anachronism

Ho-ho boys and girls! Where's the birthday boy? When you load ammunition, you will encounter certain restrictions that it is in your best interests to observe. First of all, the SAAMI listed maximum chamber pressure is listed at 35,000 PSI, and 38,500 for +P loadings. Use the combinations you wish, to achieve these limits, but exceeding them is fraught with peril, especially in 9mm, where seating bullets even slightly deeper than recommended can cause pressures to skyrocket. Velocity is a byproduct of these combinations, not the primary objective, and the search for uber-high velocities does not grant one an excuse to be silly or stupid. Of course at clown college, we were taught that a good clown will always be conservative and cautious in load development, never knowingly exceed known pressure tested data, and practice good hygiene so we don't offend the good little boys and girls we meet.

I use the same combination. My Thumlers is only the older 1600 RPM version, so I tumble brass much longer than most do.

The ceramic media is what was used in rotary tumblers before the stainless pin route was discovered. There are many different types of ceramic media, and most guys seemed to use the atick type with the ends clipped at an angle. This was especially popular with black powder shooters ten years ago or so. I'm a bit surprised to see someone using round ball media, but there are all sorts of different types of ceramic media. Here's a small sample: http://www.vibrafinish.com/vibratory-media-ceramic-sp.html

You're overloading your Model B. It only has a 15 lb capacity, and you're using that in brass & pins. Water weight 8 lb/gal, so if you're running one gallon of water in your load, you're right at 23 lbs. The Thumler won't handle that long term.

Perhaps partially so. What they're telling you is that the Shield has an unsupported chamber, and that pressures need to be kept moderate. Is that better?

I do both. I dry tumble brass to remove any grit and dirt, Then I size the cases and drop them in the wet tumbler for a few hours. I have discovered that getting cases 100% spotless takes a lot more time, especially with rifle cases. Then I run through my media separater submerged in water to remove the pins, and give them a rinse. I use car wash with wax & Lemishine, I haven't seen any advantage to adding Dawn to the mix. Drying is done in the oven at 150* until the cases are thoroughly dry. Then I cool them and bag them for future use. I do like having no carbon in the case, but feel there must be an easier way out there somewhere. Ultrasonic cleaners just don't seem to have the capacity I need.

Do be careful though. I read on Starlines website that the Shield doesn't have a fully supported chamber, and that Starline recommends their +P brass in Shields. https://www.starlinebrass.com/order-online/caliber.cfm/caliber/9MM/

It kind of looks like Brasso poisoning with those long cracks. Also, how many times were they loaded?

Berrys doesn't show crimping grooves in most of their bullets.If you really want a place to roll crimp, purchase a canneluring tool, and gently roll a cannelure in your bullets.

Afterwards, rediscover hot tub baths, and add epsom salts to the water according to package directions. Take it easy and soak in the hot tub for awhile. You can add any type of moisturizer to the bath if desired, just don't tell anyone about it. My loading sessions are usually a couple of hundred rounds, take a break, load another couple hundred. Don't pretend you're in some sort of contest to see how many you can load in a set length of time. Just because the Dillons capable of over X thousand rounds an hour doesn't mean you have to go that fast.

You're in good shape. OAL isn't anywhere near as critical with revolvers as it is with semi-autos. As long as they don't hang out the cylinder, you should be fine!

You want to mark cases as they go by in your progressive? Magic Markers come in many different colors.

Every gun I tried TG in got hot enough to brand cattle. I just gave away my last three pounds of TG to a needy local. Karma is good... shortly after giving away the powder, I found a fresh 8 pounder of Promo for sale locally. I could have burned the guy, and he'd have paid practically any price for the powder.

Not to start a fight, but your description of the primers and cases match my experiences with loose primer pockets exactly. The "crack" you describe is actually gas cutting into the primer and case as it escapes out the weakest point of the primer pocket. This is where the "dirt" around the primer pocket is coming from. I've seen this with other brands of primers as well. Are you keeping track of how many times you use your cases, or do you just shoot them until the mouths crack?

Most people seat and crimp in separate operations. Trying to do both at once has you pushing the bullet in the case as the case mouth gets progressively tighter as you go. This can really screw with your OAL.

Many cast bullet lubes produce a lot of smoke. Also, lighter than optimal powder charges also produce smoke. Between the two of them...

I agree. You cannot even use any primer marked as a "small rifle" primer in an AR15, so pistol primers are out of the question.

The measurement for a "hair" that was given to me eons ago was to approximate the thickness of your thumbnail from the shoulder of the bullet to the crimped case mouth. It's always worked for me, although I cast my own bullets, and have only used two different 200 gr SWC designs.

Absolutely. 38 Spl brass is cheap and plentiful. It is true that the flakes of nickel can scratch dies, and it is also true that they can scratch the guns bore and chambers if the flakes come off at the time of firing.

Dillon Case Lube doesn't dry. It's basically lanolin in an alcohol carrier. I only use it for rifle cases, and use carbide sizing dies for handgun cases.

Reprint from a Fouling Shot article. Ed Harris usually has an article in each journal. Well worth the cost of cast Bullet Association membership. And don't forget to visit the website too! Ed posts there daily.

Here's some great wadcutter info from a guy who's been there and done it: http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_files/75f11fe4e235da7c69cabf94daa7dbd9-932.html

Right now, for me at least, it is cheaper to load and shoot 45 acp than to go through all the hassle of finding 22 LR ammo, Plus I don't find the idea of spending $400.00 for a Marvel conversion appealing at all. Might as well buy another gun. You can get some pretty wussy recoil springs for 1911s. All that's left is to do your load development.

I seek out and buy older RCBS or Hornady carbide die sets. The ones manufactured prior to the age of the progressive press all seem to have minimal chamfers at the entry to the sizing die. All purchased brass, new or used goes through these dies for initial sizing. I used to get belts just above the extractor groove with some dies, the old dies take that away. Old steel dies should work okay too, but I pefer carbide. This also works for 45 ACP, and other calibers too.

Primers need to be bottomed out in the primer pocket. However that shakes out for seating depth is irrelevent. If the primers aren't fully seated, they often times won't go off on the first firing pin strike anyway.