zoid

Haha, I could probably just about do the bucket idea. Gun that it's happening on is the Sig 228. The Sig 228 also is not locking back. These are reloads and I am at the start load. I guess I could use a bit more power. But I like light loads. Very easy to shoot. It tends to do this in my Glock 26 as well, so I don't think it's the gun. Not sure if this can really be answered, but is there a standard "ejection distance" that indicates a healthy or unhealthy load?

Maybe that's why I'm saying that cause that's the only place I've shot. Texas Star on my first match made me feel pretty incompetent. LOL!

I noticed my 9mm rounds are not ejecting very far from the gun. The make a small arc and they travel more toward the back landing around the shoulder area. Is this a sign my loads are too light?

Thanks guys. Just to clarify a roll crimp is when the casing kind of wraps around the bullet where you can kind of see the casing wrap around/roll over the bullet. Whereas the taper crimp is where the casing is straight and you can't feel/see the casing go around the bullet. Am I correct?

I would say the best competition shooting to start with would probably be static steel. You don't have to even holster if you don't want to and you don't need mag pouches so that minimizes equipment needs. Also it's very simple in terms of the rules/way it is run. No reloads, no movement, just point and shoot. I've brought some of my friends to the range who are interested in shooting, but if they bought a gun and wanted to compete I would not suggest they just go into a USPSA match. For a beginner it's pretty intense and pretty involved. I admit I started maybe 6 months after getting my first handgun and felt a little overwhelmed. Did alrght, but I also had some fun matches at Shoreshot to warm me up. Which BTW is also a great place to start off. Anyways that's just my thoughts.

Thanks. What's the benefit of removing the primers first?

Wow, I love clean brass. Mines starting to come out kind of nasty. I think my media is getting old (about over a year of use and 6-8k casings). I've never seen stainless steel media, where do you get that?

Thanks. If I do upgrade I would not mind buying used. To me it makes no difference after a decent cleaning. Most reloading equipment (even the Lee) is super durable.

Not that I'm in the position to upgrade at the moment, but after reloading for about a year now I think I'm in it for the long haul. The Lee Pro 1000 is a decent press. Yes, it can be a PIA in certain areas, but when the quirks are worked out and you learn how to work it can crank out a decent amount of round in an hour. My main reason for wanting to upgrade though would be to smooth out the process and not deal with any "quirks". IE, tipped primers, primer system not feeding, broken chains, etc. I'm just wondering for those of you who started with a Lee or currently own a Lee and upgraded to say a Hornady, RCBS, or one of the better progressive presses: How much easier, smoother, more efficient did reloading become? Can you crank out more rounds in an hour? Are there other benefits? I'm just trying to assess how much of the issues I'm having is from myself/user error or the press itself and how much benefit there is in upgrading. Thanks.

Go ahead. I'm sure the community needs a what NOT to do picture, LOL! Yeah, I would not mind learning even more. I pick up bits and pieces via forums, range members, reading, etc. It all helps. But when someone shows you in person or answers a question in person it makes things 1 million times easier to understand. For the record my rounds don't look like that now. I'd have blown all my handguns/hands up. Haha.

Thanks guys. All of this is very good info and I think I can straighten it out. Didn't know that over crimping affects accuracy that much. Lots to learn for sure.

It looks like the Men in Black super mini pistol. If it has the same firepower you will be very happy.

The funny thing is I find the Glock the least comfortable ergo-wise. The bulge in the handles is too much, I wish it were flatter. The triggers are very staple gunish and my 26 has that narrow, grooved trigger that makes things worse. Aesthetically they look like boxes. Kinda like a kindergarten student's best interpretation of a pistol. But for some reason I shoot them all very well and they are very accurate for me. Beware of the Glock-aid. Before you know if they will suck you into their cult and there is no turning back.

How would this stuff perform in pistols?

Yeah one thing I learned about reloading is you don't save money, you just shoot more, LOL!

Is the reason non-plated stuff doesn't work because it dirties up the feed ramp?

This is a great idea. Learning in person from those who are experienced would chop the learning curve down 100%. I learned off youtube videos and Google fu. I did have a friend of mine via forum who helped me a lot and that was the most help of all. But still, it's hard to learn just by e-mail and not being able to see or visually explain. If someone had just explained it to me in person with the press I would have learned in one day what took me several weeks and several wasted bullets, primers, powders, and hair lost from stress! Here's what happens when you learn on your own and don't have a clue (yes these are mine):

Thanks Glenn, I think in the end the most effecting thing was backing the crimp off. In my head I felt it was not crimped enough but I guess it was all along. Mel, I wasn't sure exactly which data to go off of since there is nothing specific for Hollow Points that I could find. I went off Accurate's load data, the Lee Reloading Manual, and the Hogden website to kind of find the closest to what I was working with. 1.22 seemed to be the general min I could find, some were lower at 1.19, but I don't want to go that low. I'm using 5.7gr Accurate #2. The other thing was when I went over 1.22/1.23 the round would not seat flush into the barrel like a factory round. From the past in working with 9mm Berry Hollow Points I realized you have to seat them a little deeper due to the very square shoulders Berry's places on their hollow points. Gonna try them at the range and see how it goes.

Hey guys. I'm a little new to reloading. Been doing it for a year and running into an issue. I'm using a Lee Pro 1000 Progressive Loader. I'm loading Berry's 200gr Hollow Points. I've got the OAL set at around 1.22". I set the crimp going by the Lee Reloading Manual (the book). The first 20-40 rounds went fine, then when I got to the crimp/seat die I'd feel a lot of resistance. I'd follow through anyways (which I should not have) and when the round came out it looked like this: I think I may have set the crimp too tight in messing around with bullet depth/crimp. Also I suspect my flare die may have been set too deep cause the casing to flare out too much causing the resistance. I did back off the crimp and the flare which helped, but the thing is the issue would come back every 10 rounds or so. Anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong and how to fix the issue?

I"m giving this a second try then, but I'm gonna make sure they're plated.

That's BEAST! I use a bore snake, but I think for lead you do have to get in there with a brass brush if it's been a while/lots of rounds. Never tried the cloths though. Kroil works well for me.

That's a sweet 22 revolver. Always wanted one, this seems like a decent option. I wish they kept it closer looking to the 38/357 model revolvers. I just like that look. This does look pretty classy though.

My Federal was not copper plated. Am I missing something here? This is what my package looked like: http://www.cabelas.com/rifle-ammunition-federal-bulk-22-long-rifle-ammunition-1.shtml But the rounds came in boxes of 50 and the bullets were black in color.

That is the main reason I load less. My range trip would be about 10 min if I loaded up all my mags to capacity and fired away. Good points thought about drills/reloads/practice. Maybe I'm OCD but it bothers me when it's not a nice even square of ammo in the tray.

Did HK not make that list because they're not so into shooting sports? I used my USP Compact in my first ever USPSA match. I couldn't really tell you if it's good or bad for competition since I'm a bit of a newb, but they do have a great reputation for reliability/accuracy. I'm also surprised to see Sig only make it there once and not a more common model like the 226. I'm also very surprised to see Beretta in the top spot. Maybe one day if I make Grand Master I'll put a High Point on that list