ChemistShooter

Really solid information from everybody. Thanks, people. I have made another attempt at uploading a file. I seem to have said the magic words in the right order this time. Picture attached---I hope.

Well, DAMN, I tried. I punched enough "Upload this file" buttons. Okay, I'll hunt around in the FAQs and see how to upload a picture.

---are NOT who is writing this post. I am reloading 9mm on an RL550B for the first time and need some experienced opinions on if things are going well or not. My crimps don’t look uniform but the actual amount of variation is not significant---I think. Right at the moment I am working on crimping, seating to a specific OAL, and removing the crimp. Crimp: Everything I read says the flare for 9mm is strictly for seating the bullet and to keep the flare to the minimum possible, as excessive case flare shortens case life. I am using .355-inch bullets. I measured the case wall at the mouth as .001 inch. After much die-wiggling, I got a .002-inch flare on the case mouth. After seating and de-crimping three (unprimed so far) bullets, the case mouth diameter was .375 inches plus or minus about half a thousandth. I pulled five rounds I have made so far plus one Blazer 9mm and compared the bullets. Please see attached picture. The bullets I crimped don’t all look the same, alas. There is a visible crimp in some, but not all, of the bullets I made. The decrease in diameter at the crimp mark is less than a thousandth of an inch. The biggest deviation measured .0007 inch. At the base, every single bullet measures .355 inch. The Blazer---farthest to the right---has no visible crimp. Do I have a problem, or not? Seating: I need to find a good seating depth. I measured the length of a Blazer, pulled it and measured the length of the case and the bullet, subtracted to get seating depth: .750 + .553-1.155=.148 inch. I measured the Hornady bullets. Their dimensions match the Blazer bullet EXACTLY. The only difference is the Blazer has a copper jacket completely covering it while the Hornadys have an exposed lead bottom. FYI, the bullets with a visible crimp were about a thousandth longer. I measured the OAL of three bullets I made. 1.160, 1.161, 1.161 inch. Good enough, or not? (I know max OAL for 9mm is 1.169 inch.) I measured individual lengths for three bullets and cases and got seating depths of .140, .139 and 0.140 inch. Good enough, or not? Question: What are the specs for the Dillon dies? (As in ¼-28.) I’d like to be able to calculate how many turns it will take to move a specific distance. I can’t find the specs anywhere and really don’t want to pull them out and measure since I’ve got everything set. I can’t get the calipers on the die turns properly to measure a good distance.

I am new to this too. Whichever machine you choose, I suggest you troll the forums and YouTube for the problems people have had with that machine and compile it all into a potential-problem list. I just saw a video where a user didn't put some little metal thingy in the right place on his 650 and chain-fired his primers The highest chance of an accident is at the beginning. So you need to be as familiar with it as is possible. The more familiar---the less chance you BLOW YOURSELF UP. You must keep in in mind you are working with explosives. So whichever machine you choose, get as familiar with it as you can---while it is operating properly. This means taking stuff apart and examining pieces closely,memorizing how all the parts/pieces work together, so when something goes wrong you'll know just what it is that's not working right. I've seen a lot of reported problems that were like this. The user was staring right at the problem but couldn't see it because he did not know what normal operation looked like. The first few hours of a machine are solid gold because everything is clean and new. I am working my way up. First die---decapped one hundred rounds without priming, watching how the thing works, reading the forum about decapping/sizing works, problems with the decapping (decapping chute doesn't work well, spent primers can get squirted elsewhere I have seen this.) and also how to fix it. Watch the primer bar do its thing, get as good a feel as you can for its operation because primers are dangerous. You want to catch a problem WELL before it becomes a problem. There are problems reported with the primer bar. Find, understand, and compile all you can. Second die---bell and powder. Work the machine with no powder, get the belling set right. Add powder to powder funnel (still no live primers!), get weight set right, realize you have to be in a position to ALWAYS see down into the case to detect zero or double charge. Next up: the seating die My .02: Keep the damn thing clean as a whistle. Leave it looking like a new machine at the end of every session. Clean your primer tubes with alcohol wipes. Take the star and shell plate off and wipe everything down. Make a use/maintenance logbook and USE IT. A lot of the problems I see appear to be ultimately maintenance-related. (And when you start working with live primers and powder, put your eye/ear protection on.)

