School Me on Reloading Semi-Auto Pistol Cartridges

[YippeeKiYoRed]

I'm pretty experienced with reloading necked rifle cartridges such as .30-06, 308WIN, 223REM, 6.5 Creedmoor and 30-30 having reloaded hundreds or thousands of each.

Now into straight-wall pistol cartridges including .45 Auto and will soon be adding 9mm Luger. Currently loading cast bullets for .45 Auto. Will be loading jacketed bullets for 9mm.

I load rifle cartridges one at a time in a single stage press. For pistol, volume requirements demand using a progressive press, which is also new to me.

* Powder dispensing reliability in a progressive press. Any tricks or advise to ensure powder is dispensing consistently before starting to load away? I had to pull the bullets on about 80 rounds because the powder weight was off, even though I measured several pours before going at it. Currently using a Hornady progressive press and Hornady Bench Rest powder dispenser.
* Belling and crimping. This has to affect the life of the case (split lips). Any tips besides common-sense approach of belling and crimping as little as needed?
* Does straight-wall pistol brass stretch much over its lifespan?
* Mixing brass by brand and/or # of firings. Rifle brass I keep sorted by both brand and # of firings. Is this an issue with pistol brass?
* Differences in brass weight. Not trying to suggest pistol brass needs to be sorted by weight like a bench rest shooter might. But I have noticed .45 Auto cases with military/police head stamps (such as WCC) can be a lot heavier, suggesting a smaller interior volume. Has anyone experienced unacceptable inconsistencies in muzzle velocity due to this?
* What's the real story on crimping to help get consistent muzzle velocities? When pulling some bullets (see above) I used a hammer-like inertia puller. Although all were crimped in the same batch there were noticeable differences in the # of blows to remove the bullet. The bullets were pulled from a Heinz57 mix of brass. Seems the crimp on a case with maybe slightly thicker wall, or more work-hardened brass, would have more holding power. (Note: I never crimp rifle brass so crimping is new to me.)
* NATO 9mm. Anyone have issues with seating new primers due to crimped primer pockets? (This is a known issue with 5.56 and 7.62 NATO.)
* Small primer .45 Auto. I know when 308WIN is manufactured to use small primers it allows for higher pressures before blowing primers. Some long-range shooters prefer it for that reason. But .45 Auto is anything but a high-pressure pistol round. So why small primers in .45 Auto? Why? Why? Why?
* Any other gotcha's an experienced rifle reloader might not know about when reloading pistol?

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[ferret427]

Not an expert, but here goes based on my reloading of 9mm and .45ACP. Also note that I am not loading for precision/competion pistol shooting, just plinking/ general use.

I also have a Hornady setup. For powder, get it set, crank down on all the fittings and weigh every 10th or 20th charge. You will thank yourself later. When I first started reloading, I did not follow this advice and had to pull almost 1000 rounds. It sucked.

For belling and crimping, there are many good vids on this. I don't use pistol projectiles with a cannelure, so I don't crimp, and bell just as much as needed to get the bullet to seat clean and concentric. I do test racking a round multiple ti.es to make sure I don't get either bullet jump or setback from chambering.

I dont often trim pistol brass, but I don't concern myself with saving my brass to reload a bunch of times. Pistol brass does not flow the same as rifle brass, due to being low pressure, and straight walled.

For general use, I haven't bothered to sort my pistol brass by headstamp. I only use brass casings, and for .45, I do separate by primer size. You can generally get a fair number for firings from pistol brass.

For crimped primer pockets, you need to either ream or swage the primer pocket (do not overdo).

Large/small primer .45....dunno. I use the appropriate primer and load it.

I would like to hear from someone who is more into pistol caliber reloading as well. You tube from reputable sources and reloading manuals are your friend.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Does straight-wall pistol brass stretch much over its lifespan?

Round about 42 years ago I bought a Lee 45acp case trimmer, and after all these years I don't think that cutter has touched a single case mouth!

