Valuable reloading lesson

[AnthonyS]

1). A little crimp is good but a little more isn't necessarily better. Too much crimp will lead to squished cases with a small bulge. They may feed okay but they will expand when shot leading to FTE issues. The right amount of crimp is probably the minimum that will hold the bullet snug in place while feeding in a semi auto. Anymore is excessive. Too little leads to shorter ammo and higher pressures.

2). OAL specs are important to keep pressures in spec, but OAL needs to be tested for your magazines too! I have 300 rds of 45 I now have to shoot one rd at a time..... I may see how they fit in my sig p227 mags but they are a few thousandths too long for Wilson 47ds. They feed and fire great though. So when reloading keep a mag handy.

[futant]

I liked yours, so lets see if I can think of a few

3) case gauges are really invaluable tools and hard to live without, many times resizing or pressing in a bullet can damage case shoulders, or buldge it a bit too much. Sure beats the crap out of going to get your gun to check the chamber, and it's much more accurate obviously

4) hard cast lead ammo sounds good and is cheap, but I've experienced needing to 'bell' 45 cases or I get annoying lead shavings on many. For pennies saved per bullet it is not worth extra hassle to me. Also a friend of my shot some out of a carbine and had excessive smoke , the only thing we could think of was the lube in the HCL grooves because it isn't noticeable in pistols so far (using longshot powder, which is kind of slow)

5) I would be more willing to 'cut corners' prepping pistol brass over rifle. Also rifle brass prep can be a big time waster. I think i would finally pay for one of those fancy 3 angle power trimmers (worlds finest trimmer?)

6) different powders really do dispense much differently out of volumetric throws. Wasn't really worth having a 'match' grade one. The micro adjustments are nice but the price was a lot more over most and I do not feel it adds any real advantage in consistency of throws, the powder tends to be most deterministic factor.

7) its worth waiting for the exact burn rate of powder you want , or just don't bitch when the fps is a little slower than what you wanted. While you are at it , do a lot of research before a powder choice, including burn rate, barrel length you will use, weight you will be shooting, and temp sensitivity(if long distance). Finally don't get yourself stuck with an 8lb bottle of something you might not use. Even if the hazmat shipping fees are rediculous...

[dee]

Powder can and will change from lot to lot so work back up after changing lots.

Primer brand can make a large difference in pressure although it is not a guarantee.

Oal in rifle is very important touching the lands increases pressure but extending the oal can reduce pressure compared to a spec oal if the same load is used.

If using match rifle bullets research which ogive profile your bullet has it will save you headache and frustration on finding a accurate load. Tangent profile don't mind a jump while secant (vld) typically doesn't like to jumo and prefers to touch the lands.

[CJ]

It's a long process, you'll have thousands of lessons over time.

The most important thing in rifle rounds for semi autos is the crimp. There is nothing more dangerous than your crimp.

[AnthonyS]

It's a long process, you'll have thousands of lessons over time.

The most important thing in rifle rounds for semi autos is the crimp. There is nothing more dangerous than your crimp.

Care to go into specifics since I'm loading for ARs and my M1A? Any photos or anything like that?

[CJ]

if there is an incorrect or insufficient crimp on the round, chambering can cause the bullet to get knocked into the case. When this occurs it's possible for the bullet to stick in the case like a cork and cause a catastrophic explosion. Not damage or a jam, but a blow the fuck up explosion. Ive seen this happen.

[AnthonyS]

if there is an incorrect or insufficient crimp on the round, chambering can cause the bullet to get knocked into the case. When this occurs it's possible for the bullet to stick in the case like a cork and cause a catastrophic explosion. Not damage or a jam, but a blow the fuck up explosion. Ive seen this happen.

This fear is why I over crimped my last batch of 9mm a bit. Just shortening the OAL will raise pressure and can cause problems.

So I guess the test for this is to load two rounds, shoot one and eject the 2nd one manually and measure OAL. I'm going to have to remember to do this with every batch I load.

[CJ]

On pistol rounds the risk is very low. It's hard to screw up a pistol round, i would just be careful if youre using a low volume powder like bullseye in case of double charges.

[AnthonyS]

On pistol rounds the risk is very low. It's hard to screw up a pistol round, i would just be careful if youre using a low volume powder like bullseye in case of double charges.

Agreed. Overcrimping was just my mistake. Heck my 38 super rounds are straight wall just like the diagram and they held just fine. My 10mm will also be straight cased. 9mm probably doesn't need much crimp at all. I found out my too long 45s will fit my Sig P227 magazines so not all is lost. The Sig is going to get some heavy use soon.

I'm looking for some powder for 10mm and 38 super if you have any leads. I'd probably be pretty happy with power pistol if I could find some.