Went to the rifle club this morning with foo.c and his chronograph. Read his write-up.
Might as well dig into the results.
Reloading Data
Working up my .223 loads
Now that I’ve some time, I’m working up my .223 Remington loads, with the goal being finding a good hunting load.
This will be shot out of a Bushmaster Super Light Carbine. 5.56 chambering, 16″ chrome-lined slim-profile barrel with 1:9 twist.
The basic ingredients:
Bullet: Barnes TSX .224″ 62 grain
Case: new Remington brass, .223 Remington
Primer: CCI #41
C.O.L.: 2.250″
The powders are where I’m varying things up. I want to experiment and see what sorts of results I’ll get. I have three powders: Varget, H4895, TAC. Using Barnes Reloading Manual #4 data, I’m starting at the minimum load then working my way up in 0.5 grain increments. For example, according to the Barnes data I’d start with 22.5 grains of TAC. So I’d load 3 with 22.5 grains, then 3 with 23.0 grains, then 3 with 23.5 grains, then 3 with 24.0 grains. The max charge is 24.5 grains and for now I’m going to stay away from max. Each powder has a 2.0 grain range, so 4 steps is enough for now. Granted I could probably go to max and be fine (it is a 5.56 chambered rifle and I am loading .223), but 1. I think this is enough curious data collection for now, 2. things are kinda tedious and I want to get things done so I can go to the range and chrono tomorrow so if I can keep the number of rounds to reload down, that’ll work. And yes, just loading 3 of each. I figure 3 should be enough for me to get a basic idea if it will work or not and what sort of performance I’ll get, yet not cost me a ton in components (mostly bullets).
These are the first rifle rounds I’ve ever reloaded. I learned a few things:
- You need a lot less case lube than you think. I had no idea how much I really needed and apparently less than I thought. I dented the shoulders of my first few cases due to too much lube. Oh well, live and learn.
- I tried priming using the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press, but it just didn’t feel right — I couldn’t seat the primers down far enough. I used the hand-primer tool instead and was able to get things seated all the way down. Not sure exactly what the deal is, but it was a tight primer fit. Given the way rifle reloading’s process flows vs. handgun reloading, I’ll probably use the press for handgun priming and the hand-tool for rifle priming. Of course, my Hornady Lock-n-Load press is coming so I doubt I’ll do much more handgun on the single-stage press.
- Lee shell holders don’t fit the RCBS hand-primer tool.
- I’m glad I bought a powder trickler. I set up the powder drop to drop the min charge. Then I’d use the trickler to add the 0.5 increments. Should have some well-measured charges.
- TAC does meter very well, but because it just flows so nicely it bounces out of the brass scale pan and makes a mess. Meanwhile, the Varget and H4895 often cause the powder drop to not throw, but they don’t bounce around and makes such a mess. As well, it’s easier to clean up the Varget and H4895, whereas the TAC takes forever to clean out of the powder drop and the powder trickler.
Foo.c and I will head to the range in the morning. He’s going to let me use his chronograph to see how things perform. I’m going to take some other .223 ammo with me as well to get some “factory” readings for comparison.
Stay tuned.
Range Report – Reload Results
Went to the local indoor range this morning, because I had collected enough “stuff to do” and work was a bit quiet this morning — perfect to slip away for a little bit and get some stuff done.
First, I had a scope problem, but I’ll write about that later.
I had 2 main reloads to try: .38 Special and 9mm.
.38 Special Reloads
This was shooting my first go at .38 special reloads. You can read the recipe here, but basically 3.5 grains of TiteGroup, Berry’s .38 Special 158 grain plated RN DS bullet, Remington 1.5 primer, CBC brass, 1.510″ COL. Note that I had no crimp on these, because I wasn’t sure about crimping on .38, especially with these Berry’s bullets.
I was curious about the crimps and spoke with someone at Berry’s about it. The basic rule with their bullets is nothing over 1200 fps and no heavy roll crimps. He said that on .38 Special, a taper crimp would actually be best with their bullets, but a roll crimp would be fine so long as it wasn’t a heavy crimp. For now I opted to go with no crimp and not futz with what I had already loaded to see how it goes.
