Reloading for 9mm?

[Katana]

I started this year with 9mm and have gotten the cost down to about 4.50/box. I bought a lee loadmaster progressive and once I got it tuned correctly it works very well. If your going to shoot that much in a month its well worth it to reload. I also have a single stage RCBS press for reloading just rifle rounds. In my opinion it takes more time to monkey around changing your progressive that it would to just use a single stage press. Again this depends on how much rifle rounds you plan to shoot etc. For me I just make hunting rounds so its not worth the effort to convert my progressive every time I need to load 50 or so rifle rounds.

As for progressive and pistol? Its worth it to reload!

my 0.02cents

I too have the Load Master and it is a great press for the $$$ I will admit that it can be a bit finicky at times but if you keep it clean it works pretty darn good and half the price of a Dillon 500.

I even used it for reloading my 300 WM till I got my single stage.

 

[adriel]

You'll probably get sick of reloading trying to get 1000 rounds per month on a single stage press. That kind of volume requires either a well setup Turret press, or a progressive.

Lee at the cheap (but finicky) end, Hornady a price point up, Dillon at the top.

 

[takman74]

You'll probably get sick of reloading trying to get 1000 rounds per month on a single stage press. That kind of volume requires either a well setup Turret press, or a progressive.

Lee at the cheap (but finicky) end, Hornady a price point up, Dillon at the top.

The Lee is definitely on the cheap side for a progressive. After much thought I chose to purchase one just because I didn't want to spend the big coin on a higher end one til I saw how much I would use it. It turns out that I will probably get a more expensive one some day. Once you get the Lee sorted out and use all 5 stations in the reloading process the issues go away. The only thing that I encounter from time to time is making sure that the primer tray stays full and feeds correctly. It really isn't bad for the money and makes rounds just like the more expensive ones.

 

[Cammy7s]

1) Cast bullets.... Free
2) Range Brass.... Free
3) WIN 231 powder.... 1.3Cents per loaded round
4) CCI primers.... 3.6 cents per loaded round

Cost per box of 50 is about 2.45 by this method but add incidentals tax etc and it gets to about 4.50.... even if you bought cast bullets by the pail it would bump it up to about 6 dollars/box. No confusion here

All things considered its about half the cost of purchasing a box of factory stuff. which is good enough for me!

Yeah, but what is your time worth?


Where does everyone get their used wheel weights from?

 

[Therion]

The reloading manuals (I have several) provide loads for FMJ bullets and for cast lead bullets. What about AIM and Berry bullets? It is my understanding that they are plated (I think that is the right term, correct me if I am wrong) but not FMJ. For loading those, I think I read somewhere that you generally follow the recommendations for cast bullets.

What is generally done? I spent a few minutes on here, trying to search for a response on older threads, but could not find a clear answer to this question. Also, please indicate if the response is also relevant to other calibers (e.g. .45 ACP).

Thanks in advance.
Therion

 

[sdlonyer]

The reloading manuals (I have several) provide loads for FMJ bullets and for cast lead bullets. What about AIM and Berry bullets? It is my understanding that they are plated (I think that is the right term, correct me if I am wrong) but not FMJ. For loading those, I think I read somewhere that you generally follow the recommendations for cast bullets.

What is generally done? I spent a few minutes on here, trying to search for a response on older threads, but could not find a clear answer to this question. Also, please indicate if the response is also relevant to other calibers (e.g. .45 ACP).

Thanks in advance.
Therion

I loaded some 148 gr lead HBWC and some 148 gr HBWC plated Berry bullets with identical loads of 3.1 gr of HP38 . I tried both tonight in my S&W 52. The lead performed flawlessly..the plated bullets almost all stovepiped. I guess that there is less friction with the Berry bullets and that does not build enough pressure to operate the action effectively. MY conclusion is that I will need to load plated bullets slightly hotter.

 

[takman74]

Yeah, but what is your time worth?


Where does everyone get their used wheel weights from?

My Wheel weights come from three of the local tire shops.

My Time is valuable to me but cannot be calculated into this equation or else its just getting silly....

If we go down that road then one would have to consider every penny spent on going to get a box of factory ammo... Time,fuel,insurance,incidentals and on and on and on...........

 

[SKS50]

Therion you should use lead bullet data when loading plated bullet,recommended MV for pistol bullets is 1200 fps. Max. for plated rifle bullets you can load those up to 1700 fps.

I shoot the Berry's and Rainier plated pistol bullets in my 9mm loads all the time,be careful not to over crimp so as not to break the thin copper plating or resize the softer plated bullet treat it like lead as far as loading. It shouldn't be an issue with taper crimped ammo as long as you don't get carried away with the crimp.

A fast and easy way is to take a factory round and measure the crimp on it and that figure is your reference point to adjust your dies. just for reference the CCI Blazer Brass ammo is loaded with Berry's 115 gr. RN plated bullets.