SpeedQuest

Springfield XD-SC, completely stock, 124gr. JHP

I am really likiing Alliant E3. Only been reloading since June, but the E3 is very soft, relatively inexpensive, and my current load is only 3.4 gr. making about 950-980 fps, so it's VERY light on the powder as well meaning more rounds per pound.

Hey guys, Anyone seen this before? What would cause it? My press has less than 500 rounds through it. Calling Dillon tomorrow I guess for a replacement.

Utilizing information I had sourced from the forum I came up with the following load: Firearm: Springfield XDSC 9mm Powder: 3.4 gn Alliant E3 Brass: RP (range brass, cleaned with Ultrasonic Cleaner and Vibratory Tumbler) Primer: Winchester Small Pistol (WSP) Bullet: Rocky Mountain 124 JHP's OAL: 1.113" to 1.1175 (anything longer seems to stick in my barrel) When I fired it all (10) shots chronied out between 946 and 965 fps. I wasn't as concerned with the accuracy at this stage as I was with the pressures and feeding. No misfeeds, the brass is not bulged and all the primers still have a bit of a 'round' edge to them within the primer pocket. Moving forward, what, if any changes would you guys recommend? I do have different primers to use eventually once these WInchesters run out (Wolf Small RIfle Magnums) and (Sellier and Bellot SPM Boxer) and (Tula KVB-9 Small Pistol Primers). Personally, I am not using this for competition, more for self defense and range shooting, so I don't have a specific fps or 'power' that I am looking for, but I wanted to run it by you experienced guys to see what you would say. If I don't change anything, as far as I can tell I would be happy with that too since it uses so little powder. Thanks in advance!

And chemistry. At least I think it was chemistry where PV=nRT was forever burned into my memory. With nRT remaining constant, reducing V will increase P. The equation is physics. We just let chemists use it. All science is physics or stamp collecting. Well, if you want to quibble about it, we could just say it's all math. Try doing some physics without calculus. As mentioned, the pressure / volume thing would be proportional but pressure tends to alter the burn rate of powders, and as this is happening, the bullet starts to move, increasing volume. Peak pressure will depend on the amount and burn rate of the powder and the movement of the bullet...making the PV equation (solving for peak pressure) quite a bit more complicated than nRT. Good lord!! I didn't take any of those courses but I know if you throw an M80 in a 55 gal drum there is less pressure than if you throw it in a gallon paint can. And please don't respond with a formula that says it depends on the brand of paint. Yabbut if it's done in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? Let's not get into Schrodinger's Cat at this point okay? Quantum Physics is WAAAY beyond what we need in reloading at this point.

I've loaded about 50 in 124gr JHP for testing... Only just got my Chrono, so I am hoping to get them tested soon. I've fired 10 through the pistol so far and like the 'feel'.

DVOR is Optics Planets 'members only site'. DVOR doesn't usually do week-long sales, they are normally 24-48 hours. But this one is all Reloading Equipment oriented... No Dillon stuff obviously, but lots of RCBS, Lyman, etc... If you don't have an account, you just click here and give them your e-mail: DVOR Sign-In They will e-mail you back, and you are in. There's almost always a $9.99 flat shipping fee so make sure you factor that in before buying.

Here ya go:

Living in Florida, it always takes 2-3 days for stuff to get to me. The longest wait I ever had was for my PVS-14 Night Vision optic, and that took about 2 weeks due to the ITAR paperwork that has to be signed, etc. Never had a problem with them in 2 years though.

Okay, so all of my press parts are here, I have it assembled, and my scale finally showed up. Here's some pictures down below. So now I am going to begin. Between the recommendations here, and in this thread: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=174144&page=2 Here is what I am thinking of doing for starters: 124 gr. Montana Gold JHP 3.4 gr Alliant E3 Winchester SPP OAL of 1.11 (my slide seems to hang slightly during cycling when I use anything at 1.125 or over with this bullet) Crimp is .377-.378 (I might be able to crimp slightly tighter, my math says it should be .375-.376 based on case wall thickness, but I am a little scared to crimp too tight?) All of my 'dry' cartridges have a nice 'Coke' bottle effect to them. What do you guys think?

They just started a 2 day RCBS sale. Some of the prices are a bit high, but some look pretty good.

