Some Reloading Questions........

[Ghost]

I have a Dillon XL650 and have been reloading 223 and 40 S&W about a year. I don't have anyone I know that reloads and I haven't been able to find the answer to some questions that I have. BTW, I have had ZERO problems with the 650! It has worked perfectly right out of the box. I want to do this right. I searched the forums before deciding to ask you guys with more experience.

1. How do you clean up spilled powder? Load manuals say not to vacuum it up with a vacuum cleaner. My reload room is a carpeted bedroom turned office and load room so sweeping with a broom won't work.

2. When working up loads, how critical is it to stay with the exact components listed for the load? For instance, Speer says the loads are only for Speer bullets and that pressures and velocities won't be the same with other bullets. Is this just marketing or am I getting into dangerous areas as far as pressure using other bullets, like Berry's? We practice with what we carry (165 grain JHP) and Speer is expensive.

3. I want to work up a load with a softer recoil for the 40s&w. How do you reduce recoil without significantly reducing the charge? I want to stay with the bullet we carry (165 grain JHP) for practice.

4. This last one is really driving me up a wall. I bought some bulk 62 grain rifle bullets from a place that will go nameless in Johnson City, TN. I set up my dies with no problem. I set the bullet seat to seat with an OAL of 2.260". It was dead on. I ran five bullets through and the OAL varied from 2.250 (the first one) to 2.270. I reset the seating die again. Both times I used cases or a loaded round in each station to set the die. Again, the seating die is set to 2.260" on the test round. The lock rings are all tight. I run more bullets through and not a one measures 2.260". If I change to a major manufacturer's bullets, there is no problem and there is no problem loading pistol. What is wrong here? Can I fire what I have loaded and more importantly, can I load the remainder of the 1,000 I have left or just throw them away? Measuring and re-seating a 1,000 rounds on a 650 would mean doing each one seperately and that's no fun.

Thanks for the help guys. I know these are questions you experienced shooters probably can't believe someone is asking, but I want to learn and like I said, I want to do it right.

[John Dunn]

1. I vacuum my carpeted reloading room to free it of spilled powder on occasion. I'd live dangerously here. I'm more worried about spilled primers than spilled powder, so I have a super cheap vacuum I use.

2. I exchange similar bullets all the time if they are the same weight. Just make sure you're not switching a lead bullet load and using it with a jacketed bullet. To me a jacketed 165 is a jacketed 165 as far as pressures are concerned.

3. The short answer is you can't. The long answer is work on your stance and grip until your concerns about the iota of difference between the recoil impulse of Titegroup vs. Clays, 12 vs. 14 lb recoil springs, etc begin to bore the crap out of you.

4. Measure a bunch of the bullets and see how much their length varies. Most bullet seaters push on the ogive, not the bullet tip. Load those bullets up and hose away.

[R/T Performance]

The vacum motor is after the bag no big deal unless you sweep cigrette buts first.

I use tite group so I got the free manual from hogdon. Or you could go get the one cailber load date book but as long as they are plate or jacketed the data should be good.As long as weight and oal get set properly and you not using way longer bullets.

I shoot uspsa so I use allot light loads(40 in Production)Some powder don't like to be loaded light but faster or slower powder does make allot difference in recoil.

Sorry don't load riffle bullets.But I would set them on a light charge and load them short

Edited August 2, 2006 by R/T Performance

[shred]

The trick I found with vaccuming is to use one that has a good filter before any moving parts, and empty it right after you vac up some powder. It would suck if the next thing you snorked up was a live primer, leaving you to do the exploding flaming electric vaccum-cleaner dance.

[DJPoLo]

The trick I found with vaccuming is to use one that has a good filter before any moving parts, and empty it right after you vac up some powder. It would suck if the next thing you snorked up was a live primer, leaving you to do the exploding flaming electric vaccum-cleaner dance.

Which is precisely what Shred's Avatar is doing!

-Chet

[TBF]

(1)

I don't like the idea of carpeted reloading areas and vacuum cleaners.

Not saying it won't work , more saying I am a big chicken when it comes to mixing fire with reloading components. Cluck - Cluck .

(2)

You should be able to swap bullets in 40 with little problem if you are not loading max loads. It would be advisable to cut back a few .1's on the powder and compare the results to what you had seen before the switch just to be sure.

Most likely the Berry's bullets will run a few FPS faster over the same charge as a JHP.

(3)

firing the same weight bullet at the same velocity over a faster powder may ( I say may ) give a slightly " softer " feel than a slower powder , the difference is pretty small .

Firing a heavier bullet at the same PF ( power factor ) over a faster powder will be more noticable difference . Not that that helps if you want to stick with the 165's...

(4)

I would ( just me ) load these bullets so the longest loaded round would fit in the mag ( some will be short ) over a LESS than max load and just shoot them.

Just .02 from some guy on the internet...

Travis F.

[konkapot]

To save the carpet in my reloading room, I laid down a plastic floor mat like you would usein an office, for example. Protects the carpet, is cheap, and allows you to sweep stuff up.