Got my press, processed some brass, ready to charge/seat bullets

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jjr

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Okay, so got my Lee Hand Press in a couple weeks ago, I've processed a bit over 1000 brass, have a bunch primed, belled the case mouth so I'm ready to charge the cases and seat the bullets.

For components, I have mixed brass, Zero 230 grain hollow point bullets, a big ass can of Unique, and a mix of small pistol (Federal) and large pistol primers (CCI).

I'm assuming I wouldn't use the same load for the small and large pistol primed brass.

As far as loading data goes, I got a bunch of reloading manuals (PDF's from the web) and only one of them really list 230 grain JHP bullets for load data. Is load data the same between JHP and FMJ bullets?

The only load data I can find for 230 JHP is for a Hornady XTP (which I hear the Zero bullets are close to in terms of construction) and is from Midway USA and lists a starting point of 5.3, and a max of 7.1 grains of Unique, OAL of 1.275. I believe this data is for a large pistol primer, how would I change it for small pistol, or would the difference be negligible?

This seem reasonable to people? I'm assuming I start with a few rounds at the starting point, work my way up to the max checking for pressure signs, and get the load where I want it recoil/accuracy wise?

Just looking to get confirmation before I get to the step that could potentially f*ck my hand up and my pistol.

Will be fired from a HK45.
 
Load data for small and large (assuming both for 45acp) then yes the same. At least mine were. If your near or over Max maybe step it back some for the large primer.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
Load data for small and large (assuming both for 45acp) then yes the same. At least mine were. If your near or over Max maybe step it back some for the large primer.
Click to expand...

+1 if at the topmend of the chart dial it back for the large primers. Otherwise, load'em up!!
 
Does the barrel come out of the pistol real easy? If so, take it out and use it as a chamber gauge when setting the OAL. Some chambers have much shorter throats than others.

For your note book, you will want to note the OAL that just barely touches the rifling. So start with your first seated bullet at a much longer OAL and drop it into the chamber. It will problem softly bottom with the bullet in the rifling. Turn the seater a quarter turn and seat another bullet. It will be about 0.012" shorter and drop it in.

Keep doing this until you get a round that thunks against the chamber mouth. It feels very different when the case hits the chamber instead of the bullet hitting the rifling. make a note of that length. That is your chamber max OAL. Take all the long ones you made and seat them to the same OAL. Now take those rounds and put them in the mag. If they fit, your chamber max is compatible with your mag Max OAL.

If they don't fit the mag, seat them deeper until they do fit, with at least 50 thou of clearance.

These rounds will fit in the mag and in the chamber. But they may not feed. Next step is to load the mag in the gun and cycle the slide and see if they chamber all the way and eject ok. If they don't, seat them deeper until they do.

If they do fit, note that length as the Max OAL for that bullet and load some up at your start load and a load 0.5gr hotter.

Then seat the bullets 0.050" deeper and make the same two loads. At the first range shoot, note which length is most reliable for feeding. You might find the shorter one better.

Once you have the OAL that feeds best you can try other powder charges for accuracy.
 
Ganderite said:
Does the barrel come out of the pistol real easy? If so, take it out and use it as a chamber gauge when setting the OAL. Some chambers have much shorter throats than others.

For your note book, you will want to note the OAL that just barely touches the rifling. So start with your first seated bullet at a much longer OAL and drop it into the chamber. It will problem softly bottom with the bullet in the rifling. Turn the seater a quarter turn and seat another bullet. It will be about 0.012" shorter and drop it in.

Keep doing this until you get a round that thunks against the chamber mouth. It feels very different when the case hits the chamber instead of the bullet hitting the rifling. make a note of that length. That is your chamber max OAL. Take all the long ones you made and seat them to the same OAL. Now take those rounds and put them in the mag. If they fit, your chamber max is compatible with your mag Max OAL.

If they don't fit the mag, seat them deeper until they do fit, with at least 50 thou of clearance.

These rounds will fit in the mag and in the chamber. But they may not feed. Next step is to load the mag in the gun and cycle the slide and see if they chamber all the way and eject ok. If they don't, seat them deeper until they do.

If they do fit, note that length as the Max OAL for that bullet and load some up at your start load and a load 0.5gr hotter.

Then seat the bullets 0.050" deeper and make the same two loads. At the first range shoot, note which length is most reliable for feeding. You might find the shorter one better.

Once you have the OAL that feeds best you can try other powder charges for accuracy.
Click to expand...

i have never thought of taking out me barrel i just load a bunch at different oal and loads and see what workd best , this methode you have dipicted will save me a whole lot of trial and error time thanks
 
I would make up a couple of dummy rounds (no primer or powder) to use for initial setup of the OAL, and manually feed tests....
 
Since you are using a single stage (hand press), it may not matter too much. But, i would recommend that you decide on which size of primer brass you want to use and stick with it. A mixed lot of .45 ACP brass is probably a pain to keep sorted, and if you ever switch over to a progressive press you could have even more problems. Nothing at all to do with the effect on your load, just practicality and trying to keep things simple.
 
Ganderite said:
Does the barrel come out of the pistol real easy? If so, take it out and use it as a chamber gauge when setting the OAL. Some chambers have much shorter throats than others.

For your note book, you will want to note the OAL that just barely touches the rifling. So start with your first seated bullet at a much longer OAL and drop it into the chamber. It will problem softly bottom with the bullet in the rifling. Turn the seater a quarter turn and seat another bullet. It will be about 0.012" shorter and drop it in.

Keep doing this until you get a round that thunks against the chamber mouth. It feels very different when the case hits the chamber instead of the bullet hitting the rifling. make a note of that length. That is your chamber max OAL. Take all the long ones you made and seat them to the same OAL. Now take those rounds and put them in the mag. If they fit, your chamber max is compatible with your mag Max OAL.

If they don't fit the mag, seat them deeper until they do fit, with at least 50 thou of clearance.

These rounds will fit in the mag and in the chamber. But they may not feed. Next step is to load the mag in the gun and cycle the slide and see if they chamber all the way and eject ok. If they don't, seat them deeper until they do.

If they do fit, note that length as the Max OAL for that bullet and load some up at your start load and a load 0.5gr hotter.

Then seat the bullets 0.050" deeper and make the same two loads. At the first range shoot, note which length is most reliable for feeding. You might find the shorter one better.

Once you have the OAL that feeds best you can try other powder charges for accuracy.
Click to expand...

Okay, so I just got around to doing this, took me a bunch of brass and bullets as I kept expecting it to work around 1.275. Is it odd that the only one that would fall free from my barrel was an OAL of 1.227?

EDIT: Forgot to add, I tried dropping some factory reloaded stuff in the barrel, Which measured around 1.25, dropped from my barrel fine. Difference between that ammo is that it's ball ammo vs the HP bullets I'm loading with. Would it be fine to load at 1.227? Would it be too short and raise the pressure too much?
 
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