phecksel

I've ordered an extra die insert and going to try the JB weld routine on it. Friend has a lathe, so I'll be able to hold it concentric while the epoxy sets. Thinking of cross drilling the insert near the tip, allowing the jb weld to squeeze into the holes to help retain the "plug".

Brian Enos sells a kit... as it should be... it's worth the extra money. I went from not reloading straight into the 650 and LOVE IT. WRT powder spilling, get this kit. http://hitfactorshooting.com/products/products.html

I'm developing the load for this cast bullet. Because there is so little load data available with CFE-P, I had to do a little bit of extrapolation. I'm also finding inconsistent load info, even from the mfg, which is making it a bit of a struggle too. Why would cast be faster than plated?

Fed fine through the 650. Caught it during primer inspection, pulled it out and set it aside. Couple of days later, cleaned up the work bench, saw the live round sitting off to the side and threw it in the ammo box. Went to the range, it was only my brass there, and while sorting brass... came across the 380 again. So it made it through the press, through the XDM without an issue. Side note, local commercial reloader was attempting to use 9mm bullets in .380. My wife's bodyguard did not like his experiment as it ejected into her forehead. She was not happy with me... and she did know in advance it was an experimental load.

Too funny... I was using the flat end and flipped it over today. The conical end did a much better job centering the bullet. Only ran a couple through the press. Later this week I'll adjust the powder down and run some more through. Also read up on using epoxy or JB Weld and forming exactly to the tip shape. Dardas also got back to me and said I really really really need to use the "M" die.

CFE Pistol Powder. 1.135 OAL When the pistol jammed, the only way to clear it was firmly push the slide forward. I don't have access to a comparator, and didn't think to attempt a photo. It's clear the seating stem doesn't fit this particular bullet design

I don't even know enough to be internet knowledgeable, but able to load rounds of ammo that mostly go bang Bought some extreme plated 147gr RN, and like many got the ring effect. Funny thing tho, my avg velocity hit the projected book value right on. IRC, it was .356 dia. OAL variation greater then I expected. Next purchase was Dardas 126gr hard cast SWCFP, slugged the barrel and sent it to Dardas. My XDM 5.25 slugged at .3550". He wanted me to purchase .3570"... so I did. I did not purchase the lyman 2-step expander die he demands be used for his bullets, but used my stock Dillon die. Used the FP side of the seating die. Problems... bullets chrony'd much faster than I projected. 4.6gr = 1110 fps, 4.8gr = 1157 fps. OAL very inconsistent unless inside of case lubed A few bullets had visible cant when set Two rounds did not full chamber, none of my measurements indicated an OAL that wouldn't chamber. Guessing that maybe maybe the cant expanded the diameter too far? Did not guage check every round. Side note, XDM totally locked up, only way to clear it was jam the slide forward. Saved the best for last, keyholing. Several rounds, maybe 5% keyholed. I love the sharp edges these bullets make in the targets. No more arguing if the ring is touching the line or not. Straightline extrapolation will put min pf at 4.2 gr. I was a bit surprised at how fast these came out of the barrel. Is the higher velocity causing them to tumble out of the barrel? Is the diameter ultimately too big? Is "M" die really required for cast bullets? Is there a better seating die? Finally, is there a better bullet I should be looking at?

I was seeing a greater variation on brand new brass and ran the complete round through the seating station again. I'll try lube next time. After running each round through again, ended up with .002 variation. Am I causing any other issues by doing this?

Finally got life out of the way and out to the range again. I had bought a white plastic piece that I was going to use as a shroud, but got all the way to the outdoor range before I realized I forgot it. However, it was mid day sun and pretty heavy overcast. This session went much much better. I was extremely pleased the chronograph and it's results. Feeding directly to my lap top was a joy. Only had one "bad" data point and a couple of "err" data points. Biggest surprise of the day, how little difference new brass was to mixed range brass. I had several comparisons in the prior tests, but literally have to discount those tests. This session only contained one direct mixed v new brass comparison. CFEP 3.9 Extreme 147 Mixed 899 22.0 CFEP 3.9 Extreme 147 New 899 14.0 I'm still disappointed in how sensitive this unit is to the operational light. Too much and it doesn't read properly, too little and it doesn't read properly. Hoping the white shroud will decrease it's sensitivity.

