Rocky Patel

Yes you are correct there is a bulge near the opening where the bullet goes into the block. But I did not have to cycle the slide. I will post the vid so you can see. Interesting...

I decap, size and prime in mass quantities (1000 or so at a time) while watching sports on tv. That is also typically when I inspect the brass for cracks or dents or whatever. So when I go to load, I'm starting with sized and primed brass, and things go pretty quickly. I like it! Will do the same. This also gives me one turret hole free for the RCBS lock out die.. Love it when a plan comes together!! Take that Mr.Kaboom!!!

I loaded up 100 rounds of 180 grain precision delta Full metal jacket with 4.2-4.3 grains of titegroup and a 1.190OAL. Can anyone who shoots an STI edge .40 5inch tell me if this load is ok to shoot out of that gun? being a little careful with this one. I blew up my glock this weekend and didn't want a repeat performance with my new gun..

What is a lock out die? Will it fit on my lee turret press? I'm going to go check it out.. Thanks... BTW that was funny about the car thing. I liked the comparison.. Wow, I like it. I could remove the sizing die and do that seperately as a first stage. Then when I get all of my sized and primed cases ready; charge,lock out die, seat then crimp.. Pretty cool.

good question. If you look at this chart http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/Dippers.pdf in conjunction with your handy-dandy reloading manual, you can get a good idea of how voluminous a powder is. I look for powder where the load I want is going to be around 0.5cc (the second column), which fills a .40 case around half-way. You can see that .5cc of titegroup is around 5.9 grains. You already know that's a LOT of titegroup. That powder is not fluffy enough for my personal tastes. OTOH, .5cc of power pistol is around 5.6 grains, well below the starting load for most bullet weights (this makes a good plinking round, although the recoil is definitely stouter than you would get with a faster-burning powder). If you look in your reloading manual, you will even see there are some compressed charges listed for power pistol, meaning you can fill the case up so far that you have to compress the powder with the bullet when you seat it, and you still won't blow up. That makes it forgiving of mistakes. If we look at WSF, we see that 0.5cc is about 5.9 grains. Checking our handydandy load data online we see that the max load for wsf and 180 grain jacketed bullet is 5.8 grains, which tells us wsf is fluffier than titegroup, but not as fluffy as n320 or power pistol. I don't know if a double charge would overflow the case or not, but it should certainly be obvious on a careful inspection. Conveniently enough, both n320 and clays make a decent minor load with .5cc, and since I had a .5cc dipper before i got a better powder measure, I loaded alot of rounds with those powders. Fantastic information Thanks.. Going to print this one out and stick it in my reloading book for future reference along with the dipper chart. Thanks..

What is a lock out die? Will it fit on my lee turret press? I'm going to go check it out.. Thanks... BTW that was funny about the car thing. I liked the comparison..

That's alot of interaction with the press. Are you loading on a progressive press? It's really easy for a beginning reloader to screw up doing all that. If you are running a progressive I would suggest that you load one round at a time until you have everything set and have confirmed to yourself that it's good to go. Then just load and let the press do what it's supposed to do. Just take it slow and one step at a time until you understand things. Mistakes are just part of the process, just try do mitigate the damage if you do make one. Sorry you lost your gun, but glad you didn't lose more. Don't worry, in six months you will be able to do this in your sleep. No, not a progressive. A 4 station turret press. I have to load each case in there and the slug manually during the process. I look forward to the day.... I'm sure it's not to long from now where I don't worry as much as I do at the moment. A few dozen boxes with no kaboom should cure me.. You're probably more accurate.. 6 month sounds about right.. Thanks for your input..

Solo 1000 is even faster than Titegroup. Check out this link that shows powder burn rates: http://www.reloadbench.com/burn.html I think that you are doing the correct thing by slowing down your reloading process and measuring often. Mistakes can (and will) happen on any brand of reloading equipment. I would just recommend that you try out a slower powder instead; at least while you familiarize yourself with the process. There are some powders with which you can still make Major and fill the case better; making it easier to spot a double charge. When I first began reloading, I was recommended to try Winchester Super Field (WSF) and I kept using it for several years until I felt that I was confident with my loading process. These days I use faster powders (such as TG & S1000) because I like the recoil impulse they produce but I also have become more aware of the possibility of a squib load or a double charge. I avoid any sort of distraction while reloading and I make sure to only work on this when I can be fully dedicated to the process. I've been reading and seems WSF and Power pistol are both good for beginners. I will most definitely switch to one of these. I forgot who in this thread mentioned that power pistol will overflow the case if charged twice. I like that. Will WSF do the same?

Not taken personally. But I do I see that. I generally always do my own work. And boy when I did it wrong the roof fell down on me in this case... That's ok, Back to the drawing board for me.. I WILL GET IT by GOLLIE!!!!

I like your process of breaking it down into stages.. I will try that.. Thanks..

Do you have to tap the lee to get the cavity filled properly on the auto disk? Did you run graphite through it to coat the side.. Just questions.

