I'm working with Longshot and 180 grain Xtreme heavy plated bullets. There is so much experience here. What is the powder range for this powder and bullet weight? I am loading at 1.255? Thanks for all the awesome advice!
I loaded my first rounds this weekend. Setup wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Instructions for the third die were incomplete I feel. Lol, my first round was pushed all the way into the case. Had two that were slightly short. Almost like .40s, so I used the bullet puller on them. The Lee scale is kind of weird. I've figured it out but 1890 can have it back. Have ordered an electronic scale. Loaded 27 up the night before the range. Somewhat different heights while I figured everything out. They had approx 8 to 8.3 grains of Longshot. Rounds functioned well out of my witness match. My Glock 40 didn't like many of them. Maybe they are slightly long for it, also I was running an alpha wolf barrel so it may be ultra tight. Loaded about 50 more when I got home. All at 1.255 with 8.6 grains.
Congrats Dave84. I guess you've figured out that you have to back out the Lee bullet seating die. And the Lee scale does take some getting used to, but is very accurate and results are repeatable. We're the rounds fired out of your Witness accurate? I've had an accuracy issue with a batch of 180gr X-Tremes recently. What did you mean when you said that your G40 didn't like them?
Here are the steps I use to set up a seat/crimp die the very first time. As a note, I do this with an un-primed/charged case so that when I am done I have a dummy round I can put in the box with the dies to facilitate future die setup.
--First we need a bullet of the right COAL, with no crimp
1. Install the shell holder, put a case in the shell holder, put a bullet on the top and raise the ram (no die installed)
2. Remove the seating stem from the die (pistol) or raise it all the way (rifle)
3. Screw the die body in until it just touches the case, then back out 1/8 turn
4. Install and screw in the seating stem until it is finger tight against the bullet
5. Lower the ram, check COAL, adjust the seating stem down if needed and raise the ram
6. Repeat step five in appropriate increments until you reach your COAL
--Now we need to adjust crimp without changing the COAL
7. Once the desired COAL is reach, screw the seating stem all the way up/out
8. Raise the ram, screw the die body in until it touches the case, lower the ram and add 1/8 turn, raise the ram
9. Lower the ram and check crimp, repeat adding 1/8 turn until the desired crimp is reached
10. Lock the die body in place with the lock ring*
11. With the dummy/first round in the shell holder and the ram raised, screw the seating stem down until it is hard finger tight against the bullet, lower the ram and add just a tiny bit more
12. Lock the seating stem in place if the die supports such a lock
*I just keep a couple packages of the Horndady lock rings around for anything I want really locked. I find they work the best.
As I mentioned above, I keep dummy cartridges for each bullet/coal in the die box. This allows me to just put the dummy case in teh shell holder, raise the ram, screw the die body in until it touches the case + 1/8 turn, and then screw in the seating stem until it touches the bullet plus just a bit. If you only load one bullet design/coal on one press then just set it up, lock it down and forget it.
Perhaps you already had seen or figured out theses steps. If so, I am sure some other person learning reloading will stumble into this someday.
Dave84, I try to hold most all my reloads to 1.2500", that is a nice standard for most all bullets with enough seated inside for good case neck tension. However the Wide Flat Nose type bullets benefit from slightly deeper seating at 1.2420" - 1.2450" which aids in tipping angles as the cartridge enters the tighter chambers because of that WFN.
I use a two step method to seat and separate to crimp...I don't want any bullet movement while crimp is taking place. This becomes necessary using cast or plated bullets as not to shave any bullet material off. In some seating / crimp dies the taper crimp can reach down a good ways.
I use a 1/8" spacer ring to lift my die enough that the taper crimping section is not encountered to start closing the casing while seating my bullets. Commercial ammo is loaded in steps on CAMDEX machines that only perform a particular operation at each station, so think of your loading processes in the same way...one thing at a time.
Quote from: sparkyv on January 11 2018 06:57:36 PM MST
Congrats Dave84. I guess you've figured out that you have to back out the Lee bullet seating die. And the Lee scale does take some getting used to, but is very accurate and results are repeatable. We're the rounds fired out of your Witness accurate? I've had an accuracy issue with a batch of 180gr X-Tremes recently. What did you mean when you said that your G40 didn't like them?
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They were pretty accurate. I had two of three rounds go into the same hole out of the witness. Shot about an inch higher than the s&b I brought.
My Glock with that barrel would stove pipe about half of the time but these were my very first rounds. I'm hoping my 2nd batch is a lot better.
What Shadow said about coal is probably right. Maybe they're a little longer than they should be. The Longshot load data I read called for 1.26 but they may be a little too long for reliability.
Quote from: sparkyv on January 11 2018 06:57:36 PM MST
And the Lee scale does take some getting used to, but is very accurate and results are repeatable.
Yes for the price the Lee scale is accurate.... But I only set the Lee scale up with check weights and then lock it down.
Allows very accurate measure than.
If not for the check weights, I would not use the Lee scale.
I loaded both Xtreme 180gr RNFP and HP bullets as a way to shoot a little less expensive bullets than my normal Hornady XTP and HAP.
I did 8.8 grns and 1.273 for the RNFP and 8.9
grns and 1.1250 for the HP.
I have not had the accuracy of the Hornady loads with either of these bullets. I did not work hard at making them more accurate by adjusting OAL or powder charge like I would do if I really wanted to make these work.
I had 250 of each bullet and I use them for walking in the woods and shooting stumps or letting friends shoot my gun.
I am going to stay with the Hornadys.
You may have better luck if you experiment a little more.
I shot my 2nd batch up on Friday. Witness ate them up and my Glock with after market barrel didn't like them. I bet the factory barrel would be fine. My 2nd die didn't have enough flare. Some of the bullets during the seating process were bulging the cases. I've redone all my dies. Hopefully this third batch will be flawless. They're loaded at 9.0 grains. So nice to be able to shoot real 10mm at a reasonable price.