[badbrad62]

I am new to reloading and have finally accumulated enough equipment to reload my first batch of ammo. I have a Dillon 550B and plan on loading ammo for my Glock 23 with a Bar-Sto semi drop in barrel (full chamber support). I am using new brass since I am relatively new at this. I am reasonably well read, but no practical experience yet other that practicing the different stations independently for powder measure, crimp, etc. Just haven’t made a shootable round yet.

I plan on using a 165 gr bullet with Bullseye powder. Even though I have a progressive press, I plan on checking (weighing) each case until I get the hang of it. I have Montana Gold FMJ and Speer GDHP bullets at my disposal. I was thinking on going with the Montana Gold first since the Speer were 10x as expensive. Both are 165 gr. Do the two different types take any special considerations such as different OAL?

Bullseye and Blue Dot are the powders I have in stock. I have chosen Bullseye but have a question on some of the data I am reading in two of the more popular manuals. I plan on starting with the minimum load but,

The Lyman 49th edition lists the following loads for Bullseye powder, 165 TMJ : Starting 4.8 Max 5.4 COL 1.120
The Speer #14 manual lists the following loads for Bullseye powder, 165 TMJ/GDHP: Starting 5.3 Max 5.8 COL 1.120

The Speer manual data matches the data listed on the Alliant web site for the Bullseye load.

My main question is why the difference?

Any advice on which minimum load to start with or any other advice for a newbie loading the 40? I know it is an unforgiving load but the only pistol I have for now.


Brad

[SA Friday]

I would spend a lot of time in the 40 cal reloading section here reading up on reloading for Glocks. There is a lot to discuss.

Best piece of advise I can give you at this point is to get an EGW undersized die and use instead of the std RCBS or Dillon resizer die. It will give you a better feeding reload, resize deeper on to the case, and drastically reduce the possibility of bullet set-back.

The best bullets for the game are the cheap, accurate fodder type bullet. Gold Dots are a defensive hollow point and, as you said, pretty expensive. They are a great bullet, but overkill for sports shooting. Stick with the MG's. More ammo for the money. Most people shoot the heavier bullets and faster powders for competition as they have a tendency to result in less felt recoil. Just starting out, 165gr bullets and a usable powder is fine. Once you get some experience under your belt, you can experiment with other load combinations. There are tons to look at in the reloading section. The difference in charges is more than likely due to the difference in resistance the two different bullets have. MG's have a fairly thick brass jacket.

Your reload overall length will be dictated by your barrel chamber and mag restrictions. I've reloaded a lot of 40 cal for glocks with OEM, KKM, and Bar-Sto barrels. 1.135 OAL is what I used for every bullet I tried and never ran into a problem. Longer OAL's give you a little better feeding in most cases and always gives you a little more lee-way in chamber pressures. It may take .1 or .2 more powder with the longer length to make the same power factor, but the chamber pressure will be less. You can test if the OAL will work in the gun by making a couple of test rounds (resized brass, no powder or primer) at 1.135 OAL and see if they chamber in the barrel and load in the mag. I do this with all of the bullet/caliber loads I try and then keep one. I mark the OAL on it with a sharpie and use it as a gauge to reset my seat/crimp die in the future.

You will have to chrono your loads to really get a good load for your your gun. Along with this, you need to load test rounds with progressively more powder in them to prevent loading overpressured rounds. In 40cal, I test increases in powder .1 grain at a time, checking for high pressure signs as I progress over the chrono. Once I determine a load is making the power factor I want without being overpressured, I test for accuracy.

I weigh every powder charge on my test loads to get as accurate as possible data. Once I've determined the powder charge and the dies are set, I weigh a set of three charges every 25 loaded rounds. Some powders lend to more consistant powder throws, N320 and Titegroup come to mind. With those, I may only weigh two or three charges out of every 100 rounds.

