I've been wanting to get into reloading for quite some time now so I went out to bass pro to look at some single stage reloading presses (I did have my mind set on a lee 50th anniversary). They had a display will all there presses on it, so I started to look at all the single stages. The lee single stage was nice, but then I seen the Hornady lock n load. The press was very well build and looked like a great starter press. They had a Lock n load classic kit for $399.99 which was a reasonable price so I purchased it along with a few shell holders. At my house I already had 1lb of Titegroup powder, old federal small pistol primers that I picked up at a gunshow, tons of brass, hornady 9mm carbide dies and Calibers group 124grain 9mm projectiles (500).
I bolted the Hornady press to a sturdy table. My reloading book told me to start with 4.1 grains of titegroup. I was told to go up or down 0.1 grain to test and see what my gun likes the most. So I made 10 of each 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4. The firearm for the test was my 9mm JRcarbine (gen 2 can handle +p ammo) I was very impressed with the groups that I was getting. The 3.9 and the 4.0 were not so great, but the 4.1 and 4.4 seemed to have the best accuracy. So I made about 400-450 cartridges loaded with 4.1 grains of titegroup. With my 10 shot groups at 40 yards all bullets would touch with the exception of 1 filer. So far I fired 100 rounds with no issues. What really impressed me was how accurate hornady's powder drop measure was. I dialed it down to 4.1 grains and I weighed it about 10 different times and it consistently came out to 4.1. Very pleased with Hornady products. They also have this promotion going on where you get a certain amount of free bullets if you purchase there products. So with my purchase I get 500 free projectiles of my choice from there list.
Money wise, I did save a good amount of money. With the supplies I purchased (most were from gunshows), I figured I'm paying about $8 a box of 50, which is better than $20 for factory. Plus my hand loaded ammo is more accurate then factory. It's a great hobby to get into, and man does time go by when you're reloading. Also I'd like to thank all you CGNers who answered all of my noob questions in my previous posts, you guys were a big help!
I bolted the Hornady press to a sturdy table. My reloading book told me to start with 4.1 grains of titegroup. I was told to go up or down 0.1 grain to test and see what my gun likes the most. So I made 10 of each 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4. The firearm for the test was my 9mm JRcarbine (gen 2 can handle +p ammo) I was very impressed with the groups that I was getting. The 3.9 and the 4.0 were not so great, but the 4.1 and 4.4 seemed to have the best accuracy. So I made about 400-450 cartridges loaded with 4.1 grains of titegroup. With my 10 shot groups at 40 yards all bullets would touch with the exception of 1 filer. So far I fired 100 rounds with no issues. What really impressed me was how accurate hornady's powder drop measure was. I dialed it down to 4.1 grains and I weighed it about 10 different times and it consistently came out to 4.1. Very pleased with Hornady products. They also have this promotion going on where you get a certain amount of free bullets if you purchase there products. So with my purchase I get 500 free projectiles of my choice from there list.
Money wise, I did save a good amount of money. With the supplies I purchased (most were from gunshows), I figured I'm paying about $8 a box of 50, which is better than $20 for factory. Plus my hand loaded ammo is more accurate then factory. It's a great hobby to get into, and man does time go by when you're reloading. Also I'd like to thank all you CGNers who answered all of my noob questions in my previous posts, you guys were a big help!
