D. Manley

Be sure to come back and post a note after you run that 3.9 grains of Clays load under those 230 Berrys...

I wondered about what you were going for when you posted the load you decided on in the other thread. It was a fairly hot load but I don't think you were in any real danger and my previous comment about cycling the slide makes perfect sense now, right? You'll be fine and when you try some of your target velocity loads they'll be all the sweeter.

4.8/5.0 grains of N-330 or 5.3/5.5 grains WSF under 115 JHP's are accurate as my guns are capable of. I use the lighter versions with copper jacketed bullets and a bit more under Montana Golds....for whatever reason, the MG's seem to like a little more zip. Both loads are pleasant to shoot and should cycle your slide just fine with whatever spring weight you're running.

I just came up from the basement. Tonight I finished setting the press up and loaded my first 20 rounds. Turns out that what I thought was just barely enough while avoiding the bell shape was only .003 or so. I upped it to .010 and the bullets sit in the case just fine. It does have a bit of that bell/trumpet shape to my eye, but knowing what the allowable measurement is makes me a lot more confident. Thanks for the help, all. After a while you can get it just by "feel". When I first got mine I used the calipers a few times and what I found worked for me was to run a few of every brand of brass I had on hand through and put at least .10 or so on the thinnest one. Thicker brass will measure a bit more but work just fine since internal diameter is the same.

In 9MM using 115 grain jacketed or plated bullets, I like (in no particular order): Silhouette WSF VV N-330 VV 3-N-37

You sure won't have to worry about the slide cycling with that load. I haven't fired it yet but was wondering if it would be kinda hot. Do you suggest less powder?5 grains? I'm used to shooting factory (pf of about 195!!!!) so anything less is better but I'd like it as soft as possible and still make PF. Got a lot of bullseye left so need to finish it up. Then I'm going to get Clay's. Thanks. Donna Looks like a max load maybe, a little over depending on whose data. I think 5.0 grains is considered the GI "Hardball" equivalent load. To quote another regular poster, 4.8 grains of BE makes a "mellow major" load.

You sure won't have to worry about the slide cycling with that load.

I use the Uniquetek powder baffles in both my Dillon measures and as far as I can tell, they will run virtually dry and retain consistency of drop. Admittedly and even knowing its unnecessary, I top mine off every couple of primer refills...just can't seem to help it.

They apparently have some steel in some of their loaded bullets as well. I dug out an unfired factory round I'd picked up at the range and found this particular one had a (real) brass case but the bullet was a different story: "CLICK"

Well, kiss my grits! The above made me curious and while processing some range brass this afternoon, had a few S&B 9MM in the bunch...ran over with a magnet and yep, a couple were brass-coated steel. Checked some I had loaded up and sure enough, 3 of them were also steel. Impossible to tell from brass by looking but I strongly suspect that these are the ones hanging up the press while seating. IMO, this wouldn't be so bad if they were up front with it ala, Wolf but this stuff is made to look exactly like brass. The steel stuff may be "safe" to reload but I'm not too keen on running it through my machines...or guns either, for that matter. My S&B inventory has a new home in the "shoot once & leave it" bucket....

I keep a pair of stainless steel "bent-nose" tweezers on the bench for that very thing...no chance of damaging the locator buttons and makes it quick & easy if you have to remove/replace in the middle of a run especially on, a SDB.

Same here. The penalty for a screw-up is way too high to be splitting my concentration with anything else. +3...

Me too. I wouldn't have thought it possible if it's indexing OK and if it were a "bridging" problem, looks like there would be some pretty severe undercharges as well.

Just guessing here Merlin but somebody might get the notion you like the idea. Don't hurt to dream (insert deep sigh here), it would be nice.

I can understand that, but those of us with SDBs would likey pony up the cash. I would rather spend $300 for a case feeder than buy a 550 or 650 and all the conversion kits and dies necessary for all my calibers. Kidding aside, if that sucker actually worked, I think I might be inclined to give it a go too...even @ that price.

FWIW, I sort S&B out too...I don't toss 'em but I don't use regularly either. Like most everyone said, primer pockets are tight. I knew their reputation and ran a group of 100 through my SDB to see for myself. Most primers seated a bit more snugly than other brands but a few were really hard to seat...(thought the Federal 100's were goint to pop). I had 1 out of the 100 that would not go, period. All loaded rounds shot just fine. Being a "brass rat", I'll hang onto them for whatever reason but as long as there's something better around, I'm not messing with them again.

Explained very well, HERE O.K. Thanks! That makes perfect sense! Rob Leatham rocks. I actually had a chance to do the Babes w/Bullets class with Kippie Leatham a couple of years ago in Arizona - along with Julie, Kay, Lisa, Sheila and Judy Wooley - what an experience!!!!! I digress ------ but if you want to see pictures ------- http://picasaweb.google.com/deehmah/BabesW...key=vTf7KDLl2Ss So now I'm wondering - why Clays, which is midburning as opposed to Bullseye which is fast burning when I'm using a 230 grain bullet????? Donna Clays is a very fast powder only marginally slower than BE...and cleaner burning by far especially, at the lower pressure loads we're talking about here. Personally, I like Solo-1000 & VV N-310 (the latter pretty pricey) a lot...all very fast, soft & clean. WST is another alternative in the same neighborhood but that "black pepper" smell drives me nuts.

Explained very well, HERE.

That's the little bugger I tried to reference above and didn't explain nearly so well. I detected a bit of "roughness" in mine as the primer cup entered the shellplate and a little tweaking on the overtravel set screw slicked it up...never a primer problem since.

I was going to suggest you re-seat the primer punch but since you already have, one more thing to try. Check that the primer cup is perfectly aligning with the shellplate as it enters on the upstroke. There is a small setscrew in on the front of the press (see manual) that can adjust the primer cup's forward travel. If it's off too much the shellplate can contact the primer cup early as it's attempting to center itself on the upstroke. I probably didn't explain it well but hopefully, the manual can clear it up.

I can't believe I saw this. I managed to flip one last night, eased it out with a single-stage and after looking at it found only the slightest of a mark from the decapping pin. I just used the single stage to re-prime it, marked the case so I'll recognize it and I'll let you know if it lights after next range trip.

I had that happen and after having a couple of the cut and bent springs break in short order, I called them back. They sent me a new primer feed assembly that uses the new springs....problem solved. Exactly my experience. When mine was refurbished the original primer assembly was working fine so it was not replaced. The old (shorter version) spring broke in short order and when I found out the new spring was too long, called Dillon and they shipped the whole new assembly @ no charge. I'm continually amazed at how good their customer service really is.

I stumbled onto an older SD some time back and knew it had a few missing parts but being unfamiliar with it, didn't know exactly what the missing parts were. Sent it back to Dillon and for the price of return shipping, they went through and pretty well rebuilt it to like-new complete with, the new powder assembly. After a little tweaking out, its been flawless.

Now THAT would be Christmas morning, no matter what the calendar said.

See THIS for a good explanation of recoil/bullet weight.