A great many thanks to all of you who have helped my reloading endeavor.

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
1

I know this forum shuns “Facebook” type posts, so I will try to make it somewhat technical.

I wanted to get into reloading many many years ago. Growing up I had a neighbor and mentor that showed me all about reloading, but I couldn’t do it myself per mama’s rules. He passed away in high school and after that Gunny didn’t take too kindly to reloading presses setup in the barracks, so It’s been a long time coming. Reloading means more to me than just saving money or developing accurate ammo.

Today I loaded my first 9mm round. I owe many thanks to williejc, masan, markm, and everyone else who has contributed information and time. I was very intimidated, but now that everything is in front of me I already feel like an expert! :wink:

williejc was kind enough to donate a pristine ~50 year old Lachmiller engineering press after my POS Remington 700 obliterated my reloading budget. This thing is ridiculously smooth (even compared to modern presses) and is solid as a rock. I am very appreciative of his generosity, and it looks and functions great on my iron grinder stand (williejc’s idea)

I setup the sizing/deprimer die, and it went as easy at it could!

I used the RCBS ram priming unit to insert a new primer, and that went easy too. I absolutely like the feel of the RPU and got a correct depth (using calipers) on my very first try. It allows for a very easy “feel” to know when it’s been placed in the pocket.

Then the trouble came - which was entirely my fault.

First, I might have had the expander die a little bit too far down :bad:

Then, I went through 16 rounds (dummy rounds) of this:

Until I finally figured out that I am an idiot. When I started out I just did “one” piece of brass only to understand the concept. When I messed that piece of brass up during the crimp/seating stage, I went straight from the brass pile to the bullet seating die, and I couldn’t understand why the bullets were falling into the case. After more than a dozen screw-ups I realized that the full length sizing die must resize the case to a smaller size and prevent the bullet from falling all the way down. This fixed it.

So, here is all my ruined brass and bullets (some were crimped so tightly I couldn’t get the bullet out), and my first successfully loaded 9mm dummy round (primer, case, bullet - no powder)

Again, thanks to all of you for the help and assistance. The wealth of knowledge and eagerness to assist a young guy like me trying to get started on this forum is really something else. Absolutely A+ stand up group of people here.

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9mm is a gateway round… :wink:

welcome to the habit :slight_smile:

3

You aren’t kidding.

I just loaded these 4 rounds (luckily I learned that GRAMS and GRAINS are NOT the same thing when 4.6 grams did not fit in my 9mm case!) and fired them suppressed through my G19. Cycled flawlessly. Those were the 4 most exciting rounds I’ve ever fired despite aiming directly into the dirt in front of me and not wearing ear pro because I forgot that 115gr is supersonic. :o

115gr Jacketed Round Nose
CCI 500 Primers
4.6 gr HP-38
1.145" OAL

Brass was marked “PMP”, “S&B”, and “FC”. (Two were PMP) What is PMP?

4

It almost becomes a hobby in and of itself, at least it has been for me. I think everyone who reloads has a great deal of empathy for the cases you over-belled. I have my own can of destroyed brass from my own mishaps. Welcome!

5

Glad you finally got started. I’m sure we all CAN’T WAIT for more questions… :stuck_out_tongue:

“Maybe this other powder will produce a more accurate load” seems to be a question I’m always asking myself… which i why I have 10 different pistol powders sitting in the cabinet…

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Good job, Eurodriver. Tell us how the dippers worked for you.

I made suggestions to Eurodriver about how to start reloading without going broke–mainly by purchasing basic equipment from well known companies. Euro, share with us what you spent getting set up to load for one caliber.

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PMP = Pratoria Metal Pressing - South African

8

I was definitely glad to find out there was a way to get started without dropping $1,000+ right off the bat.

I clean the brass with soapy water and steel wool. Cost = $0
My 9mm Hornady titanium nitride dies were $50 at a LGS.
RCBS Priming unit was $20ish
The powder dippers were like $10.
The powder scale was $25.
The stand for my press (I don’t have a bench) was $50 and works excellently, although I may get a sandbag for the back legs as it comes up a tiny hair when resizing.
Other incidentals like a funnel, case block, primer pocket cleaner, etc were $25 or so.

With your gift of the press and powder trickler I am all in for around $175!

The dippers work well, as one of the dippers gives an almost perfect shot of 4.6gr if I get the fill right, they are just a little time consuming but taking it slow is half the fun at this stage.

Thanks guys.

They are coming. Threads and threads of them. You all are lucky I am going away for Easter soon.

9

When you start making awesome rifle ammo, you’ll not want to spend your time on pistol. Shoot! I don’t even shoot pistol anymore… let alone take the time to make the ammo… (except an rare batch for Pappabear)

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Thanks for the post, Euro. You’re emboldening me to reconsider reloading as a hobby…

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Reloading is fun ! If my cars are out in the driveway it means I’m in the garage loading ammo.

That old press is a beauty too. I’ve had a Lyman crusher single stage for 25 years and a Dillon 650 for 15+ years.