Question on reloading workflow

[loudgroove]

What most people think of when the hollow base wadcutter is mentioned is the 148 gr. hollow base wadcutter. It is a soft lead (swaged) bullet with a deep hollow cavity in the base. It is designed to spread into the rifling when fired and has a very good reputation for great accuracy. It is loaded to very low velocities. I've shot a lot of factory ammo and my reloads with this bullet over the years in .38 SPL and .357 mag revolvers, as well as, the S&W model 52-1 which was designed to shoot this bullet. I also have fired quite a few Precision Bullets. They are a coated lead swaged (soft) bullet. They have what I would call a cupped base as it doesn't indent very deeply. They are good bullets, but I haven't noticed any improvement in accuracy over coated bullets with a flat or a bevel base. Now for long guns, there are hollow base bullets for "black powder" rifles. They were born in the late 1800's. Some shotgun slugs have a hollow base, as well. Hollow base bullets/ slugs keep the weight forward, which enhances its ability to stabilize in flight.

Thanks for the reply. So are you saying that they should never be reloaded close to maximum charge, or will the reloading manual already have that calculated?

 

[BE Mike]

Thanks for the reply. So are you saying that they should never be reloaded close to maximum charge, or will the reloading manual already have that calculated?

148 gr. swaged hollow base wadcutters should never be loaded to maximum. To do so risks the "skirt" of the bullet separating from rest. Two excellent powders are Alliant Bullseye and Winchester 231/ HP 38 (same powder with different name). Keeping the velocity in the 700-750 fps. seems to give good accuracy with little chance of skirt separation. If you want high velocities, I suggest going to a cast lead solid wadcutter, semi-wadcutter or a jacketed bullet.

 

[loudgroove]

148 gr. swaged hollow base wadcutters should never be loaded to maximum. To do so risks the "skirt" of the bullet separating from rest. Two excellent powders are Alliant Bullseye and Winchester 231/ HP 38 (same powder with different name). Keeping the velocity in the 700-750 fps. seems to give good accuracy with little chance of skirt separation. If you want high velocities, I suggest going to a cast lead solid wadcutter, semi-wadcutter or a jacketed bullet.

Was just asking questions. Still learning all the science behind reloading. I'm still kinda undecided on what type to build first. Other than 9mm. lol

 

[BE Mike]

Was just asking questions. Still learning all the science behind reloading. I'm still kinda undecided on what type to build first. Other than 9mm. lol

I have been reloading for many years. I started reloading 9mm rather recently (the past several years). I found loading for the 9mm more challenging than loading .38 SPL, .45 ACP or .44 magnum. I think .45 ACP reloading has fewer bumps in the road.

 

[indyblue]

I started with 9 mm and 45, then when I was comfortable with those, I moved on to .223. I have only had to trim about 5% of my brass so far and I don’t do any neck sizing or shoulder work since I don’t have a bolt gun. But all of it has wired properly, except for three squibs I made in my first thousand rounds. Adjusted my workflow, and they all have gone bang since.

I have been searching for a media separator for my steel pin tumbler but couldn't wrap my head around $50 and up for one. I just found a nice cheap salad spinner at Target for ~$20 that works as well as any dedicated separator. As a bonus it lets .22 cases through but holds all the 9mm, .45 and .223 cases nicely.

 

[loudgroove]

I have been reloading for many years. I started reloading 9mm rather recently (the past several years). I found loading for the 9mm more challenging than loading .38 SPL, .45 ACP or .44 magnum. I think .45 ACP reloading has fewer bumps in the road.

I have other guns, but 9mm is the one I've own the longest

 

[Griz375]

Loudgroove there's really nothing to add to what's above. All I can say is reloading well depends on process and focus.

Get you gear laid out so you have no issues w/ reaching or seeing anything and this is not the time to watch the kids or the Stanley Cup. Pay attention and don't rush. a Double charge or an under charge can have a pretty negative impact n your day so, forget speed right now. I've used that press of yours a few times and when you're in the zone, 250-350 rounds/hour is easily attainable. The one I used belonged to a friend and it was like him; old as the hills but still fit and functional. I think he said he spent about $20.00/year on bits of this & that to keep it running and he loaded aout 10 or 11 calibres - maybe 6000 rounds a year. Some people load way more, some way less.

When you're getting quality ammo - for mean that means within acceptable accuracy with a minimum amount of issues, then you look at how to get faster.

Process is your friend.

The good thing is, there's a host of experience here as you can see; places like this are like well stocked libraries, an invaluable resource.

 

[loudgroove]

So today was the day. I loaded 20 rounds in 9mm
I have learned a lot. Ended up load Hornaday 115gr xtp with 4.7 gr of win 231 and win WPS primers.
Only had 3 issues at first loading, as you can see. And a last issue I had was the OAL from the manual was too long. I could only load 1 in the mag at a time. I should have tested it out before going to the range. But decided to fire them all one at a time since the handgun range was open and I was there. Everything fired consistently. Next time I will set the seating die with a factory round.

