1badmagnum

I purchased a dial caliper from midway for $20,frankford /midway brand,does the job quite well. I shot cast a few times but the smoke and residue was not tolerable,I'm sticking to jacketed bullets. gold dots and golden sabres cost me about $10 per hundred,half the cost of each round,but they shoot extremely accurate and are much cleaner.

how about replacing the powder measure with a different brand? I know this is a waste of a C note,but headaches are worse than a few lost wages. will a rcbs powder measure work on the 550 b?

I have gotten into the habit of cleaning right after my shooting sessions,and reoiling afterwards also.I use more oil than most folks.even if I wait one day after shooting the residue is still fresh and removes easily with my version of gun scrubber(non chlorinated brake cleaner).I have used cast lead a few times and will never again try to save a few cents handloading.too much dust and residue,no matter what you use or how you use them.hard cast bullets suck in my opinion.I have been developing loads using surplus wc820 from jeff at gibrass,$80 for 8 pounds delivered. 50 ae-30 grains under a speer 325 grain jhp using cci 350 primers 440 corbon-29 grains under a 240 grain speer jhp using cci 350 primers 44 magnum-24 grains under a 240 grain jhp using cci 350 primers 45 acp-10 grains under a 230 grain speer jhp using cci 350 primers 9mm-7.5 grains under a 115 or 124 grain speer jhp using cci 550 primers I have no chrony data as yet,but I'm very satisfied with my accuracy and cleanliness of this powder in being able to use it in a variety of calibers.using magnum primers insures the charge is burned completely,and cleaning right after shooting guarantees a clean pistol next time you head to the range. happy blasting!

40 caliber has a nice ballistic advantage over the 9mm. get the .40!

dont let your brain know what your trigger finger is thinking:) I concentrate on target aquisition,and let my trigger finger squeeze the trigger before my brain even knows whats happenning. too much thought often hampers your shooting skills.

I strickly use magnum primers in all my handloads. cci 550 small pistol magnum primers,and cci 350 large pistol magnum primers with great results.

I use cci 550 small pistol magnum primers(9mm) and cci 350 large pistol magnum primers.(45 acp,44 magnum,440 corbon and 50 ae) I use magnum primers for everything!

desert eagle using military surplus wc820 powder,44 magnum, 24 grains under a 240 grain speer jhp.

the primers look fine,no extraction problems.they felt good.just out of round case mouths.

I just fired some new brass in 44 magnum with 24 grains of surplus powder,and have a number of cases with minor deformations at the case mouth. does this happen on the first few firings until they are fireformed,or is this always a sign of high pressure?

I absolutely hate handloading 9mm.the cases are so small,powder spills are common for me.cant get a small enough mouth for my powder measure.I usually load them by hand,and use a single stage press when making match grade ammo. but seeing the cost of 9mm is so cheap,its better to buy factory ammo,especially when using a glock. I just loaded 1,000 rounds of match grade and it took me 2 days. 9mm is a real pain,gonna get a 45 as soon as my bank account allows me to do so.

I like titegroup for small calibers,38,9mm,40 cal etc. 44 and larger calibers,even at max charge weight,dont have enough velocity for me. they seem mighty weak.

ww296 and h110 are the exact same powder repackaged.you could try reducing 3%. I handloaded some wc820 surplus powder in 44 magnum with 240 grain speer sp's. 24 grains was very mild and accurate. let me know how your reduced loads shoot.

If the minimum loads of h110 are too hot,try some h4227. my 50 ae rounds using 30 grains of h4227 are very mild. do not reduce ww296/h110(same powder).

you didnt say which calibers your loading for so I'll go out on a limb and highly reccommend jeff at gibrass.I work up loads using surplus powder.It is $20 for the hazmat charges but most powders he carries are around $55 per 8 pound container.so I got 8 pounds of wc820(h110) delivered for $80.slightly faster than h110,closer to aa 2400 actually, but it cut my powder cost in half,with very good velocity and performance. primers are cheap and the hazmat fee makes them silly to order online unless buying powder,and shipping 8 pounds of powder with 1000 primers is not the smartest idea lol. (jim carrie in pet detective) now if we could only find a deal on bullets! (Edited by 1badmagnum at 5:41 am on Jan. 20, 2003)

you should always get sealed packaging,if not I smell something fishy here.my surplus stuff doesnt come with a seal,but all my factory hodgdon does.

for blended powders you cant beat hodgdon.titegroup and hs-6 for reduced loads.

midway has the best prices on componants period.their shipping prices are very very fair and honest like they advertise.I use gibrass for surplus powder and once fired brass.

here is some hodgdon data for 147 grain. 147 GR. HDY XTP COL: 1.100" HS-6 5.0 885 27,900 CUP UNIVERSAL 3.3 869 31,000 CUP TITEGROUP 3.6 929 27,500 CUP you will need near maximum charges to push the 147 grain bullets for good accuracy.my loads consist of 4.5 grains of titegroup,or 5.5 grains of hs-6 using speer gold dots.

I'm necking down 50 ae cases to make 440 corbon rounds.I do these rounds on the rock chucker because of the torque needed to reform these cases.progressive presses are made with tolerences to flex slightly because your performing many processes at once.I could not make certain ammo with just one press.

you should be able to see a hair of the cannullure above the case mouth.set your seating die first,making sure your cases are uniform in size.if your case lengh varries this can change the col resulting in the firing pin not contacting the primer causing a misfire,or making the cartridge too long for your chamber.after you get the seat debth correct you can use the complete throw of the handle to finish the round with a good crimp.it takes a little practice to feel when the bullet is seated and the crimping process has begun and finished.I use the rock chucker for forming cases because of the strengh of the single stage press.I use the piggyback conversion for loading the rounds after forming them on the rock chucker.most progressives have some play because your performing a number of actions at the same time.

direct from starline,45 acp brass starts about $50 for 500 cases,+p and super are a few dollars more.these are new. gibrass has once fired for $50 per thousand. oncefired brass has 45 acp for 5 cents each. my first choice would be starline,followed by gibrass,jeff has some good deals on surplus powder,if you like experimentating with your loads.

I know the oehler's are the most accurate professional chronos out there.But I'm positive I will be shooting mine sometime in the future with a 50 ae round,this being said,I purchased a shooting chrony beta master for $129.any other members shot their chrony?

yep,the 380,9mm,38 super are all nearly the same except for the cases.380 is called the 9mm short sometimes.I'm not wasting any more time on these little calibers and returned my 380 dies for 41 magnum.

thanks,went to the range tonite and they shot ok.could have used another grain maybe max.thanks for the data.