More really, really good stuff. This really is working out well. I'm already making dummy rounds. The forums inform me Eastern European guns (XDM are made in Croatia) have a tendency to have short throats. I've got that magazine procedure recorded in my reloading SOP (Standard Operating Procedure.) How to work out a COL is currently one of my big questions. What kind of quality control I should shoot for is one of the questions I have. We'll see how the press performs. Thanks to all.

This is good stuff. Thanks. I measured 50 rounds of the the factory Blazer 9mm I"m shooting at the moment. Averaged out 1.146", SD .002".

Don't worry about it. Not gonna happen.

I am an analytical environmental chemist. I have been cleaning my brass at work with the ultrasonic cleaner. (I might be able to make a contribution or two here when it comes to sonicating brass or using balances.) I have two four-place analytical balances I can use if I need, too. Not gonna have a problem weighing small amounts of chemicals or working with a balance. Worked in a machine shop, too, and actually have access to micrometer, a lathe, a drill press, and a milling machines if necessary. The COL thing I'm working on. Can't even find the dimensions of my barrel to get throat length but have discovered I can make a Cerrosafe casting and just measure it, which is probably best for the long run.

check down the barrel after shooting each round to make sure the bullet's out. Best way to check down the barrel is to drop a pencil into the bore - make sure it's long enough to hit the breech face. Filed away for future use.

And I went looking for local matches and couldn't find anything anywhere. Link saved. Maybe in March or April when I've got the re-loading thing down . . .

Done that, can't find too much. Yeah, my manuals inform me too little can be as dangerous as too much. Not pushing the bullet out of the barrel, for example, and the next bullet smacks into it, creating very high pressure behind it. Note to self: First round at low end: Load only ONE round at a time and check down the barrel after shooting each round to make sure the bullet's out.

Baton Rouge

Got it, thanks.

Really good job, ID, and I speak as someone who writes technical documentation. You've probably kept a lot of new reloaders from blowing their ass up. Mine included.

I am flexible and will certainly check it out. It'll be a while before I'm comfortable enough, though. I had the same thought. 115gr is what I know, but after I get comfortable, I'll try some heavier bullets. I'm rapidly learning the slang but still don't quite have it all down, I'm afraid. 124/125 refers to weight in grains but the BBI and XTREMES have lost me. I'm certainly interested in cheaper bullets. Thanks for the recommendations.

I bought a 550B from Mr. Enos after sorta-halfway-accidentally stumbling into shooting and discovering I liked it. I bought most of his the-way-it-oughta-be recommendations and can endorse doing it his way, although I have not yet reloaded the first round. I am a chemist and have a very, very healthy respect for chemicals that can suddenly go BANG! So I am gently, gently working my way up to reloadng. I have three reloading manuals---Hornady, Speer, and Lyman--and reading all three. I really like the Speer for its detail, particularly the chapter on safety. I own a 9-mm XDM 3.8 full-size. I am reloading to save money, although I read I may be able to achieve better accuracy with a custom reload. This seems a little doubtful with a handgun but we'll see. I may dabble a little in IDPA when I feel proficient enough. I shoot a hundred rounds a week plus I do dry-fire practice at home. (Handguns are dangerous. You can't just own one. You must practice constantly.) I am trolling the forums to pick up what information I can. Which is considerable, it would appear, I have wound up with 8 pounds of Hodgdon TiteGroup and 3,000 Hornady 115 gr FMJ RN bullets and need to work up a load. The Hornady manual doesn't mention TiteGroup, alas, but I have found some reference to it here. It would appear 4.0 grains would be a good starting load. Weird how Hornady doesn't mention it. I may post the very odd question from time to time. Please put up with the newbie. Y'all have a good one.