Small update. Bright sunny day, put a piece of white cardboard over the top of the unit at the house and shot some blue airsoft. Extremely consistend numbers came out of it. Did a little bit of experimentation on elevation above the unit. Any closer than 2" and it wouldn't read. Any further than about 6" and it wouldn't read or would "err". When I did talk to the mfg, they told me the unit needed lots of light, not less, and I should consider the accessory light kit. Which is why I "assumed" more light is required. Might get out to the range next weekend,

It will be a minimum of a couple of weeks before I can get it out to the range again. The only reason I didn't do a target this round, I was being cognizant of my baby sitters time. I'm now a member of that club, so I can go out there and just shoot. I'll extend the distance out a bit further and wait even longer between shots...

Yes I'm new to reloading. Airsoft, because I can do it on my deck instead of being tied to range operating hours. Light cloud over resulted in zero readings, can't imagine heavy cloud cover being any better. Hitting the guide wire actually improved the readings. Like I knocked something into alignment. I didn't measure the distance, but it was between 3-4 yds. I didn't have a target set up, but have never seen keyhole on any other prior shoots. Been awhile since I've shot SD ammo... so maybe I'll shoot some of that next time out. Should I allow more time between shots? As soon as the speed displayed I made the next shot.

1st time I used it, afternoon sun, thin cloud layer, virtually nothing read 2nd time, on my deck with the airsoft pistol, afternoon sun, unit shaded by the house, virtually nothing read 3rd time, mid day, no clouds unit only shaded by the white top pieces, got some readings, but also some HUGE variation in readings. After I nailed one of the guide rods, the last group went a little bit better with fairly consistent readings, except for one outlier. String 1 -147 gr, new brass, 3.7 CFEP 859 834 828 827 829 String 2 - 147gr mixed brass 3.9 CFEP 211 738 854 864 String 3 - 147gr, new brass, 3.9 CFEP 869 755 859 742 851 840 838 816 String 4 - 147gr, new brass, 4.1 CFEP 735 790 891 String 5 - 115gr, new brass, 231 4.6 1093 1135 1127 1084 1093 876 All strings were 10 rounds each. Each powder load was weighed on the digital scale, which has one decimal place accuracy. OAL was measured and most within a couple of thousands, but OAL was not tracked to individual shots. Match primers. Range pickup brass, identified as mixed brass. New brass, exactly that, brand new. powder was CFE pistol or Win 231. Bullets were round nose, either 115 gr or 147 gr. For this test I marked all bullets with a black permanent marker. It darkened the bullets slightly. Given the time I put into making sure the powder was consistent, I saw more variation then expected. Especially considering how few shots the unit recorded.

IDK, only one email communication from them, didn't respond to my answers to the question. I can't explain why they can't or won't offer any further assistance. Interesting the fact it's performance improved after getting smacked.

I had several different recipies I ran through the chrono today. 10 rounds of each flavor. I recorded anywhere from 3 to 8 rounds of data for each recipe. I did clip... ok, direct hit, the guide wire, and believe it or not the POS seemed to work better afterward. Prior outtings with this POS resulted in almost zero data being recorded. MFG claimed insufficient lighting, and I've received ZERO followup from the mfg. I did color each of the bullets with a black permanent marker. Mid day, bright sunlight, I did get some results today. Incredibly high std dev from all of my 147gr 9mm loads, but it got interesting on the 115gr loads. I had one data outlier out of 8, but the other 7 were incredibly tight. While I don't believe anything coming out of the chrono, and since I've now "damaged" it, I don't think I'll be able to return it. Mfg not even willing to consider looking at it for warranty is disturbing, the 115gr data set is interesting. Suggestions?

I'm having the same issue, and more OAL variation then I'd care to see. I'm guessing the changing radius is a lot different on the bullet then on the seating die having ring contact instead of surface contact. For the 147 gr, I'm going to 100% OAL measurement. I can't have another issue in the middle of a match

Thank you for the great info. 147 gr was picked for the softer recoil, heavy plate, no particular reason. Hopefully I'll be able to order the chrono in the next couple of weeks!

