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So I've finally got my reloading operation going. I have the Hornady LNL AP press, and I'm starting off with 9mm, as that is cheap for components, and if I blow up the gun, well, that's the one I will miss the least and it will be the cheapest to replace. (I'm only half joking here).
After pouring through the brass I have, I've notice some things. My pile of R-P brass came out of a pair of Taurus 24/7s. These have noticeable bulges. The pile of S&B brass were fired from a Glock and 2 different XDs. These have pretty much no bulge at all. And my pile of Federal brass were from a Keltec P11 and a Glock .40 using a Lonewolf conversion barrel. These have slight bulges.
Are these bulge characteristics more a matter of brass, or the gun they came out of? Would it be in my best interest to use the R-P cases for lower charged plinking rounds, and the S&B's for the higher power zombie defense stuff?
I loaded up 50 rounds and shot them the other day, using Alliant Bullseye, a Lyman manual, and Hornady 115 XTP projectiles. The book lists 3.5 as the starting charge, and 4.8 as the highest. I started at 3.7, and going in 10 round increments of .2 grains, worked my way up to 4.5. OAL is listed at 1.090, and I settled on 1.092. I used 40 cases of the R-P, and 10 S&B cases for the higher powered charges. All 50 rounds fired flawlessly, and I guess I'm getting familiar enough with my tools as I can definitely tell the difference as I fired them off from one group to the next. I even saved a 3.7 and threw that in last after the 4.5s, just to see. While the difference was not as great I was anticipating, it was noticeable.
How do you guys layer and organize your generations of reloads? As in, would I be better off loading up a whole pile of once fired, and blowing through all of them over time, while at the same time reloading them but just keeping them in a different can clearly labeled, before going to my twice fired pile? Or is it better to, say, reload them all, then take only 300 or so and work on those until they're no longer usable? I'm thinking it's better to try to keep them all in the same generation. So at this point, I'd blow through the rest of my new stock, then the reload them all and keep them in the once fired can, while at the same time reloading them after they get fired and keeping those in a twice fired can.
And, finally, is there a particular FMJ projectile that is more accurate or reliable than the others that I should use? I'll probably go Nosler or Gold Dot for my zombie rounds. I'll probably make half my rounds FMJ for plinking and the other half zombie stopping JHP.
After pouring through the brass I have, I've notice some things. My pile of R-P brass came out of a pair of Taurus 24/7s. These have noticeable bulges. The pile of S&B brass were fired from a Glock and 2 different XDs. These have pretty much no bulge at all. And my pile of Federal brass were from a Keltec P11 and a Glock .40 using a Lonewolf conversion barrel. These have slight bulges.
Are these bulge characteristics more a matter of brass, or the gun they came out of? Would it be in my best interest to use the R-P cases for lower charged plinking rounds, and the S&B's for the higher power zombie defense stuff?
I loaded up 50 rounds and shot them the other day, using Alliant Bullseye, a Lyman manual, and Hornady 115 XTP projectiles. The book lists 3.5 as the starting charge, and 4.8 as the highest. I started at 3.7, and going in 10 round increments of .2 grains, worked my way up to 4.5. OAL is listed at 1.090, and I settled on 1.092. I used 40 cases of the R-P, and 10 S&B cases for the higher powered charges. All 50 rounds fired flawlessly, and I guess I'm getting familiar enough with my tools as I can definitely tell the difference as I fired them off from one group to the next. I even saved a 3.7 and threw that in last after the 4.5s, just to see. While the difference was not as great I was anticipating, it was noticeable.
How do you guys layer and organize your generations of reloads? As in, would I be better off loading up a whole pile of once fired, and blowing through all of them over time, while at the same time reloading them but just keeping them in a different can clearly labeled, before going to my twice fired pile? Or is it better to, say, reload them all, then take only 300 or so and work on those until they're no longer usable? I'm thinking it's better to try to keep them all in the same generation. So at this point, I'd blow through the rest of my new stock, then the reload them all and keep them in the once fired can, while at the same time reloading them after they get fired and keeping those in a twice fired can.
And, finally, is there a particular FMJ projectile that is more accurate or reliable than the others that I should use? I'll probably go Nosler or Gold Dot for my zombie rounds. I'll probably make half my rounds FMJ for plinking and the other half zombie stopping JHP.