Rustygun

Glock barrels have a special type of rifling that can collect lead from lead bullets. Two solutions I will suggest, inspect and clean the barrel often or as you suggested shoot "coated" lead bullets. Sounds like you already have a source for these. Some high volume shooters even coat their own cast lead bullets. Either solution works great. I have shot nothing except reloads in my gen 3, Glock 23 for the last three years and had no problems. Maybe 4000 rounds through the stock barrel. About six months ago I changed the barrel to a KKM barrel because it supports the case better as I am loading hotter rounds.

Additional advice?? Regular inspections and deal with rust spots immediately befire it spreads or damages something. Keep a rag soaked with ballistol in a plastic container with a snap on lid (I use a cleaned out cottage cheese tub) and wipe away any rust ASAP. Keep lube away from things that touch powder and remember some parts of your press may be designed to run dry and should never be lubed. Read your manual carefully. happy loading......

I also live in the Houston area and mine Dillon RL500 is set up in the garage year around. I do. Or load at all during the summer as the garage temps are intolerable exceeding 110f some days. I have had zero problems with Rust on the press. I got it used and disassembled and cleaned it and then reassembled using Dillon's recommendations using regular automotive grease on the main ram and pins. I store dies and other components with a very light coat of ballistol and have had no problems with rust there either. Note that you do not want to get any kind of oil or preservative on powder dies or parts of the press that conact powder as it will cause powder to stick or clump. I have added something called VCI paper to the boxes that hold the dies and other metal parts. I don't know what sort of magical properties this VCI paper has don't even know what VCI stands for but if is good enough for Smith and Wesson to wrap their firearms in it at the factory it must work. I cut it into 3" squares and add it to the box with the balance beam scale ,the dial calipers, all dies, even put one in with the little box of tools for the press I have zero rust problems anywhere since i did the ballistol treatment and added the VCI paper with my reloading stuff. I store all primers and powder in the house because the garage heat would cause rapid deterioration.

I am relatively new also and I found these sites very helpful http://www.hodgdonreloading.com http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/default.aspx?page=/reloaders/RecipeList.aspx&gtypeid=1 http://www.reloadersnest.com/index.asp http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Freebies/RM/winchester.html always cross reference, always double check. These were written by people and people make mistakes. If you find two sources that differ go to a third source. You are making small explosive devices so you want to do it as safely as possible.

Interesting thread as I load during the winter and try to get enough for the whole season. I will load 2-3000 rounds of each of my favorite calibers over a few weekends. My reason may be different than others. My reloading bench is in the garage and in the summer in south Texas it is like working on the surface of the mid day sun. Spent last Sunday out there starting at 5:00 am and was sweating so much by 7:00 am my socks were soaking wet.

I am not the expert on this subject. But I use spray case lube on pistol cases but very little. I lay all the cases on their sides in a tray (wife's old cake pan) so no open case necks are sticking up and give one pump of the spray over the whole group. I roll them around a little and let them dry while I get other stuff ready. Not every case gets "wet" but it seems like the wel ones leave a little lube in the sizing die for the dry ones. I Try to keep the lube out of the case neck and away from any place that powder will touch. This seems to be enough that the press operates smoothly but I have no data to back this up. I have never stuck a case and At least it puts my over active mind at ease.

I have tried a few different brands and they do have a slightly noticeable odor but I do not find it to be bothersome or offensive at all. I typically do not have a strong sense of smell and am certainly not sensitive so I am not a good reference point. In order for me to even notice this odor the conditions have to be just right. You are correct in saying the smoke and odor are considerably less than with lubed cast bullets.

I am probably one of the last people that uses dry media to tumble brass. I always tumble for an hour or two then into the Dillon deprime and load. I load more for quantity than for quality but I still get clean pretty brass that shots more accurately than I can.

I also use metal ammo cans labeled by caliber and then boxes in each labeled with different loads. I use metal filing cabinets that I got for free from offices that went all digital. Each drawer has 4-5 ammo boxes in it, and the drawer is labeled for a caliber (or two). The kids bought me one of those battery powered label makers for Christmas and I have nearly worn it out. I used to print labels on my computer and then cut and tape them in place. The heavy duty file cabinets will easily hold four full ammo boxes and glide in and out smoothly. Quick easy access and stores a tremendous amount of ammo. I have two of these four drawer filling cabinets nearly full of ammo. I accept that I have an ammo addiction and am actively seeking a therapy group.

I have been reloading in the garage for decades. I also live in Houston I do not load during the summer. I load enough ammo in all calibers to sustain my habit though the hot months. All my primers are kept in air tight ammo boxes in a filing cabinet in a bedroom. The powder is in original containers in a cardboard box in the top of a closet. I was told by those that know more about this than I do that the extreme heat will degrade powder over time. My garage will hit 110f at times. If you use up your powder every year or so it probably will not make a difference. I bought enough to last an election or two so mine is stored in the house.