Your two biggest dangers, especially with a manual indexing press, will be a double charge of powder and forgetting powder in your scale funnel. If you fail to index the press you can dump two charges of powder in the same case. I always test what a double charge will look like in a case when setting the dies so I know the visual difference between a normal charge vs a double. If a double runs out of the case, it's messy, but a good thing. It's instant feedback that you need to stop and reset. The other problem, forgetting to refill the case after weighing your charge, will end in a squib load. Squibs, by themselves won't blow the gun up, but the bullet stuck in the barrel and shooting a second round will. If at any time you find there's powder in the scale funnel and there shouldn't be, you have to assume you have a squib in there somewhere. What I do is dump the finished rounds from the catch bin often. The one time I thought I had a squib, I took all the ammo from the catch bin and put them aside labeled as possible squib. I used them for long distance, slow fire, practice. I did have a squib, and just popped it out of the barrel. No harm no foul.

K, so I just rambled on (probably) too much here. I hope it helps. If you have questions, search the threads but dont hesitate to ask either. Lots of very experienced reloaders here.

[badbrad62]

Thanks for the advice. I have an undersized EGW die but I haven’t put it in the Dillon yet. I did not figure I would need it with new brass but figured I might eventually encounter some Glock brass that would need it. I will put it in. My chrono arrived today so I figure I am ready to jump in head first. I have been buying things over a period of time to keep the total cost under the radar from the wife. I also had a buddy who quit reloading his 9mm and sold me 4K small pistol primers for $90. The one component I was missing. Hard to find these days.....

Thanks again

Brad

[Duane Thomas]

Quote

It may take .1 or .2 more powder with the longer length to make the same power factor, but the chamber pressure will be less.

A lot of great advice in that post. I have one question. I've heard the idea put forth before that at a longer OAL we can get the same velocities at lower pressures and that's never made sense to me. I can understand how, with a longer OAL therefore a greater case capacity because the bullet's not seated as deeply, we can get the same pressures with a slower and less severe pressure spike, but, given the same bullet and bullet weight, how can we possibly get the exact same velocities with less pressure?

[SA Friday]

Duane Thomas, on Oct 16 2009, 05:36 PM, said:

Quote

It may take .1 or .2 more powder with the longer length to make the same power factor, but the chamber pressure will be less.

A lot of great advice in that post. I have one question. I've heard the idea put forth before that at a longer OAL we can get the same velocities at lower pressures and that's never made sense to me. I can understand how, with a longer OAL therefore a greater case capacity because the bullet's not seated as deeply, we can get the same pressures with a slower and less severe pressure spike, but, given the same bullet and bullet weight, how can we possibly get the exact same velocities with less pressure?

Duane, you are absolutely correct in that the pressure will more than likely be about the same, but as you pointed out, the initial pressure spike will be less severe from more case capacity.

If you and I were having this conversation, I would have written this differently. I was trying to relay info without rambling even worse than I was, yet not go laconic.

[Duane Thomas]

I thought it was a great post, with lots of useful data. "Long" and "rambling" are not necessarily synonyms. (Says the guy who has been known to write the occasional long post in the past himself.) Sometimes longer IS better.

[badbrad62]

Duane Thomas, on Oct 16 2009, 06:57 PM, said:

I thought it was a great post, with lots of useful data. "Long" and "rambling" are not necessarily synonyms. (Says the guy who has been known to write the occasional long post in the past himself.) Sometimes longer IS better.

I really appreciate all the input. Ramble on.....

[Duane Thomas]

All part of our fast, friendly service here at BrianEnos.com....

[G+16]

In the past, when I have a normal load for a 45, 40 ect., I check the weight of the loaded shell, that way if you find power in for scale you can check your batch and find the squib load verses unloading the entire batch, it works for me anyway

[Right Hex]

The one thing that i was shown when i first started to reload was to look at the powder charge after it has dropped before you put the bullet on top to be seated then you wont have to worry about wether you are going to have a squib.I use the dilliond square deal and load about 500 rounds in an hour so taking a second to look at the powder charge doent take very long.I shoot a glock 35 40 cal and load it with 4.3 titegroup 180 grain montana gold round nose full metal jacket oal lentgh is 1.135 a great load makes major no problem and shoots flat as a board.

Jim

[Glockcomma]

Lots of good info from SA Friday, Ive loaded tons of 40 for several different Glocks. I would shoot for 1.135 OAL, and I have had good results with Vit. n320 and Win. Super Target powders.