I was shooting out of my customized S&W 442. My goal isn’t going for some uber-load, I’m not looking for 1/2 MOA accuracy, right now I’m just learning to reload so I want to just see how things go, see if I can make a load that goes bang and how it performs. It’s just a desire to learn, not necessarily find that ideal load.
First thing I noticed was the cartridges were difficult to insert into the chambers of the cylinder. Factory loads just slide in and out with no problem (they’re just a hair loose). But these reloads would get almost all the way in then I would have to push firmly to fully seat them. I’m not sure what caused that, and as I write this I realize I should have not fired all 20 rounds that I loaded so I could get the calipers on them and measure and compare to a factory load. But such is hindsight. Could it be from lack of crimp? Could it be due to case expansion? I’m not sure, but I will go back and reexamine my reloading process when next I reload .38 Special.
As for the performance of the load, it was mild. Sure it still had a wee bit of snap to it, but it really wasn’t bad. I’d see a small spark and a tiny bit of muzzle flash. Overall felt recoil was mild. As a factory reference round, I had some Remington UMC .38 Special 130 grain MC (L38S11). By comparison, the UMC had more felt recoil, a little more snap, a little more muzzle flip, and a lot more muzzle flash. So if that’s a fair reference point as factory ammo, my load was milder no question. Accuracy was fine… no heavy measuring of accuracy, but rounds went exactly where I put them. I do know I need to continue to get used to the sights on the snub… they’re just not Dawson’s.
Overall, I’m pleased with the load. Next thing I’d do is reload the same recipe but verify my reloading process and ensure a roll crimp. After I see how that goes, I’ll start to play with things like how much powder I put in and see how that goes. Once I settle on something, then I’ll start looking at accuracy and velocity. One thing I do like about a lighter load like this is you could probably shoot it all day, even out of a snub with small grips and an exposed backstrap, and probably do OK.
As a quick aside, I also shot 15 rounds of Buffalo Bore 20/20c. I did this because last time I tried them (just after getting my snub back from the gunsmith), I had one misfire. I wanted to see if it may have been that round or if it may have been the customized snub not liking the Buffalo Bore loads. All 15 went bang (and bang they did… oh thank you for better grips and a covered backstrap). So I think they’ll be OK in this gun, but of course more testing is always good.
9mm Reloads
My first 9mm reloads had a recipe like this: Berry’s 115 grain plated RN bullet, 6.3 grains Power Pistol, Winchester SSP, Speer brass, 1.135″ COL. When I tried them out I used a Springfield XD-9 subcompact (3″ barrel) and the results were snappy with a LOT of muzzle flash. Details here. So my next step was to try out that same load in my XD-9 Tactical (5″ barrel). I also wanted to do a load with TiteGroup to see how that would compare. I’d want everything between the two loads to be the same, save for the powder.
The TiteGroup recipe is as follows:
Bullet: 115 grain Berry’s RN DS plated bullet
Powder: 4.2 grains Hodgdon TiteGroup
Primer: Winchester WSP standard small pistol
Cases: used Speer brass
C.O.L.: 1.135″
So as you can see, the only difference between the two loads is the powder, 4.2 grains of TiteGroup vs. 6.3 of Power Pistol.
I used Speer Lawman 115 grain as a factory reference point. I brought both my 3″ and 5″ XD to the range. I also brought some of the true first reloads I did at Karl’s place, which I think have Vihtavuori N330 don’t remember how much.
The Power Pistol loads of course performed the same as before out of the 3″. I expected a slight change in performance in the 5″ but didn’t get it: still kinda snappy and flippy and a fair lot of flash. I’d say the 5″ was a little less than the 3″ but certainly not by much. Compared to the factory load, it was fairly similar in feel (the factory was a bit different, felt “stronger” but not as snappy) but the factory load had almost no visible muzzle flash by comparison. Still performance seemed OK and I wouldn’t be to opposed to using the Power Pistol up because well.. I’ve got the powder, might as well use it.
The TiteGroup was another matter. I tried it first out of the 5″ gun and I swore I could watch the slide move. It was a really wimpy load. 🙂 The brass was ejecting consistently but only maybe one foot away from me. I swore I could feel the slide creeping along instead of flying in and out of battery. It was kinda fun, but the load barely worked in that gun. Switching to the 3″ gun, things felt a lot better, it functioned more like you’d expect. Overall the feel of the load was light, in terms of recoil. This also seemed to shoot a little bit cleaner than the Power Pistol.