It dawned on me since the barrel set the position by the brass, how important brass length is to the equation. I'm sure it's obvious to everybody else here, but it was an epiphany for me Guess I'll be buying some new brass for the competition!

Please explain, I'm at the bottom of the learning curve Measured the bullet depth in my barrel. I could argue 1.2 was tight. 1.175 sat properly. Any reason why I would extend beyond 1.169?

Thank you for the link. I look forward to comparing my barrels and coming up with the perfect OAL Heavy Plate Concave Base http://www.xtremebullets.com/9mm-147-RN-HPCB-p/xc9mm-147hpcb-b0250.htm

I have questions rather than comments. Just picked up some CFE Pistol. Looking at the new Data sheet from Hodgon for 147gr, it has the most data for HDY XTP and shows 3.7-4.2 @ 1.100 Several other bullets it only lisats WSF powder, including for FMJ 3.9-4.3 @ 1.169 The booklet shows WSF as being very close to CFE-P in burn rate. I haven't purchased a Chrono... yet I loaded some heavy plated boat tail at 3.9 @ 1.169, have yet to shoot them. Why did you choose 1.15? Why was your highest powder charge at the lowest recommended level?

When I get a few minutes, I'm going to pull those bullets

Ok, I'm totally hooked Range I've started at runs a fantastic program and they offered a class. Discovered an interesting point during the class, my XDM-9 compact had a problem when cold soaked to approc 25 °F. More fail to fire then I want to see. It's been throughly broken down and deep cleaned since then... and have since purchased a XDM-9 5.25 First actual match, I probably broke 180, got a lecture on how close I came, but they cut me a break. Sole goal was to not get last place, and managed to not get last place. One of the scenarios was seated at a desk, and my ability to hit the target was awful. Another scenario, RO said awesome well placed hits, ON THE KID YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO SHOOT Second match They also have a non scored more realistic scenario. We have no idea what we are walking into. This particular one, all we knew was we were walking up to the front door and the door knob is broken and your wife is home. Squad members can not see what the participant is dealing with. 1st starts, bunch of yelling and screaming, two quick shots. 2nd person, bunch of yelling and screaming and your wife is dead. 3rd person, little bit of yelling and scream, and nothing. 4th person, bunch of yelling and screaming, and one shot. I'm 5th person up, walk in to a picture of a bad guy holding my wife, I draw and place two shots in the head, first one literally between the eyes. RO is absolutely dumbfounded that I didn't say anything. Apparently nobody had done that They did suggest dbl tap as well as I did, may not have been a good idea as the sight picture would rapidly change. Third match, new firearm, literally only enough rounds through it to make sure it functions prior to the match. Once again, a seated scenario, and completely missing the target is not an advantage to good scores. Overall pleased with shot placement, need to begin working on improving speed. Co-Worker who made himself out to be a super shooter, when another co-worker suggested I ask him his national ranking stated, "I have no interest in competition, I train to get better"... Well, being the expert that he is... I'm shocked at how high his scores are, being an expert an all. With a little effort, I should be able to pass him in a year or so! I'm getting a bang out of competing

No, I have not learned to adjust primers Most are correctly positioned. This is not an adjustment issue, but something else.

Beginner here, for the most part things are going very well. Loaded about 1,000 rounds, couple of minor problems, with rounds that fail to fire, looks like light strikes which makes zero sense to me... While looking at one round, the brass looked bulged out and short, almost like it was a .380. I checked the stamp and it was stamped 9mm. Has anybody seen something like this before? I would post pictures... except somehow I managed to misplace the round???!!!! It was sitting on my work bench off to the side, and in the process of cleaning the bench up to start loading 147, somehow it disappeared. Thinking it got accidently thrown in the box with all the other 115, I sorted through 100% of my inventory... Which leads me to my second issue 4 of my approximately 300 rounds of inventory had high primers, like seriously high. Brings into question my QC as I was checking for primers being in place and upside down (had one). What can cause high primers?