first day of my life as a reloader

[bennihanna]

so today i officially started reloading, ive had a classic lee turret press for about a week or 2 now but just got all the components yesterday, started reloading today, put out about 500 rounds so far and my arms feel like jello, very happy so far with the press but im already making plans to upgrade, i really want a dillon 550b, anyways, just waitin for a chance to try out my ammo

[gunderwood]

Congrats.

Just be careful and work up your loads. I.e. start low and work towards the max just in case something is out of spec; faster lot of power, hot primer, thick cases, bullet jammed into the rifling, head-space, etc.

You don't want it to be your last.

[bennihanna]

oh im definitely taking my time, im doing 50 round batches working my way up from the lowest starting point ive found in about .2 grain increments, im not going for match grade quality, im just workin on some cheaper range ammo

[allingeneral]

Congrats Ben - You're a reloader now!

[CowboyT]

Congrats, Ben! The Lee Classic Turret Press is a great piece of machinery.

One question. Do you primarily load handgun ammo or rifle ammo?

[gregj]

Congrats!! Santa brought me the press (kit from Cabela's), and I really enjoy mine. I hear ya on the jello arm thing. Nobody warned me about that.

[guitarpicva]

Congrats, Ben! The Lee Classic Turret Press is a great piece of machinery.

One question. Do you primarily load handgun ammo or rifle ammo?

Glad to hear this since I bought one also. Haven't set it up yet since I still need to go get some reloading manuals and some powder.

Reloading for a .44 mag and wanting to moderate the loads to < 1200 fps safely. So powder selection has been a bit of a chore. I am NEARLY settled on Unique but I hear 2400 is pretty good, it's a tad slower than Unique and the starting load is 1187 fps in a 8.275 barrel. That ought to be pretty close to my hunting loads.

Anyone have any likes or dislikes for powders for moderate .44 mag loads? I am using Hornady 240 gr. XTP's.

[bennihanna]

well i went to the range today, shot about 100 rounds of my reloaded 40S&W ammo, my only problem which i regret now was that i got wolf small pistol primers.... of course as you can probably guess, they suck! about every 1 out of 5 bullets wouldnt fire, the firing pin would strike, leave a pretty hefty indention in the primer but no detonation, i was told that it could have been contamination of the primers but i was very meticulous about keeping the primers clean and secluded from all lube/cleaners/solvents of any kind, other than the primers not firing, the ones that did shot straight and true, all in all i learned a very valuable lesson, im never buying anything wolf ever again

[gunderwood]

well i went to the range today, shot about 100 rounds of my reloaded 40S&W ammo, my only problem which i regret now was that i got wolf small pistol primers.... of course as you can probably guess, they suck! about every 1 out of 5 bullets wouldnt fire, the firing pin would strike, leave a pretty hefty indention in the primer but no detonation, i was told that it could have been contamination of the primers but i was very meticulous about keeping the primers clean and secluded from all lube/cleaners/solvents of any kind, other than the primers not firing, the ones that did shot straight and true, all in all i learned a very valuable lesson, im never buying anything wolf ever again

Could have been a lot of things. Where did you buy the primers from? It could have been their storage.

[SgtBill]

I use wolf small pistol primers and never have a problem.
Bill

[bennihanna]

i got them from the gun show in va beach

[zephyp]

i got them from the gun show in va beach

Good deal to keep them away from lubricants, etc but also be careful how you handle them. Oils and sweat from your fingers can also easily contaminate them. And if you're like me you sweat at the drop of a hat...

[gunderwood]

It could also be light primer strikes. How far recessed is the primer? Is it fully seated in the cup. Being .40SW, it probably isn't headspace related, but worth a look. Try the gun with other ammo (not your reloads). With semiauto striker fired guns, like glocks, etc., sometimes when the recoil spring wears out it can cause light primer strikes. You can check this by:

1. Make the gun safe, unload it.
2. Pull the slide out of lock up. The idea is to pull it back as little as possible, but still get the top of the barrel "under" the slide.
3. Point the gun up and release the slide.

The recoil spring should be strong enough to overcome gravity and lock up the slide completely with no delay. If it feels sluggish or fails to completely close, try replacing the recoil spring. Do this a few times, but if it fails even once, time for a new spring.

[Vahunter]

Try H110 for the .44 mag. It burns alot cleaner than Unique.

[CowboyT]

H110 doesn't do as well for less than near full-power loads. He wants to keep it below 1200 fps. If he's got a really big bullet, then H110's good for that, but otherwise, he'll be hitting over 1300 fps easily, even with a 4" barrel. But if you want a truly Magnum-type round, H110's hard to beat.

My powder of choice for lighter .44 Mag loads is Titegroup. It burns pretty cleanly and is relatively position-insensitive in the case (also good for .45 Colt for this reason). For heavier loads, I use the traditional 2400. Hey, it works.

[guitarpicva]

...My powder of choice for lighter .44 Mag loads is Titegroup. It burns pretty cleanly and is relatively position-insensitive in the case (also good for .45 Colt for this reason). For heavier loads, I use the traditional 2400. Hey, it works.

I also see "cowboy" loads for Titegroup down to 840 fps with cat bullets, but the (Hodgdon) starting load for a jacketed 240 gr bullet is over 1200 fps. Can you safely load Titegroup down below 1200 (say 1100) with a jacketed bullet?

[Palladin]

Ben - see PM...

[Vahunter]

H110 doesn't do as well for less than near full-power loads. He wants to keep it below 1200 fps. If he's got a really big bullet, then H110's good for that, but otherwise, he'll be hitting over 1300 fps easily, even with a 4" barrel. But if you want a truly Magnum-type round, H110's hard to beat.

My powder of choice for lighter .44 Mag loads is Titegroup. It burns pretty cleanly and is relatively position-insensitive in the case (also good for .45 Colt for this reason). For heavier loads, I use the traditional 2400. Hey, it works.

Yep I forgot he wanted lite loads. I use Titegroup in my .45 and one thing I have found is that it's almost as dirty as Unique but works really well. Since I only use magnum loads in my .44 I use H110 all the time with the exception of .44 mag snakeshot and I was using Unique for those.

[CowboyT]

I also see "cowboy" loads for Titegroup down to 840 fps with cat bullets, but the (Hodgdon) starting load for a jacketed 240 gr bullet is over 1200 fps. Can you safely load Titegroup down below 1200 (say 1100) with a jacketed bullet?

You certainly can! My "cowboy" load with this powder might be at 750 to 800 fps (I don't own a chrony yet). Titegroup is a *very* versatile powder. If you're looking in Hodgdon's Basic Manual, they tend to be like Alliant and list "never exceed" loads, saying to start 10 to 15% below that. That's why I like Lyman's reloading book; it gives more info.

However, a caution with the Hodgdon Cowboy Load section for .45 Long Colt. Hodgdon lists a minimum Titegroup charge of 5.0gr with a 200gr bullet. Don't believe it. That's right, I'm saying the load manual is wrong in this specific instance. I've tried it, and it's not enough powder to get a complete burn in the case. They don't go "BANG", they go "pop" like the weasel. Powder grains all throughout the barrel, a third of the powder doesn't even burn. Fortunately, no pills got stuck in my 7.5" barrel, but a couple of 'em sounded almost like squibs. I checked for bore obstructions after each and every round. Not fun.

The minimum charge I would ever use of Titegroup is 5.7gr with a 200gr bullet. You can probably go 5.4gr with a 240gr bullet (the min. listed is 5.0, don't believe that either).