 

[srxfan]

for 45 ACP this is a fun read on case life. A reloader took a brand new starline case, shot it, reloaded it to failure at an indoor range:

How many times can you reload a .45 ACP case? - MassReloading

The .45 ACP has a reputation for legendary durability. Is it well-deserved? Read this and find out.

vintagepistols.com

 

[MikeInOr]

I'm pretty experienced with reloading necked rifle cartridges such as .30-06, 308WIN, 223REM, 6.5 Creedmoor and 30-30 having reloaded hundreds or thousands of each.

Now into straight-wall pistol cartridges including .45 Auto and will soon be adding 9mm Luger. Currently loading cast bullets for .45 Auto. Will be loading jacketed bullets for 9mm.

Reloading pistol rounds is just like reloading rifle rounds but you have to hold your pinky finger out while pulling the handle down.

I load rifle cartridges one at a time in a single stage press. For pistol, volume requirements demand using a progressive press, which is also new to me.

I have been using a Dillon 650XL for 30+ years now. I highly reccomend it or the new Dillon 750XL that replaces it. This doesn't mean other presses won't work well too. I would give a serious look to the new Frankford arsenal X10 ten station progressive press. The price seems very good.

X-10 Progressive Press with Case Feeder | Frankford Arsenal

X-10 Progressive Press with Case Feeder

www.frankfordarsenal.com

* Powder dispensing reliability in a progressive press. Any tricks or advise to ensure powder is dispensing consistently before starting to load away?

Ball powder meters more consistently than stick powder but the throw variance of stick powders has not caused me any issues

I had to pull the bullets on about 80 rounds because the powder weight was off, even though I measured several pours before going at it. Currently using a Hornady progressive press and Hornady Bench Rest powder dispenser.
* Belling and crimping. This has to affect the life of the case (split lips). Any tips besides common-sense approach of belling and crimping as little as needed?

For copper jacketed bullets I use a minimal bell which is made by the powder funnel under the powder measure. I have read that a automatic bullet seater like Mr Bulletfeeder needs more of a bell to automatically seat the bullets and not have them tumble out. DoubleAlpha sells their own powder funnels for Dillon measures to give the proper bell for their bullet seater.

* Does straight-wall pistol brass stretch much over its lifespan?

Not in my experience.

* Mixing brass by brand and/or # of firings. Rifle brass I keep sorted by both brand and # of firings. Is this an issue with pistol brass?

For my plinking ammo brass gets all mixed in together and I do not keep track of the number of times it has been reloaded. In 30+ years this has not caused me a problem. I Use only Federal Nickle cases for my carry ammo so I can easily tell it apart. I don't reuse these cases if II am testing my carry ammo.

* Differences in brass weight. Not trying to suggest pistol brass needs to be sorted by weight like a bench rest shooter might. But I have noticed .45 Auto cases with military/police head stamps (such as WCC) can be a lot heavier, suggesting a smaller interior volume. Has anyone experienced unacceptable inconsistencies in muzzle velocity due to this?

45 acp, 9mm, 44 mag, 50ae, 380, 22tcm. I have not had any such problems.

* What's the real story on crimping to help get consistent muzzle velocities? When pulling some bullets (see above) I used a hammer-like inertia puller. Although all were crimped in the same batch there were noticeable differences in the # of blows to remove the bullet. The bullets were pulled from a Heinz57 mix of brass. Seems the crimp on a case with maybe slightly thicker wall, or more work-hardened brass, would have more holding power. (Note: I never crimp rifle brass so crimping is new to me.)

I use Lee collet crip dies for all of my calibers and have never had a problems with crimps even with mixed brass.

* NATO 9mm. Anyone have issues with seating new primers due to crimped primer pockets? (This is a known issue with 5.56 and 7.62 NATO.)

I have not had a problem with this. I might have had a 4 or 5 out of many thousands of 9mm cases have seating problem in the last 30+ years. I just toss them. When I bought a few thousand once fired LC 7.62 I paid the seller to clean and swage the primer pockets.

