Choppedlow

This is why this is reloading thing has me scratching my head. The Hodgdon site has it at 6.2 to start and goes all the way up to 7.5 (?). I looked all over the internet for load data and I settled on the Hornady book. That has the starting load at 4.8, which is way under 6.2. I did a few loads around 6gr, and they stunk. Its the only way to describe it. The lower loads (5.3) shot better and felt like normal loads you would purchase. The ones at 6gr smoked enough to make my wife look over ask what was going on. The max load in the Hornady book was 6.9 at 1050fps. What would be a sign that you weren't getting full combustion? I looked down my barrel (Glock 35) and my wives (Glock 22) and hers was relatively clean, and mine looked dirtier. I haven't purchased a chronograph, but I have been looking at them. They seem cheaper than I had thought. I guess that is the only way your going to figure out what is really going on. Thanks for the input!

Success! To my amazement, they worked! I had few not cycle because I used a case gauge to adjust the crimp and it wasn't enough. Now I take out the barrel of my Glock and make sure it goes in. The first 100 I did with the 5.3 (average) grains of the Longshot, and I liked them better than the manufactured ones. I definitely had tighter groups. Then I pumped out another 400 with 5.9 grains. What a difference just a few tenths of a grain will make. They had more "kick" and they smoked more than I like. I will go back to the original numbers for now on. I am having an issue with the primer cup not grabbing a primer every time (Dillon 550). Sometimes the primers are even coming out upside-down. Maybe 2 out of 100. I'm going to try a few ideas that people had on youtube today to see if I can get it to feed better. I got notice today that my .223 5.56 dies have been shipped, so I look forward to pumping out some of those as well. I have enough 5.56 to last a few years, but when the wife can burn through hundreds of .40 per trip to the range, I can see that the machine is going to be used %90 of the time for just the pistol stuff.

Yah, it's 5.2. Not 52. That would make for a one shot trip to the hospital! I've been slowly getting used to the machine and checking random loads. They are 5.2 to 5.4 grains. I purchased an extra powder dump so I'm going to see if the other one stays more consistant. Ill go try these babies out tomorrow and see what's going on. Again, I'm not looking for anything more than what you'd get from a box of Walmart ammo. I might bite the bullet (no pun intended) and pay way too much for 1000 FMJ on gunbroker. Try those as well.

Greetings from Yuma, AZ. I have been reading this forum for awhile now and finally signed up. I found it by watching a YouTube channel where a person was showing how to setup a dillon 550. Thanks for any help in advance!

Greetings from Yuma. Ive been looking all over for some reloading questions. Quick info, my loving wife brought home a Glock 22 in December and I loved it so I got a Glock 35. We have gone crazy these last few months and we had decided to start reloading (how I found the forum). This weekend our Dillon 550 showed up so I'm ready to start. While waiting the 8 weeks for our press and dies to arrive we purchased all we could find for reloading .40. These items wouldn't have been my first choice, but right now, this was about my only choice of components. I was able to get: 2000 CCI small pistol primers 5000 Remington small pistol primers 2000 Bear Creek 180gr flat nose molly coated bullets 8 pounds of Longshot powder We purchased the Hornady book and wrote every powder they listed for the 180 grain, and Longshot was the only one I could get my hands on during these scarce times. My 'source' told me that I could use the same numbers as the 180 gr FMJ bullets with the lead ones. I haven't been able to verify this. Is this right? I loaded 20 rounds with 52.3 grains of powder and they fit in the case checker just fine. In the manual it was supposed to give you 950fps, and was second to lowest load. I haven't shot them yet. Does anyone have any experience with this combo? Does it sound like a good starting point? Should I toss these 20 rounds and start over with another setup? My wife and I mainly shoot in an indoor range, and outside at steel targets. Any input would be greatly appreciated. When this drought ends I will get some FMJ and different powder, just to try. Another question is the dreaded Glock and molly coated lead bullets combo. I have read and know guys who have had good luck with the Bear Creek in their Glocks, as long as they clean the barrels after shooting. I at least want to try it out while I'm waiting for our aftermarket barrels to show up. Again, thanks for any advise in advance. I'm a lucky man to have a wife who sports a Glock sticker on her SUV, but the cost of ammo is getting out of hand when she has a 500 rounds per week habit.