Shot my first reloads today

HuntingLikeABadHabit · January 1, 2016, 02:00 PM

I finally got everything together to load my first cartridges today and I am super excited so I had to post it on here. The only compatible powder I could find locally was bullseye so I loaded with it. I loaded for my .45ACP, a 1911 with 3.25" bbl. Shooting 230grn. lead round noses out of cleaned/tumbled once fired brass and capped with CCI primers.

I loaded 3 of each 4.5grn, 4.6, 4.7 & 4.8grn of bullseye and seated to 1.25" OAL.

I was retardedly meticulous with my measurements and process as this was my first reloading experience. I spent more time double checking and re-reading my manuals than I did actually loading.

I shot each round individually beginning with the lower charges and moving up, changing the target for each separate charge. I checked each case after firing for signs of over pressure and observed none.

At about 12 yds all rounds hit the paper but the 4.6gr and 4.7grn. seamed to group best. 4.7's can stay around 1.5" and maybe better if I was trying a little harder and not anxious about my first loads.

bobn · January 1, 2016, 02:07 PM

cool, you are hooked now. bobn

cw308 · January 1, 2016, 03:18 PM

HLABH, I remember my first reloads, it's a good feeling to shoot your reloads. I mostly reload for 308 rifle but when I loaded 45 ACP bullseye was the powder for 45's burns dirty though.try to reload the same brass brands. Some brass is thicker. Back then I thought all brass was the same, separate brands. I shot 230gr. RN copper ( hard ball ) 1911 Colt 70 serious. Keep up the good work

g.willikers · January 1, 2016, 03:24 PM

Well, you're still here.
That's a good sign.
And you obviously still have all your fingers in order to type.
Another good sign.
And you're enthusiastic enough by reloading to want to share.
Probably the best sign of all.
Congrats.
But don't let your shootin' buddies know you reload.
It'll be like living near a southern beach in the winter, with a fridge well stocked with premium beer.

chris in va · January 1, 2016, 03:30 PM

If I can pass on one word of advice to new reloaders, it is this...

Visually check every single case for the proper powder level before seating the bullet. I don't care if you have a hand press, turret or progressive, it's mandatory in my book. A reloading block helps with this.

Congrats on your first (of many) reloads!

SARuger · January 1, 2016, 03:31 PM

I'm almost ready to start myself.

I'm leery but I know how meticulous I am and I'm OCD on top of that. My first loads will be .38spcl with Unique and Sierra 158g JSP

Wishoot · January 1, 2016, 03:56 PM

Quote:

I'm almost ready to start myself.

I'm leery but I know how meticulous I am and I'm OCD on top of that. My first loads will be .38spcl with Unique and Sierra 158g JSP

My first load. I started on the lower end of the powder spectrum then eventually worked my way up.

You'll be amazed at just how much fun reloading is and just how accurate YOUR loads can be.

AzShooter · January 1, 2016, 04:54 PM

I just loaded 500 rounds of .38s today on my Dillon 650. I remember the days of loading on a LEE LOAD ALL one at a time using a plastic hammer to bang the cases in and to seat the primers. Have come a long way but I still get the same joy.

You did good to start. Keep checking powder in every case. Bulls eye is a good powder for .45s.

849ACSO · January 1, 2016, 04:54 PM

I recall when I first started. I read several manuals and sources, got everything together, pumped out some test loads............. Took me about 2 days to load 25 rounds of 45ACP. I was looking, checking, mic-ing length, weighing finished rounds looking for one I missed powder in or double charged even though I KNEW I hand weighed and looked at every single one................ Then I was scared to death to put them in my gun and pull the trigger.

Truthfully, even to this day if I load a new caliber, or use a powder I have never used before, I get those same butterflies, but without the paranoia.

That said, I have never had an oops that cost me a gun or a finger, and never hope to. It is addictive though. I started doing it to save money on 45ACP and 357 MAG. I'm sure I have saved SOME money over the years, but after a while a single stage wasn't fast enough, I needed to try other powders, I needed to try other bullets, I needed a better this or that thingy..........That has cut into the savings. Now it's just feeding my need to do it.