I read many places where a new powder drop may have some kind of static i it making powder stick to the sides. Or at least not flow as freely. People say to run graphite through the system to coat the insides so when gun powder flows through it, it will flow more freely. Is that really true. Should I go buy some graphite and run it through or just continue with what I'm doing and the gun powder will coat the side eventually?

That is some really good information. Thanks a bunch. I've been wondering about what powder would overflow like that. Until now I did not know.

Here is the pic of the barrel..

Seems like a common theme song.. Get a Dillon...... La.. la .la .la.....Get a Dillon...... Or gun go Bye bye....... I guess so. Using a Dillon *might* help, I don't have anything else to compare to, but mistakes can still happen. While loading if I get distracted for even a moment, I will clear all four stations on my 550 and start over. I take no chances. Since I have taken this route I have not have not had a single squib. I would rather take the extra time than risk myself or someone else getting hurt. That indeed was another lesson learned. The one that goes to the top of my list. Have to admit, I had the TV going at the same time. And was sorta doing both.. Only during that 1st session. Once kaboom happened. The gloves went on, the glasses went on ( I read about someone's kaboom while reloading. his primers went off apparently because of static. He got hurt some) , the TV went off and I added more light.. Definitely realized you must pay attention to each and every bullet. You know, after all the replies and people I talked to, it could have been a double charge sneaked in there. If not double maybe just more than one. Like a pull of the handle and while not paying attention raising the handle like half way, not realizing I had done so and pushed it back down to get rid of the powder in the cavity. But during that half way up it could have gotten more powder and dumped it on the way down. Now every charge I raise the handle all the way up on purpose to rotate to the next die. Never stop with it in the charge die to do anything else. Stop after raising it all the way to the top and making the turret rotate. Speaking of Squib, Can you get a squib if you had less than a full charge? For example if I intended 4.2gr of TG and went too fast on the handle not letting enough powder in the cavity and equally and only got like 3.7- 4.0 ? Or does a Squib happen when there is no powder and only primer?

You are right though... After all that.... What Target??? I didn't look. Just ripped it down tossed it in the trash, packed up, Talked to everyone who was interested then head hung low and left. Even left my drivers license there.... Not a good day. It felt very similar to wrecking my car for the first time...

Rocky, I suppose with all that commotion you didn't check to see if the first two shots you fired hit the target? If there was only one hole in the target, the 2nd bullet might have been lodged in your barrel (squib)??? Or, did the 2nd shot sound a little different (lighter, pop)? i have a video i will post when i get to the office. shitty.. the cam angle was to low but you do see my hands on the gun and the very bottom of the slide. doesn't look\sound like a squib..

is Solo a slower powder? Thanks for the link...

Seems like a common theme song.. Get a Dillon...... La.. la .la .la.....Get a Dillon...... Or gun go Bye bye....... I guess so.

The 1.190s are for my STI edge. The Glock bullets were 1.125. The Bullet was precision delta. Full metal jackets. No bulge but a ripped in half Block. Any suggestions on a slower powder?

i managed to unjam the remaining 2 rounds from the mag that day any when I got home I measured their length and they were 1.125. I even put them on a scale and weighed them. I did not pull the bullets however. Wish I would have. now they are in the trash with about 30 or so others I threw out for good measure. You know, that's almost verbatim from what the owner of the range told me.. that's 2 for catastrophic failure/double charge.. INDEED!

Sound simple enough.. Why didn't I think if that? I thought there had to be some complicated way with the die or something.. Thanks. Any Idea what the crimp should be? Thanks for replying..

Should I change powders? What do you recommend? Would love a ball powder of some sort.. Just don't know of any yet..