Retread, the bench, because of it's weight, has some large casters. The casters make the work surface pretty tall. If I had used the Strong Mount it would have made the eye level of the press about 4-5" too tall for visual powder checks, etc. Instead we used (4) 1" square tubes (drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 bolts) and welded (2) 3/16" plates on the ends of the tubes. It's super sturdy and even with the wheel locks off, the press doesn't move the bench. I think that might have something to do with the 170lbs. of lead projectiles in that bottom right drawer!

After a year of saving and picking up the odds and ends, I have assembled my progressive reloading bench. I found the bench itself at a Surplus store here in town. It has about (10) 120v outlets on board, as well as CAT-5 network connections and a surge protector. The drawers are huge ( I actually put my 70lb. Yellow Lab into the bottom right drawer one day when he was begging to be part of the project). The drawers and the cabinet lock with a sturdy locking mechanism, and the wheels allow it to roll where ever I want. Conversely, the wheel locks lock into position very solidly in case I am really trying to stabilize the work area. Eventually, I may put a vise at the far left side for working on parts/firearms, etc. The idea that the whole thing can roll into a trailer and come with us anywhere is pretty cool. We had to custom fabricate the mount to accommodate the tall case feeder and the extra height of the bench casters. Additionally, no existing mount allows the operation of a door or drawer below the press like I now have. The mount is built to withstand a hurricane, a tornado, AND an explosion (all at the same time I imagine). Anyhow, here are some pictures.

Hey guys. Got my NEW XL650 almost 100% now. I am just waiting on a powder scale so I can begin dropping powder. In the meantime, I have been toying with the different stations and trying to establish my dies. I am shooting a Springfield XD SubCompact 9mm. Here are the components I am using: MG 124 JHP Used Remington range brass Eventually, I will be using Alliant E3 powder and Winchester SP primers once I get the powder measuring calibrated. Here's my question. I 'built' a round with an OAL of 1.120 after reading some of the recommendations and 'recipes' posted. However, this won't feed properly in my gun. So I measured the store bought rounds I currently use. They have an OAL of 1.068 - 1.080. Taking a cue from this, I started building rounds at 1.075 and they cycled well. As I 'extended' the length, I eventually found that my gun doesn't like anything beyond 1.099 OAL. Does this sound correct? The crimp I seem to get is about .378-.379. How's that sound? All of these powderless/primerless rounds also seem to have a 'Coke' bottle taper to them in that they bulge at the top, taper in the middle and then resume normal size at the bottom. They measure .385-.386 at the bottom, .373-.375 in the middle, and .378-.379 at the top. What causes this and is it acceptable? I have been using the Dillon 9mm Case Gage to test all of these rounds and some were definitely 'tight' as the round reaches the last 1/32"-1/16". Running them through stations 4 & 5 a second time, seemed to eliminate this. Also, as a side note, I am wondering how 'short' OAL is too 'short'? Will shorter OAL raise pressures and therefore speed? Obviously the factory rounds that I have some measure 1.068 and still work. Enough for now though. I appreciate you guys assistance!

After a year of saving and picking up the odds and ends, I have assembled my progressive reloading bench. I found the bench itself at a Surplus store here in town. It has about (10) 120v outlets on board, as well as CAT-5 network connections and a surge protector. The drawers are huge ( I actually put my 70lb. Yellow Lab into the bottom right drawer one day when he was begging to be part of the project). The drawers and the cabinet lock with a sturdy locking mechanism, and the wheels allow it to roll where ever I want. Conversely, the wheel locks lock into position very solidly in case I am really trying to stabilize the work area. Eventually, I may put a vise at the far left side for working on parts/firearms, etc. The idea that the whole thing can roll into a trailer and come with us anywhere is pretty cool. We had to custom fabricate the mount to accommodate the tall case feeder and the extra height of the bench casters. Additionally, no existing mount allows the operation of a door or drawer below the press like I now have. The mount is built to withstand a hurricane, a tornado, AND an explosion (all at the same time I imagine). Anyhow, here are some pictures.

Today, May 24th, they've added a bunch of Lyman, Hornady, RCBS, Frankford Arsenal. A pretty wide variety, some of the prices are so-so, but worth checking out.

They've added a TON of gunsmithing and reloading stuff to the store today, May 24th. RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Frankford Arsenal. A virtual toybox in there today.