Metal god · January 1, 2016, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Truthfully, even to this day if I load a new caliber, or use a powder I have never used before, I get those same butterflies, but without the paranoia.

I was the same way . I just started loading for pistol after loading rifle for quite some time . I felt like I had never loaded before . Going on forums asking noob questions . Freaking out when I noticed I had a little bullet set back . Although pistol is easier then rifle . At first it did not feel like it .

I agree about checking the powder in every case . Just last month I was cranking out some 45 on my turret press when I noticed the cases started looking less full then when I started . Turns out my powder measure was acting up and only dumping 2/3s the charge . Ended up pulling all the rounds loaded . It was only a little over 30 but more then half were under charged by 1.5gr or more . It's always best to learn the lesson at the bench rather then the range .

Nick_C_S · January 1, 2016, 06:03 PM

Quote:

The only compatible powder I could find locally was bullseye so I loaded (230gn) with it.

Well, for "the only compatible powder," you sure did good. Hard to beat Bullseye for 45 ACP general shooting needs.

For the record, quite possibly the single most handloaded 45 ACP round is a 230gn roundnose with 5.0gn of Bullseye under it. A classic. You're almost there

. Continue at your own pace, of course.

My first loading was 38 Special. 158 lead RN with 4.0gn Red Dot. I wasn't nervous about shooting them at all. Not because I was so confident of my load technique; but because I was young and dumb and had no fear of anything at that age (countless humbling life moments since then). But none-the-less, it felt good when they all went bang as designed.

Enjoy your loading/shooting endeavors.
Load safe.

TailGator · January 1, 2016, 06:57 PM

I started reloading about a year and a half ago. My wife and I now sometimes refer to shooting as "emptying brass."

Quote:

It'll be like living near a southern beach in the winter, with a fridge well stocked with premium beer.

That describes my house. You must have met my brother in law.

cw308 · January 1, 2016, 07:02 PM

I remember loading midrange in load book on most of my loads, revolver was easer then auto, Auto the load had to be hot enough to work the slide & on revolvers crimped enough so cylinder wouldn't jam from bullet pulling out from recoil. It's a very nice hobby. Also loaded rubber bullets, for trigger time at home. No powder just primer & rubber bullets that can be reloaded.

BigJimP · January 1, 2016, 07:17 PM

Congratulations on a good outing ...and welcome to our side of the shooting hobby !

It is satisfying to shoot your own high quality reloads ! --- and I started reloading when I was about 10 yrs old ...and have kept it up, off and on some years, now for 55 yrs..../ today - reloading is a big part of my gun hobby. Its not like I don't enjoy shooting../ but I like reloading too - its some great quiet time in my newly remodeled reloading-gun shop !

and now I'm teaching my grandkids to reload too..as they get into their teenage years..../ keeping it simple with calibers like .38 spl and 9mm ....and some shotgun shells in 28ga ( but I load for 6 handgun calibers and 4 shotshell gagues ) ...and its fun to expose them to this side of the hobby too.

HuntingLikeABadHabit · January 1, 2016, 09:37 PM

Lot of good info and encouragement! I'm pretty excited to load up some more and see good I can make my rounds group. It's also kind of nice to put a few magazines through the pipe without watching a $20 bill burn up in a series of small explosions

For better or worse I'm hooked

chris in va · January 2, 2016, 02:50 AM

Oh and one more thing.

Many of us are guilty of this when we first start reloading. You get so darn excited and whip up 200 reloads only to discover it doesn't cycle your AR or handgun right, groups horribly or keyholes the target.

Load 20 at a time, find out how they behave and go from there. You don't want to pound out 180 rounds with a kinetic hammer, trust me.

evtSmtx · January 2, 2016, 03:27 AM

congrats!