* Small primer .45 Auto. I know when 308WIN is manufactured to use small primers it allows for higher pressures before blowing primers. Some long-range shooters prefer it for that reason. But .45 Auto is anything but a high-pressure pistol round. So why small primers in .45 Auto? Why? Why? Why?

It is just a headache that we have to deal with.

* Any other gotcha's an experienced rifle reloader might not know about when reloading pistol?

As long as you remember to hold your pinky finger out you should be fine!

 

[Ben B.]

When setting your powder measure, use a pill bottle to catch powder from the powder drop. Zero scale with pill bottle. On Hornady powder drop throw 3-5 charges into a pill bottle to settle it down, then just pour that powder back in measure. You can then throw single charges and weigh to get a rough idea of where you are and make adjustments. After any adjustment, throw 3-5 charges and dump back in measure. Once you are close to target charge, throw and weigh 5 charges all together, divide total by 5 to reduce the error of measurement and get a good idea of average throw weight. I sometimes multiple the (weight of 5 throws) by 2 in my head, divide by 5 in my head, or use a calculator if I'm feeling sluggish.

Once you think you are at target charge weight, throw 10 charges into the pill bottle and weigh. That's the easy math, just move a decimal point. Check weight with at least 2 charges weighed together, every 10-20 rounds when you start. After 2 checks, I seldom check anymore during a load session, but should definitely check weight of 5 throws together when you start another load session.

Watch the powder cop on every upstroke of the ram! A little variation is normal, especially with mixed headstamps. If powder cop starts to seem consistently high or low, time to weigh out 5 charges and weigh the whole mass, then divide by 5 to see what your average weight is. It's usually right where it should be, and from a run of similar headstamps that can randomly occur. But sometimes….

Taper crimp auto rounds in Station 5. Don't roll crimp anything in autos. I rec Lee FCD taper crimp.

I don't see case stretching as a factor in any pistol loading I've done.

Some 9mm brass with crimped primer pockets is a pain, but not very often. Throw it away if you encounter one while loading, there's plenty of 9mm brass, and it's not worth any effort to fix.

Who cares about neck tension/crimping for reducing the SDs in MV of pistol rounds? Maybe bullseye shooters do. Not a factor worth any effort, IMHO. If it is for you, sort your brass by headstamp. It is tedious. Enjoy yourself!

Small primer .45, like .380 acp brass, is a sin. Crush all sin!

ETA: 9mm range brass is often all Glocked Up. The Lee or Lee/EGW U-die (under sizing) fixes that and is worthwhile for 9mm range brass.

The "rule" I learned for .45 acp was to load the brass until it splits…then load it one more time.

 

[ma96782]

For me......
Talking about "range brass pick ups" and my re-loading experience with lead bullets and the .38 special/.357 mag, 9mm and .45ACP on my LEE M1000 progressive presses.

As for the straight walled brass pistol cases.......I don't trim them. Nickle cases are just as good as the brass colored variety. Nickle seems to split more often and through much usage it will loose it's shininess (due to the scratches).

It's CARBIDE dies for me and all of my straight walled pistol cartridges. Because, I don't really have to clean the brass and/or have them glint in the sun, to be GTG.

One brand of primer is just as good as any other (speaking of American primers for pistols).

.38 special brass (including .357 mag).......
I've found them the easiest to reload. Most manufacturers are very consistent with their product.

9mm........
The manufacturers of the brass cases are all over the place. Brass thickness and primer pocket size and the military crimps.....all contribute to the headaches. The "military crimp". Yeah, I still haven't found a good solution for me. I've tried reaming and the swage. Both are still problematic.

As for the loaded cartridges in 9mm. Sometimes you might also see that "waist" profile look....depending on the brass thickness. If they still chamber......it's GTG.