So here is a heart filled thank you to everyone that has posted on this thread. All the advice and encouragement means alot to me. Thank you

 

[BE Mike]

Good deal! There's a reason that all of us reloaders keep a bullet puller handy, whether we have been reloading for a couple of days or several decades! With the price of primers, I found that a universal depriming die can save a few primers when I didn't catch a bad case until the primer is seated.

 

[Griz375]

so you loaded from scratch and fired 20 rounds AND there were no fail to fire or fail to extract/eject issues. All that was wrong is the OAL thing; that’s one reason I’ve always used more than one manual to cross reference. Once you get deeper into this you might start note keeping about such things.

Your work flow can often be dictated by available space and volume of loading to do. Off and on I’ve lived in apartments where space was at a premium and I didn’t have the luxury of leaving my gear set up. It used to take a couple or 3 days to finish everything but I learned to batch process and prep early on, than load on day 2. Loading is like shooting: get accurate than consider speed.

You’re on the way

 

[Magyars]

I like AA#5 a lot. It is great for medium pistol/revolver loads. I also have a great 30-30 load; 10gr AA#5 w/ 165gr cast bullet @ 1400fps. Shoots great out to 150 yards. I also use 10gr AA#5 w/ 240gr lead bullet in my 44 mag. This travels at 1050fps. It is great out to 100 yards and I used it very often in IHMSA Field Pistol matches out of my Redhawk.

I like three speed ranges of pistol powders. I have tried many others, but I use those listed in BOLD. My list is far from complete and there are some good powders in between the speeds I have listed. If you stick with one (maybe two) powders in each speed range, you can reduce the powders you need and still load any pistol cartridge. Of course, there my be some outliers that may require a specialty powder, but most will be covered.

• Fast - Light Target Loads
  • Clays
  • Red Dot
  • Bullseye
  • Nitro 100
  • Titewad
• Medium - Medium Speed Loads
  • AA#5
  • WSF
  • Unique
  • Herco
  • Power Pisto;
• Slow - Magnum Loads
  • AA#9
  • 2400
  • 296/H110

AA#5 is my goto powder for 45Colt

 

[Griz375]

Thanks for the reply. So are you saying that they should never be reloaded close to maximum charge, or will the reloading manual already have that calculated?

Been my experience that the most accurate loads are rarely the hottest - others may have had different experiences but I put that down to the fact that almost every firearm I've loaded for "liked" one load over everything else. With all the permutations of components and different forearms today, that may have changed and I'll likely never know as I still load pretty much what I always have. 9mm, .45ACP, .38/.357, 44WCF, .223, 6MM, .308, 06 & now 300WM, 12G & some 20G AND MY WIFE'S .44 Special - no mouse guns for her

 

[Whip_McCord]

AA#5 is my goto powder for 45Colt

For light cowboy action 45 Colt loads, I use Clays. For hotter loads I use 10gr of AA#5 w/ 250gr RNFP. Three loads with 10gr AA#5 in three different cartridges. Interesting.

 

[BE Mike]

For light cowboy action 45 Colt loads, I use Clays. For hotter loads I use 10gr of AA#5 w/ 250gr RNFP. Three loads with 10gr AA#5 in three different cartridges. Interesting.

Hodgdon Clays is out of production for an unspecified period of time. The rumor is 3 years. Alliant's equal, Clay Dot, also is as scarce as hen's teeth. I have seen Alliant Bullseye available lately.

 

[Whip_McCord]

Hodgdon Clays is out of production for an unspecified period of time. The rumor is 3 years. Alliant's equal, Clay Dot, also is as scarce as hen's teeth. I have seen Alliant Bullseye available lately.

I have lots of Clays and Clay Dot, but did not know Clays is out of production.

 

[loudgroove]

Ok new question. To make a long story short. My niece 's husband wants to sale me some of his deceased dads reloading stuff. He loaded 38 special. There is a 1000 130 gr FMJ and I can't find any loading data on them or really anything close. Any advice?

 

[BE Mike]

Google is your friend on this one! What powder are you planning to use? Lyman's 50th Reloading Manual has data for a 140 grain jacketed hollow point. It would be safe to use this data.

 

[bwframe]

Ok new question. To make a long story short. My niece 's husband wants to sale me some of his deceased dads reloading stuff. He loaded 38 special. There is a 1000 130 gr FMJ and I can't find any loading data on them or really anything close. Any advice? View attachment 324301

Reloading Data Center – Hodgdon Reloading Data Center

hodgdonreloading.com

 

[loudgroove]

Right now I have only bought Acc # 7 and Win231

 

[bwframe]

Right now I have only bought Acc # 7 and Win231

There are loadings listed for 125gr's and 135gr's with 231.

Needless to say, go slow and start low. I'm betting you can come to a safe loading with what you have.

Without unleashing the hounds or believing any one thing, you can also surf some Internet sites to verify others have loaded similarly. Of course, verify poster history and etc.