849ACSO · January 2, 2016, 03:38 AM

Quote:

You don't want to pound out 180 rounds with a kinetic hammer, trust me.

You deserve an AMEN for that.............

Mike / Tx · January 2, 2016, 09:11 AM

Well good job.

Like mentioned the biggest things are watching the powder levels and not loading mass quantities until your SURE you like the load in all ways forms and fashions.

There is probably a cleaner powder than Bullseye, but other than Unique, probably not one with as wide of load data base behind it. It is far from the perfect powder for everything but it works in a ton of things.

Two of the best things about it are it get good to great accuracy over a broad range of weights in most calibers, and it uses small amounts to do so, so it goes a LONG ways.

I have loads for my 38, 9mm and 45 ACP that all will shoot better than I can. It also took me nearly a year to go through a pound of it loading my 38's and 9mm. Good luck and enjoy yourself but always be careful.

KW Gary M · January 2, 2016, 09:44 AM

Looking at the first few rounds you made yourself is a great feeling. Shooting them is a better feeling and shooting a tight group with something you made yourself is Utopia. You're hooked now.

kilimanjaro · January 2, 2016, 02:41 PM

Good for you, enjoy the process and the results, it's fun.

Just to advise, that anal checking and rechecking, then checking again bit, it's best if you never stop doing that.

You will not care one whit if you reloaded X rounds per hour if one of them puts a rifle bolt through your forehead, or rips off a finger or two when the bottom blows out of your action.

I met a reloader at the range, he said, 'I'll buy ammo here at the range before I'll rush a reloading session the night before."

Nick_C_S · January 2, 2016, 05:43 PM

Quote:

You don't want to pound out 180 rounds with a kinetic hammer, trust me.

You got that right!

Fortunately, I've only had to do a batch no larger than 20. Still too many.

Jim243 · January 2, 2016, 07:16 PM

Quote:

I am super excited so I had to post it on here.

Congrats and welcome to the addiction. Now you need to make yourself a log book and write down the components for each load you make. I also make a label (stick on) and include the same information on the label to go on the storage case for that load. When you find a very good load for each firearm, make and keep as many notes on it as you can. This helps in reproducing that same load over and over again.

Stay safe.
Jim

Longshot4 · January 2, 2016, 07:23 PM

You now know what the loading is about. Keep the powder thrower filled to at least 1/2 volume it will help to be consistent with the charges.
Bullseye isn't the best throwing powder for consistency but it is the standard for 45 ACP.
It's what I use to. The fine ball powders throw very well. Although I can't tell you off hand what would work for the 45.

So you are loading for a 1911 that alone can be a branch of the loading hobby to learn. Especially with all the custom parts that have developed in the last 100+ years.

Keep it up. I wish you well for 2016...

Shimpy · January 3, 2016, 06:01 PM

I haven't loaded 45ACP for years but always used 230 gr with 6.5 Unique. When using fast burning powders such as Bullseye and Unique a double charge is always possible. Always check to be sure you didn't double charge a case.

January 1, 2016, 02:00 PM	#1
HuntingLikeABadHabit Member Join Date: February 14, 2014 Location: N.C. Posts: 67	Shot my first reloads today I finally got everything together to load my first cartridges today and I am super excited so I had to post it on here. The only compatible powder I could find locally was bullseye so I loaded with it. I loaded for my .45ACP, a 1911 with 3.25" bbl. Shooting 230grn. lead round noses out of cleaned/tumbled once fired brass and capped with CCI primers. I loaded 3 of each 4.5grn, 4.6, 4.7 & 4.8grn of bullseye and seated to 1.25" OAL. I was retardedly meticulous with my measurements and process as this was my first reloading experience. I spent more time double checking and re-reading my manuals than I did actually loading. I shot each round individually beginning with the lower charges and moving up, changing the target for each separate charge. I checked each case after firing for signs of over pressure and observed none. At about 12 yds all rounds hit the paper but the 4.6gr and 4.7grn. seamed to group best. 4.7's can stay around 1.5" and maybe better if I was trying a little harder and not anxious about my first loads.