BTW.....I get the most jams in/on my press when trying to reload for the 9mm. I blame the brass manufacturers. Perhaps, IF I wasn't sooo LAZY........I should segregate my brass by manufacturer? Cough, cough...... BUT, But, but....... Then, from one year headstamp to the next......it's still a problem (sometimes).

.45 ACP..........
I don't reload for it as much as I used to. I mostly use recycled US military cases. The primer pocket/military crimps are a breeze to deal with. WARNING some of the newer brass uses those small primers. IMHO.....just stick to one type (either large or small primer). Get rid of.....the "other size". Rrrrrright.....eliminate THAT PROBLEM. The 200 grain lead SWC (H&G #68 type profile bullet) were the best for me, when shooting 2700 matches.

Aloha, Mark

PS.........I like fast small granular pistol powders. Usually BE, W231, and recently I've added HS-6 to my staples. I don't strive to see fire balls and I don't need the punishing recoil to feel "accomplished".

Not to mention, that they meter really well and they are economical (a little goes a long way).

 

[American123]

You're telling me a guy whose loaded hundreds of thousands of rifle rounds even blinks an eye thinking about loading some pistol rounds?

Loading pistol rounds is easier than loading rifle rounds. Grab some load data and get cranking.

Pretty much anything you would do for maximum accuracy with a rifle round you won't bother to do with a pistol round unless you're trying to do some intense accuracy competition.

Brass is still brass, so everything to keep in mind about rifle brass can be considered for pistol brass.

I like using Accurate #5 for my 9mm loads. It meters really well through the Dillon 550 to.

 

[YippeeKiYoRed]

Thanks for all the responses. This has been very helpful. Now I can get a process down and start loading with confidence.

Small-primer 45 auto gets chucked. Sticking with large primer. Any .45 auto brass with military/police headstamps will get chucked. I see so little of it, it's no real loss.

There are tools for de-crimping small primer pockets in rifle brass which might work for 9mm NATO since the primers are nearly the same size. But I might just start chucking 9mm NATO to keep things simple. And because I can be lazy. If anyone's interested here are two de-crimping tools which might work on 9mm NATO. I prefer the swaging tool in the 2nd link.

De-crimping tool. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012921650?pid=254170
Another tool. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012920663?pid=235832

for 45 ACP this is a fun read on case life. A reloader took a brand new starline case, shot it, reloaded it to failure at an indoor range:

How many times can you reload a .45 ACP case? - MassReloading

The .45 ACP has a reputation for legendary durability. Is it well-deserved? Read this and find out.

vintagepistols.com

Nice write up and looks like he did a good study. Interesting how the length shrinks over usage, opposite of rifle brass. Simplest bellwethers on when to chuck brass might be length and how beat up it looks.

.45 ACP..........
I don't reload for it as much as I used to. I mostly use recycled US military cases. The primer pocket/military crimps are a breeze to deal with. WARNING some of the newer brass uses those small primers. IMHO.....just stick to one type (either large or small primer). Get rid of.....the "other size". Rrrrrright.....eliminate THAT PROBLEM. The 200 grain lead SWC (H&G #68 type profile bullet) were the best for me, when shooting 2700 matches.

FWIW For 2700 matches I'm using Zero brand 185 grain SWC cast bullets with either AutoComp or BE. BE seems to be better, but AutoComp is good enough and I have several pounds of it.

You're telling me a guy whose loaded hundreds of thousands of rifle rounds even blinks an eye thinking about loading some pistol rounds?

Ya never know what you don't know.

 

[ma96782]

Small-primer 45 auto gets chucked. Sticking with large primer. Any .45 auto brass with military/police headstamps will get chucked. I see so little of it, it's no real loss.

I find that the military headstamped .45 ACP brass to be highly desirable. Just take care of the crimp. Either method has been good for me. And, it only needs to be done once.

BUT THEN........YES. The supply is probably drying up by now.

The 9 mm military brass are my PROBLEM children.

