Kingsoverqueens

I did sense a bit of a tone. Why are you buying ammo anyway? Don't you have a press? All the cool kids are reloading these days.

I think the mental health and state of mind of the person comes first. We rail against the ineffective laws foisted upon us in the name of keeping us safe, and to me, keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill or mentally injured is something we all agree on, or at least we should. I don't mean to sound insensitive to you or your friends service and to what now may be their sacrifice. I thank you and them for doing it. I would encourage them to get the help they need as a priority and the firearms should be secondary. I'd also encourage them to do it as quietly as possible so as not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves or their current "problems" for lack of a better term. I hope it works our for them.

What should I be looking for on the spent brass that would indicate pressure issues?

I'm not unhappy with how I shot yesterday. The orange crush stage killed me but there wasn't much I could do about it. Remove those 70 penalty points and I had a pretty good day.

Thanks Bob. I used the .377 crimp because that's what any factory ammo I had on hand was set at, and when I say crimp, I probably should say "outside diameter" of the cartridge at the top of the case. The crimp, to me, if anything seems light, but I didn't want to make it too tight, so I mirrored a crimp that I know worked in our guns. Granted, those were for jacketed ammo, but I figured it was a safe place to start. Another thing I'll mention is that when I showed the round to Alex the first thing he said was "looks too long."

Wow...the minimum load on that chart is higher than the maximum load charge they list online today. Unless I'm reading the online guide wrong. http://www.vihtavuori-lapua.com/template/goodies/vihtavuori_reloading_guide_ed11_2013eng.pdf

That's the issue. I don't know because I didn't measure each specific charge for the tested round, so there very likely was a variation. There is a lot of trial and error. What is really strange is anything that I've loaded and tested before, including factory ammo, always runs hotter out of the M&P than from the Beretta. But if you look at round # 2 in the 92FS and #'4 & 8 from the M&P, the rounds chrono'd hotter from the Beretta. They were essentially the same COL. It's enough to drive you batty...

Those new "cooling towels" work pretty well. Mine would have worked better if I kept it wet with colder water. Next time more H2o including some extra ice. The frozen gel packs work OK. I do prefer shooting in the winter. lol

Yes, and no, not a round hole. That's how we discovered they were tumbling at close to medium range. Then when I couldn't hit a steel plate at a what is essentially a chip shot distance I knew I had an issue.

As you noted, the min charge for a 124 GR bullet is 3.8 for the N320. These are 125gr/rn bullets, so does that 1 extra grain negate the 1 extra grain on my charge? I didn't weigh the bullet heads, but I will before pressing out the next 500. I wanted to start on the lower end of the charge because I'm new at this and would rather load a squib than overcharge and blow up my gun. lol Nothing to do at all with competitive advantage. I don't mind a sharp recoil.

Gun was clean as a whistle.

Thanks to everyone for the great replies and information. It's much appreciated. I did in fact chrono a sample of these rounds. The first number is the COL for the specific round tested and the second is the VFPS for that specific round. The powder charge "should" be at 3.9. I say should be because that's what I was throwing on my samples, but I didn't hand measure each powder charge. Beretta 92FS - 1) 1.139 = 1064 2) 1.142 = 1102 3) 1.126 = 1123 4) 1.146 = 1084 5) 1.141 = 1071 6) 1.141 = 1068 7) 1.129 = 1093 8) 1.126 = 925.2 9) 1.144 = 1057 10) 1.134 = 1116 M&P Pro - 1) 1.133 = 934.4 2) 1.128 = 1042 3) 1.135 = 1107 4) 1.143 = 1056 5) 1137 = Err2 6) 1.147 = 1121 7) 1.132 = 1062 8) 1.143 = 1040 9) 1.140 = 911.3 10) 1.139 = 891.8

And how. My cheeks still felt hot at 10pm but fortunately no sun burn. that sunscreen stuff works. Sorry about the thumbs in the vid bud.

OK, new reloader here. First attempt using cast bullets....9mm 125 grain r/n to be exact. 3.9 gr of N320 and COL at 1.138 to 1.142. Crimp is at .377. Major bullet tumble and accuracy out to 13 yards was for hsit. I know...sometimes its the indian and not the arrow. Sorry...I can hit a steel plate at 13 yards. I had to hold 2 O'clock to hit the plate. Any help will be appreicated.

I'm looking forward to the scores on that stage. It was a good one.

I just picked up some from CJ. I loaded a small supply and they chrono'd fine and performed in my guns, so I pressed out 500 of them. We'll see. I prefer jacketed but these were available so I figured to try them out.

We're in for this one!

I just cancelled the order. Not worth it. Thanks for the heads up on the product just the same. I should have read the information before hitting send to purchase.

Crap. I should have read the info first. They don't even recommend it for rifles. I suppose I can trade it to someone with a 22 revolver.

Thanks for the heads up. I needed to order a 7 hole case gauge but didn't want to spend the coin on the extra shipping charges. I desperately needed some 22, so this worked out. Now hopefully it cycles in my guns.

I used to fish but sold my boat and took up shooting. Still have all my gear and would like to get back on the water. Just started reloading, but I don't know if I'd call that a hobby. I cook and am pretty good at it. Also bake bread. I keep the book for my son's travel team, and have been known to do that while watching a game live. And yes...Battlefield is in my PS2 at the moment. Finally, breaking my wife's chops might be my favorite hobby.

All yours Bry@n. Too far of a trip for me.

My old neighbor has a story like this. His in basement watching the game when his wife calls to him..."Craig, the warrant police are here." They immediately realized they had the wrong Craig, because he's a short middle aged white guy and they were looking for a large 20 something black guy. To complicate his problem; he owns a limo and is in and out of the airports, and dealing with Port Authority, all the time. He's got to carry a letter from a judge attesting that he isn't the Craig with warrants.

Standing argument with one of the guys I play cards with while we have lunch with every day. he loves Bobby's Burgers. I took my family there once, and was greatly disappointed. I say Barnacle Bills and he says Bobby's, and we break each others balls about it. "Oh...let's put chips on burger...that'll be 12 dollars please." Not a big fan of Flay's joint. I give him credit for a good marketing concept...I'm just not into fast food in a place where the stools are bolted to the floor.

This is great. A free gun is going to cost me twice what I'd normally pay for ammo. Ugh.