Hey there guys. Somewhat new to reloading (pistol stuff at least) and I have almost all of my Dillon XL650 parts (waiting on the press itself). I have a bunch of different components (I'll list those in a second), and I wanted to pick everyone's brain about a starting point. I have the Hornady Reloading Manual and have been poring over it's pages, but the biggest problem is the lack of component availability for specific recipes. I have (2) pistols. The primary is my XD SubCompact 9mm. My secondary is a Tangfolio Witness Poly Full Frame. Initially I want to make loads for practice, and then I would like to follow those up with comparable loads for home/self defense. I also intend to eventually load .223/5.56 for my Sig Classic SWAT which I use for hunting hogs and coyotes. I have a pretty solid recipe for the .223 already from a colleague I hunt with. So I am really looking for guidance in the 9mm department. I have hodge-podged together the following stuff through luck (good or bad) and in these times of hard-to-find components. Here's what I currently have for components: Used Brass: (400) R-P 9mm (Remington) (500) Geco 9mm (Geco) (300) FC 9mm (Federal) (500-1000) Misc. unsorted 9mm brass Primers: (2000) Wolf Small Rifle Magnum Primers (I have heard that these COULD be used for Pistol but to reduce the load by 10% and work up? Input?) (2000) Winchester Small Pistol Primers I may be getting (5000) Sellier & Bellot Small Pistol Magnum Primers soon as well Powder: 4lb. VihtaVuori N320 8lb. Alliant E3 (I have heard this powder is actually 'soft' which intrigues me, any input?) Bullets: (3750) Montana Gold 124gr. FMJ (3750) Montana Gold 124gr. JHP (1000) Rocky Mountain 124gr. Round Nose (500) Hornady 90gr. XTP So, if this stuff were in your reloading chest and the two pistols listed above, what would you use? What would you liquidate? and what recommendations can you make? Additionally, what mods would you say are 'necessary' for my new XL650? What mods would you say I should plan for in the future if not necessary immediately? Sorry for the length of the post, but I try to be thorough, and hope it's not too offputting. I appreciate this forum immensely already, and hope I can 'pay it forward' in the near future. Thanks!

Never thought of it that way, but yes. Only disadvantage is that Dvor only has a 'sale' for 24-48 hours each time. So you really have to check in often to see what is on sale. The other minor problem I have encountered is that there are 'limited' quantities. Sometimes I see something I really want, at a GOOD price, but it's already sold out, or 'reserved' by someone else in their shopping cart.

I posted this in the 9mm/38mm forum, but thought the Beginners forum might be a better fit. Dvor is Optics Planet's members only site. They have 24-48 hour sales on stuff every day. Yesterday they put up a ton of Lyman stuff and tomorrow they are putting on a bunch of Lee stuff. If you don't have an account, just click and make one with an e-mail address: DVOR Sign In The prices aren't always the best, but occasionally they are REALLY good, so check before you buy. Also, the $9.99 shipping per order is a good value if you order multiple items. Hope this helps someone!

Dvor is Optics Planet's members only site. They have 24-48 hour sales on stuff every day. Yesterday they put up a ton of Lyman stuff and tomorrow they are putting on a bunch of Lee stuff. If you don't have an account, just click and make one with an e-mail address: DVOR Sign In The prices aren't always the best, but occasionally they are REALLY good, so check before you buy. Also, the $9.99 shipping per order is a good value if you order multiple items. Hope this helps someone!

Sorry for the political slant, but as a business owner I cringe whenever I hear people stating that prices are going up for no reason but the industries or business owners 'greed'. Back on topic...

Let's not forget... The mighty King Obama enacted some legislation a couple years ago (Affordable National Healthcare Act) that's was eventually deemed as a 'tax'. My wife works in the heathcare industry and the doctors and providers she works with are only in the past 6 months actually getting their heads around what this bill is costing them and the rest of the country. The financial ramifications of that are really beginning to add to the costs of ANY large and small business owners and the products they offer. This includes MG, UPS, and everyone involved in the process of making MG's bullets. Elections have consequences... But I did get my MG bullets in about 1-1/2 weeks and regardless of the CURRENT cost, I still think they are worth it.

One of the talents (skills) I have is web-design and Mobile App Design. I have e-mailed MG multiple times to offer assistance/advice on how to prevent the web-site issues they are having, but apparently those suggestions fall on deaf ears. MG has obviously got more business than they have 'need' for business. It will be a shame when this run on ammunition ends if they don't somehow fix their website woes. I don't blame them for not doing it now. They have to make hay while the sun shines, but their website is pretty bad. Powder Valley's site isn't much better.

I noticed this is a flake powder. Will this cause problems in a Dillon XL650 with the Automatic Powder Measure System and the Auto Powder Check?