Aloha, Mark

 

[dangerranger60]

I don't chuck sp 45 brass. I just set it aside and either sell it to those that like it [ there are people that will buy it!] or load it for those places where I won't get my brass back.
Until this last round of ammo shortages I did not load much 9mm. But when 9mm went from around .06 cents a round to over a dollar, I started loading them.
The first thing I learned was that I had to be very careful about my sizing die settings to keep from getting that waist or hourglass look instead of a smooth taper as they come from the factory. They still shoot but look sloppy, and if you are shooting a cast lead bullet you are resizing the bullet by forcing it into an undersized case.
I do trim cases. but I'm loading on old steel 3 die sets. A modern die set that crimps in a 4th die does not need it's brass trimmed.

The weak point of every progressive press I have used is the priming. So I prime off the press. I get the best result from hand priming tools. I switch off between Lee's thumb operated and RCBS's grip operated one. I run about a hundred through each one and switch off to keep my hands from getting tired.
Priming is the one task I do while watching TV. For me it's all feel. If it doesn't feel right, then I look down at it.
Until you get it down to a science, load into a tray and check your powder charge every 10 or 20 rounds. Check your loaded rounds at about the same rate. once I have a couple hundred rounds without any adjustments, I'll move to checking every 50 or 100. The rounds checked are just to be sure if there is a problem, I'm not breaking down 1000 rounds.

Good Luck, I almost enjoy reloading as much as shooting! DR

 

[gmerkt]

9mm........
The manufacturers of the brass cases are all over the place. Brass thickness and primer pocket size and the military crimps.....all contribute to the headaches.

OP, this right here is a good reason to sort and separate 9mm brass.

Re. the crimp in military 9mm brass. 9mm is a common enough case to get for free, why bother with crimped?

9mm has a tapered case, which lends itself to the bulged effect some have mentioned above. One way to minimize this is to use a Lyman M die for flaring the mouth. Another solution is the Lee Pistol Factory Crimp Die, which mechanically crushes some of the bulge out. Bullet seating die designs that hold the bullet in better alignment help.

 

[thorborg]

School Me on Reloading Semi-Auto Pistol Cartridges

Don't do 25acp, unless of coarse you enjoy really anal projects using tweezers and have a scale with a .01gr increment reading.

 

[YippeeKiYoRed]

School Me on Reloading Semi-Auto Pistol Cartridges

Don't do 25acp, unless of coarse you enjoy really anal projects using tweezers and have a scale with a .01gr increment reading.

Ha ha ha. I bought a 32 Auto and that's bad enough.

 

[ma96782]

School Me on Reloading Semi-Auto Pistol Cartridges

Don't do 25acp, unless of coarse you enjoy really anal projects using tweezers and have a scale with a .01gr increment reading.

Well, I'm cheap and buy cheap ammo (for my "smaller than 9mm pistol calibers"). In other words.....those pistols don't get used all that often. Hint: plenty of those old boxes of ammo can be found at the gun show (usually, for cheap).

Anyway, .38 special and 9mm is suppose to be the bottom end of the defensive caliber spectrum.

Course, if you wanted to carry a .25, .32, Makarov or .380 that's entirely, "UP TO YOU".

Aloha, Mark

 

[dangerranger60]

Well, I'm cheap and buy cheap ammo (for my "smaller than 9mm pistol calibers"). In other words.....those pistols don't get used all that often. Hint: plenty of those old boxes of ammo can be found at the gun show (usually, for cheap).

Anyway, .38 special and 9mm is suppose to be the bottom end of the defensive caliber spectrum.

Course, if you wanted to carry a .25, .32, Makarov or .380 that's entirely, "UP TO YOU".

Aloha, Mark

Those last three are where you really save money reloading! DR

 

[Catfishmoon]

I'm pretty experienced with reloading necked rifle cartridges such as .30-06, 308WIN, 223REM, 6.5 Creedmoor and 30-30 having reloaded hundreds or thousands of each.

