I finally got into .45ACP reloading this past weekend, spent almost 6Hrs to set up my Hornady LnL AP and create some test loads. Looking back at my first attempts to reload 6-7months ago, I feel a lot more confident. However, a bunch of things still make me scratch my head...
1. The Hornady die set had the decapping rod bent. I didn't notice until my first - gentle, I swear! - push, and bent it a bit more.
Straightened the rod, but will have to call Hornady to ask for replacement, just in case this one is damaged goods.
2. Hornady priming setup gave me no issues while using small pistol primers. Switching to large primers was a different story. The large primer shuttle has sh*tty finish, with burrs everywhere, making the next primer stuck in the shuttle and causing it to jam. I had to deburr and polish it.
3. The joy of using free range pickup brass comes with the price of learning that NT brass is too tight for regular primers. No surprise here, same happened when I tried NT in 9mm or the .40S&W. But then there are brands like ICC that had to be different.
I'm still making my sample list of brass to be avoided.
4. This was also my first-time use of Hodgdon Clays. Pros: cheap. Cons: inconsistent metering with LnL powder measure (I thought it was pretty good, actually, until I tried Clays). Lots of smoke, dirty. Mind you, I load light. The recommended OAL is 1.200", but I load to 1.265", only because my STI Trojan lets me. I'm using Canadian BDX 180gr FMJ.
I made 5 batches of eight, from 3.4gr to 3.8gr. Overall, I like the lack of recoil compared to factory loads. I'm still a newbie when it comes to judging load accuracy, but I think I'll stick with 3.5gr - at least until I get the chrono I ordered.
Top right: 3.4gr
Top left: 3.5 gr
Bottom left: 3.6gr
Bottom right: 3.7gr
Center: 3.8gr
1. The Hornady die set had the decapping rod bent. I didn't notice until my first - gentle, I swear! - push, and bent it a bit more.
Straightened the rod, but will have to call Hornady to ask for replacement, just in case this one is damaged goods.2. Hornady priming setup gave me no issues while using small pistol primers. Switching to large primers was a different story. The large primer shuttle has sh*tty finish, with burrs everywhere, making the next primer stuck in the shuttle and causing it to jam. I had to deburr and polish it.
3. The joy of using free range pickup brass comes with the price of learning that NT brass is too tight for regular primers. No surprise here, same happened when I tried NT in 9mm or the .40S&W. But then there are brands like ICC that had to be different.
I'm still making my sample list of brass to be avoided.4. This was also my first-time use of Hodgdon Clays. Pros: cheap. Cons: inconsistent metering with LnL powder measure (I thought it was pretty good, actually, until I tried Clays). Lots of smoke, dirty. Mind you, I load light. The recommended OAL is 1.200", but I load to 1.265", only because my STI Trojan lets me.
I'm using Canadian BDX 180gr FMJ.I made 5 batches of eight, from 3.4gr to 3.8gr. Overall, I like the lack of recoil compared to factory loads. I'm still a newbie when it comes to judging load accuracy, but I think I'll stick with 3.5gr - at least until I get the chrono I ordered.
Top right: 3.4gr
Top left: 3.5 gr
Bottom left: 3.6gr
Bottom right: 3.7gr
Center: 3.8gr
