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Old May 30, 2009, 10:16 AM   #1
verti89
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About to make our first reloads

My dad and I have finally got our setup ready and some mix of components that we can put together a some actual real life ammunition. With the scarcity we had little options in terms of powder and primers and just have what we have. (Red Dot powder, CCI and Federal Match primers)

We are going to start with loading .45 for a few reasons. First and most importantly we have the most guns in that caliber. But secondly, we bought some ammo at a gun show that was almost definitely reloaded, so we are unsure of how many times it has been fired. We don't think its probably the best idea to start with brass where we are unsure of its history, but we only bought .38 and .44 ammo there. So basically we know all of our .45 brass is once fired.

We will be using 200gr HP/XTP bullets and accoring to handloads.com (does anyone have an opinion of this site) a good starting load for our components is 4.7 grains but the concern is that it lists a primer different from what we have. From what I understand the primers can be substituted between brands safely, and different primers work better with different guns. Just want to verify that.

With all of that said what do you guys think about the situation? We do have 2 reloading manuals, it just did not have the combination of the bullet and powder that we have. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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Old May 30, 2009, 10:46 AM   #2
jdscholer
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45 Auto?

If you are down in the starting load zone, different brands of the same type of primer are considered to be interchangeable. (as generally are bullets of the same weight and type)

At higher levels, any component changes from what are listed in your books should be done with a reduction in powder charge (10% rule of thumb).

READ YOUR BOOKS!!! Err on the side of caution. It's better to practice forever with wimpy loads than to blow up tomorrow with tough loads.

Welcome to a wonderful hobby--- oh yeah, get even more books. jd
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Old May 30, 2009, 10:56 AM   #3
verti89
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Any opinion on the handloads.org site as a 3rd or worse reference?
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Old May 30, 2009, 11:17 AM   #4
mikld
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Web sites for reloading data are great, but nothing replaces a few good reloading manuals. Get one or two from a bullet manufacturer (Speer, Nosler, etc.), one or two from a powder manufacturer (Alliant, Hogdon, Winchester, etc.), and one or two from a "neutral" source (Lyman, Lee, ABCs of Reloading). Besides reloading recipes, these manuals will have "how to" sections that contain a LOT of good info for the beginner and experienced reloader. With printed manuals it is easy to compare data and choose the right load for your guns. Reloading isn't just a means to an end, it is a very rewarding and fun hobby in itself! I spend more time handloading (research, component aquisition, assembly, and recording data) than I do shooting, and that's great by me!

Careful, reloading may lead to casting your own boolits, and that's a whole different story.
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Old May 30, 2009, 11:39 AM   #5
James R. Burke
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The prior post is correct, those manuals are very important. I dont reload for what you are doing, but welcome to a great sport. Has stated prior start out on the low end for awhile, and work up from there. Differnt makes of primers can be used has long as they are the correct size, and type. Again start at the min. Everyone has there favortie primer. To bad it is so hard to get things right now. I was lucky on the primers on finding what I normally use, but I just made it. Hope I will have enough till all this blows over. Good luck, and have some safe fun! Read the manuals and have a few of them.
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Old May 30, 2009, 11:49 AM   #6
jdscholer
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Quote:
Careful, reloading may lead to casting your own boolits, and that's a whole different story.

Yeah, it started with me trying some bulk cast bullets (Lasercast) awhile back, and thinkin, "hmmmmm these are doing everything I need."

I knew a source of free wheelweights, and got back into the game with cheap-- er - inexpensive Lee equipment, and now am shooting the heck out of my pistols for around 3 bucks a box. Don't make me put a price on my time. jd
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Old May 30, 2009, 12:11 PM   #7
Dragon55
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Manuals...manuals... read read

I agree with mikld on Lee and Lyman especially Lee it's a little more straight forward and simple for simple minds like mine
READ THESE WARNINGS BEFORE PROCEEDING:

1. Reloading is addictive right after heroin, nicotine, and caffeine.

2. You will find yourself scratching around in the grass for spent brass.

3. You will be very liberal with your use of the scoops at the indoor ranges up to
and including irritating other shooters who give you strange looks. (This is
especially true with .45's since you'll see a lot of that at indoor ranges.)

4. You will at some point buy a tumbler simply because you want to see your
reflection in the case.

5. You will buy a bullet puller at some point because your OAL is 6 ten thousandths
off.

6. You will very likely start buying firearms in other calibers just because you have
accumulated so much 'odd' brass that you may as well load it up also.

7. You will at some point post on this forum a long whiny lament about how you
can't find any small pistol primers.

8. You will also respond angrily to another member who has just bragged about
buying 10,000 pistol primers.

9. You will later try to apologize to that same person and try to finagle them out
of some of those primers.

10. You will have a dirtier car, an overgrown yard, permanent black stain on your
fingertips, a wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend that rolls their eyes every time
they walk by you sitting at your reloading bench, and only friends that supply
you with their old brass as you will shun all others.

11. You will wake up in the morning and instead of coffee you will unscrew the can of
powder by your bedside and take a big whiff to get you going. (WARNING:
failure to do this will immediately spur you into frenzied fit that can only be
cured with a few grains of same powder flashed off under your nose)

12. You will read all this and think 'This guy is just nutty!' but time will tell .
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Old May 30, 2009, 12:29 PM   #8
verti89
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much thanks for all the input. and again we do have 2 seperate manuals and the ABCs so the website was just used to find a very specific load that was not in any of our hardcover manuals.
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Old May 30, 2009, 01:14 PM   #9
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Dragon55
You forgot quite a few symptoms of early onset of Reloaders Disease.

Such as:
You watch the guy at the end of the shooting stalls because he hasn't picked up any brass, so when he leaves you sprint to that station to claim the brass.

When everyone is gone, you go thru the garbage cans for brass and empty ammo boxes. At full onset of the disease, you go thru the garbage when you arrive at the range and immediately after someone tosses anything into it, and do it defiantly with no sense of shame.

When watching movies which involve the firing of automatic/semiautomatic weapons, you salivate as cases hit the floor/dirt.
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Old May 30, 2009, 02:24 PM   #10
RamSlammer
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Curious that Alliant's Reloader Guide doesn't list Red Dot for 200 gr. .45 ACP, but does for 230 gr.

There is a reference in Lee's Modern Reloading for 200 gr. jacketed .45 ACP using Red Dot. The jacketed references should work okay for XTP bullets . . . nothing special about those.
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Old June 1, 2009, 10:24 AM   #11
Dannyl
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Shooney, you are on the money ( I mean the brass)

I have more bad news:
like swine-flu, this malady knows no borders
I have been reloading since 91, and have picked up brass in ranges across 4 countries in 3 different continents

What is worst, is that I am even happy to brag about it

Now that we have warned you, welcome to the club and feel free to ask as many questions as you feel like.

Cheers,
Danny
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Old June 1, 2009, 08:09 PM   #12
PCJim
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verti89, strongly rely on your printed manuals. As you probably are already well aware, not everything you find on the internet is the truth, and unfortunately, this holds true for our hobby. I have seen some load data provided on websites and threads that I certainly hope were typo's and not intentional attempts by a deranged individual to maime anyone relying upon the data.

Also, older reloading manuals are good to keep around for reference. They can be found in used book stores and online. Again though, use them to back up other information you have found, and keep in mind that books printed 20+ years ago may list charges for powders still in production but that are currently made by a different company and with differing formulations.

Welcome to a great hobby, be safe, and thoroughly enjoy the time you and your father spend together in your new endeavour.
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