Well..... Today while at the range my Glock 27 went kaboom! I know what some of you will say as soon as I write this next sentence, but here goes.. This was my first batch of reloads... Yes, it could have been a double charge.. But unlikely..The reason I say this, is that I knew about the dangers of reloading double charges and was actively watching while making the bullets for such an event. After the Kaboom, I even went home and purposely double charged a case to see what it would look like and while not over flowing with powder damn near the top. With only a single charge I had to actually look into the case and see the powder. And that what I saw while loading it. Never did I see powder all the way to , almost the top. Maybe 2-3mm of left over space. Not to say it couldn't happen but I'm sure I would have saw that. Yes, I do admit, obviously the potential still exists. Other fun facts: I was loading -Precision Delta 180 round nose bullets - This particular batch was 4.1 to 4.2 grain Titegroup powder. I say 4.1 to 4.2 because the Lee Turret press with the disk loader throws the charge off a bit usually a little less than expected. I guess from what I understand now is that TG is a flakey powder and drops inconsistently sometimes. Well..actually, most of the time in my case.. Upon further reading I found people saying to tap the powder mechanism while charging the case. AND pull the lever slower to let the powder empty into the case. This does help get the powder to be more consistent. It makes it fill the disk cavity fully before moving it to the hole in the die.. I tested this about 50 times or so and it's much more accurate now. (Learning after the fact.... %^%E^%$%$^^&^%@@!!!) - OAL of 1.125 - Stock barrel. So the order of things were: 1. I made 10 of these 4.1 to 4.1 grain bullets. while doing these I was playing around with the crimp setting. The book said put a loaded round in the crimper die. Then screw down the screw thing on top till it touches the bullet. Then lower the handle and turn 1/4 turn for a light crimp and a full turn for a heavy crimp. It never does tell you how much of a crimp it is. I've read all over the place where people state the dimensions of their crimp. How do I figure that out?? Any how, the point was I think one of those bullets may have had a really hard crimp. Would love to know how to tell what the crimp was. I'm not a fan of Oh. 1/4 turn is a light crimp and a full turn is a heavy crimp.. 2. Then decided to increase the disk cavity the next one up. .37 to .40 cavity on the disk. This made the powder drop 4.4-4.5gn 3. I made 2 boxes (100rnds) straight. after i was done with each i weighed each and every bullet to make sure they were about the same weight. I double charged a round and with the projectile it came to 261.9grains. so i made sure non of my rounds came near that. 257.6, 258.1, 256.3, .....around there. and I wrote on a piece of paper the receipe and stuck them in the box. oh and each round I measured the OAL to 1.125. I went to the range on Saturday and took both boxes of 4.4-4.5 grain bullets and thought hmmm. why not take the box of 4.1s . Lets see how light they are compared to the 4.4-.5s. So I threw those into the goodie box as well. Got to the range and shot one box of the 4.4-4.5 rounds. A bit snappier than factory rounds. definitely can tell there was a difference from the usual box I buy at the range. Atlanta Arms reloads. Things were going good. Then I decided hmm.... I wonder how those 4.1s shoot. I loaded up 5 rounds. Bang....Bang...KABOOM!!! Definately was not expecting that. Mag flew out the bottom, Could tell the frame exploded in my hand The barrel is down range about 5 feet. plastic trigger is in 10 pieces, Slide was jammed up with the frame. Most of the internals were broken. Pins in 2 pieces, there was not much salvageable. The slide had a bow in it outward near the extraction point. We retrived the barrel and investigated the site. The block on the barrel split in two down the middle. Now have a top half and a bottom half. Blew up and forward ripping completely off the barrel at the point where it started to go round. shot straight up hit the track above me and shot forward down range about 10-15 yards. the rest of the barrel was about 5 feet away. Hands ok, no scars just tingly.. Dave the range owner said it looks like a double charge. But like I said after putting in a double charge to see what it looks like, there's a lot of powder in there. How could I miss that? Remember when I said I weighed each and every bullet. I said that when making those 2 boxes.. Never did weigh the first 15 or so before those boxes. Bringing them was an after thought. I wonder could it be one of those that I crimped to hard while messing with the crimp die? What about if one of those was smaller than the minimum OAL of 1.125. I guess it said MINIMUM for a reason. What if the crimp was not enough and there was set back? ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! And to top it all off I bought 1000 pieces of used brass from precision delta. roll sized, cleaned bla bla bla. Some people say they never use used brass. Oh and the brass was nickel plated. Don't know if that makes a difference.. Would love to figure out what happened so I don't do it again.. Ok the point is I was lucky. A. Luck to have hands and a face still........And B. better yet my new STI Edge Custom 5inch came in Monday!! So not without a gun for too long.. So back in the saddle. For tuesdays club match.... But what about bullets???? I didn' buy all this stuff to keep buying retail bullets. So I search out every post I could find on peoples sti edge .40 load data and came up with the following. Using my precision delta 180 FMJ + 4.2-4.3grains of TG and an OAL of 1.190. Seemed reasonable. Less powder, longer bullet.. Watching each bullet like a hawk. Took me and hour and a half to make 50. so 3 hours to make 100. Measuring the charge every 2-3 maybe 4 or so. Checking the OAL just as often. Does this sound like a reasonable load for this gun? Still a bit gun shy at the making bullets game.. I have a box of factory loads too. Figured I would start with those. When I get to the range have some one who shoots an STI and makes their bullets check over my work. Discuss what I did. Or do I play it safe and buy another box or two factory loads and thow the whole lot way.. HELP!!!!!! I will post pics of the barrel tomorrow. I was so confident going to the range on Saturday. Now not so much... Oh and to top it all of a friend at the club compared my lee press to cheap gasoline vs a dillon which is racing fuel. and asked me what kind of gas would I put in a race car? Cheap gas or racing fuel? Could it be the lee turret press is that cheap that I can't make good bullets? Is the dillon that much more precise? .. Too many questions.. @#$#$%#$%#$#@#%@#@$%#$%#%!!!!!!!!!!!!! If i've confused you with all this babble, now you know what is floating around in my head.. Definately don't want to blow up my $2700 STI..