new to reloading....didnt blow myself up

slomaro · January 20, 2015, 02:15 PM

After lurking around for a while, finally loaded me up some bullets for the first time and shot em today.

Loaded according to my hornady book. Shot some 185gr 45acp from my glock 21 with a lwd barrel with a lwd compensator. Chrono'd pretty close to what the book said.
Started at the min load, 10 each up to the max load.

185 gr jhp from everglades ammo, hs6(only powder i could find when i started shopping for powder), my once shot winchester brass, wlp primers.

All in all went better than i expected!

Thanks for the great info ive been finding here. Made the first batch a lot less scary for me to cook up

mikld · January 20, 2015, 02:43 PM

Good start! I do believe you be hooked!

Just a question, and no offense intended, wanting info; why would someone new to reloading start loading a "classic" cartridge with an "odd ball" bullet? I know that there are 185 gr. factory loads, but I'm talking a "start from scratch new" reloader. I've been reloading 45 ACP for 14 years or so, and never loaded anything under 195 grain bullets (and that was just recently and only a few as 200 SWC is a favorite), and started with 230 RN. I would think, and I did, that one would want to start with a well proven, well documented, load combo (I believe my first loads were jacketed 230 gr. RN over Bullseye). Once I got the "classic" component load down, I went with different bullets (different style 230s, lead, different lubes, Hy-Tek, and PC) Again, not criticism, just wonderin'...

condor bravo · January 20, 2015, 03:05 PM

Nothing at all wrong with 185 gr 45s. I load 165 swc's for revolver target loads and 195 swc's for semi-autos. What is so magical about 230's?

slomaro · January 20, 2015, 03:29 PM

I started with the 185s because thats what i could get when i ordered them. My reloading manual had load data for them to match the powder i could find too.

my purpose for beginning reloading is to hand load 460 rowlands, cuase i have a gun that will shoot those and i dont want to pay 50bucks a box for them.

But at least i started out with acp tho lol

slomaro · January 20, 2015, 03:33 PM

And a 185gr bullet at acp pressures will go over 1000fps. I chrono'd one at 1060 today

9mmSkeeter · January 20, 2015, 04:29 PM

It is frightening at first. But once you get the hang of it, you get comfortable and it's fun. But then sometimes you get "too" comfortable and you're reminded of how dangerous it is.

Murphy's Law at work

Clark · January 20, 2015, 05:39 PM

I have been in the emergency room a dozen times to get patched up.
Never from handloads.

I have had friends die of everything imaginable. They keep surprising me.
Never from handloads.

But if you said you were topping trees, climbing mountains, racing motorcycles, breaking horses, or roofing a house, well then you survived something.

Nick_C_S · January 20, 2015, 06:17 PM

HS-6 likes pushing 45 ACP 185g's. If HS-6 was the only powder you could get, then the loading gods were looking after you. It's a great choice for the application - especially for the novice loader. It's not a very energetic powder and is thus, very consistent and forgiving.

My HS-6/185's chrono at 1052 fps through a full size 1911. That's plenty of velocity for me; and I have no desire to drive them harder.

9MMand223only · January 20, 2015, 07:05 PM

When your new to reloading, a good safety tip is to use a powder that literally fills the entire case, so you can't even compress the bullet in there, and that fully full case doesn't exceed a pressure that is considered big.

for 9 MM, it would be like VV 3n37. You can just hand pour it in the case, and try and seat a bullet, and if you can get the OAL of the book, that load probably ok, but work up just in case.

Titegroup is the exact opposite. You can double charge the case easily, and have the case ~ 55% full and it will be vastly over pressure and could cause serious injury.

Then after you learn how to load, and are comfortable, then you can use the faster powders.

Some something slower, that fills the case almost all the way with a max charge, then just use a medium charge and back it down. That is the safest way to learn how to load. It starts with choosing a powder that is idiot proof.

For Rifle, like 223, an example of an idiot proof powder with say 55 grain bullets is like IMR 4895. Massively compressed, its still fine.

Good job on your first loads, may you have safety and accuracy in the future!

slomaro · January 20, 2015, 07:06 PM

I was looking for power pistol to start out with, couldnt find it anywhere. Came across a hodgdon reloading data site, http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol on a glock forum talking about loading 45super. Opened up my options for suitable powders to start out with. Found it on cabelas website. Got 3 pounds of hs6 and one of wsf and a few thousand primers sp, spm, lp.
Subsequently came across a 8# jug of lognshot and got that for loading rowland down the road.

