Took the plunge today!!!!!!! Lee loadmaster+ Glock=lots of shooting fun!!

D

Drewz

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
108   0   1
Location
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
I finally broke the seal, I walked into a local shop and they had a new Lee Loadmaster press setup in my caliber, .40. It was previously bought and never opened so they sold it to me as used for 20% off. Now its time to finish my loading bench and clean up my new gun room. I am going to be loading for my new Glock 22C so I will be looking up information on that. Anyone loading .40 cal for their glock? I am looking for pointers, preferred powder choices, I shoot indoor sometimes so I cannot use FMJ so what bullet weights/options do you guys prefer? I am as green as can be for reloading so all information and feed back is welcome. I do know a couple of experienced guys that can give me a hand as well.

If you are in Regina I would buy you a beer to discuss this with you as well. Thanks!!!
 
Always fun picking up a new tool. Hopefully you can get it up and running with little difficulty. I assume you already have a manual or 2 and all the other tools to go with the press.....
 
Drewz said:
I finally broke the seal, I walked into a local shop and they had a new Lee Loadmaster press setup in my caliber, .40. It was previously bought and never opened so they sold it to me as used for 20% off. Now its time to finish my loading bench and clean up my new gun room. I am going to be loading for my new Glock 22C so I will be looking up information on that. Anyone loading .40 cal for their glock? I am looking for pointers, preferred powder choices, I shoot indoor sometimes so I cannot use FMJ so what bullet weights/options do you guys prefer? I am as green as can be for reloading so all information and feed back is welcome. I do know a couple of experienced guys that can give me a hand as well.

If you are in Regina I would buy you a beer to discuss this with you as well. Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

Here's a tip as I load a lot of 40cal.

Because Glocks have an issue with bulging cases I suggest you buy a lee carbide crimp die. Remove the insert and the adjuster on the top so you can use the die on your final pass to remove the bulge. It's cheaper than buying the lee bulge buster
 
I used to be a mechanic for 21 years so tinkering doesn't bother me at all. I have installed the press on my bench and have slowly been depriming brass to see how it functions and to make sure I know how it operates. I have a about 2500 once fired to clean up before I start going hard.

Anyone have a favorite power that seems to be readily available??
 
PitBull1973 said:
Here's a tip as I load a lot of 40cal.

Because Glocks have an issue with bulging cases I suggest you buy a lee carbide crimp die. Remove the insert and the adjuster on the top so you can use the die on your final pass to remove the bulge. It's cheaper than buying the lee bulge buster
Click to expand...


So you remove the bulge on the loaded round before it kicks it out?
 
Congrats Drewz, I've been reading the threads you started and think it's great you pulled the trigger! You'll have to do an update thread once you pound out your first batch of .40!
 
I bumped into a fellow from the gun club and I am going to bribe him with a beer and pizza to ensure I have it set up right. I will be doing a reloading and fun room setup thread at the same time. I have 120 square feet to myself now for my guns and reloading. Woo hoo!!
 
Drewz said:
Anyone have a favorite power that seems to be readily available??
Click to expand...

Just a tip that coarse flake powders like Red Dot, Promo, etc. do not meter consistently once you get down around 3 gr. The powder measure will throw 15 or 20 fine and then suddenly you'll get a half charge. I had the same problem with both the disks and adjustable charge bar. Finer grain powders like Bullseye & 231 work very well, however. Heavier charges of flake powders don't seem to have this problem.
 
Are copper plated bullets okay to use in your range? If so, I've heard good things about copper plated bullets and CFE Pistol powder in 40s&w....
 
There's a wide variety of possible powders. I would not say that any one is better or worse than the other as long as you stick to the small particle ball powder types over the flake style. Ted's warning on that was spot on.

For myself I'm a big fan of Titegroup. A small granule ball style powder that meters well and seems to drop pretty consistently from any type of measure I've used. But that's mostly because I seem to keep tripping over supplies of it right when I need to buy more. I'd be equally happy with any of the good small grain powders suggested by the others as well.

Because of the polygonal rifling in the Glock they recommend against cast lead bullets. But I know a couple of local guys that have shot quite a lot of cast through their Glocks without any issue other than slightly more frequent cleaning. But due to the style of rifling this likely demands some control over the sort of alloy and related hardness of the lead. If the indoor range gurus will allow copper plated bullets such as Campro and Berry your Glock will likely deal with that a lot better.

One thing you will want to do is separate the seating and crimping steps. And the best way to do that is go with a taper crimp die over just an other seating die.

Another hint that showed up when I read up on plated bullets. You don't want a hard crimp on those or it can cut through the plating and result in the plating being shed by the bullet as it leaves the muzzle much like a sabot. The proper crimp is when you just crimp enough to remove the flaring and leave a smooth casing. You don't actually want to see a crimp into the plating.

The Loadmaster does have it's quirks. I second the suggestion that you put "lee loadmaster" into the search line for You Tube and spend some time watching the videos on some of the more tricky areas and setup hints that are not shown in the Lee manual.

I'm still not a big fan of the Loadmaster for the reasons I pointed out in the other thread. But I gotta say that for the green you saved dealing with some quirks is going to be a LOT easier to accept! ! ! ! :d

LOAD ON! ! !
 
Drewz said:
I will try to hunt some down today. Anyone like Power Pistol at all?? Found several lbs of it locally. So I wanted to break it in so I did 350 rounds of de prime, primer pocket cleaning and in the tumbler now!!!!! GIT SUM!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Are you stainless tumbling? Primer pocket cleaning for pistol isn't necessary
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom