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Old July 17, 2012, 06:25 AM   #76
Daniel E
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And along with seating the bullet deeper, I made a stop at the local gunshop and asked them what he thought about the original problem and he is the one that suggested that I should just seat it deeper, and he said because of the light load, 4.2gr of bullseye, that it would be fine and he would shoot those rounds himself. I know on here everyone looks at new reloaders as complete idiots, which in some cases they are, but like my buddy who has the fnp said "if I knew you were just slinging ammo out of the press I wouldn't shoot it, but I know how slow you take on your rounds, so I have complete faith in your rounds".
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Old July 17, 2012, 07:21 AM   #77
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I just got done reading through this thread and things just aren't adding up. Maybe I missed it, but when you seated the bullets deeper, how much deeper did you go? Do you have a picture of one of those fully loaded rounds you can show us?

I'm starting to question your powder scale. Maybe it's giving you bogus readings. With that powder charge, even if you seated the bullet a bit too deep, you should be ok. Unless you went waaaay too deep. But I'm guessing that's not the problem, but maybe. Everything in this thread seems to be pointing to overcharging the powder.

Maybe measure up your powder charge that you have been using, then put that in a case and take a picture of that, so we can see how full the case is with powder. Then we can compare that level to what others who use Bullseye would see.

Whatever the problem, do not shoot any more until you get this figured out.
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Old July 17, 2012, 07:29 AM   #78
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We all had to start somewhere.

With the barrel out of your friend's gun drop a factory round in the barrel and see how much of the case side is exposed at the feed ramp. If you can see much of the case side the gun lacks cartridge support.

If the case is covered almost to the extraction groove I suspect it fired out of battery.

Bullet = projectile
Case = empty brass = brass
Cartridge = round = loaded ammo
Magazine = the thing you fill with ammo and stuff into the gun. Don't call this a clip or you'll subject yourself to more ridicule. But, since you're an aggie, we'll understand.

The barrel has a chamber where the round is inserted. The .45acp headspaces on the case mouth so too much crimp can allow it to go in too far. A bullet seated too long causes it to headspace on the rifling. If the bullet is jammed into the rifling you may raise pressure a bit. I don't know if that would account for a blowout like you had with the .45acp as it is a relatively low pressure round to start with.
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Old July 17, 2012, 01:23 PM   #79
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Friend, measuring is fine. But you can also use the seater die itself to do your measuring. Here's how:

1. With the proper shellholder in place, insert one round of factory loaded ball ammunition into the shell holder. (NOTE: I recommend either Federal American Eagle 230 grn. FMJ (read: Lake City Ammunition) or Winchester 230 grn FMJ (read: Olin Corporation, headstamp WCC) because it is the same configuration as military issue ball ammo.

2. Now, take your seater die, and screw the lock ring up onto the body of the die. Next, retract the seating plug until it is backed all the way up.

3. Raise the ram to bring the round up--all the way.

4. Now, screw the die in until it stops on the crimping shoulder.

5. Back off on the die ONE FULL TURN. Hold the die in that position and tighten the lock ring down.

6. Next, turn in the seater plug until you feel it make firm contact with the nose of the bullet itself. Lock the seater plug at that point.

7. Seat bullets with confidence.

Another note--when loading for any semiautomatic pistol, always SEAT and CRIMP in two separate steps.
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Old July 17, 2012, 01:34 PM   #80
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And along with seating the bullet deeper, I made a stop at the local gunshop and asked them what he thought about the original problem and he is the one that suggested that I should just seat it deeper,
Let me tel you a story about gunshop reloading experts.

I was standing at a gun counter in a store I had visited frequently. A novice shooter had a Ruger .44 Super Redhawk, and had just finished purchasing a reloading setup. As he was paying for it, he asked the shop clerk about recommended loads for a .44 Magnum. The clerk told him this, with a straight face: "Well, I use 30 grains of Bullseye and that's a good load."

I caught up with the new reloader just as he was leaving and said this: "Friend, I strongly recommend that you follow the instructions in your new manual to the letter. (He had the Speer #11.) Whatever you do, do NOT use that load he gave you. It is an extremely dangerous load, it WILL blow up your handgun, and you WILL be injured or possibly killed. Do NOT use that load!"

The guy looked startled, but acknowledged my warning and said he would follow his manual carefully.

The max load listed in the online Alliant Guide lists 7.5 grains as a max charge for a 240 grain cast bullet, which is what this guy was loading. 30 grains of Bullseye powder in the .44 Magnum WILL HURT, AND QUITE POSSIBLY KILL THE SHOOTER. Imagine holding a hand grenade when it goes off, and you'll get the idea.
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Old July 17, 2012, 01:46 PM   #81
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Quote:
Quote:
And along with seating the bullet deeper, I made a stop at the local gunshop and asked them what he thought about the original problem and he is the one that suggested that I should just seat it deeper,
Let me tel you a story about gunshop reloading experts.