I also plan on loading 38sp, 357mag, 40 and 357sig after i get more comfortable at it. These 3 powders should take care of all of that

AKhog · January 21, 2015, 07:29 PM

The Rowland is a fun round to load for. I currently use 200gn XTPs and 230gn XTPs. My only problem is picking up the brass out of all the 45ACP brass at the range.
And 460R brass is expensive!

I just scored 4 lbs of pistol powders from a friend yesterday! Finally!!
Now it's time to do some load workups.

Nick_C_S · January 21, 2015, 08:38 PM

Glad to hear you got some powders AKhog. I know they've been tricky for you to get up there.

TheFineLine · January 22, 2015, 11:32 AM

Just started myself. My first 400 are 45acp 185 grain Hornady XTPs new starline brass and CCI LPPs. I have batches loaded with, titegroup, longshot, VV N340, and power pistol. Taking them all out next week to see what I like! Glad to hear someone else is starting with similar loads.

slomaro · January 22, 2015, 02:38 PM

Just got done shooting some out in the back yard. Yeah, i really like rolling my own!!!

Got me a pretty good plinking round figured out for what i have. Shooting out a glock 21 with lwd barrel, lwd compensator and a 22# rsa.

185jhp over 9.8gr of hs6, wlp primers, 1.215 oal. Winchester once shot brass. Got an average of 1107fps for a 10 shot string. Only gripe about this load is i have some unburnt powder in the barrel after a bunch of rounds.

Recoil was light, gun shot like butter. 0 ftf or fte. All my cases looked great. Not bad for 150 rounds in my first big batch.

I think i actually got the crimp right. I marked up a round and put it at the bottom of a 13rd clip. Shot the whole clip and chambered the markered round, then ejected it. Put it at the bottom of two more clips and chambered and ejected it then too. Measured it afterwards and it came out at 1.2145.....well, i should say i got the neck tension right lol

Nick_C_S · January 22, 2015, 07:14 PM

Quote:

185jhp over 9.8gr of hs6, wlp primers, 1.215 oal. Winchester once shot brass. Got an average of 1107fps for a 10 shot string. Only gripe about this load is i have some unburnt powder in the barrel after a bunch of rounds.

Welcome to HS-6

Although 9.8gns is running it up pretty good, and I would expect a cleaner burn than your description. I have chrono data for 9.8gns HS-6/185g through a full size 1911 - 990 fps. So you're tuning some impressive numbers there. My chrono notes don't say anything about residual filth.

My "set" loading for 185/HS-6 is a little warmer than 9.8gns but I'd rather not specify. Nor am I recommending a higher charge to get a cleaner burn - it should have clean up by the time you got to 9.8gns.

slomaro · January 22, 2015, 09:12 PM

Ive found that i get some variation in velocity depending on where im aiming shooting through the chrono. Shooting high yields lower values, close to the eye gives higher.

I was shooting from approximately 10' from the chrono. It was 2' off the ground on a box, i was kneeling to try and get the shot level. Was way too windy to put it on a tripod,like 20mph gusts.

I loaded this batch exclusively from the powder measure, it may have been throwing more powder. I adjusted it and poured and weighed at least 10 serial pourings that were all really close to weight, most were dead on. Used an rcbs 505 scale and rcbs powder measure. After i repeatedly got my weight, i loaded them up. Checked 5 or 6 random samples while loading, they were all spot on.
As an aside, i did notice i had a case that was more full than the others while eyeballing the cases in the loading block before bullets. Weighed it and it came out at 11gr!! Dont know why it threw more that time.

Ran 2 strings of 10 shots, 1st string a few shots didnt register:
992(1st cold shot), 1047, 1074, 1023, 1105, 1059, 1104-this was from winchester brass average 1046

2nd string was from federal brass:
1070, 1096,1137, 1163, 1089, 1167, 1095, 1087, 1084 average 1107
So throw out the high readers and its around 1080s average

slomaro · January 22, 2015, 09:37 PM

So upping the charge with hs6 makes it burn cleaner?

Max load per my hornady book is 10.1gr, i loaded some up to that but noticed a little powder in the barrel after shooting my work up loads. Might have been left over from the lighter ones. I settled on the 9.8gr thinking it would burn cleaner than 10.1gr.

i think i introduced some pressure issues to the gun when i put the compensator on it. With the stock glock barrel, i never got any sooting on the cases after firing. After the comp, i noticed i was getting a consistent band of soot on every case, shooting factory ammo. Seems to be less sooting shooting hotter hand loads tho.

also, the hotter the round, the less blast i feel from the comp. Shooting factory ball ammo, it felt like it was blowing my hair up. Didnt notice the blast shooting these handloads.

I really like the comp tho. Makes quick follow up shots much easier, less rise.