January 1, 2016, 03:24 PM	#4
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	Well, you're still here. That's a good sign. And you obviously still have all your fingers in order to type. Another good sign. And you're enthusiastic enough by reloading to want to share. Probably the best sign of all. Congrats. But don't let your shootin' buddies know you reload. It'll be like living near a southern beach in the winter, with a fridge well stocked with premium beer. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.”

January 1, 2016, 04:54 PM	#9
849ACSO Senior Member Join Date: September 21, 2014 Location: Somewhere in the middle Posts: 629	I recall when I first started. I read several manuals and sources, got everything together, pumped out some test loads............. Took me about 2 days to load 25 rounds of 45ACP. I was looking, checking, mic-ing length, weighing finished rounds looking for one I missed powder in or double charged even though I KNEW I hand weighed and looked at every single one................ Then I was scared to death to put them in my gun and pull the trigger. Truthfully, even to this day if I load a new caliber, or use a powder I have never used before, I get those same butterflies, but without the paranoia. That said, I have never had an oops that cost me a gun or a finger, and never hope to. It is addictive though. I started doing it to save money on 45ACP and 357 MAG. I'm sure I have saved SOME money over the years, but after a while a single stage wasn't fast enough, I needed to try other powders, I needed to try other bullets, I needed a better this or that thingy..........That has cut into the savings. Now it's just feeding my need to do it. __________________ "The day you stop learning SHOULD directly coincide with the day you stop breathing."

January 2, 2016, 09:11 AM	#19
Mike / Tx Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2000 Posts: 2,101	Well good job. Like mentioned the biggest things are watching the powder levels and not loading mass quantities until your SURE you like the load in all ways forms and fashions. There is probably a cleaner powder than Bullseye, but other than Unique, probably not one with as wide of load data base behind it. It is far from the perfect powder for everything but it works in a ton of things. Two of the best things about it are it get good to great accuracy over a broad range of weights in most calibers, and it uses small amounts to do so, so it goes a LONG ways. I have loads for my 38, 9mm and 45 ACP that all will shoot better than I can. It also took me nearly a year to go through a pound of it loading my 38's and 9mm. Good luck and enjoy yourself but always be careful. __________________ LAter, Mike / TX

January 2, 2016, 09:44 AM	#20
KW Gary M Senior Member Join Date: January 28, 2009 Location: Key West Posts: 162	Looking at the first few rounds you made yourself is a great feeling. Shooting them is a better feeling and shooting a tight group with something you made yourself is Utopia. You're hooked now. __________________ *To say that guns kill people is to say that automobiles drive drunk and matches commit arson....*

January 1, 2016, 02:07 PM	#2
bobn Senior Member Join Date: December 30, 2006 Location: midwest Posts: 1,105	cool, you are hooked now. bobn

January 1, 2016, 03:18 PM	#3
cw308 Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2010 Location: Plainview , Long Island NY Posts: 3,863	HLABH, I remember my first reloads, it's a good feeling to shoot your reloads. I mostly reload for 308 rifle but when I loaded 45 ACP bullseye was the powder for 45's burns dirty though.try to reload the same brass brands. Some brass is thicker. Back then I thought all brass was the same, separate brands. I shot 230gr. RN copper ( hard ball ) 1911 Colt 70 serious. Keep up the good work

January 1, 2016, 03:30 PM	#5
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	If I can pass on one word of advice to new reloaders, it is this... Visually check every single case for the proper powder level before seating the bullet. I don't care if you have a hand press, turret or progressive, it's mandatory in my book. A reloading block helps with this. Congrats on your first (of many) reloads!

