CZ9mm's Continual Reloading Thread

[GlockSpock]

CZ;

 

Your list looks great. Congratulations. :up:

 

I find handloading to be a very pleasurable and rewarding experience. I have no doubt you will as well.

 

There is some excellent info and suggestions in this thread.

 

On down the line (I don't recall seeing it recommended, but may have overlooked it) but you may want to pick up a "handloader's whiteout":

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/667064/lyman-magnum-impact-bullet-puller

 

 

Something I recently picked up as I've ventured out from my chosen loads for the past 25 years is a chronograph. (I always had access to one until moving to TN...and I'm a cheap basterd LOL).

I wanted to put in a plug for a Competition Electronics Prochrono Chronograph.

I picked up mine from MidwayUSA, with a discount coupon and sale for $105.00 including shipping. You just gotta watch for those sales. :pleased:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852429/competition-electronics-prochrono-digital-chronograph?cm_vc=ProductFinding

 

 

 

Keep us posted on your experiences. Enjoy.

 

I most certainly will purchase a kinetic puller soon. Also, I've always wanted a chronograph but I haven't been able to justify purchasing one. Perhaps I'll get one someday.

[Luke E.]

I most certainly will purchase a kinetic puller soon. Also, I've always wanted a chronograph but I haven't been able to justify purchasing one. Perhaps I'll get one someday.

 

 A chrono is definitely not a "must have" but it is a "great to have" item for a reloader. I don't own one personally but I do have access to one (that's the reason I don't buy my own) and it has been quite helpful especially when developing rifle loads. 

[GlockSpock]

So, it's time to mount the press. I built a bench yesterday and will be mounting the press soon, depending on how I decide to do it.

 

My current question is whether or not anyone has any experience with the Lee Mounting Plate?

 

I do have the desire to possibly someday purchase the Lee Classic Turret for reloading handgun rounds. I also foresee that sometime I may wish to remove the press for multiple reasons (moving bench, using bench for other purposes, etc). Thus, if the ability to easily swap presses in and out using a plate such as this does not hinder using the press in any way, I'd love to use on of these.

 

So as long as it does not take away from any aspect of using the press (stability, precision, etc), I think I'll purchase one!

[GlockSpock]

I mounted the press yesterday after moving my bench inside. Hopefully I will find time to take a picture later tonight. Threw in the 9mm shell holder and installed the universal decapping die. Decapped a few cases just because I'd been itching to do that for a while now. I think I'm going to really, really like this setup.

 

Suppose that hopefully I can decap all my 9mm tonight and then Lemishine it overnight.

[GlockSpock]

Yeah, reloading is never about saving money. It is about shooting more. Well that and building better ammo than you can buy. You will find that once you find a decent load it will be better than anything you have ever bought and it will do it cheaper to boot.

 

So, on your Lemishine only method, hot water or boiling? Also, was that 1 bottle of isopropyl rubbing alcohol to one container of the lanolin? Any further input on "tumblerless" cleaning methods and homemade case/die lube would be great!

[chances R]

If you are loading 9mm, forget the case lube.....needless steps.

[Jamie Jackson]

YMMV but I do lube 9mm.

 

I handload a fair amount of 9mm.

I find a quick spray of lube makes the whole process run smoother in my Dillon.

[Luke E.]

So, on your Lemishine only method, hot water or boiling? Also, was that 1 bottle of isopropyl rubbing alcohol to one container of the lanolin? Any further input on "tumblerless" cleaning methods and homemade case/die lube would be great!

 

 As someone else stated, the case lube it completely unnecessary when loading pistol (straight wall) cases so long as you bought carbide dies. I've loaded an unknown number of pistol rounds and only sprayed them once because I was told that they sized easier. They did size a bit easier but they weren't the least bit hard in the first place so the difference wasn't worth handling sticky cases. By all means give it a try if you'd like but thought i'd share my experience and save you some time.

Just my  :2cents:

[chances R]

YMMV but I do lube 9mm.

 

I handload a fair amount of 9mm.

I find a quick spray of lube makes the whole process run smoother in my Dillon.

 

Yes, it is helpful and I do the same.  However, it is not a necessity and I would not go to the trouble of trying to make my own.  A little spray of Hornady Case Lube is quite sufficient.

[GlockSpock]

Ok, so yesterday I shot exactly 50 more reloads. These would have been numbers 26-75. Every one of them worked flawlessly! I love my Glock even more and may love reloading as much as shooting. However, I want to ask some advice here.

 

I am using the Lee Perfect Powder Measure and also tried the Pro Autodisk with adjustable charging bar. Is it just something that you have to "get good at" or is there something wrong here? Both of the measures are completely unreliable. I mean +- 2-3 grains. Not .2-.3 grains, 2 to 3 entire grains. I feel like it is because 700-X is a flake powder. I'd really like to try a really good ball powder for 9mm.

 

Recommendations for this? I know finding stuff right now is tough but maybe I'll luck out.

 

I threw the stuff up for sale or trade here:

 

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/79278-29lbs-imr-700-x-trade-for-other-9mm-powder/?p=1156251

 

Sometimes the Pro Autodisk would measure about 3 or 4 loads consistently, but then it would drop down to a charge under a grain for a few charges. I have been tapping each powder measure this way and that at all different steps, I just think I dislike the flake powder.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

As best I can tell, my dillon measures seem to drop with .1 gn or less variation, unless it does worse when I'm not checking every charge. And once set, I haven't caught it going out of adjustment from repeated use.