Now into straight-wall pistol cartridges including .45 Auto and will soon be adding 9mm Luger. Currently loading cast bullets for .45 Auto. Will be loading jacketed bullets for 9mm.

I load rifle cartridges one at a time in a single stage press. For pistol, volume requirements demand using a progressive press, which is also new to me.

* Powder dispensing reliability in a progressive press. Any tricks or advise to ensure powder is dispensing consistently before starting to load away? I had to pull the bullets on about 80 rounds because the powder weight was off, even though I measured several pours before going at it. Currently using a Hornady progressive press and Hornady Bench Rest powder dispenser.
* Belling and crimping. This has to affect the life of the case (split lips). Any tips besides common-sense approach of belling and crimping as little as needed?
* Does straight-wall pistol brass stretch much over its lifespan?
* Mixing brass by brand and/or # of firings. Rifle brass I keep sorted by both brand and # of firings. Is this an issue with pistol brass?
* Differences in brass weight. Not trying to suggest pistol brass needs to be sorted by weight like a bench rest shooter might. But I have noticed .45 Auto cases with military/police head stamps (such as WCC) can be a lot heavier, suggesting a smaller interior volume. Has anyone experienced unacceptable inconsistencies in muzzle velocity due to this?
* What's the real story on crimping to help get consistent muzzle velocities? When pulling some bullets (see above) I used a hammer-like inertia puller. Although all were crimped in the same batch there were noticeable differences in the # of blows to remove the bullet. The bullets were pulled from a Heinz57 mix of brass. Seems the crimp on a case with maybe slightly thicker wall, or more work-hardened brass, would have more holding power. (Note: I never crimp rifle brass so crimping is new to me.)
* NATO 9mm. Anyone have issues with seating new primers due to crimped primer pockets? (This is a known issue with 5.56 and 7.62 NATO.)
* Small primer .45 Auto. I know when 308WIN is manufactured to use small primers it allows for higher pressures before blowing primers. Some long-range shooters prefer it for that reason. But .45 Auto is anything but a high-pressure pistol round. So why small primers in .45 Auto? Why? Why? Why?
* Any other gotcha's an experienced rifle reloader might not know about when reloading pistol?

Clearly you have a lot of experience reloading and you will find the pistol calibers you mention are are basic in comparison and most of the questions you ask come down to personal preferences...
45acp brass; I reload both large and small primer cases. I shoot the small when I am in a situation where I am not picking up and collecting my own brass...
I do sort 9mm by headstamp because of wide variation in O.A.L. if you do not. However, it is time consuming and probably not worth it to most people for the very slight gain in P.O.A. to P.O.I. Again, I reload and shoot the less desirable brass in instances where I am not collecting my own brass.

 

[thorborg]

Well, I'm cheap and buy cheap ammo (for my "smaller than 9mm pistol calibers"). In other words.....those pistols don't get used all that often. Hint: plenty of those old boxes of ammo can be found at the gun show (usually, for cheap).

Anyway, .38 special and 9mm is suppose to be the bottom end of the defensive caliber spectrum.

Course, if you wanted to carry a .25, .32, Makarov or .380 that's entirely, "UP TO YOU".

Aloha, Mark

I guess we shifted to the defensive aspect instead of reloading, or in my case, the enjoyment of shooting and reloading.
So I must get serious now, If I had no other choice, I'd choose the 22LR over the 25acp. It has way more grit. Well maybe not "way", but more.
Both, as a prime defensive tools, would be beyond contempt, though both in inventive ways have the ability to assist in extrication from a situation, and if you are lucky....
Now if you need to get real tough, the 9mm's credentials (in my opine) have only been elevated to "adequacy", and this, fairly recently. Much better bullets now, causing much more trouble than usual.
Still top as defense for me, anything over 200gr and 800fps. and a newly engineered bright and shiny slug.

 

[TTSX]

Be careful on a progressive if you elect to use bullseye powder. A double charge is more than possible.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's pretty easy. You adjust your dies and then use them as spelled out in any good reloading manual.