January 20, 2015, 02:15 PM	#1
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	new to reloading....didnt blow myself up After lurking around for a while, finally loaded me up some bullets for the first time and shot em today. Loaded according to my hornady book. Shot some 185gr 45acp from my glock 21 with a lwd barrel with a lwd compensator. Chrono'd pretty close to what the book said. Started at the min load, 10 each up to the max load. 185 gr jhp from everglades ammo, hs6(only powder i could find when i started shopping for powder), my once shot winchester brass, wlp primers. All in all went better than i expected! Thanks for the great info ive been finding here. Made the first batch a lot less scary for me to cook up

January 20, 2015, 04:29 PM	#6
9mmSkeeter Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2014 Location: South Dakota Posts: 205	It is frightening at first. But once you get the hang of it, you get comfortable and it's fun. But then sometimes you get "too" comfortable and you're reminded of how dangerous it is. Murphy's Law at work __________________ I kind of like weaponry.

January 20, 2015, 06:17 PM	#8
Nick_C_S Senior Member Join Date: March 21, 2013 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,621	HS-6 likes pushing 45 ACP 185g's. If HS-6 was the only powder you could get, then the loading gods were looking after you. It's a great choice for the application - especially for the novice loader. It's not a very energetic powder and is thus, very consistent and forgiving. My HS-6/185's chrono at 1052 fps through a full size 1911. That's plenty of velocity for me; and I have no desire to drive them harder. __________________ Gun control laws benefit only criminals and politicians - but then, I repeat myself. Life Member, National Rifle Association

January 20, 2015, 07:06 PM	#10
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	I was looking for power pistol to start out with, couldnt find it anywhere. Came across a hodgdon reloading data site, http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol on a glock forum talking about loading 45super. Opened up my options for suitable powders to start out with. Found it on cabelas website. Got 3 pounds of hs6 and one of wsf and a few thousand primers sp, spm, lp. Subsequently came across a 8# jug of lognshot and got that for loading rowland down the road. I also plan on loading 38sp, 357mag, 40 and 357sig after i get more comfortable at it. These 3 powders should take care of all of that Last edited by slomaro; January 20, 2015 at 07:11 PM.

January 21, 2015, 08:38 PM	#12
Nick_C_S Senior Member Join Date: March 21, 2013 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,621	Glad to hear you got some powders AKhog. I know they've been tricky for you to get up there. __________________ Gun control laws benefit only criminals and politicians - but then, I repeat myself. Life Member, National Rifle Association

January 20, 2015, 02:43 PM	#2
mikld Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: Southern Oregon! Posts: 2,891	Good start! I do believe you be hooked! Just a question, and no offense intended, wanting info; why would someone new to reloading start loading a "classic" cartridge with an "odd ball" bullet? I know that there are 185 gr. factory loads, but I'm talking a "start from scratch new" reloader. I've been reloading 45 ACP for 14 years or so, and never loaded anything under 195 grain bullets (and that was just recently and only a few as 200 SWC is a favorite), and started with 230 RN. I would think, and I did, that one would want to start with a well proven, well documented, load combo (I believe my first loads were jacketed 230 gr. RN over Bullseye). Once I got the "classic" component load down, I went with different bullets (different style 230s, lead, different lubes, Hy-Tek, and PC) Again, not criticism, just wonderin'...

January 20, 2015, 03:05 PM	#3
condor bravo Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2014 Location: Nevada/Ariz/CA Posts: 1,753	Nothing at all wrong with 185 gr 45s. I load 165 swc's for revolver target loads and 195 swc's for semi-autos. What is so magical about 230's?

January 20, 2015, 03:29 PM	#4
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	I started with the 185s because thats what i could get when i ordered them. My reloading manual had load data for them to match the powder i could find too. my purpose for beginning reloading is to hand load 460 rowlands, cuase i have a gun that will shoot those and i dont want to pay 50bucks a box for them. But at least i started out with acp tho lol

January 20, 2015, 03:33 PM	#5
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	And a 185gr bullet at acp pressures will go over 1000fps. I chrono'd one at 1060 today

January 20, 2015, 05:39 PM	#7
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	I have been in the emergency room a dozen times to get patched up. Never from handloads. I have had friends die of everything imaginable. They keep surprising me. Never from handloads. But if you said you were topping trees, climbing mountains, racing motorcycles, breaking horses, or roofing a house, well then you survived something.

