Solsand

Thanks very much for the reply. Truth is I've only loaded about 3900 rounds with it so I can't speak to its long-term dependability. Time will obviously tell. I was actually set to by a 750 but they were out of stock with long lead times back in April. I had several expert tutorials and knew everything about it thanks to one of my friends at my club. The Lee Pro had not been out long and Midway got a shipment so I jumped. It was intended to be a stop gap, but as I mentioned I see no need to change at the present. We'll see....

I hear what you’re saying, and many of my fellow club shooters use Dillon, but why is it better? I bought the Pro 4000 because at the time it was all I could find. But now after several thousand rounds I can’t see any good reason to change. It makes a round every time I pull the handle just like a Dillon. A lot of my buddies are using Lee dies on their Dillon presses. The powder measure is incredibly accurate and consistent. It’s solid and well built and just works. So, what trouble would I be saving? No allegiance to Lee in particular and definitely not a “money thing”, I just haven’t seen my buddies’ 650 or 1050 do anything different or better or faster, even by their own admission... ??

I forgot to attach referenced quote...

I'm glad some good has come of it. I have to say the folks on this forum were incredibly supportive and very helpful, and the lessons I've learned will hopefully save someone else from making a similar mistake. It ain't no fun to have gun go KABOOM in your hands, and I was REALLY LUCKY! Hell, bought a new TXG grip module and it's been good as new.... Thanks for the kind words.

I’m the original poster of the event you see above. I was also new to reloading and also looking for something to “mimic” Fed Syntech 150gn. I also use a Lee 4000 and have nothing but good things to say about it. To me, it was easy to setup and easy to use. My two biggest mistakes- Not letting the press do its job without interfering with the process and using a powder (Titegroup) that is really dense. It’s a great powder, but as a beginner it’s easy to miss a double-charge. Of course if you just let the press do its thing you won’t have any problems. I did not do that. Trust the press. There is NO WAY to double-charge a case if you let the press run uninterrupted, as designed. All the pulling off, weighing charge, placing back, etc. is what let to me blowing my gun up. I still like Titegroup a lot but for the moment have switched to Sport Pistol and I’ve got to say it’s fantastic. Shot a few thousand rounds under Blues, SNS and Precision 147gn FP and it is impossible for me to tell the difference between it and the 150gn Syntech. Saving a bunch of money too. And my Lee Pro 4000 has run flawlessly with no issues whatsoever. The Auto Drum powder measure is on point and very accurate and consistent. My dies, once set, I have not had to adjust. Feel free to PM me with any questions. The folks on this forum and their knowledge and experience are invaluable.

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond regarding what powder is being used in the Syntech 150gr. I'm going to roll with the Sport Pistol for a while. In addition to a couple thousand 147gr Blues, I also bought some 147gr FN SNS and some 147gr FN Precision (small company out in east Texas that always, even now, has stock) and will experiment between those to see if there are any accuracy differences. As to my original issue, no doubt that all the extra manual steps were the direct cause of my KABOOM. Finding two more double-charges in that original batch (after my bullet-pulling party) reinforces that position. FWIW, the Lee Pro 4000 allows for manual indexing by simply removing the center indexing rod. Not sure why that's a plus (maybe for rifle reloading?) but I now know it was a mistake for a newbie to not just let the press auto-index as designed. I over-OCD'd the process and, as someone mentioned early on, didn't trust the process or my equipment. Lesson learned for sure...

Thanks very much, that’s great info and good to know.

Both, but when we finally Chrono’d before Saturday morning’s match it averaged out to like 137PF. So I shot my 3.0gr of TG under 147gr Blues for the match and a box of 147gr Syntech. I believe @ddc and @Batmo are on the money with their SP loads. Man, this is just me but I love the way the 147gr Syntech shoots and feels! If I could figure out how to reproduce that load that would be awesome but I haven’t found any info on what powder they use.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read my original post. In hindsight I did get some questionable advice regarding TG, mainly because most of my fellow shooters who I have been shooting matches with for awhile had more faith in me based on maybe some other aspects of shooting. In any case I agree, TG is not a great powder for a newbie because you could damn near triple charge it and it wouldn't overflow. Granted, you'd really have to be paying zero attention to miss all the "spilling" which should automatically disqualify anyone from reloading. I know now that all the stopping/checking/replacing kept the press from doing what it's supposed to do and not trusting the equipment and the process was the real issue. Not the TG per se. A lot of folks have recommended powder "cop" type dies, which definitely seem to make the process more idiot proof, but I'm just going to let the press auto index and pay closer attention to every case before and after powder drop. But the biggest change I've made is switching to Sprort Pistol for now. Better case fill and a double-charge is much more obvious. Bottom line, a ton of great advice since my OP and I am much more aware of what to look out for. I learned a lot, the hard way. FYI, 3.5gr of SP under 147gn coated seems really good right now out of both my X5 Legions...

@Hooked thanks for the reply. That sounds like a good plan, definitely going to do it differently than I have been. Getting too much inside the cases the way I've been doing it and it's causing my powder to clump and stick to the inside walls of the case. Since there's not much TG in there to begin with, I think this might be causing unburnt powder to blow out onto my arms??? At least I'm guessing that's what those "flakes" are I'm getting on my arms while shooting. Never had that happen in all my years while shooting factory ammo...

@12glocks I've since purchased an RCBS lockout die and I'm going to roll with that indefinitely. Unfortunately, "error tends...teacher" is usually true. No chance for complacency now early on, and I will hopefully remind myself everyday what can and does happen...

I appreciate the kind words and sentiment. As a new reloader, I knew and understood my limitations from the get go. I sought guidance and "training" from fellow shooters at my club and studied and researched for months before jumping in and STILL made a catastrophic error. I have been overwhelmed by the positive and constructive support from the Benos "family" and I know that no matter how long a shooter has been reloading there is always something to be learned.

Been considering this option for sure. I just bought 1000 147gr FP Precision Bullets and the recommend against using Lee FCD because they say it will swage their Bullets. So, I think I’m going to replace that with the RCBS lockout die just after powder drop. We’ll see...

@Grandmastah Apologies, poor choice of words. I give it one full "press" and then toss/flip them around in the plastic container with the lid on. It does say that it "will not contaminate powder or primers."