I was standing at a gun counter in a store I had visited frequently. A novice shooter had a Ruger .44 Super Redhawk, and had just finished purchasing a reloading setup. As he was paying for it, he asked the shop clerk about recommended loads for a .44 Magnum. The clerk told him this, with a straight face: "Well, I use 30 grains of Bullseye and that's a good load."

I caught up with the new reloader just as he was leaving and said this: "Friend, I strongly recommend that you follow the instructions in your new manual to the letter. (He had the Speer #11.) Whatever you do, do NOT use that load he gave you. It is an extremely dangerous load, it WILL blow up your handgun, and you WILL be injured or possibly killed. Do NOT use that load!"

The guy looked startled, but acknowledged my warning and said he would follow his manual carefully.

The max load listed in the online Alliant Guide lists 7.5 grains as a max charge for a 240 grain cast bullet, which is what this guy was loading. 33 grains of Bullseye powder in the .44 Magnum WILL HURT, AND QUITE POSSIBLY KILL THE SHOOTER. Imagine holding a hand grenade when it goes off, and you'll get the idea.
Holy Crap!! I think my next visit would have been with the manager/shop owner to file a formal complaint against that guy. That is insane!! Way to go with stopping a new reloader from making a huge mistake.
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Old July 17, 2012, 09:04 PM   #82
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Sorry to see what happened to your friends FNP. Be aware, the FNP's chamber is somewhat unsupported. To see, do the plunk test and see how much of the case is showing toward the feed ramp. I have an FNP and love it, but not the best gun to shoot an over powered load in.

I suggest starting out with round nose fmj bullets. I notice with the jhp bullets there are a wide range for oal's and min/max powder loadings due to the shape of the bullet and how much of the bullet is in the case.
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Old July 18, 2012, 01:56 AM   #83
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See post #44

As I stated many moon ago, you needed to stop and get with someone to come over and check things out.
I refuse to re-load for anyone else and I refuse to shoot anyone else's re-loads.
Stop loading until you get hands on help.
BTW, I doubt if you could even get 30 grains in 2 cartridges. Gun shop Gurus can be dangerous at the least.

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Old July 18, 2012, 06:21 AM   #84
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Well I looked at everything and if I put the busted brass in the fnp barrel, the blow out matches exactly to the feeder ramp, as for seating it further before seating it further I was right at recommended length of 1.275 give or take a couple of thousands of an inch, I seated it to 1.183 which was where the projectile's tapering started. And for trusting the gun shop guy, as far as I know the guy has never worked anywhere except there, because its a family business and his dad owns it. Even to me, 30gr seems crazy, that's scary and I would be back there giving that guy a stern talking to. What I seem to be thinking more and more is that I need to be shooting a rn bullet vs the nosler fmj because of the shape.
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Old July 18, 2012, 06:27 AM   #85
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As far as reloading classes there is only one nra approved guy around college station, he actually just got some award from the nra for teaching I believe I just have to find him and get a hold of him.
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Old July 18, 2012, 10:46 AM   #86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Powderman
4. Your .470 crimp diameter was right on the money. Most reloading manuals will give a range that you can crimp into, and .470 is near the middle.
Can you tell me where I can see the crimp range in Lymans 49
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Old July 18, 2012, 01:49 PM   #87
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I believe I read it in the intro to the round, it is also in the picture
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Old July 19, 2012, 07:21 PM   #88
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Let me recommend you read through this reloading forum and others. You will learn about how and what kinds of issues happen. Issues that can blow up a gun and possibly your hand or eyes. I remember a few years ago in Idaho a guy was killed firing a reload. I doubt a class will cover everything. There's much to learn from others experiences and errors. I doubt a reloading class will cover everything you can learn from reading through reloading forums due to time constraints.

A single stage is a good idea because you can concentrate on each step and get to know it well. With a progressive you can run into serious problems much more easily. A single stage is also a nice press to have along with a progressive or turret. Not very many people recommend a beginner start with a progressive. Best wishes. I hope your class is enjoyable.
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Old July 30, 2012, 04:04 AM   #89
Daniel E
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Well I figured out what it was, the scale I got was reading 99.96 grams for the 100 gram calibration weight I had. So that puts my original 4.2gr around 5gr or so, plus the extra .10 of an inch I set the bullet deeper so it would feed into my gun puts the pressure way high.
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Old July 30, 2012, 07:19 AM   #90
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So that puts my original 4.2gr around 5gr or so
That's not necessarily how scales work. Just because you were 0.04 g off at 100 g (which is actually quite good), that doesn't mean that you were off by that same 0.04 g when you were measuring charges (0.04 g is about 0.6 grains, and would be a lousy amount of error when it comes to measuring pistol charges.)

Your scale might be off by a fixed amount across its range, or the error might be a percentage of the weight being weighed. The only way to get a better idea would be to use a variety of check weights, including some that are closer to the lower end of your scale's range.
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