January 20, 2015, 07:05 PM	#9
9MMand223only Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2014 Posts: 298	When your new to reloading, a good safety tip is to use a powder that literally fills the entire case, so you can't even compress the bullet in there, and that fully full case doesn't exceed a pressure that is considered big. for 9 MM, it would be like VV 3n37. You can just hand pour it in the case, and try and seat a bullet, and if you can get the OAL of the book, that load probably ok, but work up just in case. Titegroup is the exact opposite. You can double charge the case easily, and have the case ~ 55% full and it will be vastly over pressure and could cause serious injury. Then after you learn how to load, and are comfortable, then you can use the faster powders. Some something slower, that fills the case almost all the way with a max charge, then just use a medium charge and back it down. That is the safest way to learn how to load. It starts with choosing a powder that is idiot proof. For Rifle, like 223, an example of an idiot proof powder with say 55 grain bullets is like IMR 4895. Massively compressed, its still fine. Good job on your first loads, may you have safety and accuracy in the future!

January 21, 2015, 07:29 PM	#11
AKhog Member Join Date: May 12, 2014 Location: Los Anchorage, AK Posts: 71	The Rowland is a fun round to load for. I currently use 200gn XTPs and 230gn XTPs. My only problem is picking up the brass out of all the 45ACP brass at the range. And 460R brass is expensive! I just scored 4 lbs of pistol powders from a friend yesterday! Finally!! Now it's time to do some load workups.

January 22, 2015, 11:32 AM	#13
TheFineLine Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2012 Location: The Great State of Texas Posts: 210	Just started myself. My first 400 are 45acp 185 grain Hornady XTPs new starline brass and CCI LPPs. I have batches loaded with, titegroup, longshot, VV N340, and power pistol. Taking them all out next week to see what I like! Glad to hear someone else is starting with similar loads.

January 22, 2015, 02:38 PM	#14
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	Just got done shooting some out in the back yard. Yeah, i really like rolling my own!!! Got me a pretty good plinking round figured out for what i have. Shooting out a glock 21 with lwd barrel, lwd compensator and a 22# rsa. 185jhp over 9.8gr of hs6, wlp primers, 1.215 oal. Winchester once shot brass. Got an average of 1107fps for a 10 shot string. Only gripe about this load is i have some unburnt powder in the barrel after a bunch of rounds. Recoil was light, gun shot like butter. 0 ftf or fte. All my cases looked great. Not bad for 150 rounds in my first big batch. I think i actually got the crimp right. I marked up a round and put it at the bottom of a 13rd clip. Shot the whole clip and chambered the markered round, then ejected it. Put it at the bottom of two more clips and chambered and ejected it then too. Measured it afterwards and it came out at 1.2145.....well, i should say i got the neck tension right lol Last edited by slomaro; January 22, 2015 at 02:44 PM.

January 22, 2015, 09:12 PM	#16
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	Ive found that i get some variation in velocity depending on where im aiming shooting through the chrono. Shooting high yields lower values, close to the eye gives higher. I was shooting from approximately 10' from the chrono. It was 2' off the ground on a box, i was kneeling to try and get the shot level. Was way too windy to put it on a tripod,like 20mph gusts. I loaded this batch exclusively from the powder measure, it may have been throwing more powder. I adjusted it and poured and weighed at least 10 serial pourings that were all really close to weight, most were dead on. Used an rcbs 505 scale and rcbs powder measure. After i repeatedly got my weight, i loaded them up. Checked 5 or 6 random samples while loading, they were all spot on. As an aside, i did notice i had a case that was more full than the others while eyeballing the cases in the loading block before bullets. Weighed it and it came out at 11gr!! Dont know why it threw more that time. Ran 2 strings of 10 shots, 1st string a few shots didnt register: 992(1st cold shot), 1047, 1074, 1023, 1105, 1059, 1104-this was from winchester brass average 1046 2nd string was from federal brass: 1070, 1096,1137, 1163, 1089, 1167, 1095, 1087, 1084 average 1107 So throw out the high readers and its around 1080s average

January 22, 2015, 09:37 PM	#17
slomaro Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2014 Location: mississippi gulf coast Posts: 7	So upping the charge with hs6 makes it burn cleaner? Max load per my hornady book is 10.1gr, i loaded some up to that but noticed a little powder in the barrel after shooting my work up loads. Might have been left over from the lighter ones. I settled on the 9.8gr thinking it would burn cleaner than 10.1gr. i think i introduced some pressure issues to the gun when i put the compensator on it. With the stock glock barrel, i never got any sooting on the cases after firing. After the comp, i noticed i was getting a consistent band of soot on every case, shooting factory ammo. Seems to be less sooting shooting hotter hand loads tho. also, the hotter the round, the less blast i feel from the comp. Shooting factory ball ammo, it felt like it was blowing my hair up. Didnt notice the blast shooting these handloads. I really like the comp tho. Makes quick follow up shots much easier, less rise.