January 1, 2016, 03:31 PM	#6
SARuger Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 2014 Location: Blue Ridge Mountains of VA Posts: 954	I'm almost ready to start myself. I'm leery but I know how meticulous I am and I'm OCD on top of that. My first loads will be .38spcl with Unique and Sierra 158g JSP

January 1, 2016, 04:54 PM	#8
AzShooter Senior Member Join Date: June 20, 2006 Location: Surprise, Az. Posts: 766	I just loaded 500 rounds of .38s today on my Dillon 650. I remember the days of loading on a LEE LOAD ALL one at a time using a plastic hammer to bang the cases in and to seat the primers. Have come a long way but I still get the same joy. You did good to start. Keep checking powder in every case. Bulls eye is a good powder for .45s.

January 1, 2016, 07:02 PM	#13
cw308 Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2010 Location: Plainview , Long Island NY Posts: 3,863	I remember loading midrange in load book on most of my loads, revolver was easer then auto, Auto the load had to be hot enough to work the slide & on revolvers crimped enough so cylinder wouldn't jam from bullet pulling out from recoil. It's a very nice hobby. Also loaded rubber bullets, for trigger time at home. No powder just primer & rubber bullets that can be reloaded.

January 1, 2016, 07:17 PM	#14
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	Congratulations on a good outing ...and welcome to our side of the shooting hobby ! It is satisfying to shoot your own high quality reloads ! --- and I started reloading when I was about 10 yrs old ...and have kept it up, off and on some years, now for 55 yrs..../ today - reloading is a big part of my gun hobby. Its not like I don't enjoy shooting../ but I like reloading too - its some great quiet time in my newly remodeled reloading-gun shop ! and now I'm teaching my grandkids to reload too..as they get into their teenage years..../ keeping it simple with calibers like .38 spl and 9mm ....and some shotgun shells in 28ga ( but I load for 6 handgun calibers and 4 shotshell gagues ) ...and its fun to expose them to this side of the hobby too.

January 1, 2016, 09:37 PM	#15
HuntingLikeABadHabit Member Join Date: February 14, 2014 Location: N.C. Posts: 67	Lot of good info and encouragement! I'm pretty excited to load up some more and see good I can make my rounds group. It's also kind of nice to put a few magazines through the pipe without watching a $20 bill burn up in a series of small explosions For better or worse I'm hooked

January 2, 2016, 02:50 AM	#16
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	Oh and one more thing. Many of us are guilty of this when we first start reloading. You get so darn excited and whip up 200 reloads only to discover it doesn't cycle your AR or handgun right, groups horribly or keyholes the target. Load 20 at a time, find out how they behave and go from there. You don't want to pound out 180 rounds with a kinetic hammer, trust me.

January 2, 2016, 03:27 AM	#17
evtSmtx Member Join Date: June 10, 2015 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 62	congrats!

January 2, 2016, 02:41 PM	#21
kilimanjaro Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2009 Posts: 3,963	Good for you, enjoy the process and the results, it's fun. Just to advise, that anal checking and rechecking, then checking again bit, it's best if you never stop doing that. You will not care one whit if you reloaded X rounds per hour if one of them puts a rifle bolt through your forehead, or rips off a finger or two when the bottom blows out of your action. I met a reloader at the range, he said, 'I'll buy ammo here at the range before I'll rush a reloading session the night before."

January 2, 2016, 07:23 PM	#24
Longshot4 Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2014 Posts: 868	You now know what the loading is about. Keep the powder thrower filled to at least 1/2 volume it will help to be consistent with the charges. Bullseye isn't the best throwing powder for consistency but it is the standard for 45 ACP. It's what I use to. The fine ball powders throw very well. Although I can't tell you off hand what would work for the 45. So you are loading for a 1911 that alone can be a branch of the loading hobby to learn. Especially with all the custom parts that have developed in the last 100+ years. Keep it up. I wish you well for 2016...

January 3, 2016, 06:01 PM	#25
Shimpy Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 2015 Posts: 153	I haven't loaded 45ACP for years but always used 230 gr with 6.5 Unique. When using fast burning powders such as Bullseye and Unique a double charge is always possible. Always check to be sure you didn't double charge a case.