Shot my 1st reloads on saturday!!!

[Kato_Guy]

I went out with my dad this weekend and shot my first reloads. I am happy to report we both are still in one piece!!

Man was it cold. We found a spot out of the wind. I was determined to shoot. Everything went ok I shot two sets the first one wasn't very accurate like a 2" group at 100 yards and the 2nd group was all within the 1" circle. I know it isn't as good as some people's groups but I was darn proud!! The ones I shot were the 40gr vmax with 25.1 and 25.4gr h335 with a wsr primer.

I have the rest of the loads to try out I will wait for them until it warms up a little bit!!

I love this stuff!! I can't wait to try something new!! I think the varmint grenades are next!!!!!


Thank you everyone who has helped me out with all my questions!!
kyle

[dgc940]

was you nervous pulling the trigger on the first?
If you can weigh the vg's if you want accuracy mine varied from 35.5-37.3 in weight
if a bullet is way light it could have a void in it (air pocket) which will through it out of balance.
for paper try some Berger's they also make accurate small varmint loads!

[FM12]

I LOVES me sone of that H335 powder in them small bore calibers! Accurate stuff, bu said to be temperature sensitive...be careful shooitng max loads in the summertime!

[KW-Bane]

Congrats on your first shooting session with your very own reloads!

I was nevous when I pulled the trigger on my first reload....boy was I excited...the next few were just as radical in bullet placement as the first...then I settled down a bit and found out I actually had something good going. I was shooting my Ruger Blackhawk .45colt w/mild loads....I was happy when I left the range!

[CrustyFN]

Congrats. I was nervous when I shot my first reloads. Did you shoot the first couple with your off hand just in case.
Rusty

[jsr76]

Congradulations brother, there aren't many things cooler than shooting your own handloads. Wait until you see how cool it is to shoot big game with something you have created after much thought and practice. Or when you come across a load that will really shoot out of your gun. Something that no store sells. Be careful and have fun.

[Kato_Guy]

I was going to just reach down and pull the trigger on the 1st one.. But my dad called me a p***y and shot my first five from a bench. After that I wasn't nervous and just got down and shot them like it was factory ammo. I did wear safety glasses tho!

I have a little bit of OCD (my wife says) , so I double checked everything I did so I was pretty confident on how the ammo turned out. Still have to be a little nervous tho!!! Get a little too confident and thats when things can go wrong!

thanks
kyle

[qajaq59]

so I double checked everything I did

Good... that's a definite sign of intelligence. And I hope you always do it. Fingers are tough to grow back.

And as Jsr said. Just wait till you drop a deer or a boar with one of your hand loads. That is really neat.

[Edward429451]

Congradulations brother, there aren't many things cooler than shooting your own handloads. Wait until you see how cool it is to shoot big game with something you have created after much thought and practice.

This is so true. My son shot an elk with one of my reloads and I got excited about my reload almost as much as he did about the elk. Next step, down a critter with a cast boolit reload.

[Guy B. Meredith]

Gotta love the feeling of self sufficiency and independence that comes with high quality handloads.

[Daniel BOON]

I remember my 1st reloads. an Astra 45 auto. that nite when I got home, I bumped the bullets down to the proper O A L. you can get more bullets in the magazine when you do that. have fun, be safe.

[mrawesome22]

It is truly a great feeling when you down an animal with your handloaded cartridge.

[River Rat 1969]

Kato Guy, congratulations on making the plunge into reloading! You might find reloading to be at least as enjoyable as shooting. One thing is for sure; you can produce better ammunition, for less cost, than buying factory loaded ammunition.

You can make loads that you simply cannot buy, at any price. For example, you cannot buy (as far as I know) 7mm Remington Magnum ammo loaded with 100 grain Hornday hollow point bullets, to hunt varmints with. Explosive performance, and extremely flat shooting.


For over ten years, we were able to get onto a permit to legally spotlight deer, to cull them for crop damage control. Factory ammo in our 7MM RM, regardless of ammo manufacturer, left smoke for six to eight seconds in a two million candlepower spotlight beam. Deer shot in waist deep soybeans at 300 yards at night were often lost, if they ran the least bit. After many test loads, we found that in our particular rifle, that RL 22 powder, Federal primers, and a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet produced the slightest hint of smoke, for one second or less, and resulted in finding deer instead of wading around in wet soybeans at night, and finding nothing for the effort.

I would suggest that you get all of the bullet manufacturers reloading manuals. Compare loads from all books, and you will see great variations in many cases. Extrapolate from averaging all of them, and never start with a maximum load.

Happy hunting! Jim

[arizona hunter]

Good job! I remember my first loads, I read and re-read the Speer # 13 manual as I set up the dies, and before going through each step of making a cartridge-and they all chambered perfectly and shot well. Ihas been about five years now and I enjoy it more than ever.

Enjoy, and be safe.

[Kato_Guy]

I have more loads one is barnes varmint grenades and a 52 hpbt but need the weather to clear up!!! All kinds of bullets to shoot and no time!!!

[mattgreennra]

My personal policy as an added safety measure for pistols is to shoot my first round with a new load w/ my off-hand. That way in the extremely off chance that my gun blows up I keep my good hand. I don't max out my loads, but being too safe never hurt anyone. Also, try to resist the urge to make too many of any load without very thoroughly checking everything. I had zeroed & calibrated my beam scale, made 500 rounds of .45 acp, and found out that the place on my bench where I had my scale was unlevel.

When I got my electric powder measure I realized I had used almost 1/2 of a grain light in all these rounds. If they function fine I won't pull them, but still spending extra time in setup/prep can save you hours or days later.