 

But that is with ball or whatever they call the little rounded slightly flattened grains. Have never used flake or stick powder.

 

I settle on a recipe and use the same boring recipe for years. Not much experimentation.

 

My usual method, before each reload session-- Will throw a few dummy loads and dump them back in the powder hopper. Then throw ten loads and dump em all on the scale, verify that the weight is 10X what my target load is. Will usually do that twice just because. Then weigh a few individual loads to make sure I can get a small string of charges close enough to the target charge. Then load a hundred or three rounds, visually checking each case before seating bullet, to make sure the charge visually looks reasonable.

 

If a charge looks weird enough will stop, take out that case and weigh it. But virtually every time the charge that looks too big or too little to the eye, turns out close enough for rock'n'roll. I have a little led lite wire tied to the press so it shines right into the case so I can see the dropped powder level good. But sometimes the vibration might causE the powder to heap on one side or t'other of the case, and fool the eye. My eye is not near as precise as it ought to be.

 

I finally got an electronic scale theoretically accurate to the milligram, about 0.01 gn. But my scale is not good enough to ALWAYS measure exactly the same to the milligram. Gotta give the big bucks for a scale that repeatable, and even then a skilled person can get a better measurement than unskilled, and I'm not too swooft in the skills dept. So if the variance seems at or below 0.1 gn, then it can be difficult to know whether to blame the powder measure, the scale, or the clumsy operator.

 

I try to make sure the powder hopper is always at least half full, and on each lever pull, after the upstroke is done, I give the handle a good enough tap, a bit of a jolt, to shake the powder around a little bit in the hopper. Hoping that shaking the powder a bit every time will help make sure all the powder drops every time, and that the measure bar fills up fully every time for the next drop.

 

Probably other brand powder measures are as good or better. Never used any but dillon and wouldn't know.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Lester Weevils

[div]

[quote name="CZ9MM" post="1156259" timestamp="1402104139"]Ok, so yesterday I shot exactly 50 more reloads. These would have been numbers 26-75. Every one of them worked flawlessly! I love my Glock even more and may love reloading as much as shooting. However, I want to ask some advice here. I am using the Lee Perfect Powder Measure and also tried the Pro Autodisk with adjustable charging bar. Is it just something that you have to "get good at" or is there something wrong here? Both of the measures are completely unreliable. I mean +- 2-3 grains. Not .2-.3 grains, 2 to 3 entire grains. I feel like it is because 700-X is a flake powder. I'd really like to try a really good ball powder for 9mm. Recommendations for this? I know finding stuff right now is tough but maybe I'll luck out. I threw the stuff up for sale or trade here: [url="http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/79278-29lbs-imr-700-x-trade-for-other-9mm-powder/?p=1156251"]http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/79278-29lbs-imr-700-x-trade-for-other-9mm-powder/?p=1156251[/url] Sometimes the Pro Autodisk would measure about 3 or 4 loads consistently, but then it would drop down to a charge under a grain for a few charges. I have been tapping each powder measure this way and that at all different steps, I just think I dislike the flake powder.[/quote] I had a similar problem with my lnl-ap using unique to load 9mm. I cleaned and cleaned the powder measure to no effect. What seems to have helped the most was a few shots of graphite in the powder and then just running a couple hundred drops dumping each back into the measure. It now drops unique (a large flake powder) at +- .2 grains. Ball powders drop spot on for me. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Jonnin]

the lee disk device is not precision gear but several things to know about it:

 

- small ball powder is best.  It controls the air gaps between flakes better, which is good for *ANY* volume based system.  Big flakes fill the same volume but airspace is randomized so the weights are widely different.

 

- its not precision competition load gear, but it makes ammo as good as most commercial cheap stuff.  Its going to have a bit of error, but if its more than 5%, something is up.  Usually, as already said, its the powder type.  5% of a rifle round can be multiple grains, while for small pistol like 9mm, it should be less than 1 grain variation. 

 

- their chart is way off, but the hole diameters are quite consistent, so its linear.  That is, if .3 hole gives 5 grains, you can use that as a ratio to figure out the nearest hole to 6 or 7 or whatever grains (OF THE SAME POWDER).

 

- the device tends to leak a little, not bad, but a little.  If it leaks a lot, its defective.

 

- your scale has errors too.  Unless its super good (not sure about yours) its likely .25 to .5 grains of error (this seems typical for inexpensive scales).

Edited June 7, 2014 by Jonnin

[GlockSpock]

I am considering selling my Hi-Skor 700-X if I can get fair pricing for it, if not I'll just keep it because it has been decent for loading 9mm.

 

That being said, it's the only powder I've tried so I'd like to try one of the more commonly used pistol powders such as Red Dot, Power Pistol, Tite Group, or Unique.

 

I don't really think I'll own any other pistol calibers other than 9mm in the forseeable future, although I still and will always have an itch for a nice .357 Magnum. So, I wouldn't worry too much about pistol calibers other than 9mm when looking for a powder.

 

I'm using the Lee Perect Powder Measure and would like a powder that meters well if possible. I think my biggest gripe with the 700-X is that it doesn't seem to meter well but I cannot really say because I have nothing to compare it to.