At this point I’m really intrigued by the TiteGroup load. The above recipe could be fine for a light load, but I wouldn’t expect it to reliably cycle except in really light/weak-springed guns. Looking at the data on Hodgdon’s website, a 115 gr. LRN would use 3.9 to 4.3 grains of TiteGroup and a 1.100″ COL. Using a 115 gr. Speer GDHP it’d have a COL of 1.125″ and 4.5 to 4.8 grains of TiteGroup. So I have a little working to do to figure out my next step, but certainly it needs to go up from here.
Conclusion
All in all, I’m pleased. Pleased because I’m reloading my own ammo and it’s working. Plus I’m starting to see how things fit together, how things go, different characteristics of things. Just lots of things and soaking in all the information I can.
I have things to work on and change: for the .38 load ensure the loading process is not off and see about roll crimping, on the 9mm loads work with TiteGroup more.
And I hope Santa could bring me a Hornady Lock-n-Load progressive press. 🙂
My first .38 Special reloads
I don’t have scads of .38 Special ammo, but I do have a fair lot of .38 Special brass. In my push to get myself into reloading, I’m trying to avoid buying factory ammo and instead putting that money towards reloading components (bullets, primers, powder, etc.) and reloading equipment. Now that I have my S&W 442 back from the gunsmith and with the snub-nose revolver class coming up, I figure it’s time to start working up a .38 Special load to use for target/practice shooting.
There are lots of .38 Special data out there, but I’ve noticed it tends to have a bias towards lead bullets like semi-wadcutters, or towards hollow-points like the Hornady XTP. This is generally all good, but I had picked up 500 rounds of Berry’s .38 Special 158 grain plated round nose bullets because they were the most inexpensive bullets I could find locally. This posed two issues for me: 1. plated bullets reload a bit differently, 2. finding a cartridge overall length for a 158 grain round nose bullet was next to impossible. Making it a bit more difficult, I was limiting my powder to Titegroup. Again, when I bought all of exodus’ reloading equipment the two pistol powders I obtained were Titegroup and Power Pistol. Being as I don’t know one powder from another, my current approach is to use the powders I have and get a good feel for them; after that, I can explore other powders. I was told Titegroup and Trail Boss were good for large volume cases, like in .38 Special. Furthermore, Titegroup is fairly fast burning, which would be preferred for a snub. So having Titegroup I figured that’d be the place to start. So if it wasn’t hard enough to find something based upon the particular style of bullet I was using, throw in wanting to use Titegroup, and throw in a desire to get data that provides a COL and well…. I failed in finding any sort of existing recipes.
Consequently, I had to come up with my own load. I looked at all the data I could find and tried to come up with something that was workable yet conservative. Here’s what I have:
Bullet: Berry’s .38 Special 158 grain plated round nose double struck
Powder: 3.5 grains, Titegroup
Primer: Remington 1.5 small pistol primers
Cases: used, headstamp “CBC – 38 SPL”
C.O.L.: 1.510″
Also note the dies I used were RCBS carbide 3-die set #18212. This doesn’t have a taper-crimp die. As well, the bullets don’t have any sort of cannelure, so there’s really no crimp here.
As of this writing I have not tried this out. I just loaded 20 rounds and will try them out next time I get to the gun range. There won’t be any chronographing, just seeing if it goes bang, puts the bullet where I wanted it to go, and any other data that I can obtain (e.g. muzzle flash, how sooty things get, felt recoil, etc.).
Hopefully I can get to the range soon. I’ve still got my other set of 9mm experiments to try too.
My First Reloads
I finally reloaded (on my own) my first ammo!
I say on my own because truly the first reloads I did were when Karl was teaching me. But today I reloaded my first rounds on my own equipment. Insert a little James Brown “I Feel Good” right here. 🙂
Until now all I’ve been doing on my reloading equipment is resizing and decapping 9mm brass. I figure since all I have is a single-stage press I might as well do some things in bulk, so I’ve been going through all my 9mm brass. I haven’t finished because I’ve got a lot of brass, but the kids seem to enjoy helping with that effort so it’s all good. But I was getting tired of just resizing and decapping, I wanted to produce something. So a goal for this weekend was to produce something and shoot it.
