jayhkr

That's a nice setup right there! If I hit it big at the casino's this week that'll look really good under the "early Christmas Tree" for me!

+10,11, and 12...my G19 loves them! Shot around 2k through it and no issues to report.

And your press would have gotten away with it if it too weren't for you meddling kids.

I use my SDB for 9mm 100% of the time and it works great. I can do about 100 rounds ever 15 - 17 minutes depending on how fast I fill my primer tubes, so I'm easily in the 300+ per hour range. I bought my SDB from Brian here off his forums and couldn't had been happier. He keep in contact with you through the whole process, and is genuinely the type of dealer that cares about his customers more than the money going in his pocket. As far as making a statement about the 650, if you're ONLY going to be loading 9mm, I see no reason to spend the extra cash on a 650. Now if you want to load other calibers, then that might be something to look into. As far as width goes for your bench, and without going downstairs to give you precise measurements, I would estimate 8-12" at max with the bullet catch tray. If you want to add the other accessories that'll add to the overall width. I love my SDB and couldn't be happier. Unfortunately there is no after market bullet feeder made for it. I've seen a few people who have jimmy rigged something, but nothing other than that. Good luck on your purchase but seriously stick with Dillon. It'll outlast you, your son, his kids, and probably their kids' kids kids!

I think this is what I would want to start out with. I'd prefer it to be as close to the city as possible as driving long distances and my horrible work schedule seem to frequently clash. Thank you everyone for the great feedback!! Heck it's been well over 4-5 weeks since I've been to just the shooting range with everything going on. Tomorrow though.......oh boy tomorrow I plan on emptying my reloads........all 500+ of them (may have some help from the wife!)

Seems there is no where close to me for steel match, mainly just indoor IDPA. I'll keep looking around. Thanks for all the feedback!

NuJudge, the Hi-Tek coating should take care of any leading issues. From what others have suggested I might go with the .358 mold and sizing die. I will at least try that to begin then if needed size down. Thanks for the info!

So I'm slowly inching my way to getting the process started in casting my own boolits. Just like with reloading, I research, then research some more, watch some Youtube video's, head to the library and read, research some more....THEN buy. So the first thing I learned was to figure out my barrel's diameter so I know what sizing die to buy. Here's what I found out today. I have a Glock 19 and SW shield, both 9mm. The Glock slug reads in at .355 and the Shield in at .356. The mold I want to eventually get is the MiHec 9mm no lube groove mold. These are pretty much identical to the SnS casting bullets I've been using. I will be Hi-Tek coating these too as I care not to get lead in my Glock barrel. So the real question is this:Should I get the .356 mold from MiHec, figure after the Hi-Tek coating I'd be up to .357 then size back down to .356 for BOTH barrels? I know a lot of people say .002 bigger but that's just with straight lead, not coated. Silly question I'm sure to some, but I just wanted to be sure since my barrels were slightly different if that would make any REAL difference at all. Or should I buy the .358 mold, and size to stay at .358? Hoping to get an order on that mold in the next few weeks. Then I'll order the rest of the equipment (handles, cheap-o lee single stage press, and sizing die)

I've shot both the 124gr and 125gr SnS coated bullets, I preferred the 125gr as there's has no lube groove and loaded MUCH easier for me. I too am looking at casting and coating, however I want to find a mold that doesn't have the lube groove since....well I won't be lubing them. I was going to get Bayou Bullets coating and give the a go! (but I have to get a sizer first)

Just checked around a little, and in my area (Kansas City, Ks) there only seems to be IDPA. I was supposed to go watch a match last Thursday but of course life got in the way. There are other competitions, but they are indoors and viewing is VERY limited. One of the disadvantages of living IN the city I guess. Thanks again everyone for all the feedback though!!

Thanks all, I may have an opportunity to use a chrono this Thursday so I'll load up 10-15 of a few different loads and see where everything falls into. Super appreciate the help!!!

Wow! Great stuff here guys. Thank you for giving me both pros and cons of them! I'm really looking forward in my search now to see what I can find locally! Anyone in the Kansas City area know of clubs or organizations I can attend? I'll obviously do some searching but thought if there were a few on here that participate in a club I might venture that way. Thank you again!

