Hand Gun reloading

[Jackalope33B]

Ive got the rifle reloading down pretty good.. Im about to step into the world of handgun loading. The rounds will be 45acp/.380acp I currently have a Forster COAX. Im guessing this will take awhile to load handgun rounds with or should I get a Lee Turret press?

Also, what is up with the "crimp" that you need for handgun bullets? Is this another DIE that needs to be bought? All Ive loaded is 308 bolt action ammo.

 

[normbal]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

I've been using a Dillon XL650 for about 65,000 rounds now. Used to shoot sub guns and cranking out almost 1,000 rounds an hour once I got into it was a heck of a lot more cost-effective for 9mm and .45 cap. .223 and .308 took a little longer, but still.

There's tradeoffs. time and money, you know?

I still do .380 acp in small runs with a single stage Lee challenger press. Couple hundred rounds at a time. Same with .30 Carbine rounds and a few others, like .44-40.

The crimp I gauge by taking a micrometer to a factory case as standard. I also use a Dillon Precision case gauge for most rounds. Once the round just slips into the case that's pretty much enough crimp.

Most pistol die sets have a crimper (resized, bullet seater, crimper), some, like Lee dies have one to flare the mouth and pour powder in.

you need to flare the mouth a bit to start the bullet. Resized, most cases are going to be too tight to allow a bullet to ease into the case mouth without crushing the case, stripping the copper jacket off the bullet or shearing a large piece of lead all of which can screw up your reloading rhythm. at least.

For some rounds, I use the Lee factory crimp tool, especially to get the case mouth to "roll over" into a cannelure.

Have fun.

 

[427Cobra]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

I strongly recommend against using a Lee Factory Crimp Die to crimp pistol rounds, the carbide sizing ring resizes the bullet which leads to horrible accuracy, I also recommend not using the seating die crimp, get a separate tapper crimp die. I load everything on my Co-Ax, or RCBS Partner Press, if you buy Hornady dies there lock ring will work just fine with the Co-Ax, save your pennies for a auto indexing progressive.

 

[M C]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

yea get a dillion- 550 or 650 awesome machines!! i haven't really timed my self to see how many i can make in an hour, but its impressive- you WILL NOT regret spending the money at all. it defenitely pays for itself in the long run.

 

[wilecoyote]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

lee turret can work honestly for his (low)price,but pro1000 it's a hassle to reset when changin'calibers,and suffer of a noticeable amount of play,anyway_ lee factory crimp dies,correctly setted,performed well and never give me problems_

 

[fncannon]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

I use a Lee FCD to iron out the case mouth belling in cast loads. I switched to a Hornady AP after the 550 munched too many precious 25-20WCF brass. Yes, I have both a pistol and rifle in that caliber. The trick with the FCD is not to go too far, or that puppy <span style="font-style: italic">will</span> squish projectiles down, leading to inaccuracy and shorter case neck life.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

I have used lee factory crimp dies on four of my pistol calibers and haven't had any issues.You need to crimp semi-auto rds to close up the case mouth and hold the bullet in place,but you needn't kill it.Follow the directions that come with your crimp die(taper crimp for semi's,roll crimp for revolvers),don't overdo it and you'll be fine.

 

[koodbe]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

Just keep in mind that the case mouth is what the round chambers on unlike the ogive of your bottleneck rounds. Clean crisp case mouth is required for consistency here.Like NCHillbilly said "dont overcrimp".

 

[noz455sd]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

It sucks a white dog turd to load pistol ammo on a single stage press or even a turret compared to a auto indexing progressive press

 

[TexIndian]

Re: Hand Gun reloading

What koodbe said above on straight wall semi-auto ammo (.380, 9mm, .45 ACP, etc). These rounds headspace off the rim of the case mouth - the tip of the case mouth hits a ridge inside the chamber which keeps the round from going any farther. If the round goes in too far, the firing pin may not set off the primer. Or worse, the round will fire but the case is so far away from the bolt face that it ruptures. Not pretty.

After belling the brass prior to seating, it needs to be brought back down in diameter. In any die set for this type of caliber I've ever used, the seating die has a built-in taper crimp that you adjust by screwing the die in and out. Sometimes if you bring the brass back to where it looks and feels snugged up against the bullet, it is actually too small in diameter. You need to check the diameter at the rim of the case mouth and compare it with the specs from your loading manual.

For instance, a .380 gets its name from the fact that this is the optimum diameter of the case mouth. It's the same diameter for the 9mm. Most ammo looks a little funny if you set the case mouth to exactly .380 - the case lip forms a ridge that sticks out away from the bullet. Shoots fine but looks weird, and that ridge could cause the rounds to hang up in a magazine, etc. You can get away with a case mouth that is a little smaller than this. In fact, most factory ammo I've measured is a little smaller than the specs call for. It's still going to hit that lip in the chamber unless you get it small enough to miss it all the way around - too small by twice the thickness of the neck walls. You can make up a dummy round and test how it feeds in your gun(s). If it comes to a solid stop when it is seated in the chamber, you're GTG.

For rimmed ammo (.38 Special, .357, etc) The headspace is set by the rim so the neck diameter isn't so crucial. Most die sets for these calibers have a roll crimp built into the seating die. For a light .38 round, not much crimp is needed. Too much will just wear out the lip of your brass early. For magnum loads in revolvers, you need enough crimp so that the recoil from one round doesn't cause the bullets in the other rounds to stretch out from where you seated them - and lock up the revolver. A good crimp is also needed for ammo going into a tubular magazine - lever guns.

I loaded thousands of pistol rounds in a single stage before I moved to a progressive. There are a lot of things to watch for and it's hard to watch them all if you're just learning. If you go to a progressive, make sure there is any extra hole for a powder checker or lockout die. Unlike rifles, it is real easy to double charge a pistol round and never know it until you pull the trigger. This is even more of a risk if you start out on a progressive.