Powder Throw
First I needed some way to mount the powder throw. I don’t know how exodus set up the throw for himself, but I didn’t want to mount the throw on the bench as I wasn’t sure how my workflow would go. Plus I know I’m going to buy a progressive press and that must be mounted to the bench so I wanted to avoid bench-mounted clutter. I had some plywood lying around the garage and opted to fashion a small base onto which I could mount the throw. That way I could have a stable mount and I could relocate the powder throw anywhere I needed to.
It’s nothing sexy, but it works. I did that last night, so I could do the actual reloading today.
The Reloading
I decided to only reload 20 rounds of 9mm Luger. Twenty rounds would give me something substantial to work with, but not too many in case of a problem that I couldn’t undo things. Plus I don’t see any reason to reload en masse until the recipe is known good. I used the RCBS’s press to bell and prime (instead of the hand-priming tool). Learning the feel for the priming wasn’t bad… just use firm but gentle pressure and listen to the tactile feedback you get. I do think I belled the cases a little too much, but no big deal… I’ll fine tune that next time.
I looked up the recipe in my reloading manual, weighed the powder and really took my time to weigh, re-weigh, and triple-check that everything was coming out right. Then I seated the bullet and gave it a taper crimp. Lots of using the calipers to ensure dimensions were where they should be. Eventually I had 20 rounds of 9mm Luger.
Here’s my recipe:
Bullet: 115 grain Berry’s TMJ RN
Powder: 6.3 grains Alliant Power Pistol
Primer: Winchester WSP standard small pistol
Cases: used Speer brass
C.O.L.: 1.135″
This was based upon what was listed in my Speer reloading manual.
Trying It Out
I figured if there was any gun I wouldn’t cry that much over if it went kaboom, it’d be my Springfield XD-9 subcompact (3″ barrel). Note that my goal is not to have some awesome load, it’s merely to have a load that functions in the gun, goes bang, no malfunctions. Just work.
Went over to the local indoor range, and as expected since it’s a Saturday, lots of people were on the range that I had no desire to be around. So my goal was to get in, shoot, leave. Sure I paid for an hour of range time and only used 10 minutes, but I’m OK with that.
I started by shooting some of the reloads I did at Karl’s. Worked fine in the gun. Then I loaded up one of my reloads. Worked fine. WHOO-HOO!! Eventually I shot through all 19 of my rounds. Yes, only 19. Before I left the house I ran all 20 rounds through the XD-9 SC just to see how they would feed. After I ran the rounds I remeasured the C.O.L. and one round had significant setback. I don’t know why, but I opted to pull that bullet and reuse that case at another time.
While shooting, I noticed significant muzzle flash; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much muzzle flash in my life. I don’t know if that’s due to the powder or due to the 3″ barrel or due to something else or some combination of things. Something for me to jot in my notebook. But again, today was not to find some awesome load, just to load.
After shooting my reloads I shot another 10 of the ones I did at Karl’s, then packed up and left.
Success!
I’m pleased with how things went. Nothing blew up, everything functioned. Since the main pistol powder I have is the Power Pistol, I am going to play around with it some more. For instance, reload the same recipe then try it out of my XD-9 Tactical with the 5″ barrel and see how muzzle flash is. Then just continue to tinker with the load from there. (6.7 grains is the max, according to the book). I also have some TiteGroup, which according to this chart burn faster than the Power Pistol. I may play with that too to see how it compares in the 3″ barrel. Hrm. Maybe my next effort will be to load 20 rounds with the Power Pistol, 20 rounds with the TiteGroup, then take all 40 rounds with both my 3″ and 5″ XD and see how things compare.
It’s also sorely evident that if I really want to reload, I must get a progressive press. Certainly I’ll keep the single stage press for things I want the utmost precision on, like making hunting loads. But for bulk practice handgun ammo, a progressive press will be my friend. I am pretty much settled on the Hornady Lock-N-Load AP. Somehow I doubt Santa will bring me one, but I can dream. 😉 Getting a chronograph is probably also a good thing, eventually.
Goal accomplished. Good day.
Stuff From Hsoi 