So there is no definable data that I can find on any websites or Lyman #49/9mm Loading booklet and Hogedon loading magazine for basically a 125gr LCN bullet with Unique. It's actually a coated LCN so it's not straight lead, but I know the load data would be the same nonetheless. What I've comprised of from reading different forums throughout the web is this: OAL: 1.150 5.0-6.0 grains Unique I know I need to do the OAL test on my barrel to find its max OAL ability, however "assuming" my barrel will allow for a 1.150 length, what does everyone think of this for starting out. Data that I researched shows it all over the place from 4.0 all the way to 6.5 with no mention of OAL except one place which is the 1.150 mentioned. Contacted Alliant and they were less than helpful, not sure if calling them would be any different. The bullets I'm using are from SnS Casting if that matters, HOWEVER later down the line I do plan on casting my own bullets in this weight and fully coating them with Bayou Bullets bullet coating which I hear is similar to moly coating, but better. I don't want to shoot pure lead, so that's why I'm going for a coated bullet to help reduce the possibility of leading. Thanks guys, I'm in no real hurry to start building these loads, as I have a bit of ammo from my Titegroup days still left. (Boy wish I could had found 8#'s of TG instead of 8#'s of Unique).

I'll look into that too! Not sure how comfortable I am yet with running and shooting yet. But boy there are lots of options out there for us!

Great! Thank you.

So I'm tinkering with the thought for my wife and I to get into some sort of competition. I know the first step would be to just go and watch one, but I don't even know where to begin. There is a competition next Thursday near Topeka, Ks that good friends of mine have invited me to go watch and it's IDPA. Is this where most people start out at for first time competitions or does it even matter? We'll be using our stock everyday carry's (Glock 19 and M&P Shield). Mainly we just want another way for us to shoot our guns together and have fun. Any tips, or suggestions for just getting started in competitions? From what I watched on the groups website (where we are going next week) it looks VERY casual with all sorts of shooting skill levels from people. Thanks everyone!

Crazy good link there Steve! Thanks for sharing. As soon as I find a load to work with my current setup (can't seem to find anything atm) I plan on loading up on brass and making a bunch at one time. Great source, thanks for sharing.

I agree Steve, but right now Cabela's has them on sale for $30 and I have the Cabela's cash to boot! Still going to check out the dollar tree first! Colander would be smaller and easier to store too! I too have taken my fair share of things from my wife AJE. I tell her it must be our dishwasher eating things like our dryer eats our socks! LOL

I might just see if the Dollar Tree has anything similar that I can use. If not I know Bed Bath and Beyond will, but they are kind of pricey. Thanks for the picture!

I hear ya on that, but I figured if people were laughing, rolling their eyes, swearing or just saying "this guy is an idiot" I wouldn't care as I'll never meet any of them and if I do I'll be able to give it right back to them! Thanks for the reply and great suggestions. I was thinking of making a trip to the dollar store to find something that would make separating the pins a bit easier. If I can't I'll just break down and head to Cabela's to buy a media separator. They're about $30 there. But $30 is about 1k worth of primers for me so I'd rather spend that there instead!

Huh, only 2 comments and at last check no one gave it a thumbs up or down. Guess this is why I don't do video's.

Thanks Steve! I will definitely consider getting one! I thought they were much more than $30 so I appreciate the tip! Sure would be nice just to tumble them out rather than use a magnet each time.

I'm surprised there isn't a youtube video out there on how to clean and properly maintain the SBD......does anyone know of one out there?

Ok, so I've been asked to make a video of my wet tumbling process to hopefully help some people! This is my first "how to" video and to be honest it's very mono-toned. Hopefully though it'll help some of you who wish to try wet tumbling get an ideal of what it takes to get your brass looking "like new". I did mine on the cheap, I'd say for the price of a vibratory tumbler you can have a wet tumbler setup. One thing I will add is getting a good magnet will help in separating the SS media pins from the brass but it is NOT necessary. I just happen to have one but if you can't find a fairly cheap one then there really is no real added benefit to having one. So without further ado here's my video:

If you have a scrap yard nearby you may want to call them to see if they have brass for sale. Mine does and it's roughly $2.65/pound. You figure there are 115ish 9mm per pound so that's $26.50 per thousand, no tax, no waiting for shipping. What I would do is take a .40 caliber box (nab one out of the trash can from your local shooting range) and that way you can sort out all the other calibers quickly. That's what I do, I'll take a few 5 gallon buckets with me and sort the 9mm from the 9mm then dump everything else back in the 55gal drum they keep theirs in. I normally do a trade as I'm always going there getting rid of other recycled materials. There's a post on Youtube that shows the process of separating like what I just described.