357sig...I found something that works!!!

hoodlum · April 14, 2013, 11:26 PM

Hey folks...New here sort of....Been reading for some time but just recently joined...I have loaded 308 and 223 for several years, but due to the recent trouble of getting decent ammo, I have expanded my reloading to 9mm and 357sig.... I have also took on the casting procedure as well...
I have read extensively about the problems with the sig reloading, especially getting a good bite on the bullet with the case...I have reloaded probably 50 dummy rounds with different techniques trying to find something I feel safe with, and think I have finally found it....
I am loading 120gr cast lead, and noticed I was having trouble getting the rounds to headspace correctly...After some careful measureing I found the neck was getting a slight bulge from seating the bullets....I tried expanding more, but this left the grip of the neck way less than I felt comfortable with...I tried crimping with the lee fcd,which did help with the spacing, but still failed my grip test which involves a few taps on the bench and rechecking col....If this passes, I hold the round between my index finger and thumb, and pinch as hard as I can...If it still doesn't move, I load it into my mag, and hit the slide release...If it still doesn't move, it passes...Even after crimping, some moved, and some still wouldn't headspace correctly....I then decided to try backing off of my sizing 1 turn, removing the decapper, and run the loaded cases through it to remove the bulge....After doing this, every case passed the grip test, and every case headspaced correctly...Plunks in and falls out....
I understand that this does resize the bullet, but.... The 120gr bullet has a lube ring in it...The lower drive band is completely below the neck, so it never gets touched by the sizing die....The area between the lube ring and the cone does get re-shaped, but it still shoots very well...I have nothing to compare too since before this, I never loaded a round I felt comfortable with...I did back down to on the powder and then worked back up because I was concerned what this may do to pressures....I ended up running 8.5gr of hs-6 with a col of 1.45"...At this load, everything functions correctly, and have seen no signs of overpressure....Not gonna push them any further since I am happy with this load....I shot 50 rnds yesterday with no ftf's,fte's, or any other malfunction...I also got no mentionable leading in the barrel...I shot 10 rnds, checked the barrel, and noticed a little leading, but after shooting 10 more, it didn't get any worse...After 50 rnds, the barrel looked the same as after the first 10....Fired 5 fmj's after that, and the barrel looked newly polished....I HOPE I have finally found something that will work and allow me more practice!!! The gun is a Glock27 with a Storm Lake conversion barrel, and is my ccw weapon of choice, so practice is a must...Hope someone finds this useful!!!!!
Hoodlum

April 14, 2013, 11:26 PM	#1
hoodlum Junior Member Join Date: April 5, 2013 Posts: 7	357sig...I found something that works!!! Hey folks...New here sort of....Been reading for some time but just recently joined...I have loaded 308 and 223 for several years, but due to the recent trouble of getting decent ammo, I have expanded my reloading to 9mm and 357sig.... I have also took on the casting procedure as well... I have read extensively about the problems with the sig reloading, especially getting a good bite on the bullet with the case...I have reloaded probably 50 dummy rounds with different techniques trying to find something I feel safe with, and think I have finally found it.... I am loading 120gr cast lead, and noticed I was having trouble getting the rounds to headspace correctly...After some careful measureing I found the neck was getting a slight bulge from seating the bullets....I tried expanding more, but this left the grip of the neck way less than I felt comfortable with...I tried crimping with the lee fcd,which did help with the spacing, but still failed my grip test which involves a few taps on the bench and rechecking col....If this passes, I hold the round between my index finger and thumb, and pinch as hard as I can...If it still doesn't move, I load it into my mag, and hit the slide release...If it still doesn't move, it passes...Even after crimping, some moved, and some still wouldn't headspace correctly....I then decided to try backing off of my sizing 1 turn, removing the decapper, and run the loaded cases through it to remove the bulge....After doing this, every case passed the grip test, and every case headspaced correctly...Plunks in and falls out.... I understand that this does resize the bullet, but.... The 120gr bullet has a lube ring in it...The lower drive band is completely below the neck, so it never gets touched by the sizing die....The area between the lube ring and the cone does get re-shaped, but it still shoots very well...I have nothing to compare too since before this, I never loaded a round I felt comfortable with...I did back down to on the powder and then worked back up because I was concerned what this may do to pressures....I ended up running 8.5gr of hs-6 with a col of 1.45"...At this load, everything functions correctly, and have seen no signs of overpressure....Not gonna push them any further since I am happy with this load....I shot 50 rnds yesterday with no ftf's,fte's, or any other malfunction...I also got no mentionable leading in the barrel...I shot 10 rnds, checked the barrel, and noticed a little leading, but after shooting 10 more, it didn't get any worse...After 50 rnds, the barrel looked the same as after the first 10....Fired 5 fmj's after that, and the barrel looked newly polished....I HOPE I have finally found something that will work and allow me more practice!!! The gun is a Glock27 with a Storm Lake conversion barrel, and is my ccw weapon of choice, so practice is a must...Hope someone finds this useful!!!!! Hoodlum