I picked up a lee classic turret press with 2 dies to start with 9mm and 45 acp. I'm looking for suggestion on what bullet to buy and powder for each caliber. I'm gonna buy some small and large pistol primers but Is there a powder that will work for both loads? Is there a specific bullet that would work best with each round? I Def want to stay away from hard lead cast for now. Any help is appreciated from experienced reloaders being I have yet to load 1 single round

 

Bullet/powder/primer thanks!

What about coated lead ? Check out http://www.ibejiheads.com , they are a nj based company making quality bullets.

 

Cheaper then plated, require less powder for similar speeds, pick any color you want. Shoot more, pay less

All the primers work fine unless you have overly tuned triggers in which case you need federals.

 

For .45 I like Clays if you can find it. For 9 I like Titegroup, which also works for 45 but it requires extra care as you can fit a quadruple charge in that huge case.

 

For bullets Alec is right, coated bullets are great and cheap, and almost all of them are great.

Congrats on the new press man. 

 

Get TMJ (Total Metal Jacket) bullets, they are completly encased in copper and dont smoke like all that lead stuff. About the cheapest around is http://xtremebullets.com/ they have alot of sales and free shipping codes so look around for them and sign up for their email promotions.

 

For powder and primers check Cabelas in DE for now to get ya started. They usually have CCI and Winchester primers in stock for about the normal price. Be sure to sign up online for the buyers club. Stay away from Bass pro their prices are insane on powder and probably primers too. 

 

For powder Hodgdon Clays is the best for .45 but its still hard to find, Allighnt Clay Dot is pretty much the same thing.

For 9mm TiteGroup works pretty well and is easy to find. you can use it in .45 too but its a little more snappy feeling.

The thing about titegroup and all pistol reloading is you MUST PAY ATTENTION because it does not fill the case and a double charge will be bad news.

 

IF you want to place a big order and save a bunch of money check out Powder Valley .com You have to pay for shipping and haz mat but their prices are so low it pays for its self.

 

What are you doing for a tumbler? 

 

Edit: was typing when Vlad was, 

You should also check out Powder Valley to get an idea on prices so if you stop by a LGS and they have some powder and primers you dont pay $35 for one pound of powder because you didn't know any better...

Most pistol powders will work in both. I use bullseye for both.

Louu I don't beleive extreme are TMJ, they're plated. Big difference when it comes to loading, I just stay away from the term TMJ, its almost a gimmick. I would pick a bullet u have good data on. I personally use and love xtreme bullets. I don't want to have to deep clean my barrel if I switch from a coated bullet back to copper.

 

My go to is always cci primers.

 

And I've been using titegroup for both those calibers, although I suggest picking a more forgiving powder. Titegroup can make for a very bad day if u have a lapse in judgement when loading.

Jack, your thinking FMJ

Jack, your thinking FMJ

Total metal jacket is implying the lead has a jacket. Like I said I'm not a fan of the term since its misleading. All plated bullets cover the entire bullet. But plated bullets are certainly not jacketed. Hopes this makes sense. There some tmjs that are true jackets with a base to cover the exposed lead.

FMJ has an exposed lead base.  TMJ has 100% covering.  Plated has a thinner copper jacket over the lead.

And then you heavy heavy (or double) plating which is has performance much near to jacketed then plated. This stuff gets complicated

What about coated lead ? Check out http://www.ibejiheads.com , they are a nj based company making quality bullets.

 

Cheaper then plated, require less powder for similar speeds, pick any color you want. Shoot more, pay less

 

Alex's bullets are the cats keister!   Plus he's a good guy, fellow competition shooter and supporter.  I like Bullseye powder and Winchester primers. I use Winchester cases that I've once-fired. For supplies check out Garden State Armory in Warren. They've always had what I needed in stock and they're only about 20mins away from work so I don't have to pay Hazmat shipping charges.

 They've always had what I needed in stock and they're only about 20mins away from work so I don't have to pay Hazmat shipping charges.

 

Oh you pay for them... They're just built into the price 

CFE pistol and HP-38/win231 will work for both 9mm and 45acp. They are both ball powders and meter excellent.

I agree with ball powder starting out for metering issues.  Never got away from it.  Faster powders for lighter bullets, slower for heavier ones.  I like 200 grains in 45ACP and 124 or 147 grain for 9MM

Good luck finding W231/HP38 though.

Cabelas had a shit ton of CFE pistol for 20/lb in Hamburgh, PA 2 weeks ago. It is pretty easy to find now.

Wow thanks for all the responses! Lots of great info here and it gets me really psyched to start making some rounds!

For general blasting and practice I use 200 gr RN for .45 and 115 or 124 grn RN for 9mm, most often Xtreme Bullet plated bullets. They're fairly inexpensive and I've found them to be the best plated I've used. For both calibers I've used Titegroup and Universal by Hodgdon and Alliant Bullseye, although it doesn't make the greatest 9mm.

Next time I buy bullets I might try the coated bullets, hearing good things about them.

For everything that is not full metal jacket you should lighten the load. I find the best loads for me between the suggested load for lead and the suggested load for FMJ.

Ok cool I picked up some tmj and titegroup my lee manual doesn't have a recipe for 115 tmj titegroup what is your recipe that you use?

Whatever it has for a 115 head will be the same powder weights.

Ok cool I picked up some tmj and titegroup my lee manual doesn't have a recipe for 115 tmj titegroup what is your recipe that you use?

Search on the Brian Enos forums...

 

Found this one via google:

speer reloading manual, it has a 115 grain TMJ RN.

for that is says the COAL is 1.135

min power charge is 4.1 grains, max is 4.5

Here is a page from the lee manual that came with the press

 

It's very close to your suggestion if I use lead bullet table I have never reloaded a single bullet. I just want to make sure I do it correct and safely.

Geeze it's too large to upload pain in the ass

 

115 lead bullet

Start 3.9 max 4.3

MOAL 1.100

The magic titegroup load is 4.2, for my guns. It is a soft plinker with 115's, it makes minor with 125's and 147's, it makes minor with 165gr in 40 and major with 180's, it makes major with 200gr .45s

 

There was a time there that was the only charge I used. Of course, your millage may very, follow loading books, etc.

The magic titegroup load is 4.2, for my guns. It is a soft plinker with 115's, it makes minor with 125's and 147's, it makes minor with 165gr in 40 and major with 180's, it makes major with 200gr .45s

 

There was a time there that was the only charge I used. Of course, your millage may very, follow loading books, etc.

One powder measure to rule them all.

For general blasting and practice I use 200 gr RN for .45 and 115 or 124 grn RN for 9mm, most often Xtreme Bullet plated bullets. They're fairly inexpensive and I've found them to be the best plated I've used. For both calibers I've used Titegroup and Universal by Hodgdon and Alliant Bullseye, although it doesn't make the greatest 9mm.

 

Bullseye is the most accurate 9mm out of the three powders I tried so far between VV320 and Titegroup. 147 XTreme with 3.1gr of bullseye makes 127 power factor. It also gives me the most accurate 45 loads with 200LSWC. Here's a pic of the 147's at 25 yards from a G34 and the 200's with 4.7g from same distance from my 1911, 230LRN are very close to the same accuracy. A better shooter would tighten those groups up considerably!

Thank you for sharing your experiance and knowledge! So many options out there to choose from, I appreciate everyone's help with this

Oh you pay for them... They're just built into the price 

 

 

Nah, for me it's still cheaper than getting from Midway, etc... but YMMV.