for powder in the case to work the comp.

Out of that group I would pick n320 first, AA#5 second.

Like others have said, get some coated lead 147gr projectiles and put them over 2.9-3.0 grains of titegroup, or 2.8-2.9 grains of e3. That load gets me low 130's PF out of my XDM 5.25, should be similar in a G34. Those loads still shoot very soft and accurate. Lead or coated lead will always shoot softer than FMJ bullets as they seal the bore better and require less powder to get the same power factor. BTW, good for you getting your daughter into the shooting sports.

I exchanged a couple emails with one of the bullet dudes a couple weeks ago. They were going to reship my original order as they have changed their alloy and expect much improved results over what I experienced with them. I was told about the replacement order probably three weeks before that. Apparently they are moving to a larger location that is going to increase their capacity significantly over what it is now. Also, the oven they use to bake the coating onto the bullets crapped out and they are replacing that as well. I was also told they have replaced their molds with new groove-less ones. If I had to guess, they had much more success sooner than they thought they would and quickly outgrew the original setup, decided to move to a new location, are replacing/upgrading some equipment, and the whole thing is taking much longer than they thought it would. Again, this is a total guess. They could of taken drunk for all I know. What I do know is between the emails and phone calls I have had with them they seem like good guys that really want to sell a good product, and they are very active in the shooting sports. I have plenty of other bullets to shoot while I wait on them, and when they finally ship my replacement order Im going to load them, shoot them, and review them here in my other thread. Hopefully sooner than later.