Phlier

And there ain't nothing wrong with that! Shoot what works for you.

I apologize if this advice has already been posted, as I didn't take the time to read the whole thread. I also use the Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler. My case peening problem was solved by filling the tumbler up with more water. Gradually increase the amount of water in each batch, until you finally reach the point that the cases are no longer getting peened. I also don't see the need to run the thing any longer than 1.5 hours.

One thing you need to consider is the length of the actual bullet itself. If the new bullet is shorter than the one you're replacing, then having a shorter OAL doesn't necessarily mean that you're reducing the case's internal volume when compared to the old bullet. Measure how far from the case mouth you're seating both the old and new bullets. That'll give you a much better idea of whether or not you're reducing the internal case volume much better than just the OAL.

IMO (and it's just that, an opinion as I have no proof) it seems logical that, if you're shooting very large volumes of ammo, a polymer coated bullet is going to cause less barrel wear than a copper jacket. Now I have no proof of that, but I *can* tell you that I've put around twenty thousand rounds through my current barrel (all but around 4k were powder coated or lubricated lead), and my barrel shows little wear. Far less than what I would expect to see had I put 20k jacketed bullets through it. But since I don't have another identical barrel that I shot the same amount of copper plated/jacketed bullets to compare it to, it certainly isn't proof. Since my son and I shoot *a lot* of ammo every week, expense is another thing to consider. I can cast and powder coat my own bullets for far, far, FAR less money than buying copper plated or jacketed. Since my lead source is free, my tin source is cheap, and my antimony cost is relatively cheap, it's a no-brainer for us to shoot coated bullets. It was quite a bit of work to work up a load for coated bullets that was as accurate as my previous load for FMJ/plated bullets, but we finally got it dialed in to where the coated bullets are every bit as accurate. If I had the budget, sure... I'd shoot plated/fmj over coated, but unfortunately I don't have an unlimited budget.

There are soooo many good to excellent powders available, that I'm not surprised you got a ton of responses and recommendations. So I might as well add another one to consider: CFE-Pistol. IMO, it performs as well as the more expensive powders, but at a lower price point. It is also very consistent through your powder measure. When I sit down to start a reloading session, I throw five charges that go right back into the hopper. I then throw ten more, measuring each one. With CFE, I'll usually get five charges that are right on, three charges that are less than .1gr off, and two charges that are right at .1 gr off. Pretty darn consistent. If you happen to be shooting jacketed bullets, the CFE part of the name really is effective. I thought it was a marketing gimmick, but it really does help reduce/eliminate copper fouling. I don't shoot copper jacketed bullets anymore, but I still use CFE, as it really is a fantastic powder. Just another option to consider.

It is possible that the dust from dry tumbling was giving you enough lube to prevent the coating from being removed, but there are other possibilities to explore. I cast and powder coat a minimum of 1k per week of 9mm. Since I have my dies all dialed in, if I see powder coating getting removed during bullet seating, I know that it’s due to the PC not being properly cured. But this assumes that there isn’t an issue with how the dies are setup. I load a .358 124gr bullet in 9mm, and use a slightly larger expander die: NOE’s .360/.356. This larger expander helps to prevent the brass from swaging down the bullet to too small of a diameter, and also helps to keep the PC from getting overly thinned out, or at the extreme, getting peeled off of the bullet. To determine if the coating is properly cured, take a sledge hammer to one. Pound it standing up, and then laying down. No matter how much you deform the bullet, a properly cured coating will survive this completely intact... no flaking or peeling. If the bullet coating passes this test, then you need to examine/rethink your expanding setup, both the size of the expander and how deep you run it. If you do end up making any changes to your expander, make sure you check for proper neck tension.

Same. A lot of guys don't like One Shot, but just a very small amount of it will make small pistol brass run like butter, without the mess of lanolin. A one-half second spray into a zip lock with 200 9mm cases in it is plenty. Shake it up, pour the brass into your feed hopper, and let it dry thoroughly before loading. When one shot dries (as long as you used *very* little) it won't leave the cases feeling greasy, and it won't rub any lube off on to anything else... case feeder, etc.

That's been my experience, too. I don't have a large stable of powder measures, just an RCBS Uniflow, Dillon, and a Lee Auto Drum, and the Lee really does work well compared to the others. Buying the inserts for them is very convenient, too. I have inserts for all my favorite powders/loads for each caliber. Less than a minute to change out the insert and you're ready to go.

Deleted. I've been reading up on the CZ forums, which pretty much answered my question.

Yup, we sure do. So how about, "Be careful working up a load when loading to that short of an OAL, as even very small changes in powder charge will have a much more pronounced change in pressures than at longer OAL's."

Be careful loading to that short of an OAL. So far, my son's CZ SP-01 hasn't had any problems out to 1.130 OAL with various bullets. With some bullets, my 1050 will keep OAL variance down to .002. Others .08. I did have one batch of plated that had large ogive variations cause .15 OAL variations.

Good points as always, Sarge.

I think the part in bold is what's causing the confusion... reached up to turn brass in a 650? Was your auto shell plate advance not working? I haven't popped a primer while reloading since 1984. Knock on wood.

If you are absolutely positive that you want to stick with loading only the 9mm, I certainly don't see what's not to like about the SDB.

i've had my 1050 for about four months now, and after a love/hate relationship that lasted a good solid month, the hate portion is definitely gone. I LOVE my 1050. And yes, after you get the hang of tuning the thing, you can plan on sitting down and loading 1,000+++ rounds without a hiccup. Last week, I loaded 4,000 rounds, and the only problem I had was an upside down primer (my fault). Other than that, just sit there and pull the handle. Dead solid reliability. The swaging station on the 1050 means that you don't have to fool around with military brass. Throw it in the case feeder and forgeddaboutid. Even though the 1050 is reloading Nirvana for me, it isn't without it's drawbacks. Caliber conversion kits and tool heads are just insanely expensive. Unless you're made of gold, it's just not economically feasible to plan on loading more than one or two calibers on it. Make sure you factor that into your buying decision. It's really too bad, too; if it was less expensive to change calibers on it, the 1050 would be just... perfect.