I also have loaded and shot thousands of them with nothing like you have described. Have you contacted them and asked if they can be returned or replaced?

I load in a garage that is not climate controlled and I empty everything every time. I might load 200-300 rounds and then not have time to sit down again for 2-3 weeks. Add to this that that the same bench is used to restore old workworking tools, build wooden drawers shelves and fix cars and lawn mowers, I need a dedicated reloading room ....

I am somewhat of a beginner but I would be very satisfied with those results. Both in my reloads and my shooting ability. I am interested to see what the rest of the forum thinks.

I had a similar problem and found that I was over crimping ever so slightly on some cases that were a few thousands longer. Seems to have caused a slight bulge or wrinkle in the case below the bullet seating depth that would interfere with chambering. For those that know more about this subject is this a possible cause for the original posters problem?

Other posters are exactly right. The original post is not nearly "technical" enough to allow others to respond. To start with in some circles a "short barrel" is 14". Are you talking pistol or SBR (short barrel rifle)? What do you mean by "high or low on the powder charge"? With the massive selection of powders on the market you can load 3 grain of one powder and get the same results as 8 grains of a different type of powder. Maybe this question should be asked in muzzle velocity or ft per second through a chronograph. Add to this the wide range of bullet designs and weights for the 9 mm, and more importantly the type of gun and purpose of use there is no way anyone can give a responsible answer your question. I guess you can add me to your list of clowns. I would venture to say the one commonality with all the clowns you have identified is .... you.

I have deprimed live primers and have had no incidents so far. Always wear ear and eye pro. Usually move back a step or two form the Dillon when doing this. Makes me nervous but have had no issues. Never have reused a primer, no reason to take a chance as primers are cheap. I may be doing it wrong but I just throw the Unfired primers in with the other discarded primers and dump in the trash. This post has made me reconsider that practice.

Very good post. I was about to ask the same type of question as I have just acquired a few lbs of HS-6 and I have a few boxes of 180gr bullets just waiting for a new home. Interested to see what the other responses are. I do not have a crono yet so I rely on the data supplied by others on this forum to find good powder charge ranges and expected results. Not ideal but the best I can do right now.

Please let us know how the WSF works as I have a couple lbs also.

The Dillon gauges at the link supplied in this post is for 7 rounds inn the picture. What is a "Ben S" gauge and where would I find one? I have been running the single round method and it is getting old.

Guys I am new to the science of reloading and would politely ask what e3 is. It is clearly a powder but I do not see any load data in any of my books for a powder that I could identify as e3.

Question for the seasoned reloaders here. I am relatively new to reloading and am learning more from this thread that I expected so thanks for your meaningful comments. I load .40 with 100% free range pickup, unsorted, visual inspection only brass. I have noticed a few flyers (1 to 2" out from the group) when shooting my reloads. These flyers are very random, left, right, high, or low. While it is most likely operator error and my aging eyeballs, this thread has me wondering how much of a factor the random brass I use might be. Could brass variables cause a 2" variation at say ten or twelve yards?

I would also like to see some recommendations. It seems the loading data for cast bullets is limited at least I have had trouble finding much data to work with. The limited info I have seen never seems to fit with the bullet weight I want to load. If anyone has a source for reloading data for lead bullets please share. I have read several "opinions" or recipes that others have used but never anything from a bullet or powder manufacturer. I have 250 180 gr SWC .400" bullets on the bench that need a all expense paid high speed trip to a target.

My load exactly but shot in a stock glock 23 and a XDM 5.25 with great accuracy, no smoke or muzzle flash, and mild recoil. I like the xtreme 180gr RNFP they are consistently good. I have been experimenting with 180 gr Blue Bullets loading 3.8 and 4.0 grs of titegroup with very good results also.

You guys with the old powder stories.... Are you storing the powder in a cool dry room or in a hot garage? I have about 15 lbs of various powders and am struggling with a place to stash it in the house. I live in south Texas so the garage gets close to 100 degrees some days. I have stored shotgun shells out there for 10 years and they still shoot just like fresh ones. Storing powder in the hot garage makes me nervous even if it is in sealed containers in air tight ammo boxes. Appreciate your opinions.

Interesting post. I am kind of new to the reloading for .40 and do not shoot competition just paper. I recently tried some blue bullets 180 gr RNFP.. Tried a range of titegroup powder charges ranging from 3.8 to 4.4 gr. this was shot from a stock glock 23 and a XDM with a 5.25" barrel. I shot about fifty rounds and disassembled and cleaned both. I am surprised these coated bullets seem to work as well as they advertise. No signs of leading, no noticeable smoke, and with 4,0 gr of titegroup had a very mild recoil. Fun to shoot fun to load.